Page 23 - GFA – A Different Drumbeat
P. 23
GFA – A Different Drumbeat 23
The rarified atmosphere of these higher altitudes makes distances deceptive
and it gives a queer sensation when, after breaking camp and riding for an hour or
two, to look back and see the stones of your last camp-fire at apparently a short
distance. By-the-way there is another very interesting fact in this connection. You
may remember that in the pictures of Tibetans which you have seen, the heavy fur
gown is usually thrown back off one shoulder, leaving that shoulder and arm
exposed whist the other shoulder is carefully covered. The reason for this is again
one of altitude. At these heights the atmospheric blanket around the earth is already
thinning and consequently the sun’s direct rays have greater penetrating power.
Thus the side of the body exposed to the sun may become uncomfortably hot whilst
the side in the shade remains nearly freezing. On occasions I have carried bladders
of butter from the nomad camps of the Kokonor. These parcels were slung to my
saddle and whilst on the off-side to the sun they remained in their frozen state but if,
even for a few minutes, they got exposed to the sun, the butter began to melt.
Perhaps the main physical wonder feature of the Kokonor is the great salt lake from
which the name Kokonor, or Blue Lake, is derived. This is a veritable inland sea
some 65 miles long by 40 miles across. Away out in the distance, just visible in
outline from the south eastern shore, is an island on which there is a small
lamasery occupied by a few lamas. The only contact these people have with the
shore is during the coldest weather, when the lake freezes over from November till
the end of March, and devout Tibetans and Mongols make pilgrimages to the
lamasery, The Kokonor gives rise to some of the greatest rivers of Asia; the Yellow
River and the Yangtse having their sources within very short distance of each other.
Further south-east, in the province of Amdo, these two rivers run almost parallel for
quite a distance, with a very short distance between them. I have forded each in
their upper reaches when the beautiful crystal dear water came just up to the
horses’ girths. In its upper reaches the Yangtse is euphemistically captioned the
"River of Golden Sands” due to the large quantity of alluvial gold swept down in its
flow.
So far our story has had to do with Tibetan life on the high tableland of
the Kokonor, but south of this region there is much interesting wild country to be
found in the area of the Amne Machin and Minshan Ranges. In this country I have
seen some of the most glorious mountain scenery it has been my lot to witness in
any part of the world I have travelled. On one memorable December morning in
1910, when crossing the divide between the Yangtse and Yellow River water sheds,
I saw in all its pristine beauty the highest towering peak of the Amne Machin range
which, at a later date, was thought by such travellers as Brig. Gen. George Pereira
and Dr. Joseph F. Rock might prove to be higher than Everest, This, however, was
disproved by aeroplane surveys made after the War following the "re-discovery” of
this peak by the ball pen manufacturer Reynolds. South of this height is the mighty
The rarified atmosphere of these higher altitudes makes distances deceptive
and it gives a queer sensation when, after breaking camp and riding for an hour or
two, to look back and see the stones of your last camp-fire at apparently a short
distance. By-the-way there is another very interesting fact in this connection. You
may remember that in the pictures of Tibetans which you have seen, the heavy fur
gown is usually thrown back off one shoulder, leaving that shoulder and arm
exposed whist the other shoulder is carefully covered. The reason for this is again
one of altitude. At these heights the atmospheric blanket around the earth is already
thinning and consequently the sun’s direct rays have greater penetrating power.
Thus the side of the body exposed to the sun may become uncomfortably hot whilst
the side in the shade remains nearly freezing. On occasions I have carried bladders
of butter from the nomad camps of the Kokonor. These parcels were slung to my
saddle and whilst on the off-side to the sun they remained in their frozen state but if,
even for a few minutes, they got exposed to the sun, the butter began to melt.
Perhaps the main physical wonder feature of the Kokonor is the great salt lake from
which the name Kokonor, or Blue Lake, is derived. This is a veritable inland sea
some 65 miles long by 40 miles across. Away out in the distance, just visible in
outline from the south eastern shore, is an island on which there is a small
lamasery occupied by a few lamas. The only contact these people have with the
shore is during the coldest weather, when the lake freezes over from November till
the end of March, and devout Tibetans and Mongols make pilgrimages to the
lamasery, The Kokonor gives rise to some of the greatest rivers of Asia; the Yellow
River and the Yangtse having their sources within very short distance of each other.
Further south-east, in the province of Amdo, these two rivers run almost parallel for
quite a distance, with a very short distance between them. I have forded each in
their upper reaches when the beautiful crystal dear water came just up to the
horses’ girths. In its upper reaches the Yangtse is euphemistically captioned the
"River of Golden Sands” due to the large quantity of alluvial gold swept down in its
flow.
So far our story has had to do with Tibetan life on the high tableland of
the Kokonor, but south of this region there is much interesting wild country to be
found in the area of the Amne Machin and Minshan Ranges. In this country I have
seen some of the most glorious mountain scenery it has been my lot to witness in
any part of the world I have travelled. On one memorable December morning in
1910, when crossing the divide between the Yangtse and Yellow River water sheds,
I saw in all its pristine beauty the highest towering peak of the Amne Machin range
which, at a later date, was thought by such travellers as Brig. Gen. George Pereira
and Dr. Joseph F. Rock might prove to be higher than Everest, This, however, was
disproved by aeroplane surveys made after the War following the "re-discovery” of
this peak by the ball pen manufacturer Reynolds. South of this height is the mighty
