Southern Tibet : vol.3 / 343 ページ（カラー画像）

0343	Southern Tibet : vol.3
南チベット : vol.3

causes some swelling but no inundation. On the lakes Dangra, Ngangtse, Marchar
and Kyaring-tso, the ice was said to remain till June which seems to be somewhat
exaggerated.

The rainy season sets in about the end of June or in July and continues to
the end of August or beginning of September. Some years the precipitation is very
considerable and all the brooks in these innumerable valleys become filled with water.
After heavy rains the Tagrak-tsangpo cannot be forded at all. Some years there is
almost no rain at all. The rain is a condition of life for the nomads. Snow-fall in
summer is an ordinary occurrence in these high regions. Thus, for instance, the
mountains round Ponchen-la are regarded as a cold tract even during summer.

As all over high Tibet the grass is poor and scanty, and above Camp 116
there is hardly any grass at all. The animal life is less rich than on the Chang-
tang, hardly anything except rabbits and *kyangs* being seen.

Under such conditions it is not surprising that the population is so very scanty.
I saw or heard of only 48 tents on this road. From Sela-la to Camp 114 only
one tent existed in a side valley. On the plain of Toa-nadsum 22 tents are pitched
during winter, 18 or 20 in summer. Between Camps 112 and 113 six tents were
seen, two of which, on the Tagrak-tsangpo, possessed great flocks of sheep and
yaks. On the Buser-tsangpo 4 tents were pitched. Even during the summer only
few nomads visit the region round Pongchen-la, in winter none. In the valleys
round Lamblung 11 tents had their winter grazing grounds, and in the mouth of the
Chapkar valley I saw 3 tents.

Thus, proceeding from Ngangtse-tso to Sela-la the population becomes more
and more rare, or, in other words: the higher the altitudes, the rarer the population.
In summer the distribution is of course different, although the nomads assured me
they did not make any long wanderings, but passed the summer in neighbouring
valleys.

This road over Sela-la is the highroad from Ngangtse-tso to Shigatse. The
two secondary passes of Chapkar-la and Pongchen-la could easily be avoided if follow-
ing the course of the Tagrak-tsangpo, which, however, would mean a great detour.
During the winter there is not much traffic, but the numerous cairns, *manis* and
small prayer-flags, and the several parallel paths worn out in the ground prove that
many men, ponies and flocks pass here every year.

Ngangtse-tso is situated in the province of Naktsang, but south of it and the
whole way to Shigatse the country belongs to Labrang, i. e. Tsang, the province
of Tashi-lunpo. It is not always easy to make out the boundaries; at Lamblung,
for instance, the ground is said to be reckoned to Naktsang, although the inhabitants
pay tribute to Labrang. From Camp 112 to the Pabla range the district is called
Tova-tova, in which name we recognise Nain Sing's Doba-doba-tso, a small lake
never heard of by my guides. The district north of Tova-tova is Damsak-geva, and
south of it is Chichen.

国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

引用情報

OCR読み取り結果

国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト 『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

引用情報

OCR読み取り結果

国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ