Southern Tibet : vol.4 / Page 143 (Color Image)

0143	Southern Tibet : vol.4

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direction from which we came, the country is open to a very great distance, and
still we get a glimpse over and beyond the small ranges we have crossed — of the
*Kwen-lun* Mountains (Pan. 52, Tab. 9).

From the little pass we go down for a while, but finding that our descending
valley turns to the east in a labyrinth of small hills and knolls we turn more to the
south going around a red mount, which had been visible from the pass. There-
fore, we must take a second little threshold. In the depression between the two, one
could see level land to the N. 49° E., and, in the same direction, a depression which
may be a considerable lake, though this could not be made out at this distance.
The level land was no doubt the E. N. E. continuation of the great latitudinal valley
we had crossed two and three days ago. Beyond the second threshold we go up
and down through an intricate labyrinth of red hills, sometimes on their slopes,
partly in beds, and sometimes crossing from one drainage system to another. The
country is barren, there is no grass, at the most, moss or some yapkak plants. At
many of these slopes the ground consists of hard, frozen mud, which, during the
summer, must be floating just like lava, as could easily be seen from its regular
cracks and fissures and from the arrangement of the gravel forming regularly rounded
concentric belts, in which the flat stones stood vertically. Living rock, composed of
dark grey dense limestone stood at one eroded bank. Farther on, the limestone was
red and fine-grained. All the rest of these hills is very fine, red dust, detritus and
débris of the same limestone. The whole landscape had, therefore, a reddish appearance,
though yellow and violet colours occasionally are mixed with the red. Farther on
the rock is blueish black calcareous schist, and the ground becomes gravelly. The
principal watercourse, which at one place contained water, is directed to the E. S. E.
We follow it partly in its bed and partly on the slopes at its right side. The hilly
landscape now becomes more open, though in front of us there is the black range
we had seen before. To the right of our route a red rounded range was left. At
*Camp XXXIII* everything was to be found, grass, water and fuel. In the hills to
the north the *Ovis ammon* was living and the skulls of this animal were occasion-
ally seen.

Pan. 53, Tab. 9, taken from this camp, shows the whole horizon from N. 18° W.
around over north and east to south nothing but flat mountains, low or moderate.
To the N. 60° E. a mount of curious shape and with unusually steep sides is rising
above the rest. To the S. 57° E. the country seemed to be more easy, and this
was the direction we were going to take next day. The country in front of us
was absolutely unknown. Two days and a half ago in the latitudinal valley we were
crossing then, obviously the same in which Rawling's *Lake Markham* is situated,
we had crossed the route of Wellby and Malcolm, who from there had travelled
E. N. E. on their memorable journey. In the small difficult mountains we had just

National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

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National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

Citation Information

OCR Text

National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books