over the bright green pastures; of the former, two
of the finest were secured, but the gazelle kept well
out of rifle range. The next march of twenty miles
brought us to the shores of Aru Tso.
This lake lies, roughly, north and south, whilst the
southern end is much broadened out by a b a y ; it is
fed by innumerable streams which flow from the Largot
Kangri and the mountains to the west and south.
In 1891, Captain Bower, when encamped on the
shores of Aru Tso, said that the waters were “ salt, of
course, like nearly all the Tibetan lakes ” ; six years
later, in 1897, Captain Deasy remarked that the waters
were “ drinkable ” ; in 1903, we found that the water
was fresh, without the slightest flavour of salt or soda.
This is certainly an interesting and important fact;
the country has not appreciably altered in its main
.«features in this short period of time, each visit was
made at about the same time of the year, and yet
there are three different reports. If this change has
occurred in the case of one lake, there would seem to be
no reason why it should not happen to some of the
other large sheets of water which are found all over
Tibet.
The scenery about Aru Tso was extremely beautiful;
although there was still a complete absence of trees
and shrubs, the mountain ranges of all colours and
forms, the glaciers, the snow-peaks, the green valleys
and the deep blue water of the lake formed a perfect
picture.
Especial care was now exercised lest our animals
should be stolen at night, for the locality bore an
evil reputation for brigandage. According to Dr.
Sven Hedin, five chukpas or robbers were caught here
two years ago by Tibetan officials and beheaded, and
six years previously Captain Deasy’s camp was attacked