TA CHIEN LU ; ITS LAMAS, DOGS, AND PONIES
The Three Valleys of Ta Chien Lu — European Pollution of Water^ Thibetan Tusze, or Prince — Orientalism — Rupees — Brick-Tea Warehouse Inns — Yaks — Lamaserai — Prayer Banners — ^Tsatse — Lamas set their Dogs at Photographer — Human Skulls as Ornaments — Prayer Slates — Carnios — No Prayer Wheels to be sold — Om Mane Padme Hum — Thibetan Dignity — Batang — Changed Boundaries — Cold Wind oflf Glaciers — Roman Catholic Fathers — Variety of Tribes — Beauty of Features — Furs — Excellent Market — Beautiful Pictures — Gloomy Defile — Treasure Mules in Charge of Mandarin — Gold Mining— Another Attempt to cross Tung — Sure-footed Pony — Prickly Pears — Drought — Deforestation .
第十二章
打箭爐：喇嘛、狗與馬
打箭爐的三個山谷——歐洲人對水源的污染——藏族土司或親王——東方式風情——盧比（Rupees）——磚茶倉庫旅館——犛牛（Yaks）——喇嘛寺（Lamaserai）——祈禱旗（Prayer Banners）——扎西（Tsatse）——喇嘛驅狗攻擊攝影師——用作裝飾的人類頭骨——祈禱石板（Prayer Slates）——卡爾尼奧斯（Carnios）——無祈禱輪出售——六字箴言（Om Mane Padme Hum）——藏族的尊嚴——巴塘（Batang）——變更的邊界——來自冰川的寒風——天主教神父——多樣的部落——面容的美——皮毛——極佳的市場——美麗的風景——陰鬱的峽谷——由官員管理的財寶駱駝——採金——再次嘗試渡過瀘定河——腳步穩健的小馬——仙人掌——乾旱——森林砍伐。
September 7. — Ta Chien Lu, or Tarchendo, as the natives call the place, stands 8400 feet above the sea-level, in a deep depression, squeezed in between the lofty barrier range and the high rolling expanse of the Great Central Asian plateau. It occupies the bottom of a confined hollow, walled in by practicably inaccessible mountains, in which three valleys meet: two of these bring down the streams "Tar" and " Chen " from their sources in the snowy peaks behind, while the third carries down their joint contribution to the sea by way of the narrow defile leading past Waszekou to the Tung river. The larger stream flows right through the centre of the town, affording an unfailing supply of limpid water, in the shape of a foaming torrent whose roaring, but for our being so tired, would have kept us awake the night long. If this magnificent water-power is not made use of, as it would be in Europe, either for cleaning the town or for manufactures, we
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have at least the consolation of seeing that its fair surface' bears no scum, and that its bosom is not polluted by sewage asare so many streams in so-called civilised countries. Curious^ that the pollution of water, which is a sin against religion nearly throughout all Asia, should be a matter of sublime indifference in " enlightened " Europe and especially in England, where the barbarous misuse of water seems to go back to the Middle Ages, as one may see, for instance, at Canterbury, where the monks placed their solidly constructed latrines over the running stream. Of course, in China it is less the cleanly instincts of the people than the value of the excreta as a fertiliser to which the delightful purity of the streams and rivers everywhere is due. (Within three miles of Chungking, the town refuse, carried out by coolies in buckets, is worth a shilling a picul,* and the mountains, with their scanty soil, could not be cultivated without it.) The stream is spanned in the town by two roofed-in plank bridges, across which a delicious cold breeze blows on the stillest summer day.
9月7日——打箭爐（Ta Chien Lu），或如當地人所稱的塔爾千多（Tarchendo），海拔8400英尺，位於一處深谷中，夾在高聳的屏障山脈與廣闊起伏的**中亞大高原（Great Central Asian Plateau）之間。此地處於一個狹小的低窪地帶，四周被幾乎無法進入的高山環繞，三條山谷在此交匯：其中兩條帶來來自雪峰的溪流——「塔爾（Tar）」與「千（Chen）」；第三條則通過狹窄的瓦斯口（Waszekou）**峽谷，將兩股溪流匯成的水流輸送至瀘定河。
主要的溪流穿過城市的中心，形成一條湍急的清澈水流。儘管其轟鳴聲幾乎可以讓人整晚難以入眠，但由於旅途勞頓，我們幾乎沒受到影響。雖然如此壯觀的水力在歐洲會被用於城市清潔或工業製造，但在這裡卻未曾被利用。至少，我們可以安慰自己，這條溪流的表面不見任何浮渣，也未因污水排放而受到污染，這與許多所謂的「文明國家」中充滿污穢的河流形成了鮮明對比。
有趣的是，在幾乎整個亞洲，污染水流被視為一種宗教上的罪惡，而在「開化」的歐洲，尤其是英國，這種行為卻顯得無動於衷。英國對水的野蠻濫用可以追溯到中世紀，例如在坎特伯雷（Canterbury），僧侶們將堅固建造的廁所直接設置在流動的溪流上。當然，在中國，溪流與河流的潔淨並非全然出於人民的衛生習慣，而是因為人們將排泄物視為寶貴的肥料。以重慶為例，在城外三英里處，冷藏工人將城中垃圾用桶背出，每百斤（石（picul））可賣得一先令。而對於土壤稀少的山地而言，這些肥料是不可或缺的。
城內有兩座覆蓋式木橋橫跨溪流，無論是在最平靜的夏日裡，橋上都能吹來一陣清涼的微風，令人心曠神怡。
The town and district are under the government of a native Tusze, or Prince, assisted by a Chinese resident : his palace, with its gilded roof, is one of the most conspicuous ornaments of the place. Adjoining it is a large lamaserai, a two-storied range of buildings surrounding a wide courtyard, a gallery running round, leading to rooms inhabited by the Lamas, the woodwork painted in gaudy colours, in a style more Indian than Chinese. China proper has an essentially distinctive mark about its art products, houses, furniture, and dress, which is not Oriental in the common acceptation of the term, and it is not till one gets to the border regions that Orientalism, as commonly understood, reappears. This strikes one forcibly in Peking, where the Mongolian element gives a colour and variety to the civilisation which makes a study of its street traffic so fascinating to the traveller ; the long strings of stately camels, the ruddy-faced Mongols and yellow-coated Lamas all mark a change from the monotony of Chinese life.
這座城鎮及其所屬地區由一位土司（Tusze，或稱親王）統治，並由一名駐地的中國官員協助管理。親王的宮殿，其金光閃閃的屋頂，是此地最顯眼的裝飾之一。毗鄰宮殿的是一座大型喇嘛寺（Lamaserai），這是一片兩層建築圍繞寬闊庭院而建的建築群。庭院周圍設有畫廊，通向喇嘛居住的房間，木結構以鮮豔的色彩裝飾，其風格更接近印度而非中國。
中國本土的藝術製品、房屋建築、家具和服飾都具有一種獨特的本質特徵，這些特徵並不符合通常所謂的東方風格（Orientalism）。直到達到邊界地區，通常意義上的東方式風情才重新出現。這一點在**北京（Peking）**尤為明顯，因為蒙古元素為其文明增添了色彩與多樣性，使得研究北京的街頭活動對旅行者來說充滿了吸引力。長長的駱駝隊、面色紅潤的蒙古人以及身著黃色袍子的喇嘛，所有這些都標誌著與中國生活單調性的鮮明轉變。
（*一石 = 133 1/3磅。）
1 82 MOUNT OMI AND BEYOND
So here in Ta Chien Lu, although we are far from the boundary of the eighteen provinces, as depicted on the maps, yet the atmosphere is truly Oriental, and the numerous races represented give an endless variety to the picture. Since the abandonment of the Kokonor route, owing to its greater natural difficulties, as also in consequence of the long disturbances on the north-west frontier, the Ta Chien Lu road is practically the sole way of communication between China proper and its vast dependencies in Thibet, all the traffic passing through this gully. Hence Ta Chien Lu is a cheerful, busy place, and as, at the time of our visit, the brick-tea trade was at its height, and as it is here that the precious product is transferred from human to animal porterage, for which it has to be repacked in skins, the town was overcrowded, and trafficking and bartering were going on between the Chinese and representatives of varied Thibetan tribes from far and near. The natives bring skins, wool, gold and musk ; taking in exchange cloth, calico, hardware, tobacco, and "notions." Much of the trade is done by barter, but rupees circulate freely, and indeed form the sole currency of the region. All our payments were made in this coin, with a supply of which we had to furnish ourselves immediately on arrival, exchanging for them our pure Chungking sycee, weight for weight, at a Chinese banker's. We had first met with rupees at Tatienchih, eight days east of Tachienlu, in the shape of ornaments worn by the women. A very useful, loosely woven, woollen cloth which the Chinese inhabitants of the cold mountainous country to the east made up into jackets, and were wearing, as we passed through, even in August, is eagerly bought by the Chinese ; sufficient for a kuatse, or jacket, being procurable here for a shilling. The tea is hardly an article of local trade ; it is a strict monopoly of the Lamas, who derive their chief income from it, storing it up in their lamaserais and retailing out this necessary of life to the poor Thibetans at exorbitant prices. We entered one of the spacious warehouse-inns, a range or two-storied buildings with galleries surrounding a square
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