134 Across the China-Tibet Frontier 
mountains in the west, probably Ta-miu, of which more 
anon. In the lower valleys, limestone only was visible, 
and here the monotony of rolling grass-land hills was 
frequently interrupted by hideously bare scarps, sills, and 
formless bosses of rock. As we continued in a north- 
westerly direction however, we came back into the red 
sandstone country, the strata dipping at high angles, so 
that curving across the backs of the long low hills they 
resembled the fleshless ribs of some huge leviathan stretched 
out to die. 
In this corner of Tibet the plateau seems to have a 
foundation of limestones bent into the form of a basin, or 
perhaps thrown into a series of folds, the hollows having 
been subsequently filled up with sandstone, though not to 
a sufficient depth to overlap the limestone along the rim of 
the plateau, which consequently appears round the eastern 
edge, and in every deep valley. 
Scattered huts and occasional small villages—at one of 
which, called Ngu-shi, we stopped for lunch—occur in the 
valleys, all with large scaffolding frames on which to stack 
hay and straw standing on the outskirts, and looking for 
all the world like the beginnings of a London hoarding. 
Barley is almost the only crop, though a few vegetables 
such as turnips are grown. The plateau is covered with 
grass, but the narrow river valleys are well forested with 
oaks and conifers, and thickets of Wippophaé rhamnozdes 
conceal the streams very much as osiers nestle over them 
in East Anglia. 
In the afternoon we reached Phula on the Garthok 
river, here very much smaller than where we had last seen 
it at Chia-ni-ting. It was, however, in full flood, deep and 
swift, the water of a bright red colour from flowing over 
the sandstone. The post-house at Phula is kept by a 
Chinaman, as are most of the inns and shops on the Lhasa 
road. 7Zzzs is the real invasion of Tibet, but it has failed 
for the reason that the women have Tibetanised their 
husbands. How can the alien from the rich valleys of 
the Flowery Kingdom maintain his nationality in such a 
dour land? 
All the post-houses were placarded with Imperial 
Government edicts in Chinese and Tibetan, setting forth 
