The sun., 1898-12-18

plorer Is 80 richly rewarded for his pains. or
finds such an inexhaustible field for observa-
tions Of every kind as In Tibet. the country
whence the light OF holiness streams forth
upon the world OF Lamaism, just as its waters.
In the form OF mighty rivers. stream forth to
give life aud nourishment 10 the countries
which surround them. Many important prob
lens in physical geography still await their
solution in Tibet and In tho Desert OF
Cobb, each OF which. when solved. will
be distinct gain TO science. In strict
ly geographical sense. Tibet Is one OF the least
known regions in the world. Even tho maps
OF Africa cannot now show blank patch OF
such vast extent as occurs under the name OF
Tibet on our maps Of Central Asia. In this
respect the polar regions alone are comparable
with Tibet The itineraries furnished by the
Roman Catholic missionaries at period when
tho country was more easily accessible than 1t
is at the present time cannot be followed on
the map with absolute certainty. and, from
geographical viewpoint are often OF little value.
Nevertheless. even this country, jealously
closed as II ia by Buddhistic fanaticlsm. has
been compelled to open Its doors. II not its
sanctuaries. to tho perslstency OF EuroDean in
duiry. The western and eastern borders, at all
events, have been traversed by English, Rus
sian and French travellers In recent times
the only explorers who have gained entrance
to Lassa have been a few Indian pundits trained
by British officers. The jealous apprehension
OF the Chinese Government the religious fanat-
icism OF the Tibetans and the wild nature OF
their country. these are the factors which
have kept Tibet in isolation longer than
any other country in Asia. At time
when the influence OF neither Russia nor
England was so great as 1t Is now, more than
one European succeeded in crossing Tibet and
even in reaching the capital. Tho first Euro
pean to onter Jassn was a monk. odorico di
Pordenone. who travelled from China to Tibet
in the first half OF the fourteenth century. In
1924 the Spanish jesuit. Antonius de Andrade.
went from India to Tibet and. in 1851. the two
Jesuit missionaries, Grueber and D'Orville.
made q remarkable journey from Pekin to
Lassa by way Of Koko-nor. Tsaidam. and the
country OF the Tauguts. They remained In the
Tibetan capital for two months. and then re-
turned by way Of Nepal oiAgra, and thence
to Europe. In the eighteenth century the
mysterious city was visited by several
propagandsts. Desideri lived In Lassa from
1716 to 1920. and Della Penna from 1719 to
1875, and again. from 1740 to 1746; they. how
ever. left no writings. except a few letters. Be-
tween the wears 1929 and 1897 the bold Dutch
man. Van der Putte. travelled from India by
way of Lassa and Koko-nor to Pekin. whence
he returned through Farther India to Lassa.
On his return home he burned all his papers,
under the impression that nobody would be-
lieve his wonderful narrative. In 1911 Man.
ming reached Lassa andfn 1S45 the two French
missionaries. Hue and CADET made their cele-
brated journey from Pekin. by way Of Koko-
nor. Burk han buddha and Tan-la. to the cap
ital OF Tibet, a journey which Father Hue de-
scribed in an interesting book. Since then no
European has succeeded in penetrating to
Lassa. Every subsequent European expedition
which started with that city as its goal has been
compelled to turn back. its mission unaccom-
plished.
The outlying parts Of Tibet. nevertheless,
have been visited in recent years by several
European travellers. not all of whom. however,
have done scientific work or brought home val
liable information. The extreme west OF Tibet
was explored in 1856 and 1857 by the brothers
in 1865 by Johnson. in 1S68-70
by Shaw. in 1888-70 by Hayward. and In 1870
and in 1924 by Forsyth and his many asso-
clates. in 1ss5-s7 by Cary and DalGleish. and
in 1s8S-90 by Grombtchevsky. Kischen Singh
an Indian pundit. who was a member OF
Forsyth's expedition. succeeded in penetrating
somewhat further into the country than the
others. One OF the most remarkable journeys
ever made in Tibet was that of the pundit Nein
Singh. who had taken part in Sohlag-
intweit's and Forsyth's expeditions, and was
sent by Capt. Protter. in July. 1874. from Leh
in Ladak to Lassa. His caravan consisted Of
twenty six sheep carrying light loads. Only
four OF them survived the journey. which ex-
tended to a thousand miles. and lasted four
months. The animals subsisted on such herb
age as they were able to find on the way At
the town of Niagzu. on the boundary between
Ladak and Tibet. they met with both forest
and pasture. The tract east Of Lake Pang-
gong proved to be uninhabited, except by a
few shepherds and their fiocks. The natives
called themselves Changpas. or Mortimer
but to tho inhabitants Of Turkestan they
were known as Taghliks. or mountaineers.
The Tibetan plateau stretched away east for |
800 miles to the sources OF the Chinese rivers
and the Burkhanbuddha Mountains. As far
as eye could reach. il appeared to consist OF a
grass-grown plateau. diversified by hills and
valleys. with snowclad peaks in the distance
Occasionally ashepherd-tent would be seen, and
wild asses and wild sheep abounded
The results OF Main SinGh's journey were 276
of latitude. the mapping OF
!, 200 miles OF unknown country. observations
for altitude with the boiling-point thermom-
eter and series OF meteorological observations
II.
Before our authors explorations 1t was con-
ceded that. among those who had travelled in
Eastern Tibet, the Russian General Prjevalsky
ranked first On Nov. II. 1870. he started
from Kiakhta with three Russian followers
and passed through the Desert OF Gobi by way
of Urga and KalgaA to Pekin. After trip to
Dalai-nor he left Kalgan in May 1871. and
travelled west through the mountain chains
of In-shan and Muni-ula. then UP the Yellow
River tHoang-ho) until he reached the
country OF ALASKAN and its capital. Dyn-
yuan-in. He afterward returned to- Kagan
Then. after good rest. he went back TO
Dyn-yuan-in where we find him in June 1872
Here began the most remarkable part OF his
travels. the country which he next trayersed
being little known He first explored the high
lands OF Kan-su, II well-wooded mountain re-
gon lying east OF Koko-nor; then. having made
the circuit of the lake and crossed the southern
range OF Koko-nor. the expedition reached the
great swamps OF Tsaidan. whence 1t ascended
into the higher regions OF Tibet the home OF
the wild yak. Several of the mountain chains
OF the Tibetan highlands were crossed on the
way to the Yang -tse -kiang. which was reached