ABSTRACT
General Macdonald chose out of two or three alternative routes that by the Kharo Pass, about 150 miles in length, leaving a strong advanced base at Gyantse, so as to prevent any danger to his line of communications. The few who remained said that the Tibetan delegates had left the previous morning for Lhasa, had collected on the other bank of the Tsangpo to defend the crossing of that river. The descent to Nagartse, in the basin of the great Yamdok Lake, was easy and gradual along the bank of the river, which gathered up fresh feeders from every side valley where glacier-clad snow-peaks shot into view. At Gobzhi there is a considerable village with several cultivated fields, a Chinese staging-house, and two other hamlets across the river. At the village of Ralung, there shot into view another great snowy range which blocked our way to Lhasa. The monastery is prettily perched on the rocky ridge overlooking the bridge.
