to a small Chinese pagoda we
had seen on our entrance into the village. It is reported that at the
time of the wars of Kien-Long against the Thibetians, one of the
Leang-Tai, charged with victualling the Chinese army, crossed during the
winter the mountain of Tanda on his way to Lha-Ri. On passing the brink
of an abyss filled with snow, a long-haired ox let fall a coffer of
silver with which it was laden. On seeing this, the Leang-Tai sprang
from his horse, threw himself upon the coffer, which he grasped in his
arms, and rolled, without relaxing his hold of the treasure, to the
bottom of the gulf. Tradition adds, that in the spring, the snow having
melted, they found the Leang-Tai standing on his coffer of money. The
Emperor Kien-Long, in honour of the devotion of this faithful commissary,
who had so faithfully abided by his trust, named him the Spirit of the
Mountain of Tanda, and raised a pagoda to him in the village. The
Mandarins who journey to Lha-Ssa, never fail to visit this temple, and to
prostrate themselves thrice before the idol of the Leang-Tai. The
Chinese emperors are in the habit of deifying in this manner civil or
military officers whose life has been signalized by some memorable act,
and the worship rendered to these constitutes the official religion of
the Mandarins.

[Picture: Pagoda of Tanda]

On leaving the village of Tanda, you travel for sixty lis on a plain
called Pian-Pa, which, according to the Chinese Itinerary, is the most
extensive in Thibet. If this statement be correct, Thibet must be a very
detestable country; for, in the first place, this so-called plain, is
constantly intercepted by hills and ravines, and in the second place, it
is so limited in extent, that any one in the centre of it can easily
distinguish a man at the foot of the surrounding mountains. After
passing the plain of Pian-Pa, you follow, for fifty lis, the serpentine
course of a small mountain stream, and then reach Lha-Dze, where you
change the oulah.

From Lha-Dze to the stage of Barilang is 100 lis journey; two-thirds of
the way are occupied by the famous mountain of Dchak-La, which is of the
number of those that are reputed murderous, and which, for that reason,
the Chinese call Yao-Ming-Ti-Chan; that is to say, _Mountain that claims
life_. We effected its ascent and descent without any accident. We did
not even get tired, for we were becoming used, by daily practice, to the
hard