52 A -tun-tst 
glancing at the sun. Gan-ton could tell the right time 
within half-an-hour at any period of the day if the sky was 
not completely overcast. 
As already remarked, below Hsaio-wei-hsi, where the 
river broadens out considerably and the banks usually slope 
more gently, there are only two-way rope bridges, so that 
the passenger having slid down to the middle of the rope, 
is compelled to pull himself up the remainder of the dis- 
tance. 
Unlike the Chinese, the Tibetans do not use pack- 
racks, and though the custom of simply fastening the loads 
on either side of the saddle by means of a loop has its 
disadvantages, it certainly saves a great deal of delay 
when, as in the case of crossing a river, every box has to 
be separately taken off and tied on again. True, things 
get badly shaken up by this method, and occasionally a 
box falls off, though by no means so often as one would 
expect after seeing the method of tying them on; but on 
the whole I am inclined to think the Chinese exaggerate 
the importance of pack-racks, with all the elaborate knots 
employed. 
Bad as is the cliff road from Hsiao-wei-hsi to Tsu- 
kou, it becomes positively perilous beyond the latter 
village, more particularly where it traverses the gorges, 
winding sharply this way and that, ascending and descend- 
ing by steep stone stairways, jumping scree shoots, or 
crossing a ravine by a bridge of tree-trunks. The soldiers 
who loafed along behind were worse than useless, for pre- 
sently from far down one of the gorges would echo the 
melodious tinkle of bells, and in the worst possible place 
the leading animals would meet; whereupon the soldiers 
rushing up too late only made the confusion worse. 
. Mules are not only stubborn, but stupid, and when 
unattended they will sometimes try and pass each other on 
a two-foot path. The loads of course lock, but the animals, 
instead of backing out quietly, put down their heads and 
push as hard as they can to try and disentangle themselves, 
so that not only are the boxes banged to pieces against 
each other and against the cliff, but the outside mule often 
stands a good chance of going over the precipice. 
North of Tsu-kou are Tibetans only. Prayer-flags 
