The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-08-06
OPENING OF THE FORBIDDEN LAND.
Zoo q. seos.s 100 . eosa& ,s9s@e s.s.

the Tibetans have from time immemor-
ial hated the Chinese even more bitterly
tnan the white races, have toler-
ated the presence of Chinese
traders only under certain striu-
gent restrictions. and are naturally
~ the present moment alarmed lest
the upheaval which is taking place in
China should result in an armed irrup-
ton or the insurgent hOrdeS across the
Tibetan frontier. Overwhelming them
by force OF numbers and destroying
their cherished independence.
called upon 10 choose between the
peril OF a Chinese invasion on the one
hand and the abandonment of the ira
ditiOnal policy of exclusion on the
other. the grand lama, who is men
tally and physically a strong man, has
selected the latter alternative and may
be saId 10 have thrown in his lot with
civilization in lieu of with barbarism-
So little is known about Tibet, the
only three white men who have ever
penetrated the metropolitan province
OF LhaSSa, namely, the Englishman
NAMING, in 1911, and the French mis-
sionaries Hue and CADET, in 1874, hav-
ing been seized and depOrted as soon
as discovered, that a few brief notes
respecting this mysterious land may be
of timely interest. True there are a
missions in Tibet, as is indicated by
the presence of a vicar apostolic of the
pope on Tibet soil But these missions
are established in those portions OF
Tibet that are near the northern and
southern frontiers beyond the immedi-
ate power of the grand lama and re-
mote from the seat of the Tibetan
government at LhaSsd. In the same
way Mr.. ROckhill, now assistant sec
/ at - e4a -, 1910 fl1.a.
Russian explorer PrjevalSky, Prince
Henri of Orleans and his companion,
NJ. BOnvalot, who have penetrated
Tibet from the north. from the south
and from the east, have each one of
them been obliged to cOnfine their ex-
plOrations to the outer fringe. if / may
be permitted to use the expression. of
the Forbidden Land, and were driven
back as soon as ever they turned their
steps in the direction of the sacred
city of Lhassa.
In fact. the only definite information
which the outer world possesses of the
Forbidden Land has been obtained
by the British Indian government,
which has employed carefully trained
native agents and officials TO map out
and describe countries inaccessible and
closed to white explorers.
One of the most successful Of these
native agents is a man named Sarat
Chandra Das, a member OF the educa-
tional department at Calcutta, who,
thanks to his knowledge of the Tibetan
language and to his friendship with one
of the Lamas, whom he. had met at
some Buddhist shrine in northern In
dia, was able not only to enter the
metropolitan province of Lhassa. but
even to penetrate the holy city itself.
and to pay his respects to the grand
lama or ruler of Tibet. Chandra Das
in his official report to the Indian gov
eminent at Calcutta. and which is con-
tanned among the state records. of the
latter, gives a wonderfully picturesque
description Of theS approaches to
Lhassa which, he declares, is at least
sixty miles distant from the latitude
and longitude assigned to il on the
standard maps and charts. 1t stands
in a level plain surrounded on all sides
by a lofty and inaccessible range of
mountains. the four defiles through
which constituting the only approaches
TO the city are strongly defended by
forts.
The city is described as encircled
with a girdle of foliage formed by cen
tury-old trees, from the midst of
which arises the LOFTY white houses
terminating in ffaf roofs surrounded
by turrets, the Numerous temples