KONKA RISUMGONGBA, HOLY MOUNTAIN OF THE OUTLAWS THE CRAGS OF MOUNT MITZUGA In the foreground is a pond, on the western slopes of the summit which is sacred to Muli Monastery. the grass lands of northeastern Tibet. Still there remain areas along that vast bor derland, such as the homelands of the Ngoloks, the Hsiangcheng, and Konkaling tribes, which are most difficult of access and whose inhabitants have defied West ern exploration. Of course, no Chinese dares visit even the frontiers of these law less bands. In 1926 I explored the region of the Amnyi Machen Range and the gorges of the Yellow River in the southern Koko Nor, having been the first white man to ex plore the land between the Yellow River and the Amnyi Machen.* More recently I was privileged to ex plore another and even less-known region, the Konkaling district, northwest of the Muli kingdom, where the existence of an * See "Seeking the Mountains of Mystery," by Joseph F. Rock, in the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE for February, 1930. enormous mountain mass, only second in height to Minya Konka and the Amnyi Machen, was then not suspected by the out side world. On my journey to the lama kingdom of Muli in the winter of 1923, I saw from one of the mountain heights over which my trail led a far-away conglomeration of snow peaks. Later I learned from the Muli king that these peaks were in the land of Konkaling and inhabited by Ti betan outlaws. I could not then venture into that mountain fastness, because the time was winter and because I had not yet established the real friendship of that amiable but stern ruler, the King of Muli. On my return from an expedition in the Koko Nor for the Arnold Arboretum I arranged with the National Geographic Society to undertake the exploration of this unknown mountain range and terri tory, hitherto a blank on the map; and it