An Embassy to the Court of the Teshoo Lama in Tibet - Prajna Quest

228 TIBET.abundant crops of ripe corn, and exceedingly populous. The numerousclustering villages, consistingof from four to ten neat squarehouses, their whitened walls, interspersed here and there with willows,and the river winding amongst them, were all together happily contrastedwith the stiff sterility of the adjacent hills. The weather wasclear and serene;and, although the sun shone with its brightest lustre,its warmth, even at noon, was not uncomfortable.About this time we had arrivedat Dongzee, a large village, underthe jurisdiction of an officer from Lassa ;and we halted in an extensivegrove upon its borders, where we found some tents already pitched.While we waited here to refresh our cattle, we made an ample repast,that gave us fresh spirits to pursue our journey, which we continued,without any remarkable occurrence, until near sunset, when we arrivedat Dukque, sixteen miles from Tehukku, and pitched our tents forthe night.Our next day's journey lay within sight of the river all the way,which ran in a smooth stream, sometimes round the foot of the hills,and sometimes through the centre of the valley, but it was now nolonger fordable. I saw a boat, placed on its end, in one of the villages,for occasionaluse, which might easily be carried on the back of thepassenger.It was composed chiefly of leather, and consisted of a rudeskeleton of wood, with thwarts and ribs, over which a bull's hide was'stretched.It appeared to be exactly similar to that kind of boat, which,under the name of coricle ', still continues in use on the Wye, and perhapson some other of our English rivers ; and it brought forcibly to'See Beloe's Herodotus, Vol. I. p. 195.