Part 89 - Tsona halts with weather notes and bird observations, 13–15 April

1 page

SUMMARY:
At Tsona the party halts through 13–15 April amid cold, wind, frost, and snowfall, noting numerous waterfowl on the lake and recording barometer, temperature, and altitude. Yaks are promised though there is disagreement on the route. A man arrives from Trashigang with rice from the Dzongpon and is tasked with sending mail.

CONTENT:
about 300 birds, and shot 8 without anyone being much the wiser. They are in perfect plumage. Tsona is cold and dry, with the usual strong wind blowing all day but dying down at night. With a clear sky and bright sun though it is not too bad.

13th April. Halt Tsona. A perfect morning after pretty hard frost at night. Later on it clouded over and snow fell all evening from about 3.0pm. Very cold with a strong wind. Yaks promised for tomorrow night, but they want to go a different way to the way we want. A lot of bar-headed geese, brahminy and other duck on the lake, also brown-headed gulls and black-necked crane. Very cold at night. I make B.P. here 186.8. Temp. 43° Time 1.0pm. Ht. 14,000'.

Tsona. 14th April. Halt. A dull day with nothing to do but try to keep warm.

Tsona. 15th April. Halt. It started to snow in the afternoon and continued most of the night. There were three inches of fresh snow in the morning and it was very cold. A man came up from Trashigang with a present of rice for us from the Dzongpon. We are using him to send off a mail tomorrow.