1898.] S. C. Das — Travels on the Shores of Lake Yamdo-Croft. 
267 
24th October 1882.—We resumed our journey a little before sun¬ 
rise. The streamlets were frozen and the ponies slid several times on 
the slippery ice; the wind was howling and extremely chill. My 
face, tightly bandaged with a piece of Assam silk cloth, was well pro¬ 
tected ; but my feet within the boots began to freeze, and I could 
hardly draw out my hands from inside the long sleeves of my lambskin 
vestments. There were no villages near the way. Far behind were 
the dokpa tents, whence the howling of mastiffs was alone heard. 
From this distance the village and the monastery of Taling were visible. 
After two hours’ journey we came to the edge of the Yamdo lake, a 
nook of which we had now almost doubled. We crossed the Shan- 
dung-chhu inlet of Yamdo with much difficulty owing to its being 
frozen. The Shandung monastery and the valley for some time formed 
the only object of importance within view. The morning sun had 
lengthened the shadows of the cliffs that overhang the Yamdo; so 
that we had to journey a long way under their shade, and could not 
enjoy the genial rays of the sun. To add to the discomforts a very chill, 
unwelcome breeze blew, freezing our extremities. We had a glimpse 
of the Chhoi-khor monastery, which is noted for its supplying the 
whole of Tibet with a class of fantastic dancers called Achi-Lliamo 
actors. Some of these professional players and dancers annually visit 
Darjeeling. As we came nearer we obtained fuller views of the Chhoi- 
khor monastery, which commanded a singular view, as it was situated 
like an eagle’s eyrie amidst the bleak and sombre cliffs of Yamdo. 
Passing along the circuitous margin of another nook of the lake, wo 
entered another broad valley with a stream in its middle flowing towards 
the lake. The large village of Ri-o-tag, I was told, was on this 
side of Yamdo. After an hour’s ride we came within two miles of it. 
The plateau through which we now passed was several miles long and 
broad. To our right we saw at a distance of eight or nine miles the 
ruins of Ri-o-tag Jong. About a mile towards our right hand side we 
were shown a place near a village where we could breakfast, shortly 
passing the village we crossed the Ri-o-tag stream after which we 
crossed a saddle-like eminence. Beyond the latter is a stream flowing 
to the Yamdo, on the banks of which we halted for breakfast. This 
was a grassy patch of ground filled with cavities and mole hills. Phur- 
chung prepared me a dish of boiled phing (vermicelli made of peas) 
and mutton with rice. At 10 a.m. we resumed our journey. We were 
now ascending an undulating plateau. This rose, as we proceeded, in 
successive retiring terraces, the undulations being in an ascending slope. 
These were covered with grass, now yellowish brown at the approach of 
winter. Presently the tortuous winding of the Yamdo came in view as 
