New-York tribune., 1908-08-09
RELIGION TIBET'S
CHIEF INDUSTRY
At LEAST, SO 1T APPEARS
TO DIR. SVEN HEDIN.
He Discovers a Neso Range OF
Mountains There After Fac
ing Much Hardship.

,.--,nle mountains, sacred retreats OF laihas
almost disernbodie1 spirits In their contempt i
earthly nfe-its age-long determination 10 shu' 'H
=, ,-.-,,-ers all exrlorers all the world in fact
bas fecr brought once more into the hmehsHt
through new discoveries by Sven Hedin' the ram
MS Swedish explorer. in his latest journey "io
has managed TO penetrate into the very heai' u
Tibet and has rendered services TO the geograPh-
,osl societies f,v discovering OF the highes'
mountain chains in the world. rival OF the
IIiunalayas and before now wholly unknown 10 CIV
ttzarton He has found Wei, the sources OF TWO
q. rhe most famous rivers of India. the Brahma-
uootra and the Indus. But il is not only these
things which are Of interest in his journey An
account in 'LIIlustration" from the notes sent 10
that paper by DR.. Hedn reveals many things which
go to confirm the impression Of Tibet which we
have always had. impression OF proIouhoiS
are-inspiring region OF the world
Between India and China. Tibet forms, as almost
every one knows. a formidable mountainous barri-
cade which constitutes the most elevated proJec-
ton of the earths II is, in a way, the
backbone of the planet Directly above the plains
O. India rise the majestic Himalayas. more than
500 metres high: then. on top Of this gigantic
bastion is Tibet proper immense plateau perched
al the height of the Jungfrau. dotted with crests
as high in themselves the Bernese Alps. and
in front of this platform. above the centre OF
Cobb rises new chain Of 1909 metres. the famous
Kuen-Lun An idea Of this formidable relief may
be obtained by thinking of the highest peaks OF the
Pyrenees crowning the summit OF Mont Blanc And
this enormous protuberance OF the globe covers a
territory three times large as France
This strange region has remained a profound
mystery. With the exception Il the Polar zones
no part of the world presented such blank 1T
our maps that the greater part of Tibet is less
known TO US than the face of he moon This is
because of the difficulties of obtaining access TO
those colossal mountains difficulties augmented by
the inhabitants.
Lhasa the capital of Tibet. the centre of the
Buddhist priesthood, the residence Of the reignng
rcntin of this powerful religion. mistress Of the
country. is forbidden strangers For sixty years
10 European had succeeded in penetrating TO
Lhasa. In vain the most hardy explorers, Bouva-
lot I1ttIedale. 81 HeGn himself. tried to come
at this Asatic Rome. Arriving. after thousand
perils, few miles from their goal. they were
always forced 10 retreat by the Tibetan guards,
Once. 19Oi. the mystery which enveloped Lhasa
rddely broken by the arrival of little Eng
lish army: hut the British colony departed. and
Tibet closed to strangers more hermeticaily
than This situation iid not deter DR. Sven
Hedin however. and two years ago this month
(August, 1866, he left Cashmere with the intention
Of traversing Western Tibet parallel 10 the Him
alayas and following track quite unknown.
His objective point Chgotse, on the Brahna-
pootra. the second most sacred city of the royal
priesthood. the residence cf Tachi Lama. the
important religious person OF the country. after the
mysterious Dalai There kilometres
OF desert cross. the most desolate solitude of
inhabited continents: through all this distance he
had TO go without resource, even
wood to make fire with; the only combustible to
be found on the plateaus was the dry manure Of
animals
After the desert. the mountains. $3.50 metres high
-l.130 metres higher than Mont Blanc. Here the
greatest difficulty the danger of asphyxiation
Every four five steps they stop COM
pletely winded. Add suffocation horrible pains
in the head dreadful drummngs in the ears nasal
hemorrhages. uncomfortable vomitings and you
have idea Of the energy of an explorer who
pushes always forward in this atmosphere
This barrier crossed. he faced the Tibetan pa-
teaus infinite, stony solitude of poignant drearf-
ness, with great lakes lying in the folds Of the
huge mountains, siddy ravines which look the
world had split open and far off ice pea ks
against cold blue sky
There abundant game in this strange Mace
MouloUs. anteiopes. bears. wolves. foxes yaks the
wild cattle Of Tibet. '-koulanes" a sort of sss-and
in such quantities. OF all these animals the only
dangerous one is the yak Confident Of his strength
he never bestates TO charge They are good bag
OF game, these boyidas large one measures 80
metres from hoof TO shoulder. 25 metres from
his neck TO the beginning of his tail. The big
brutes can stand amazing quantity Of lead
Sven Hedin lodged no fewer than eleven halls
in the body Of bull before he saw him fall
The season advanced: the cold grew intense and
every day brought snowstorms. Above burning
India. Tibet lost in its atmosphere Of unbelievable
heights. is a Polar region This lowering Of the
temperature brought difficulties for the cara
van Now there was running water Every
evening, TO give drink 10 and beasts. blocks of
Ice had TO he melted-a long and tedious operation
over a small campfire made OF yak dung
For several weeks the explorer travelled In ,b,s
vast solitude, until suddenly was before him
an entirely new chain of mountains-a serious oh
stacle for weary caravan. While they painfully
ascenced the steep cliffs, tempests snow assailed
them without intermission Finally. worn out hun
Cry. with rapidly dying horses they were forced ro
turn 10 the east. toward the nearest habitattons
and after three months journey In the desert thew
found men-Tibetan shepherds Sven Hedin
bought donestcated yaks replace his plaved o,,t
horses. and arrived Nvarztse-Tso one of the
immense lakes. which makes one Of the remarkable
features of the country.
Now, when the Swedish explorer exnac,ed aooo-a
ing TO the reports by preceding travellers 10
find the country cen this lake and C-bzotss ro
be relatively free from obstacles, what was his
stupefaction 10 find a chain of mountains
higher than all the preceding Ones and OF which
explorers had mention This ransA
stretches further than thousand Kilometres
from east 20 west. between the Kuen-Lun and the
Himalayas north OF the long valley OF the Brabns
pootra- This discovery. which completely changes
the fact of Tibetan maps must henceforth annear
IN all schoolbooks.
The ascent of this massive range was the final
effort. and on February H. 1897. after six months
march across the highest mountains in the world
Sven Hedin entered Chigotse
Far from being arrested. he feared the trav-
eller very well received. The Tachi-iama ex-
pressed his desire the Swedish sayant and
Curing his stay showed him great courtesy The
Lama did not appear be eccentric fanatic, but
intelligent and lively host who gave the doctor
guides for tour OF the monasteries and temples
OF the place
Religion. indeed. be the chief industry
OF Tibet Dr. Hedin impressed by the in
teglsely devoUt atmosphere the temple Of Iayang
q great dark. silent forest of columns lit only by
an altar fame, in front Of which the lamas pass