New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-05-27
THROUGH TIBET.
FILLING BLANKS IN THE MAP OF ASIA.

as that of any part OF the globe. His descrp-
lions of the difficulties which he met lessen rather
than increase the terrors of the way. lie was
obliged in a measure 70 follow the line OF uaVei
laid down for him by the monkish rulers OF the
country, but they turned him aside by urgency
rather than by any show OF force lie 'raVeleu
ON a passport which had no reference TO lioe'
whatever: he had only one European companion
DR. W. G. Thorold. and but five guns 10 oeiehu
a large caravan. Geographically 1t was all one
TO him whether he travelled one route or ano'"ei
80 long as ne was allowed TO move through TERRI
tory hitherto unexplored A reference 10 his
chart will show that he was In pracucaIi! ul-
Known country all the way from the boundaries
=, r.odokb ~ Ia Chen Iu. where he struck into
the trail OF NJ. Bonva0t and Prince Henri dOr-
leans who had traversed the country from Loo
,or 10 TIA Chen IIu in 1890 He heard much OF
wandering bands OF robbers and saw them occa-
ssonally: he had high words frequently especially
in the portion Of the country where the SELL
b,ance of Chinese power was made the most o.
with the Lamas: on one occasion he had 10 tuih
hack for a few days march. He was delayed ioi
month by dilatory officials; he was LED lar
northward by his guides: but In the emu lie maui
his way to China as he had intended. II can oiH'
be a question Of time when the. central pioF'".o
- what NAV be called independent Tibet WIN
the capital Lhasa will be as well known as any
-, -, Asia Though he saw robbers, his cara
von suffered little IL any from their depredatohs
The nuferings Of the more peaceaole natives
,vara far greater annoyance. His most serious
trouble throughout the journey was occas'oi,eN
bv the living of the people. They coulu ha' N''
he brought to tell the truth about any suoJeO'
whatever Even the names or lahes an" ~
tains were different with each person WIN ""'
asked about them. When OF all the Peop'e " .O
,,,.oa near a lake each had his own name for IT,
the impossibility Of getting at the ruin was w
49,. Rut truthfulness In dealing with strang-
ers who had suddenly invaded the county on.
,,ere generally supposed TO be the vanguard Oh
s,,arcang army. could hardly be expected
e., Orentals and least Of all in country
,,,,are each little family group seemed 10 De d.
,,,or with all the rest. AS Captain Bower sd" A.
.h,s was the condition Of the nomaulc peop'o
...,,h ybor he had to deal. They redil]eu
rIohhes,s state Of nature TO perfecuoh' WHEN
go, man looked upon his neighbor as raven
ing wolf. s.o.,ro ~
1rhua these clansmen stood on fooths Vi
..., susn,cion and watchfnlness with their
nearest neighbors they looked upon 'hei''Se
49, o,,ardians Of the country against outslu-
49, Cantain Bower and Dr. Thorold finally hau
- dr., an Asiatic costume in order 10 eVaue
- curiosity which was sometimes maleVoieh'
ora always annoying. They rarely nlaue any
-, ~ force. but frequently attempted 10 his
"a tho travellers Their aim and tha' u
.ho mora Intelligent ruling class, was 10 sehu
tba travellers back the way they hau Oo'".
When that failed. they displayed great h"o"'
edge Of roads in every direction except 'n"' ~
which the strangers wished 70 go. Inc s'e"u'
and nersistent effort with which all the p0op'e,
high and low, tried to prevent the co'ipie''o' -
the tourney to China, might seem 10 ""'' 80
inspired by Chinese officials. but tne i"P'0
a,or which CAPTAIN Bower gives is that these
officials are powerless in Tibet. Inc Nei! '''''
,~or,ods ba met showed the national desire 10
get him to move in any dlrecuoh I"'hei '.'@" 49,.
,ho, which he evidently meant to take But
-. .a oil other natives were puzzled by the
fact that the travellers were not pursuing any
=, Tho ueual lines of travel. This was mainly
due to the manner in which the start was maze
Conta,n Rover and Dr. ThOrod were 50 CAUTIOUS
a. tho matter that they did not even travel TO-
,,a,her into Western Tibet, which belongs TO
cashmere. and is thus practically an appenaage
- the Indian Empire. The journey OF the
former was so timed that he reached Len the
70 initial about the date Of certain notable Buddh-
Ter festivities in the neighborng monasterles'
tIa hired Mohammedans. not Buddhiss. Tor MS
caravan and with the aid Of the Noib Wazir, or
lieutenant Governor Of the province, these were
obtained without being told the purpose OF the
iournev While the festival was in progress
Captain Bower suddenly gathered his forces ana
was over the frontier before any, save lie"
Europeans, and perhaps the Monammedah
officials knew what had happened. Under such
circumstances familiar trade routes were avoided
The man who was expected TO guide the party
across the border had never heard of that KIND
of travelling and could not tell where TO ma
a PASS by which to get through the mountains
that blocked the course But IT happened that
another man in the caravan was acquainted
with the country. and he led the way 10 LanaK
La. crossing two easy passes on the road Inc
next day the caravan marched twenty-four
miles. the evident intention being to get as far
into Chinese Tibet possible before the chahce
of being turned back occurred. Day after day
the travellers pressed on, apparently over an
unbeaten track. II is not to be wondered at
that the nomads who finally met them should
have been puzzled by their movements. Iney
were very inqusitive as to who we Were. re-
MARKS Captain Bower, land they could not make
out whore we were going. as they said the Lhasa
road law ~ the south and the Yarkhand to the
north" The answer was that the two Euro
peans were merchants going to China who had
lost their way. This answer Is worth remem-
bering IN view OF the harsh words which Cap
tain Bower applies to the Tbetans for not telling
him the truth. He did not acknowledge that ne
was an Englishman until he met the officials
from Lhasa. the capital of independent Tibet.
and he does not appear to have acknowledged
his connection with the Indian Army anywhere.
To have done so would have gone far 10 justify
the rumor that attended him through the coun-
try, that he vas leading the advance guard of
coming army. His Journey must have looked
ike a reconnaissance to every Tibetan who had
any military instincts The first natives met
offered TO guide the caravan southwark. so as
10 put II on the road between Leh and Lhasa.
Captain Bower persuaded them to lead him east