The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-02-01
WHEN HEDIN WAS HIDDEN
ONE OF THE SWEDISH EXPLORERS
ADVENTURES IN CENTRAL ASIA.
Wonderful Voyage on the Tarim Riv-
er-His Attempt to Enter Lhassa I'm
Disguise Quickly Frustrated.
.ondon I.etter in Sow York Pros.


three years exploring expedition through
central Asia. from which DR.. Sven Hedin
returned recently, the more evident IL be-
comes that the job which the Swedish trav-
eler carried out successfully was one of
the toughest that man ever undertook
Except when DR. Hedin was trying TO out
wit the Thibetans and to get into the for
hidden city of Lhassa disguised as a Mon
golian pilgrim. or drifting down the I'M
known Tarim river in a modern ark, or
crossing a new Dead sea in the heart OF
Asia. the explorers adventures mostly were
not of the picturesque kind with which
Jules Verne used TO provide his heroes But
they were the sort Of experiences that make
absorbing reading, all the same, for had
the adventurer TO whose lot they fell not
possessed such grit and endurance as are
given to few men he never would have
weathered them. but shared the fate of
most of the plucky men and seasoned ami
mails who started with him on his long and
hazardous quest.
Had he done so geographers and the
world in general would have been the
poorer by the detailed maps of over six
thousand miles of new country which DR..
Hedin has brought home with him. as well
as by the 1900 photographs which he took
and the mass of fresh scientific data which
he accumulated and with which he expects
10 all five bulky volumes. In consequence
of DR.. Hedin's discoveries the existing
charts of central Asia will have to be en-
tfrely revised.
The main object of the Swedish explorers
latest journey into Asia was TO explore that
part OF Thibet which centuries ago must
have been "A fiourishing mercantile country,
fu a "A desert 0nIv
a ruined palace. fortress or hut standing
here and there among the sand dunes to
tell OF what was in the remote past. He
wanted 10 learn, II possible, what sort of
people the former inhabitants of this re-
gion were and something of their history.
But he was anxious, most of ali, to worm
his way through the line of sentinels
which Thibet has for so many years thrown
about her ancient city of Lhassa, and TO
get glimpse of the life in the mysterious
forbidden capital.
Down toward this mystic region flows the
Tarim river. Its course has never yet been
mapped, so DR.. Hedin determined to use it
as his means of transport toward the east
and to study its characteristics as he went
along. The explorers party was made up
of four Cossacks. whom the Car himself
loaned to him, and thirty Mussulmen- This
contingent not to mention several dogs and
a whole herd of sheep and many fowls to
be used as food the explorer embarked on
one of the ordinary ferryboats that are
used on the Jarim near Laflik, but which
he had had fitted up according to the re-
quirements or a scientific expedition. In
this craft he set of on his long water jour-
months drifted along through scenes OF
wonderful beauty. DAY by day. week by
week" he says. I'VE gided on down the
dark waters of the Tarim, through the en-
chanted forests. which shut il in. az Ii
We're, along a kind OF Venetian thorough
rare lined by palaces magically changed
into trees. and by quays of golden shim-
nerlnS reeds When the current flowed
more slowly the boatmen nodded in turns
over their punting poles. And when the
wind blew through the forest 1t scattered
shower Of golden leaves over the face of
the river, making a golden waterway for
us all through the autumn as we followed
every curve and winding of the stream. 1t
was as though We were threading enchant-
ed Sargasso seats"
A DISCOURAGING TASK
DR.. Hedin. used these halcyon days In
storing up energy for the task which lay
at the end of them, and the severity of
which the traveller realized so well that he
says he really never expected to accom-
plish It. That was to cross the desert ,of
Takia-Makan,' ''the most appalling" saws
Hedin, ION the face OF all the earth" The
explorer had good cause to dread the hard
ships that were before him, for he had at
tempted the Takla- Makan in his famous
expedition in 1895. In that attempt all his
caravan except himself and one man per-
ished miserably.
One generally thinks OF a desert as a
place where the danger is from intense
neat, as IL is in the Sahara or in the waste
lands of the West. The Takla- Makan.
however, Is place of piercing cold, of
SNOW snow and sn OF ice Many died there through
from our camp" Sven Hedin says "the in
habitants of the district looked upon us a
sulcldes. The explorer had left some OF
MS men behind. and his party now consist
ed or four men. seven camels two dogs and
one horse. The camels were loaded with
1uel, and with Ice TO be made into water
Ihey got through somehow, but IL was
after terrible sufferings. Sometimes thew
mad 10 sleep out in the open when the mer-
curry had fallen TO IS degrees below zero
IL showed heavily, too. II used to wake up
in the morning completely buried under
snow, Dr. Hedin says, so that a servant
mad 10 dig me out with a spade" These
experiences, however, were pleasant COM
pared with those which the travellers had
10 undergo in crossing the mountains be-
tween Charklik and Ladakh. Some vague
iuea OF what We suffered" saws the explor-
en- may be gathered when / say that even
III the Valleys We were higher than the
summit OF Mont Blanc The mere act Of
preatnlng was most difficult and on this
OF, one f e,ip Tour OF my companions died SIM
ply Tor TINS reason-they could not breathe
When We came to our evening camninp
ground TWO or those devoted fellows were
d3hnu s star dead on their eamels The
ward, retaining their senses to the end the
brain being the last to be attacked The
experience was weird and awful and cor
tainly the worst I have ever had Even IN
unbotton ones coat meant acute main and
tension TO an overwrought heart which H.
orally was at the point OF breaking Ont
or forty-f1ve horses 1 lost forty-forr ana
thirty out or thirty-nine camels left their
bones In these terrible attitudes. MY only
safety lay in the fact that never left the
saddle Tor single moment from morning
tlll we pitched camp in the evening Had
zone so my heart, too. probably would
nave given way"
A NEW DEAD SEA.
IT was in crossing eastern Thibet that DR.
Hedin discovered his new Dead sea. Its
waters were so salt" DR.. Hedin saws. "tha,
the indicator of the hydrometer came to a
standstill couple OF inches above the sur
race and had to make a special mark on
the glass 10 preserve the register. Every
thing in the boat-instruments, punting
poles. tackle, clothes-all became as white
as chalk or looked as II they had been
busted with flour The drops Of wafer
which fell from the punting pole were CON
verted INTO rods of salt, which looked like
steartne candles
IL was after this thar the axnlorar ara
wnat remained OF his party entered M
last. the dead country of central Thihet
The desoia tion. he SAYS was awf,,1
and there was no sign of organic life of any
kind. discovered ruined temples and
houses with hlgh towers. i found four VIII
iages on one direct line within a few miles
or one another. There We're remains Of
wide streets. and the ruins showed thai
some or the temples must have heen .,ary
nne structures Among the ruins 7 fonnd
cart wheels iron axes. great Jars of clay