Roads! There are no other paths there than those beaten out

by wild yaks, wild asses and antelopes. We made, literally made, our way,

while I charted the country and captured for the pages of my sketch-book

as many views as possible of glorious mountain giants with snow-capped peaks

and labyrinths of winding valleys.

We penetrated deeper and deeper into the unknown,

putting one mountain chain after the other behind us.

And from every pass a new landscape unfolded its wild, desolate vistas

towards a new and mysterious horizon,

a new outline of rounded or pyramidal snow-capped peaks.

Those who image that such a journey in vast solitude and desolation

is tedious and trying are mistaken. No spectacle can be more sublime.

Every day’s march, every league brings discoveries of unimagined beauty.

Sven Hedin, 1865-1952

Travels in Zhiduo County

Travels in Qumalai County

Travels in Zaduo County

Travels in the Changtang and Kekexili

Other notes on Tibetan wildlife

On the annual cycle of pastoral migrations

On traditional environmental law

Among the first outsiders to describe the geography and ecology of the upper Yangtze, Yellow and Mekong Rivers were two Italian priests, an imperialist Russian explorer, French and British travellers, Indian pundits, American naturalists and a Dutch missionary (Huc 1852, Prejevalsky 1876, Rockhill 1891, Wellby 1898, Rijnhart 1901, Das 1902, Migot 1957). Excerpts from their published accounts provide insight into the three rivers' headwaters region, Plateau Perspectives' main work area, with a special emphasis on the Tibetan environment and biodiversity.

Travels in Zhiduo County

“He [Prejevalsky] crossed the range and came down to the Shuga River… It was a strange Eden. Kulans [wild ass] trailed inquisitively after the camels; the [wild] yak did not even bother to get to their feet. Storks and cranes had not yet migrated…

Somehow they reached the Kuku Shili range where reedy marshes gave the camels food, and also provided cover for a new race of bear. Przhevalsky watched a wolf pack follow a bear, seizing marmots as the bear scraped them from their burrow…

Over unnamed ranges they found their way to the upper Yangtse, the Mur Usu… The river was deep, wide and still unfrozen [with] hundreds of wild yak that had not yet migrated downstream… Eventually [they] reached a tributary of the Yangtse… The river led them up a gentle gradient to a pass just under 17,000 feet…

[There they] sighted the first human beings since leaving Tsaidam over 300 miles away. These were Yograi tribesmen [some of whom live in Suojia to this day], known in Tibetan as the Sokpa, a nomadic tribe, often bandits, who recognized neither the governor of Hsi-ning [Xining] nor the Dalai Lama…”

The Dream of Lhasa: The Life of Nikolay Przhevalsky (1839-88), Explorer of Central Asia (Rayfield 1976)

“At daybreak [we] continued…down a magnificent gorge, the mountains on either side being very lofty and precipitous. Eventually the gorge became very narrow, before reaching a well-marked camping ground of short, green grass. We had come to a district abounding in scrub and thorn bush two or three feet high [and] with the fragrant smell of herbs…

Our route onwards, which was up-stream of the Shugatza, took us over fine prairie land, teeming with immense herds of kyang… A long way down the valley, on the other bank of the Shugatza [were] immense numbers of wild yak and wild kyang…”

Through Unknown Tibet (Wellby 1898)

“Next we come to… two small countries, of which the northern portions are inhabited by nomads, namely Dsagarnag and Adra Dsamar [probably western Zhiduo]… In its northern part, [Dsagarnag] is a poor country, with very few trees…. Its people live chiefly by hunting. In spring and summer such as possess rifles and horses hunt the stag. In the second or third Chinese moon, say about March-April, the stag’s horns bleed; and there is a great demand in China for the bleeding horns, which are regarded as a strengthening medicine and fetch over Tls. 100 a pair. In winter time they snare the muskdeer, sending the musk to the Jyekundo [Jyegu] market. Poor persons hunt the badger and the fox with sticks and dogs, the badger in summer, the fox in autumn, employing the winter in trading the fox-skins; there is nothing for them to do in spring except to go after badger in their burrows, not an easy business, as they go so deep. The fox is not the real fox, but an inferior animals called Be in Tibetan, and Sha-hu in Chinese, whose skin fetches not more than three or four rupees. The badger is called Chü-wa in Tibetan and t’u-t’u-tzu in Chinese; it is hunted both for its skin and for food. The skin is not traded, but made into garments: the flesh is almost as fat as pork. The people of Dsagarnag dress like Tibetans, but the men wear ornaments in their hair, which is not a common practice in Tibet…

Adjoing Dsagarnag, and west of it, is Adra Dsamar, also a small country, not quite so poor as the former, but otherwise much the same… The people are poorly clad and robbers abound. When I was there about twenty years ago [around 1906], the country was being terrorized by a robber chief styled Gedmo Dagjel, who wore princely clothes and had a following of about 100 men, all splendidly dressed, well mounted, and properly equipped with guns and tents. Adra Dsamar is all rocky hills and grassy plains, but the grass is poor, and, as in Dsagarnag, the people live chiefly by hunting, dwelling in yak-hair tents and wearing sheepskin coats…”

A Tibetan on Tibet (Combe 1926)

Travels in Qumalai County

“Bears are very numerous around the [source of the] Yellow River [the Karma-t’ang, or ‘Plain of Stars’], where they do not keep to the hillsides, but are frequently met with on the plains. Holes about five feet deep and as many broad, dug by them, were continually passed…

Along the foot of the hills to the south of Karma-t’ang runs the trail followed by the wild tribes of the Golok K’amba, when journeying to and from Lh’asa, or when on their way to attack some caravan bound for that city…

The ground was exceedingly rough, everywhere covered with little hummocks bristling with stiff grass, around which were small pools of water… All this country must be a vast marsh in the rainy season…

South of the Karma-t’ang we came to another plain, like it covered with pools of water, and with several small lakes, and traversed by a rivulet which flowed into one or the other of the two big lakes to the north. This second plain is called Tsulme-t’ang by Tibetans… The hills around this plain, and also Karma-t’ang, were literally black with yak; they could be seen in the thousands…

After leaving the Yellow River we saw no more wild asses or antelopes – only bear, yak, wolves, lagomys, and sheldrakes…

The tribes of pastoral Tibetans living north of the Dre ch’u [the upper Yangtze River], from its sources to Jyekundo [Jyegu] or even farther east, were organized by the Chinese government in 1732 into thirty-nine hundreds ruled by hereditary chieftains or Deba, and under the congtrol of the Hsi-ning Amban… These tribes were to pay to the emperor an annual tribute…

These clans or tribes are known as K’amba, a name which in reality applies to all inhabitants of K’ams, or K’amdo, as the eastern portion of Tibet is called, but in common parlance [refers to the northern pastoral tribes]… All the pastoral tribes… are ruled by chiefs called Deba, who have no other officials under them… In case of war they lead their men, and in time of peace they see that the pasture lands of their tribes are not encroached upon; they levy the various taxes for China, for Lh’asa, or Derge, as the case may be, and sometimes arbitrate quarrels among their clansmen, but generally the people settle such matters between themselves.”

The Land of the Lamas (Rockhill 1891)

“Notwithstanding [the] sterility and the unfavourable conditions of climate, the deserts of Northern Tibet [in Qumalai] abound with animal life. Had we not seen with our own eyes it would have been impossible to believe that in these regions, left so destitute by nature, such immense herds of wild animals should be able to exist, and find sufficient nourishment to support life by roaming from place to place. But though food is scarce, they have no fear of encountering their worst enemy, man; and far removed from his bloodthirsty pursuit, they live in peace and liberty.

The characteristic animals belonging to the order of Mammalia, which are most numerous in the Tibetan deserts, are the wild yak (Poephagus grunniens), the white-breasted argali (Ovis poli?), the kuku-yaman (Ovis nahoor), the antelopes called orongo and ata (Antilope Hodgsoni and A. picticaudata), the kulan or wild ass (Equus Kiang), the grey wolf (Lupus Chanco). Besides which are the bear (Ursus sp.), the manul (Felis manul?), the fox (Canis vulpes), the steppe fox (Canis Corsac), the hare (Lepus tolai), the marmot (Arctomys sp.) and two kinds of lagomys (Lagomys sp.)…

The most common birds of Northern Tibet are: vultures (Vultur monachus, Gyps nivicola), lammergeiers (Gypaetos barbatus), and crows (Corvus corax), all which appear as soon as an animal is slain; red-legged crows (Fregilus graculus), which collect in vast flocks during winter; sandgrouse (Syrrhaptes Tibetanus), larks (Melanocorypha maxima, Alauda albigula), linnets (Linota brevirostra)… also the Podoces humilis and the Montifringilla…

At length, on January 22, 1873, we [finally] reached the banks of the Yangtse-kiang or Blue River, called by the Mongols in its upper course the Murui-ussu, and by the Tangutans [Tibetans] Di-chu. This river rises in the Tang-la mountains, and after passing through the highlands of Northern Tibet, pursues its course to the boundaries of China Proper, where it soon swells into a mighty stream… In autumn, after the [summer] floods have subsided, the Murui-ussu is fordable, but only in a few places.

The breadth of the valley is less than a mile and a half, and in some places the mountains on either side narrow it even more. The Tibetan road ascends the river for a ten days’ march to its sources in the Tang-la mountains. Here, too, there is no population, with the exception of 500 Tangutans [Tibetans], who are encamped about 100 miles above the mouth of the Napchitai-ulan-muren [or Qumahe River, northern source of the Yangtze River; the encampment would therefore be of Suojia Tibetans]. About 230 miles lower down there is a large agricultural population [around Jyegu]…

The banks of the Blue River were the limit of our wanderings in Inner Asia…

Mongolia, the Tangut Country and the Solitudes of Northern Tibet (Prejevalsky 1876)

Travels in Zaduo County

“The following day we crossed another large plain at the eastern extremity of which we forded the Dam Chu [or Dangqu, tributary of the upper Yangtze River], a beautiful river, very clear, every pebble in the bottom of which we could distinctly see. Before we started, wolves in large packs howled around our tent, and we met individual ones on the road. Topsy [the Rijnhart’s pet dog] chased a bear only a hundred yards from us, while a large herd of wild cattle [wild yak] were scattered around us…

Northeast of the [Tsa Chu or Zaqu, the Tibetan name of the upper Mekong River], we roamed about enjoying the gorgeous view that presented itself to us. The valley from which we had just emerged was narrow; the hills and mountains on either side were ranged against the horizon in glittering masses, rugged, fantastic and multiform in outline, and of varied tints, the brilliant green of the sloping pasture land mounting gradually and fading into the delicate purple and grey of the rocky summits; the river in its placid onward course suggested peace and power; the hillocks close to its edge across from us, seemed with their side garments of deep verdure tapering off into rocky, sun-gilded crests, like monarchs of a lower rank reflecting the splendor of the kingly giant-like elevations whose heads, towering far above, were crowned with azure and gold. Behind us again, were other hills clothed with beauty in minute detail, from the massive rocks with their clinging lichens, to the pretty low shrubs covered with small leaves and yellow flowers like miniature roses…

Eight inches of snow fell during the night… The only dark object we saw far or near was a large brown bear with a white ring around his neck, prowling and shuffling about just a few yards from us… [Then, a few days later] four bears gambolled about on the hillside until the shade fell on them and they shuffled away…”

With the Tibetans in Tent and Temple (Rijnhart 1901)

Travels in the Changtang and Kekexili

“We crossed some hills, and then descended into a valley of sandy soil. There was also rich grass, and several small streams flowed across the valley, taking their rise from the snow peaks north of us. Here we saw immense herds of antelope, all females and young ones … thousands and thousands of wild antelope had chosen this pasture-land… During the next day’s march we again saw thousands of antelope… On one green hill we [also] could see hundreds upon hundreds of yak grazing; there was, I believe, more yak visible than hill.”

Through Unkown Tibet (Wellby 1898)

“Almost from my feet away to the north and east, as far as the eye could reach, were thousands upon thousands of doe antelope with their young. The mothers were mostly feeding, while the young ones were either lying down and resting, or being urged on by their mothers…

Everyone in camp turned out to see this beautiful sight, and tried, with varying results, to estimate the numbers of animals in view. This was found very difficult, however, more particularly as we could see in the extreme distance a continuous stream of fresh herds steadily approaching; there could not have been less than 15,000 or 20,000 visible at one time.”

The Great Plateau (Rawling 1905)

Other Notes on Tibetan Wildlife

“Most of the territories that I travelled through [in the summer of 1951] were sparsely populated, but some were devoid of any human presence; there, wild animals lived free and undisturbed, between high, majestic mountains covered with perennial ice and snow. In some regions many ice-peaked rocky mountains arose and at their feet in the valleys lived herds of deer and flocks of wild sheep known as nawa (ovis nahura).

The nomads almost always choose for their settling places grassy plains with abundant water where the highland green is studded with innumerable mountain flowers. Herds of Kyang (equus hemionus), wild asses many thousand strong, along with hundreds of wild yaks called drong (bos grunniens), graze on those plateaux along with deer [white-lipped deer], antelopes called gowa [Tibetan gazelle], dre which is a type of marten similar to and slightly larger than the weasel, wild sheep called nyen (ovis hodgsoni) [argali] and many other species.

In the green valleys, where the song of thousands of cranes resounds, stand the rukor, the encampments of yak-hair tents which shelter from 11 to 30 families…

A fact we found striking was that thousands of the birds called atakayu [Hume’s groundjay] lived with the avra [black-lipped pika, or plateau pika]. These small birds, grey in color with black beak and dark grey claws, and slightly larger than a canary, live in the same dens as the avra and lay their eggs there.”

Journey Among the Tibetan Nomads (Norbu 1997)

On the Annual Cycle of Pastoral Migrations

“In the summer, since the grazing grounds change with the seasons, nomads move to the best pastures on the plateaux and mountains; there no private land belonging to single families exists and there is no limitation on where animals may graze, except for the borders between different regions and some zones considered the private property of certain camps.

Autumn is held to be a particularly good time for the accumulation of dairy produce. In fact, there is a saying amongst the nomads: ‘Autumn milk is half butter’. In that season the herds are taken to luxuriant pastures near the encampments of the nomads. Each camp has an autumn pasture whose grass was left untouched during the summer, at a lower altitude than the summer grazing grounds, warmer and sheltered from wind and rain.

Of all the pastures, however, the most important are those where the herds spend the winter. Each camp and most families own winter allotments, for private use. During summer and autumn no one, regardless of social position, is allowed to graze his animals on the winter pastures. If anyone violates this rule, the next spring he will have to pay damages to the family legally occupying those grounds for all their animals dead from hunger over the previous winter…

The winter pastures usually lie in green hollows on mountain slopes, in sunny valleys and other warm places, sheltered from rain, snow and storms. There, the nomads build ample pens as high as a man, using animal dung to erect the walls; these enclosures serve to protect the livestock from the wind, storms and attacks of wolves and other wild animals…

Spring is a difficult and demanding time for the nomads. Their animals, thin and weakened, cannot cover long distances to reach the pastures and at times sleet falls for many days in a row, causing the death from starvation of hundreds of stock. For this reason, the spring pastures, where the grass covered by snow in winter begins to grow again, must be very near the winter ones…”

Journey Among the Tibetan Nomads (Norbu 1997)

On Traditional Environmental Law

“Rigya, the general laws that govern relations with the environment, also forbid the gathering of certain tubers and roots such as the dzayung, the yartsa gunbu and the karmog. The nomads, in fact, often say that the yartsa gunbu and the karmog are the treasures of the earth spirits, while the dzayung is their very heart. If anyone should pick them, his community and their livestock will be struck by virulent epidemics that will spread all over the region.

The gathering of these tubers and roots is very often a cause of conflict between different groups because young people, both male and female, secretly collect them outside their own territory. If discovered by the locals they are stripped of their booty and savagely beaten. This risk is taken because the young have little belief in the stories about those tubers and are far more interested in the tea, silk, cotton and ornaments they can procure bartering them with Chinese traders.

Every nomad community carries out patrols known as risher over its entire territory in summer and autumn and these are very successful in maintaining order and have a reassuring effect. The youths with the best horses volunteer readily for these expeditions as they have a battle-loving spirit. On these patrols they are very likely to encounter hunters from other regions, thieves, bandits, people violating customary laws or even enemy spies or hostile band out on raids…”

Journey Among the Tibetan Nomads (Norbu 1997)