GURLA MANDHATA 129 



almost rainless, and there were no deep valleys cut out 

 by torrents ; only rounded ridges with flats lying between, 

 and the streams were few and small, depending almost 

 entirely on the melting of the snow. The country further 

 to the east and north opened out into wide plains, sloping 

 gradually to the river Tsampu, which flows eastward. 

 Here were the sources of the great Brahmaputra, origi- 

 nating from the glaciers of Gurla. The trade route from 

 Gartok to Lhasa runs along the main valley. We could 

 see at times the camping-ground of Duksam, where were 

 some tents of the traders, who had yaks, ponies, and many 

 pack-sheep. 



On the plains to the south-east we came across camps 

 of the shepherd Hunias, with immense flocks of grazing 

 sheep and goats, who lived in black yak's-hair tents 

 stretched over circular stone-built walls, exactly after the 

 pattern of those of the Arabs in Algiers. These walls were 

 placed in convenient places by some water stream and 

 where grass grew, and were occupied when the sheep and 

 yaks were driven to fresh pastures. We found these 

 people very polite, and they sold us a fat sheep occasion- 

 ally, and milk and cheese and butter, which last was 

 made up in balls, and sewed into bags of goat-skin with 

 the hairy side inwards. The contents of these bags were 

 so full of hair that the butter had to be melted or combed 

 out with a fork before it could be used, but it was not at 

 all to be despised when eaten with very dry chapatis, and 

 it was excellent for cooking. The cheese was new, white, 

 half-pressed stuff, but, barring the hair, it was not bad. 

 The shepherd women used to milk the sheep morning and 

 evening. They were driven together and tied in long rows 

 to a yak's-hair rope, each with a loop round its neck. 

 Then the women walked down the line with pails, milking 

 the goats and sheep as they came, with a peculiar slapping 



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