The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-03-07

hamlet fringed by the forests Of Manitoba
The diary should be his guide. He would
call the book by some such lit lie as How
l Penetrated Farther in Thibet Than the
foot of Man has Ever Trod..''
It mattered not to Peter Rijnhart thai
no missionary had ever been allowed tC
live in Thibet. There were those who hao
| tried TO preach to the savage herdsmen
and rude farmers, but they had been kill
ed or driven beyond the mountain walls
into China. He knew this, but hoped 70
be the first who would be allowed TO stay
| until his mission was done. He spoke
kindly to the natives he met in broken
| Thibetan. He gave them Bibles. Some
times they accepted the Bibles. Oftener
| they pointed 10 the mountains in the east.
The mountains that divide the table land
Of Tibet from the lower land of China.
They said something in Thibetan about
| 1.-THE Great CLOSED Land
| The Thibetans believe firm in the noun
tains that bound their country, the noun
-tains of eternal SHOWS, the highest noun
tains in the world. The mountains will
keep the stranger out or hem them in to
! their DEATH" they say in the grim Thibet-
an tongue.
At last the eternal cold of the forests,
and the frowning faces of the Thibetans,
chilled the zeal of Peter Rijnhart They
were camped near the inhospitable town of
Tasha-Gomba, on the Tachu River.
sShall we go back to Tachienlu, whence
we came, or to the Indian town of OAR
jieHering, by way of Shawn" he asked
and then made his own answer:
THE horses are so tired it will be best
to go back to Tachienlu, as we came"
The next day they started over the weary
backward way shat leads past. baby Pier
res grave.
That night Peter Rijnhart tells his story
thus in his diary:
Sept. 21-Suddenly a shot falls near US
and the two boys run out to get the hors-
es, when one of them is shot through
the arm. They all run into the shelter
of the cliff. 1 run out TO see whence the
shooting comes, and, looking up, see
three men hiding behind cliff.
A flash warns me to bend down, and
/ do so. just at this moment a bullet
whizes past my head. Several shots fol-
low, aimed to frightened the horses,
which in confusion run toward the road
we had just come over. We all keep
sheltered by the cliff to avoid bullets
and huge pieces of rock hurled down to
prevent our getting at the horses. Hoow
many robbers there were we do not
know.
After a few more shots and a final
word there is silence. We find that of
nine horses, five had been driven away
and three shot. One the most tired of
away, saying that they would go to the
Lamasary and return with help for US
They have not returned. Our dog is
gone also.
This is the last entry in Peter Rim
hart's hand in a diary that is closed:
Sept. 25.-These two days have been
spent in going far in from the riverside
to get round some rocks barring the
road along the bank. We see tents by
means Of the telescope far down on the
river bank. 1t has showed, and our horse |
slips over and down the hill, so that !
we are obliged to stop, and decide to !
try to ford the river and reach the |
tents. The horse is almost swept away, !
and I return. We stay all night and I |
am 70 swim across in the morning
IEernDNnG mana
Of a woman, Mrs Rijnhart.
Sept. 2S-On the day before yesterday
my husband swan across the river to I
get the people in the tents to come with
their animals 10 our aid. He swan
across and turned on the bank to wave
his hand at me. Then he disappeared !
behind the rocks
Through the TELESCOPE I could see a
flock of sheep near the place where re
had gone. I could see the faint outline
of the tents For three DAYS I have
waited for him % come back. but he
does not. He must have been killed by
the wicked tent people. or perhaps the
same robbers VINO drove away our hors-
eS
Lucie Rijnhart pressed on the journey
llone. On November / she reached the
Chinese town whence they had started.
from that town, Tachienlu. she wrote to
Ter countryman. G. II. Bonheld of Shang-
lai, and TO the British and Dutch Minis
ers.
The young-old woman, with white hair
nd sorrowfTl eyes, writes with the sim
oie eioquence of a great grief She en-
'losed her husbands diary. The book on
How I Penetrated Farther Into Th!het
Than Foot of Man Has Trod," win .-ob-
IDLY never be written.
4 have made this long journey alone
With God. I
when the robbers came we losted
everything. even my surgical instruments.
arrived here with Just enough silver to
'ay for this telegram. Praise God. 7
cached here safely. I passed through (
'.aces where Rockhill had great difficulty.
But God cares for his little ones. Once.
While ! was riding along 4 lonely road
'verhung with cliffs. five men sprang out ,
rom behind a rock. One held a sword
ver my head and demanded my horse. 7
ust called To God and looked at the man
md he went and joined his FIVE compan-
oDs. God had delivered me from him
shall rest here awhile and wait for quiet
N the river Then I shall leave for the
cast and then 90 to America.
MY heart : wrunE by thought Of what
ny poor husband is enduring or may
lave endured. God rest his soul. II he Is
lead 7 would almost rather believe him
lead than living and in the hands Of those |
avage yellow men. am afraid Thi5et
Ill alwaV- remain The Great Closed q