200 A NATURALIST IN WESTERN CHINA 



was pleasantly surprised at the ease with which they negoti- 

 ated it. 



With the weather conditions so favourable the view from 

 the summit of the pass far surpassed my wildest dreams. It 

 greatly exceeded anything of its kind that I have seen, and 

 would require a far abler pen than mine to describe it ade- 

 quately. Straight before us, but a little to the right of our 

 viewpoint, was an enormous mass of dazzling eternal snow, 

 supposed to be, and I can well believe it, over 22,000 feet high. 

 Beneath the snow and attendant glaciers was a sinister-looking 

 mass of boulders and screes. In the far distance were visible 

 the enormous masses of perpetual snow around Tachienlu. 

 In the near distance, to the west-north-west of the pass, 

 another block of eternal snow reared itself. Looking back 

 on the route we had traversed we saw that the narrow valley 

 is flanked by steep ranges, the highest peaks clad with snow, 

 but in the main, though bare and savage-looking, they scarcely 

 attain to the snowline. On all sides the scenery is wild, 

 rugged, and severely alpine. A cold wind blew in strong 

 gusts across the pass, and we were glad when our photographic 

 work was finished, and we could hurry down. Several fine 

 Eagles and Lammergeiers were soaring aloft, but we saw no 

 animals, though Wild sheep and Thibetan gazelle were said to 

 frequent this region. 



Descending by a precipitous, break-neck path, over loose 

 slate, sandstone shales and greasy clayey-marls for 15 li, we 

 reached the head of a broad valley. The pass on this side 

 offers a far more severe climb than the side we had ascended. 

 On reaching the valley the track we followed connects with 

 the main road to Th'ai-ling, Chantui, and Chamdo. Com- 

 mercially speaking this is the highway into Thibet from 

 Tachienlu. It leads through grasslands, affording good pastur- 

 age for animals, and though the mean elevation is very con- 

 siderable the passes are less steep than those on the political 

 highway via Litang and Batang. This Ta-p'ao shan region is 

 notorious for its highway robberies. We met five tribesmen 

 who told us that in the previous night their camp had been 

 rushed by an armed band and everything they possessed 

 carried off. Every Thibetan is by nature a robber, and 



