Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 2 (1876).djvu/83

Rh the man's life had been spared, and that he would be set at liberty in the morning.

After crossing the Chagrin-gol, a good-sized stream flowing in a south-westerly direction to the town of Djung-ling, we again entered mountains, which now form no part of the border range, but are piled up on the lofty plateau of Kan-su. This chain runs parallel with the largest of the tributaries of the upper Hoang-ho, viz. the Tetung-gol or Tatung-ho, flowing from the north; another equally gigantic range rises on its southern bank. I will presently describe the orography of this region, but now continue the narrative of our journey to the temple of Chobsen.

From the Chagrin-gol we ascended the valley of the Yarlin-gol by a road practicable for wheeled carriages, although it has been much neglected since the Dungan insurrection. No inhabitants were to be seen. We passed several abandoned gold-washings; all the streams in these mountains are said to abound in the precious ore. Water is everywhere plentiful, and the character of the scenery thoroughly alpine. Like the Munni-ula, the Ala-shan range, and most of the mountains of Mongolia, the outer slopes are the wildest; towards the passes the scenery becomes tamer. Some towering peaks, however, are visible even here, as for instance, Mount Gadjur, which