Through the Lutzu Country to Men-kong 97 
lama caravans which pass through A-tun-tsi go this way 
to Lhasa, joining the main road again at Chiamdo, to the 
north of Men-kong. 
Passing between boulders of granite amongst which 
grew masses of Opuntia now in flower, we reached the 
capital of Tsa-riing before mid-day, and leaving the men 
to fix the camp, Gan-ton and I crossed to the right bank 
by the rope bridge, and climbed the cliff. 
Men-kong is built on an alluvial fan washed down from 
the mountains by two converging torrents, and ending 
abruptly in a bluff some six or seven hundred feet high, the 
Salween—here almost continuously interrupted by rapids— 
flowing in a deep trench below. Scattered down the slope 
are the big two-storied ‘manor’ houses, standing amongst 
fields of waving corn and shaded by magnificent walnut 
trees; the contrast between the golden barley and the olive 
green foliage, from amongst which the white houses peeped 
out here and there, was charming. 
Up on the hill side, almost under the shadow of the 
forest, stands the ancient monastery, its splendour dimmed 
by the ravages of time, unheeded by the priests and people, 
and westwards the neglected road winds away over the 
mountains to the plains of Assam. The stone-paved court- 
yard facing the temple is empty now, and the heavy doors 
of the temple itself are locked. Only the wind sighs gently 
through the sombre arbor vitae trees which spring up here 
and there amongst the courts and little wooden houses, 
some of them decked with flowers where the priests 
reside, and the ragged prayer-flags flutter merrily. Even 
as I stroll through the deserted court-yard, its red and 
white walls almost flashing in the brilliant June sunshine, 
I hear the rise and fall of the flails, and the chorus of 
‘Tibetans singing perhaps their harvest song. 
The population of Men-kong, including adjacent settle- 
ments across the river, is given as seventy families, and the 
monastery contains about a hundred priests. There is also 
a garrison of fifty Chinese soldiers from Ssii-chuan, and 
after visiting the monastery I paid my respects to the 
military official, a very pleasant young fellow. He did not 
seem in the least surprised to see me; rather did he 
look as though he expected an Englishman to stroll into 
Ww. T. 7 
