Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-01-15

vo such as Sven Hedin the word
''unexplored' printed upon any
map of the earth's surface
works a magnetic charm,
compelling surrender of COM
forts and safety for the perils and suf-
ferings and privations of the wilds. Tibet.
the forbidden land. has never been fully
mapped. few intrepid travellers have
pushed their way across the borders and,
daring physical and political difficulties.
have traversed some parts of the desert
plateau, but these few trails have yielded
so little of knowledge regarding the great
bic land. buttresSed on the south by the
Iiimalayan range, that until DIR. Hedin' $
attest expedition the map makers have
been compelled to leave a great white
space in the middle of the topogra phical
picture.
Sven Hedin has been going about the
world for years seeking the waste spaces
and the world-end lands. inspired by that
Unsuitable thirst for knowledge that has
iured the human race for centuries into
the unknown. His first expedition through
Tibet was undertaken in 1885, but he re-
Sarded that land as only stage of a
great journey to Picking. From 1899 to
l!02 he was engaged in his first real as
eault on Tfbetan conservatism, pene-
tratlng to within few miles of Lhasa
The capital. Here he was turned back by
llbetans. jealous of their isolation and
suspicious of all foreigners. His disap-
pointment at that time only whetted his
interest and Sharpened his determination
To proceed. He was drawn by no vulgar
curiosity, no sensation-seekingm motive. To
him the attitudes of mountains the con-
iiguration of the surface, the sources Of
<1,<
were OF far more Importance than the
doctrines OF Idmaism or the habits Of the
11betan~. Strictly scientific i'm his view
point and processes, Sven Hedin has al
ways striven for information regarding
the physical conditions. but 1t has been
impossible to persuade the people through
whose lands he has Travelled Of the ur-
selfishneSs of his motives
In these two volumes is told the story
OF an adventure remarkable that were
1t not for DR.. Hedins firmly established
reputation for accuracy and integrity it
might be justihable at times to doubt.
AT great expense he organized a caravan.
starting from Leh, in Ladak. on the
eastern border of Kashmir. He had been
greatly disappointed on arriving in India.
finding the British hostile to his purpose
to penetrate again into Tibet. The
founshusband expedition to Lhasa had
resulted only In tightening the grip of
China upon the forbidden land Ii was
now the British policy to leave Tibet
strictly alone as a buffer state. Hedin's
enterprise was therefore thwarted as far
as possible by the authorities at S1mla,
acting under orders from London. Yet
he persisted 1t would have been re-
3arkable had Sven Hedin yielded to the
first obstacle in his path. The man who
could twlce cross the Kara-Korum range
In midwinter. working through passes
eighteen and nineteen thousand feet high.
piowfng through snow of great depth,
racing a temperature of fifteen and TWEEN
ty and even twenty-five degrees below
zero, subsiSting upon the barest morsels
of food. toiing painfully up rocky slopes
to obtain fleeting glimpses of distant
mountain ranges, writing with numb fin
gers and freezing ink the record Of his
observatlons-such q man could not be
turned back by any human devices
1t takes two large volumes for DIR. He
din to tell his story, and no review of his
work can adequately give an idea of its
wonderful vividness of description its
sincerity, its simplicity of personal pres
entation, and. above all. its wealth of in
FORMATION regarding one of the most IN
teTest1ng and desOlate parts of the world
Briefly st ted, the authors trip consisted
first OF swinging across the kara-K orum
Southeastward through the desert of
Chang-Tang to Shigatse, on the Drama
putra river, the religious capital of Tibet
about one hundred and fifty miles west
this point at thesvery time of the New
Year celebration, the Tibetans' new year
beginning in February. He was witness
or the weird. picturesque ceremonies of
that time and had the great good fortune
to be received in personal audience on
two occasions by the Tashi Lama, the
spiritual head of the faith through which
Tibet is governed. 1t was the Dalai
Lama who fled northward from Lhasa
when the Younghusband expedition ap-
peared in 1904. After two months spent
in Snigatse Tibetan and Chinese resent
ment against the further presence of a
foreigner In the holy city compelled his
return to the westward He followed
the course of the Bramaputra upward
and actually succeeded in tracing II to
It's source for the first time in known his
tory, identifying the origin of that great
stream Then he proceeded to the sacred
lake of Manasarowar. and after thor
oughly exploring IT and it's nefghbor
Rakas-Tal, he made detour to encircle
the geographical holy of holes of Tibet
the mountain kailas, around which III
befan pilgrims make their weary way
some even by physical prostration on the
ground, for the sake of the publication of
their souls. Before leaving this region
he traced the Indus to its source.
The Trans Himalayas lying north OF the
Rramaputra. drew Hedin irresistibly ON
the northern TANKS of this range Law the
great white spot marked ''unexplored -
Had he not been stopped, he would have
gone swinging around to cross ii again
at this stage of his journey but he was
turned back and forced to return tn Ia
dak. where he Immediately organized an
other caravan and set out In the face OF
winter TO seek once more, despite Off
cial prohibitions. to detour the mysteri-
Gus Trans Himalayan range On this sec
ond journey he travelled in disguise as a
11betan. wearing the meanest rags, black
ening his face. hiding himself whenever
approached by nOmads, learning the IT.
betan language, and finally marching on
foot as the shepherd of his own flock to
oilay suspicion. But despite all these
devices. after a heart-breaking trip through
the ra-korum. where life hung In
the balance on several occasions he was
at last discovered and turned back once
more. But. with characteristic determi-
nation. Sven Hedin met Tibetan obsti-
macy with European diplomacy, and de-
spite the presence of soldiers as an es-
cort, he had his will of the wilderness
and crossed the Trans Himalayas three
times. securing a priceless wealth Of In
formation. and greatly reducing the area
of the great white spot
The men who have sought the poles OF
the earth have had no such experiences
those recorded in these two thrilling
volumes. DIR. Hedin indicates as a re-
suit Of his death-defying journeys that
in Tibet lies great wealth. to be gained
at some undetermined future time when
political conditions have changed and
when ii becomes possible for civilization
10 organize the rude forces. 1t is not to
he conceived that this courageous Swede
will rest satisfied with his latest expedition
He will probably go back again and again
until Tibet il no longer a land of mystery