Southern Tibet : vol.4 / Page 298 (Color Image)

0298	Southern Tibet : vol.4

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valleys, grow bigger to the east. In the background of the latter, we see another
range, not far away, and of the same appearance, but more solid and bulky. This,
however, may be the real range, and the rest only ramifications from it. On the
other hand, there may easily be two or even more parallel ranges between us and
the *Bogtsang-tsangpo*, as we had really crossed three ranges since we left the great
latitudinal valley of the river. The *Ngosang* valley came from the crest of the
southern-most water-parting range, for the two narrow places in the lower part of
the *Ngosang* valley may perhaps indicate smaller parallel ridges or ramifications.
One diagonal crossing of these ranges is not sufficient to determine the complicated
orography. But the most likely is that there are at least four parallel ranges between
*Camp LXXXIX* and the *Bogtsang-tsangpo*. Living rock is visible only along the
crest of the range nearest to our left; the whole slope, from its base to the very
floor of the large valley, is detritus and débris.

Somewhere just east of *Tarmartse-tso*, we pass a threshold, the existence of
which is only noticed by the fact that the view opens up far to the east as soon
as we have crossed it. The valley is nearly barren. On its hard soil, scanty gravel
is distributed, composed of stones as big as one's fist. To our right, or south of
the valley, we observe only one mighty range with a few snow-covered peaks, some
of them sharp as before, others more bulky and cupola-shaped. Its colour is dark.
From its crest several comparatively large transverse valleys come down. This range
seems to be the eastern continuation of the mountains called *Kola* and *Dungying*
mentioned above, and situated farther west. The erosion bed of the latitudinal valley
is so undecided and shallow that it is difficult to follow. Farther east, where the
valley is about 2 km. broad, it seems to fill the whole of its floor. From the southern
mountains, many tributaries reach it, every one of them having a fan at its mouth,
on which the beds diverge like delta-arms. From the northern mountains, the tri-
butaries do not reach the principal bed, though at some places the base of the scree
has been cut off by running water in the main valley.

In the mouth of a tributary valley to the left, there was a lonely tent. The
owner, a chief of a small district, was at *Tashi-lunpo*; his servants were watching
his large flocks of sheep and yaks, which were driven to the tent in the evening.
Our *Camp XC* was pitched at *Neka*, in the middle of the latitudinal valley, where
a square wall of earth one foot high had been built, with a fireplace of clay at
one side. Over this square, the chief's tent used to be pitched in the summer, so
that the wall is inside the tent, and at the same time, as it keeps out draft, may
serve as a table for all the different vessels and pots containing milk and tea. At
the base of the nearest red hills to the north, a very fine spring of pure water
cropped out having a temperature of +7.4°. It forms a miniature pool only 5 m.
long from which it continues in a narrow brook; after a short distance, this disappears

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