164 Mountain and Monastery ; 
Between Pang-tsi-la and Tung-chu-ling are several tall 
mud watch-towers standing up above the house roofs, an- 
other monument to Chinese activity along the trade routes, 
though it must be confessed that, now at any rate, this road 
is little used by any but the lama caravans going to Lhasa, 
and the Tibetans have it all their own way, in spite of the 
fact that since the 1905 rebellion there have been Chinese 
garrisons at Pang-tsi-la and Chung-tien. This road offers 
the quickest route between Tali and Batang, but except 
when in large numbers, the Chinese always prefer to go 
by Wei-hsi-ting, and I do not remember to have met a 
single Chinese caravan between A-tun-tsi and Pang-tsi-la. 
The Yang-tze here is narrower than below Batang, and not 
interrupted by rapids to any great extent, so that except in 
times of unusual or sudden floods it can be crossed by the 
ferry. Barren stony platforms—sometimes cultivated if 
water is available, as below Pang-tsi-la itself—extend from 
the mountains to the river, above which they end in sheer 
gravel cliffs. It had been my intention to continue up 
the Yang-tze to Mo-ting and return to A-tun-tsi over the 
Riin-tsi-la, but learning that this meant a journey of five 
or six days in the arid region, I abandoned the idea, and 
decided to start back next morning by the same route, 
spending another day collecting on Pei-ma-shan. 
Next morning I could not secure any porters, and 
whereas Gan-ton would have pressed half-a-dozen into 
service in a very short time, hour after hour passed and 
still my juvenile interpreter had not collected the requisite 
number. Finally starting at one o'clock, it was dark long 
before we reached Tung-chu-ling and we had the pleasure 
of another night march. Eventually everything arrived 
safely except my bedding, and a search party was sent out 
with torches. We found one of the porters had quietly 
given up the struggle in the darkness and sat down. 
On the following day, September 23, we again started 
late, and ascending the steep valley in leisurely fashion, 
made only a short stage, camping at the upper limits of 
the fir forest, and on the third day after leaving Pang-tsi-la 
we camped just below the pass at an altitude of 15,000 feet, 
the wind here being bitterly cold. 
As I was riding across the plateau some distance behind 
