March 29th. We left this inhospitable village with its leper just after 6 a.m. The Tana ho is a small
Kadia tributary of the Teisha ho, flowing from the south in a narrow gorge between fairly steep monastery. mountains, those on the right being wooded. We passed a small Tangut village in a valley on the left. Otherwise we saw no tilled land. There was grass on the slopes of the mountains. About 2 miles further on the road left the beautiful valley and led over the mountains in a SE direction. The ascent took 50 minutes with a short rest and was very steep. The highest point, a kind of pass that was called Latsa tinga, is embedded in mound-like, grass-covered mountains that shut out the view to the S and W. In the N and E we could see many similar grass-covered ridges and mountains without any visible sequence. The view was veiled by the curiously misty air. The descent was also very steep, though not so long. Soon we entered a narrow valley with a rushing stream. This continued to descend steeply and led us to the E and SE. At first both the steep slopes of the valley were wooded with fir-trees and we enjoyed many beautiful, wild views, but after a couple of miles the trees thinned out and only grew in side-gorges on slopes facing N until finally they disappeared altogether. At a place, where the valley grew slightly wider and the slopes were gentler, we passed the little village of Langjang, and in a gorge on the left we saw another couple of villages. About a mile further on the stream we had been following debouched into the valley of the Lungva ho, about 15o fathoms wide. Following the course of the river, the road made an abrupt turn to the E. A lovely view up the valley of the river to the SW was disclosed, ending in snow-clad mountains, the name of which, unfortunately, no one could tell me. For some distance the slope facing N was densely covered with firs which increased the beauty of the road. The opposite slope grew grass, but was bare at present, and two small lamaseries, Lungva tasy and Luvaka sy, and 2 or 3 villages surrounded by patches of fields were situated at its foot. Tall bushes and small trees grew in the valley of the small river and interfered very much with mapping.
In a few miles the Lungva ho debouched into the valley of the Kup ho or Kö ho, a tributary of the Teisha ho, about i /2 mile wide. The river was 12 fathoms broad and flowed here in a S—N direction. At the spot where we crossed it, the water covered 3/4 of my horse's legs. The water was brown and dirty. The road turned against the current of the river at first southward, but soon changed to a SE direction. On the right we passed the monastery Tashi sy with 8o-90 lamas and several villages in side-gorges at some distance from the road. Some villages were also visible in the valley or on its E slope on the left. The slopes were mostly bare with signs of grass. Some fir-trees could only be discerned in places on the NE slope, mostly in side-gorges.
Kadia sy, inhabited by 3-400 lamas, lies at the place where the river valley makes a sharp bend to the E. We installed ourselves in a sarai not far from the monastery buildings and were immediately surrounded by a few dozen indescribably importunate lamas. As I had a great deal of work to do and the yard was crowded, I begged them to leave me in peace, and as this did not help, I had the gates closed. The slope, at the foot of which the sarai lay, was soon swarming with red-clad lamas who welcomed me, as I came out into the yard, with some well aimed big stones. To put an end to this I took my shot-gun and fired into the air, but as they continued to shower stones on me, I fired another shot at
IIIF Color HighRes
