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

On account of the considerable height on the southern side of Sela-la, the
climate in January is here almost the same as from Sela-la to Ngangtse-tso. On
the high passes the cold was biting; almost always with clouds and wind. Some
valleys are regarded as cold, others as mild or warm, probably depending upon
their position in relation to the prevailing winds. The Sham valley is said to be
warm, and indeed a kind of juniper, not higher than a bush, grows here. In
summer no snow falls here, but often rain in abundance. The upper Rung-chu is
a cold region. The Pema-nakpo is also cold and more snow than rain falls there
in summer, sometimes even to a depth of one or two feet. At Dokang snow is
very rare in summer; the rain falls in July and August.

Even in winter it is easy to see that the southern side of the Transhimalayan
system is richer in rain than the northern. Every valley, even the small side valleys,
have their beds full of ice, and springs are very numerous. All the water, from
Sela-la to Dangbä-la, goes down to Mü-chu-tsangpo, and as the drainage area of
this river is comparatively great, the Mü-chu delivers a considerable tribute to the
Raga-tsangpo. The oceanic precipitation goes on diminishing from south to north,
and the southern slopes of the Transhimalaya receive much more rain than the
northern. Therefore again, the southern valleys are much more energetically and
deeply cut than those which are directed towards the northern plateau-land. These
differences will, however, be better understood on our second line of crossing.

As always in Tibet the population is scarce, but still more numerous than north
of the Sela-la. At Sele-nang no nomads pass the winter, but in the summer they
visit these high regions with their flocks, as can be seen from numerous stone-walls
serving as sheep-folds, and remains at camping places. In a side valley near Selin-do
nomads stay even in winter with their flocks of yaks. On the road to camp 119
four tents were pitched. In the valley of Sham near the road stone-huts were built
at three places. In the valley of Pale there are 3 stone-huts. At a tributary of the
upper Bup-chu the village of Sechen is said to be inhabited by ten families. Dochen,
Lundup and Tamring possess each a few huts. Such is also the case with the valley
of Chialung. Twelve tents at Ngartang remain the whole year, and at Kabalo we
found 9 households of nomads and 3 of beggars. In the Pema-nakpo valley there
are both tents and huts and great flocks in several places. In the valley of Rung-
chu there are said to be several well populated places. At Dokang 9 tents were
pitched.

As soon as we reach the plain of Ye a great change takes place, for here
settled life in stone houses is the rule; there are numerous villages surrounded
by fields of barley, and some little tree vegetation sets in. Monasteries are numerous.

To the east of our route the population seems to be very scarce, and we only
heard of Chingdu as a place with many tents; but as these regions are much higher
they would be too cold for winter pasture-grounds. The Transhimalayan system
cannot be said to be a boundary between nomadic and settled life. It is true that