the whitish colour peculiar to the Indian ranges, and assumed the blackish or ochre colour distinctive of the Tibetan region. 'Twas with a feeling of intense relief that we finally discerned vegetation and heard the babbling of a little brook, near which flew birds feeding on rhododendron and juniper berries, and a little way off we saw some herds of yaks grazing, and smoke rising from a camp fire. Here we stopped at the foot of a great rock, and enjoyed, after our long fast of two days, a meal of rice and buttered tea.
We continued down the course of the stream, passing with some apprehension near a huge bull-yak or shalu, though low stone walls separated us from him and kept him away from the she-yaks (di) in the adjacent pasturage. This part of the valley is frequently visited by packs of wolves, which kill large numbers of yaks, but the bulls are able to drive them off with their long sharp horns.
At 3 p.m. we passed Dsongo, the extreme border of the district of Tashi-rabka, and where are the ruins of a stone house built on a huge boulder. This was formerly a stage-house used by the Sikkim Raja's people, when the Yangma and Wallung districts still belonged to him, when going to or returning from Tibet. A little way beyond this point we met some herdsmen, who made inquiries as to whence we came and where we were going. Near by were their tents, where I noticed two swarthy women and a fierce Tibetan mastiff. Phurchung entered one of the tents, sat down to chat and drink a cup of tara, a sort of thin curd.[1]
Ugyen was much preoccupied about our getting by Tashi-rabka and escaping its headman (Tongzungpa). At about 6 o'clock we were close to the village, and so we hid till dusk in a gully, where we boiled our tea and ate some tsamba. The moon shone out brightly when we resumed our march and passed along a portion of a high stone wall, erected by the Tibetans during the Nepalese war, when, it is said, they put up five miles of it in a day under orders of their general, the Shape Shata.[2] This wall is carried across the
- ↑ Tara, or tarak, is made of curdled milk slightly cooked and stirred up in the process. It is a favourite dish throughout Tibet and Western Mongolia, in which latter country it is also known as tarak. It is generally eaten just before meals. In Eastern Tibet and the Kokonor it is called djo (pr. sho). It is the same as the yaurt of the Turks and the people of the Balkanic States.—(W. R.)
- ↑ Shape is the colloquial title given to the ministers of State (Kalon) of the Tale lama. The word is possibly gshags, "justice;" dpe, "model," though it is now written as in the text. See infra, p. 174.—(W. R.)
