Showing 7 results

CONTENT:
82

Kodachrome 21.
Two Kongbas at Latsa. 13/4.
At the Temu La. 14/4. 18. 19. 20. 21
P. atrodentata. } 15/4 Sent from Dzeng. 16/4.
A Kongba with flute. }

14-15 Ap. Dzeng Some rain at night. Mostly cloudy.
15-16 Ap. Dzeng Some rain at night. Mostly cloudy.
16-17 Ap. Dzeng Some rain at night. Mostly cloudy.
17-18 Ap. Dzeng Bright & clear. Min 29°.
18-19 Ap. Dzeng Fine night. Fine but cloudy 19th.
19-20 Ap. Dzeng Rain at night. Fine but cloudy 20th.
20-21 Ap. Dzeng Rain at night. Fine but cloudy 21st.
21-22 Ap. Dzeng Rain at night. Rain by 3.0 pm.

Kodachrome 22
Betty, Jill, Joker at camp Dzeng. 18/4.
Up Tsangpo Dzeng 18/4
Up Tsangpo up hill 18/4.
Buddleia purple. 20/4.
Rhod. vellereum in forest behind Tse 20/4
Rhod. vellereum close up
Self photographing Rhod. vellereum 20/4.

SUMMARY:
Entries describe travel from Latsa to Rapidang with shifting weather, few plants in flower at higher elevations, and notable abundance of Podophyllum emodi. Heat caused hardship for Jill, and mule transport from Yusum was ending; Muhammed was sent ahead to Lenda to arrange onward transport after efforts to continue to Lhapso failed.

CONTENT:
several showers & a very cold wind indeed. We were late in camp, & it was a poor very sandy place to pitch tents in a strong wind. But it calmed down at night.

30 April. Latsa on E side of Koncho nga la. Bright & fine, but clouding by 3.0pm. A strong cold N. wind blew nearly all day. There is little in flower up here except very fine P. atrodentata, Rhod. vellereum, & Prunus sp 12426 (Prunus caudata) which is rather fine. Rhod. primuliflorum var. cephalanthoides 12428.

1st May. Many Dyong. Lovely clear day, very hot on this side of the pass. There was nothing of interest, except Prim. pumilio. P. jaffreyana was in bud. All Rhod. vellereum had been hard hit by hail. The people here are very helpful indeed.

2nd May. Tronda. A very hot day finishing up in the evening with violent storms on the hills on both sides of the river. Poor Jill found the sand so hot that she almost gave up. She could not walk any longer & I carried her the last 6-8 miles. Her feet are alright, but the heat was intense. Nothing of interest anywhere. We have but two more days of our luxurious travel with our mules from Yusum. From Lenda on, it must be the same old bullock & odd animal as on our way down.

3rd May. Rapidang. Last night's storm cleared up & it was fine today till 2.0pm. Then other storms came on all round us. Podophyllum emodi (Podophyllum emodi 12429) here is more numerous than I have ever seen it before, & is really very pretty growing as it does in tight clumps showing 6-8 flowers close together. Our mule transport finishes tomorrow. I tried to get them to go on to Lhapso but they won't, so Muhammed went on today to arrange transport from Lenda onward. It has been very pleasant coming in without having to give a thought to transport. This was our worst part on the way down - with bullock transport day after day. Great damage was done then to boxes - now we have had none.

SUMMARY:
The party halts at Kyimdong Dzong for several days due to transport delays, washing and repairing gear, developing photographs, and interacting with local officials; the Tsongpen scouts a snowy pass and brings back a rhododendron, while the Dzongpen visits and provides provisions. Kyimdong is noted as the source of Lhasa note paper and has villages under it (Shu, Langong, Sumbatse); later they move to a camp below Taktsa after Pinto assembles animals, with Ludlow not yet following, and note coniferous forest along the route.

CONTENT:
up tomorrow to find one. That will mean a two days halt here. As we have not bathed or had clothes washed for a long time, that is quite a good thing. Daud, I'm afraid is not a great success always. His cooking is excellent, but he is always quarrelling with someone, Ramzana, Pinto or Tsongpen. I had to tell him off again today when we arrived.

7th April. Halted Kyimdong Dzong. Fine morning, clouded evening. Tsongpen went to the la and reported only a foot of snow, so we can go that way. He also brought back a rhododendron (3607) = Rhod. vellereum. The Dzongpen came again to see us and stayed more than an hour. He gave us potatoes and flour, both very good. He is quite friendly and out to help. Spent the day washing ourselves and our clothes and trying to repair some of the badly smashed boxes.

8th April. Halted KYIMDONG DZONG. Fine morning, clouded evening. Stayed in camp all day. Did a little developing etc. Kyimdong is the place where all the paper used to make notes in Lhasa comes from. The notes are made of double thickness paper of good quality (probably made from a Daphne sp.) and have a black "water mark" between the two. We have not used them yet, as they are not very popular. This is a queer place for a Dzong and this Dzongpen certainly does not like it. There were six houses, but Pinto says now there are only two. There is however a good deal of cultivation, and it has other villages under it, including Shu, Langong and Sumbatse.

9th April. Halted KYIMDONG DZONG. "At least" 16 animals were promised without fail this morning, and the remainder by noon. By noon 8 had arrived, so we again pitched our tents and stayed the day. This doubt as to when or if we will get away from here is most annoying. If only the Dzongpen would say that we couldn't go for 10 days it would not be so bad, but he always says transport is just arriving. Fine morning, some rain clouds in the afternoon.

10th April. 1 m. below TAKTSA. Still no sign of our yak transport, but Pinto scraped up 16 ponies and bullocks and came on with them, hoping Ludlow might be able to follow this evening. But he has not. The path is quite good, with a more or less steady ascent gradually getting into the conifer forest. On the hillsides (N face) are masses of larix, a fair amount of fir and some rhododendron and birch. At m 4 1/2 pass the ruined village of

SUMMARY:
Notes mention specimen 3607 Rhod. vellereum from up Kyimdong Chu and a reference to Kyimdong paper. Ludlow records sending his Lepcha collector (Tsongpon) while the Dzongpon dispatches a man to inspect snow on the Lang La with plans to stamp a yak track if feasible; he also recounts how Tibetan troops treated aconite-tipped arrow wounds, and mentions waiting for transport.

CONTENT:
3607 Rhod. vellereum. Up Kyimdong Chu.

Ludlow 32 - we are sending up my own Lepcha collector
(Tsongpon). The Dzongpon is sending up one of his
men to inspect the snow condition on the Lang La.
The idea is, if the snow is not too deep, to stamp
out a track with yaks.

Ludlow 32.
Talking about the Lobas, he (the Dzongpon) said
that during the fighting some years ago between
them and the Tibetan troops, the latter, when hit
with an aconite-tipped arrow, immediately
extracted the shaft and excised the flesh surrounding
the wound with a knife. If they did this
immediately, they had some chance of survival. If
they failed to do it in time, the aconite paralysed
the muscular tissues of the whole body and death
soon intervened.

Ludlow p 33.
Kyimdong paper.

Waiting for transport.

SUMMARY:
The diary records movements from the east side of Kongbo-nga La via Mye to Shu, with delayed coolies and negotiations for transport. It notes forest and plant observations near the pass, attempts to contact Gyantse and Ford by wireless, strong winds, and halts on 1–2 Dec due to uncertain transport.

CONTENT:
Nang.

28 Nov. Camp on E side of Kongbo-nga La. Coolies had not come in by 9.0, so we set off at 10.0 with about 30-40 loads only, leaving Samdup behind. A good day but spoilt by transport trouble. Reached the pass by 2.30 & in at camp - not at Nye - at 5.0pm. Coolies came in soon after except about 15 who only turned up next day. It was good to be in forest again, pine, larch & birch on the west side, & juniper, larch & birch on the E, with pine on N faces. Rhod. vellereum common, with two small Rhodos. On the E side saw some P. jaffreyana & a lot of Androsace of 3 species.

29 Nov. Mye. A short march in today where we should have reached yesterday. Samdup also turned up by 11.0 & our kit has again caught us up. I saw two partridge on the way up the Pass. Ludlow then saw one 'Kuling' & another, while Ludlow missed a Crossoptilon on this side. This is the first village with pent wooden roofs. All to the W of this are flat roofed. The hilltops often have early morning mist on them now - a sign of a damper climate. I was surprised to see no Mec. simplicifolia on the pass - only M. horridula.

30 Nov. Shu. An easy march. We were in by 1.0 (start 8.0) & coolies were in shortly after. A few were late. I tried to contact Gyantse at 3.30 pm (BT) by W/T, but got no answer. Later tried Ford (TASA) but again got no answer. Local Dzongpon's man tried to refuse to give us anything but day to day transport. We demanded 'Dzongyel', & we think we have succeeded, at the price of 2 days halt & a than of cloth & ten cigarettes! Supplies difficult, & we have hardly managed to get anything. Very strong wind in evening.

1st Dec. Halt. Fine, but clouded by midday. Wind by 2.30.

2nd Dec. Halt. Fine & clear & windy. We doubt if our transport will come as promised, by this evening. This is a bad place to get away from - in 1938 we were held up five days at Kyimdong Dzong.

SUMMARY:
Captions for Kodachrome roll 29 record plant and landscape photographs around Kongbo Ngala, Nam Dzong, and the Tsangpo near Dzam, dated between 30/4 and 5/5. A Lama of Dzam is noted among the subjects, and there is a note that two films were numbered 31.

CONTENT:
90

Kodachrome 29.
Primula albidocitrina at Kongbo Ngala. 30/4.
Prunus against sky 12426. 30/4.
R. vellereum from near Kongbo Ngala, snow background 1/5
Prim. pumilio No. 12411 1/5
Rhod. vellereum beside river. 1/5.

30.
Towards Nam Dzong from west 2/5
Monastery 6 m W of Nam Dzong. 2/5.
Rose No. 12412 3/5
Podophyllum No. 12419 . 3/5

31.
Podophyllum emodi 12419 3/5.
Lama of Dzam. 5/5
Tsangpo below Dzam 5/5

(Two films numbered 31)

SUMMARY:
Entries describe travel from Dzong with snow conditions and a stay at Latsa, reports that Ludlow and Elliot spent 24 days shooting waterfowl, and notes of increased rain in the Tsangpo valley pleasing the Tsala Dzongpon. After halts and cold weather, Ludlow and Elliot depart on the 18th with Lepchas, Ramzana, and Balbahadur, while Samdup and Kancha remain with the diarist. On the 20th at Tse, the river level and wind patterns are observed, and a brief botanical note records rhododendrons in flower.

CONTENT:
14th April. Dzong. Some snow at night. We stayed in a house at Latsa, as we feared heavy snow which did not materialize. The house was clean, like all the houses in the valley, very big. It had a big central stone fireplace in the room we were in, so we had a good wood fire all the time. Snow got deeper as we went up over the top; there must have been 1 1/2 feet. There was not so much on the S. & we were soon out of it. Left at 6.30 & got in at 1.30 pm. Ludlow & Elliot have been here for 24 days. All they've had to do has been shoot game. They've got 25 geese & as many mallard, with a few shoveller & 2 spotbill. There has been much more rain in the Tsangpo valley than usual, & the Tsala Dzongpon is very pleased, as crops there should be specially good. Last year was almost a drought.

15-16 April. Halt. Rain in night & nearly all day of 15th. Very cold for this altitude.

17-18-19 Ap. Ludlow & Elliot left on 18th & had a perfect day to go on, without a cloud in the sky, after a clear cold (min 24°) night. All the Lepchas went too, with Ramzana & Balbahadur. The 'trouble makers' - Samdup & Kancha are going with me. Ludlow should now have no more trouble: I doubt if he will even when Samdup returns. It is a pity about our servants. If only we could have got some other than Samdup & Kancha, the whole party would have been happy, that makes all the difference.

20th Ap. Tse. Back here again. The river is, to my surprise, rather smaller than in December. It must in fact be at its minimum now. Wind continues the same - upstream as far as the Gyamda junction, & downstream to the junction. B & I went up the Tse valley today, but only saw the same things as elsewhere. P. chungensis (not in flower) Rhod. vellereum 12393 in very fine flower & another Rhod 12388 fairly common. R. vellereum is in masses in the Gyamda valley, & all along the hillside on the N face.