Part 63 - Lubong and Dzama entries: quarrel between district headmen and ascent toward Karma La

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SUMMARY:
Hunting continues and a Kalij is taken; tensions erupt between the Loto and Lome headmen, causing fights among coolies until Thompson calms the situation. The party travels toward Lubong and then Dzama in perfect weather, noting pine forests, landslides, seeds of Gaultheria, and views toward Gyala Peri and Namcha Barwa from near the Karma La.

CONTENT:
Hunting goes on here; one is constantly hearing the sound of a gun. I got one of Kalij this afternoon. There are two districts in this part of the Po Tsangpo below Trulung—Loto and Lome, divided at Dzama, each having a headman.

21st Feb. LUBONG 5 1/2 m. The day started badly. Some coolies came early, some did not come. The headman of Loto, who was in charge, started cursing the coolies of the Lome headman and hit one. This started a regular fight with fists and sticks and a hell of a noise. We eventually got off, the headman staying behind shouting at everyone. He caught us up later, saying 3 men were after him with knives. But the trouble seemed to have settled till we got here, when it flared up again between the two headmen, who tried to throttle each other. Thompson did good work in quieting them down. The day was good, and the views fine. But we badly want a clear day tomorrow, as from the Karma La, both Gyala Peri and Namcha Barwa are visible, I'm told. It looks promising for tomorrow at present. We got seed of two Gaultherias, one with white fruit, locally called Sülü, which we have not seen before. The people here are nice, but the day has been somewhat spoilt by this awful row going on all the time. There is still very little to see of flowers of any kind, and I don't think we will get much either. Mostly the path is through pine forest, and there have been many landslides on both sides of the river. We saw a few Luculia trees, perhaps Luculia Pinceana, but in unripe fruit. From about 300' above camp, two very high snow mountains appear, one at bearing approx 170° (Namcha Barwa?) the other at approx 205° (Gyala Peri?). In the evening the headmen's quarrel was made up, and both were perfectly happy together. I prefer the Lome headman, who takes us on from tomorrow.

22nd Feb. Dzama Left at 7.15. In at 1.30. A perfect day. Cold at night, but not a cloud all day, and the views astonishingly lovely. This is no easy route, but one well worth coming, especially if one gets weather like we are now having. It is absolutely perfect. Both of us are tired this evening, after the very steep ascent to the Karma La, which is a little