is ordinarily used ; the treads are long and very narrow
pieces of poplar wood, either worn into a slant, at which
no foothold is possible, or tipped with iron, upon which
the nails in one’s boots slide mercilessly. The only
handrail is a highly polished wooden willow-pole, which
slants from the lowest step at an angle more perpendicular
than that of the steps. They are more difficult
to come down than to go up, and this is saying a good
deal. On the third storey of Pe-di jong are the living
rooms, the only really habitable ones in the place;
the rest of the building keeps the rain out, and, that is
about all. Here, however, Lieutenant Dalmahoy, with
a company of Pathans, was left in charge, while on
the 23rd the force moved to their camping-ground,
a mile short of the little village of Trama-lung. From
this point the road over the Kamba la rises abruptly
to the north ; the road beside the lake presents no
very interesting features, and two things alone arrested
our attention. The first was a curious example of
the cup marks which indented an artificially'smoothed
surface at shoulder height above the road, just where
it doubled a rocky spur. These cup marks are referred
to later as a characteristic of Lhasa also. A mile and
half further on we found that the Tibetans had built
a wall across the road, choosing its position with some
skill. The sharp cut fresh turves with which they had
crowned the wall and a little house, just where it terminated
over the lake, proved that it had not been
built for long. We arrived at our camping-ground
before twelve o’clock, and I went up to the summit
of the hills which divide the Yam-dok tso from the basin
of the Tsang-po, in order that I might, if possible, catch
the first glimpse of the Potala.
Kawa-guchi, the Japanese traveller, reported that
from the Kamba la he had seen the palace, and the
villagers of Trama-lung proudly claim for this spot the
first sight of the Forbidden City. There can be no
question of the direction in which, if at all, this first
glimpse of Lhasa is to be obtained. Looking carefully
through glasses, I saw a minute, symmetrically-shaped
dot of grey, just visible over one of the intervening spurs.
I do not know to this day whether that were really
Lhasa or not. It was certainly in the exact position,
but it was entirely impossible from that distance for a
stranger to be sure, even had the day remained clear.
Afterwards, nothing was certainly distinguishable.
There were so many subsequent misstatements made
as to the identity of Potala, that I would not do
more than suggest to another traveller following upon
our track upon a clearer day, that it may be worth
while to substantiate or refute the claims of the villagers
of Trama-lung.
The remainder of the day was spent by a good
many officers in fishing. At Yarsig, on the evening of
the 21st, the waters of the lake were found to be full
of fish, which had rashly crowded into the shallows
by the shore, and were easily captured by the hand.
Major Iggulden and Mr. Vernon Magniac were the most
industrious fishermen of the force, and it may be news to
some of the disciples of Izaak Walton that in Lhasa
these two men habitually caught from 60 to 70 fish in
an afternoon. These fish were generally called trout, but
this was merely a convenient misnomer. The essential
feature of a member of the family of Salmonidse, is
the presence of a snub dorsal fin, which was wanting in
these trout-like fish. The presence of minute barbels also