The young traveller was now in a strange dilemma. Permission had been given to take the journey and so he went ahead and hired his animals, Like Peter Fleming who Joined up with a caravan of 250 camels owned by the Prince of Dzun on his way to the Tsaldam, so W. H. Potts hired three of the animals belonging to a large opium caravan re-turing to Yunnan. It was a stroke of good luck as these caravans prefer to carry back tea to Likiang and usually take two months to cover the Journey. The caravan men now informed Mr, Potts that they could not possibly wait any longer but agreed to wait till May 12, So on Corona. tion morning the young traveller assed out of the south gate on his way to Liklang and Burma, On the tenth day out, however, the Yocal magistrate at Jurong stopped the traveller and advised him to return to Tachienlu, This was a bitter disappointment and Mr. Potts felt it very keenly. Two armed Tibetans escorted him to. the magistrate's yamen at Jurong and there he was kindly entertained and took some Dictures of the official and his chil Gren, Next day the armed escort him start back on hig journey by a different route from the one hho had traversed on the way down, The Tachienlu authorities apologized on. May 26 for having detained. him and left it at that, Mr. Potts again explained his position to 31M. Consul who again appealed to the Foreign Omce in Chungking to obtain the necessary pass through to Yunnan.
Finally the authorities again gave their permission apparently having been notified from Chungkin But Mr. Potts was now faced wit anew diMeulty: there were no swans going to Yunnan and was prepared to hire him horses.
young optimist, however, had wed the necessary lessons' from Peter Flemidg about the embarrassing conditions of travel in the East and he was quite prepared to sit and walt in the spirit of Mleawber till something turned up.
One day a Tibetan promised to take Mr, Potts a three day's journey over the Jaesi Pass to the Yulongshi gesting that he might find Fe to take him further on his journey. A bird in the hand being worth: two in the bush is quite Cor Another day a Moham~ a different proposition where yak are
medan hirer of horses turned up and offered to take, the traveller as far as Jurong but demanded an impossible sum. Days passed by and different owners offered their services but-no one seemed prepared to take Mr, Potts to the right bank of the Yaiong, and the right bank of that river must be reached if the traveller was ever to see Yunnan and Indi Asa diversion from the serious bus hess of waiting Mr. Potts retired to the sulphur springs at Walee and there continued to bathe, read and it, With a copy of Tolstoy's "War and Peace" the days by the springs passed very quickly and with his Chinese servant and his little tent the patient young man from Birmin hom enjoyed the wild life among the Tibetin mountains. Having lived in the wilds of New Guinea Mr, Potts was Interested in noting the differences in the bird life round the hot springs.
Finally, with the help of Namkha, a young' Tibetan was engaged who offered to take Mr. Potts and four animals to. the left bank of the Yolong, with the necessary proviso that he would cross the river at Midirong and help the traveller to engage horses or coolles to take him og Mull or Yungning.
Second Journey Begun Returning to Tachienlu on June 13. Mr. Potts left the city the following day in his second attempt to get in this essential part of his Journey, It would have been quite 'a simple thing to have returned to the capital, travelled by aeroplane to Yunnanfu,'and from there by motor bus to Talifu, and continued from there to Tengyueh and across the Irrawaddy into Burma. But to a man like Mr, Potts intending to write book on his travels this seemed like going from the sublime to the ridiculous, He wanted to travel with big long caravan and it possible long a dangerous caravan route and he wanted to do it slowly. One day he got a magnificent picture of the 100 "animals in single Mle travelling along a narrow defile. Again he got some beautiful views of the famous
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.