Southern Tibet : vol.4 / Page 459 (Color Image)

0459	Southern Tibet : vol.4

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panoramas on the accompanying plate were taken. The upper one shows a view
to the north and N. N. W., the lower a view to the S. E. Only the little northern
basin of *Lemchung-tso* was in sight from this camp.

On the night of *February 21st,* the minimum temperature was —20.5°. The
wind in the morning came from N. E. and went, as usual, gradually over to S. W.,
with the strength of nearly a full storm. The sky was clear, not the slightest sign
of a cloud. But the air got slowly filled with dust, and the landscape, which the
day before had been so readily visible all around, now nearly disappeared in this
thick haze of dust. As a rule the nights were calm. A hundred meters from the
shore, the ice was very thick, even 58 cm. did not suffice to get through, and
the hole was abandoned. In the open part near our shore, the water was as fresh
as could be wished, but here the little affluent of the spring came out, and may
have influenced the taste of the water of the lake. *Lemchung-tso,* however, no doubt
has fresh water, otherwise the ice would hardly be so thick. Other signs of nomads'
visits at the lake were found during our rest-day at this camp, *viz.* a sheepfold filled
with dung of sheep.

On *February 22nd,* we marched 9.3 km. S. E. At *Lemchung-tso* the height
was 4,820 m., at *Camp CCCXXXVI* 4,878 m., thus giving a rise of 58 m. or at
a rate of 1:160. The night temperature was at —24.4°. In the morning the wind
was S. E. We continued between the west shore of the lake and the base of the
small hills of grey, dense limestone. The soil is gravelly. After a few minutes we
found, to our surprise, that we had already reached the southern shore of the lake.
We ascended the top of an old beach-terrace and saw that a promontory of the
little hill group fell down to the very shore of a larger lake in our immediate vici-
nity. This was the lake we had seen from the neighbourhood of *Camp CCCXXXIV.*
From the platform of the terrace, we went down on its southern side along a similar
terrace slope to the shore of the southern lake, which was white with salt. This
lake was much larger than its neighbour, though still of small size. It was only
partly frozen; in the middle the water, of a bright and beautiful green colour, was
quite open, and certain parts along the northern shore were not frozen. The lake
is bitterly salt. We, therefore, have here a fresh-water and a salt-water lake quite
near to one another, or a pair of lakes of the kind that is by no means rare in
Tibet. In such cases the fresh-water lake is always situated at a level a few meters
above the salt one and drains to it. In the case of *Lemchung-tso,* the drainage,
which certainly exists, must be subterraneous through permeable layers of sand, and
perhaps only temporary, when the basin gets filled in the summer. At any rate,
there was no superficial connection between the two lakes. To the south the salt
lake was bounded by dark brownish hills of rounded forms and moderate height,
with narrow strips of snow here and there, and obviously quite barren.

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