NORTH-WESTERN SZECHUAN 135 



San-tsze-yeh, alt. 9200 feet, consists of ruinous hovels built 

 on a level with the infant stream which at this point breaks 

 up into three equal branches, all of which have their source in 

 the near neighbourhood. Looking back on the route we had 

 traversed we saw that all the higher peaks are barren and 

 desolate, the highest of all being flecked with snow. The whole 

 plexus is made up of the spurs and buttresses of the mighty 

 snow-clad Hsueh-po-ting. To the north-east from San-tsze- 

 yeh are other tremendous peaks, bare, barren, and uninviting 

 in appearance. The aspect of the country around this hamlet 

 is purely Thibetan. The scant crops and abject poverty of the 

 inhabitants speak plainly of a country where altitude and 

 climate set agricultural skill and industry at defiance. Such 

 regions the Chinese abhor and cannot colonize. The pastoral 

 Sifan, with their herds of cattle and sheep, remain masters of 

 the soil though politically subject to Chinese authority. The 

 conquest of this wild region must have been a most difficult 

 task and speaks volumes for the military genius which 

 accomplished it. 



During the night at San-tsze-yeh I had a violent attack of 

 ague, probably caused by a chill, which culminated in a fit of 

 vomiting. This seizure and the howling of many dogs were 

 against a good night's sleep. In consequence we took things 

 very gently the next day, and I used my chair much more than 

 usual. 



Twenty-five li above San-tsze-yeh, to the right of the stream 

 which descends the narrow valley, there is a most interesting 

 place. A torrent heavily surcharged with lime descends from 

 the eternal snows of the Hsueh-po-ting, depositing along its 

 course thick lime encrustations of creamy white. The place is 

 considered holy by the Sifan, to whom any natural phenomenon 

 strongly appeals. A temple has been erected here and a 

 series of some fifty tarns constructed by leading the waters 

 from the stream and making small semicircular dams. All 

 are at slightly different levels, and the waters as they flow from 

 one to another continue to build up the dams by leaving 

 deposits of lime behind. The bed of each tarn is creamy white, 

 but owing to the light being reflected in different colours, 

 according to the varying depth of each, an attractive scene of 



