CHAPTER V.
T H E L A S T S T A G E .
On the third day after our arrival at Chak-sam Colonel
Younghusband and the Mission crossed the river, and
took up their abode in the garden of a little house of
which the local name is Pome-tse. The work of transporting
the entire force across the river occupied a week,
and during that time I made one or two expeditions
to interesting points beside the river. On the 28th
of July, O’Connor and I rode out to Ta-ka-re, about
two and a half miles along the north bank of the river
to the west ; the road ran through barley fields dotted
with forget-me-nots and plantations of willows and
poplars until we came in sight of the large pyramidal
chorten which stands just outside the village of Tse-
gang-tse. This is a curious structure built up of receding
tiers and crowned with a large drum. No one
was able to tell us anything about its origin, but it is
interesting because of a slight resemblance to the
Pyramid of Saqqara.* It is called a Pum-ba locally,
and I noticed that in the innumerable reiterations of
om mani padme hum round the structure the conventional
order of colours was varied in one particular,
* One of the interesting things in Tibet is the frequency with which one may
see in almost, if not entirely, contemporary history the existence and develop- •
ment of processes and ideas which in other parts of the world are almost p r e - '
historic.
the second syllable being a dull apricot instead of green.
Otherwise it was normal.
We rode on under the white wall of the village,
passing a splendid walnut-tree standing just where a
ravine flawed with slowly trickling water afforded
shelter to a rich profusion of flowers and ferns. A
mile on we mounted a short-cut over a little spar of
quartzite, which here deflects the road, and came down
within sight of two extensive monasteries built up
against the rock. At their feet was a walled-in enclosure,
half-swampy, half-firm grass, in which were
The north shore of the Tsang-po.
growing some of the most enormous willow trunks I
have ever seen. These trees must be of immense age,
and the photograph which is here reproduced will
give some idea of the unusual size which these writhing
and gnarled monsters attain. We visited the Ta-ka-re
gompa, the entrance of which immediately faces the
willow grove, and were well received by the little company
of monks. It is the smaller of the two monasteries,
and does not perhaps differ very much in construction
or in ornamentation from the usual Tibetan lamasery.
The Umzi, or manager, took us over the buildings.
They are not of very great interest, the place being