Southern Tibet : vol.4 / Page 453 (Color Image)

0453	Southern Tibet : vol.4

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coming from a little glacier. To the W. N. W., the direction from which we had
come, the view was magnificent, resembling a sea of wild red waves, mostly covered
with snow, as the snow principally accumulates at the lee sides. *Shemen-tso* was
hidden by mountain shoulders and ramifications. The valley descending to the east,
appeared nearly horizontal to the eye. The ground here consisted of fine gravel
and coarse sand. As could be expected, the amount of snow was greater on this
side of the pass, especially where tributaries from the left side had to be crossed, it
was no easy task to march through the deep snow. In these high regions, there
was no sign of life, neither animals nor vegetation. The country was absolutely
barren. The bed of the main watercourse of the valley was shallow and follows
the right or southern side. At the corner where the valley turns to the S. E., the
living rock is grey and reddish coarse-grained granitite. From this place the valley,
which hitherto has been fairly broad, becomes very narrow, and one has to march
in the bed itself, which is full of gravel and blocks. Here the snow on the lee
side of the mountains to the right or western side of the valley, lay accumulated in
real drifts, as high as tents, and it was not easy to avoid the deepest passages.
On the slopes of the left side, yellow moss began to appear. But there was no
grass. Dung of wild yak occasionally was seen. It was pulverized and mixed with
some meal and given the mules. Just above *Camp CCCXXX*, a little rudimentary
glacier was seen on the western range. Strong and violent gusts of wind blew
down from the N. W., like cascades, into the valley.

This pass, which killed three of our fourteen animals, was one of the highest
I had ever traversed. It is the eastern water-parting pass of the basin to *Shemen-tso*,
which, therefore, has a very considerable drainage area. The orographical structure
and general morphology of western Tibet is, as we have seen, quite different from
the relief forms in the eastern parts of the country. In the east it never happens
that one finds transverse thresholds of such enormous height in the latitudinal valleys.
One gets the impression that a kind of very broad meridional protuberances run
across the whole country.

On *February 16th*, we continued down the valley to the S. E. for 7.4 km.,
descending 134 m. or to 5,422 m. which was the altitude of *Camp CCCXXXI*.
The rate of fall was here 1 : 55, or considerably steeper than in the upper part of
the valley. The minimum temperature was only —22.2°. The ground of the valley
is covered with sharp-edged gravel and small blocks and boulders, the whole lot
more or less hidden by snow, making marching tiresome and fatiguing. Sometimes
the whole valley is snow-covered, and only occasionally, a stone breaks the white
sheet. The erosion furrows are also hidden. The fresh snow, driven hither by the
wind, is very loose, the older snow tough like parchment. By and by ice-sheets
are crossed in the principal bed, though no springs are seen. The valley does not

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