The Raymer enterprise., 1921-08-11
street Scene ,a Patan, Nepal.


, Prepared BY the National Geographic So
ciety. Washington, d. c.)
Nepal, In which Is situated much OF
Mt. Everest, the worlds highest pin.
uacle, which Is now being attacked
by an deliberately equipped British
scientific expedition, Is the true her
init kingdom" Of today. The govern.
Inent purposely keeps the roads which
lead from India TO Napal In bad con-
dition, and travellers are admitted to.
hut one small valley. and then only
for special reasons upon q difficulty
obtained permit.
This kingdom which holds itself 50
aloof from the world is narrow strip
Of country about 100 miles wide and.
500 miles long, extending for nearly
a third Of the distance between India
and Tibet along the sky-piercing
Hlmalayas. On the south 1t includes
a very narrow strip Of plains country,
but predominantly 1t is a mountain,
GUS region. In fact, its possession OF
Mt. Everest and some OF the other
Of the highest mountains In the world
give It claim, In one sense at least to
be the most mountainous Of countries.
The Nepalese are a fighting people,
have an. excellent army and organiza'
ton, and are fond Of show, both In
military display and In their religious
festivals. The latter are very numer-
Gus, and In fact seem to be intermiu'
able. The women take a prominent
part In most Of them.
Some Of the seml-milltary pageants
end In the massacre of hundreds or
bufYal0es. In one such ceremony
known as the blessing of the coors,
the commander In chief dips his hands
In a bowl of blood and clasps each
banner In turn, thus imprinting on
each the mark Of bloody hands. The
scene Is somewhat revolving. but prob
ably has It's use in keeping up mar
tial spirit In the army.
voiunlnous Dresses Of Women.
The Nepalese women wear yards
upon yards-sometimes as many as a
hundred--of fine muslin plated to
form u huge an-shaped bunch in front,
the back being quite tight. When a
lady OF rank drives In her barouche
she completely fills the carriage with
her volumnous skirt of brilliant hue.
Above the skirt a vivid little tight.tit-
ling jacket, usually Of velvet, is worn; !;
The hair Is dressed In a peculiar knot
ia front, above the forehead. and fas.
tened to one side by an enormous gold
plaque with jeweled center. A
heavy gold necklace and gold bangles
complete her jewelry. Every imag-
inable shade Is used--purple pale
blue, green, carmine, orange, white,
yellow, turquoise, and deep red--and
the effect Is wonderful.
At the time Of state ceremonies the
streets are filled with professions Of
elephants In gorgeous trappings,
horses and ponies, brilliant military
uniforms, and the usual crowd Of
goOd.natured, pleasure-loving people,
The whole against the background Of
the old temples and natural surround
ings making a wonderful spectacle.
The journey into Nepal is not an
easy one. At first there Is track
through the forest, but as soon as the
outer hills are reached the road loses
itself In the bed OF a stream, up which
The bearers pick their way with diff
Guilty over and among great boulders.
The official road finally goes over the
very rough track across the Chandra.
girl pass and down the almost i'm.
passable road on the other side into
the Nepal valley. The last portion
IT the descent Is down long stair
case Of roughly-placed blocks of stone,
ind 1t is marvellous how the laden men
and ponies keep their footing on II.
In the NepaI Valley.
From the foot Of the pass an excel.
lent carriage road into the town of
Ehatmandu runs through the valley
,eeming with people, towns, palaces,
temples and lnnumerable shrines.
There are miles Of such good carriage
roads within the valley, mostly con.
structed In Jung Bahadurs time. and
carriages and pairs, and occasionally
q fOur-ln.hand are constantly used by
the palace people.
In this valley, where the Orines
alone are said to number more than
2,I0o. the buildings present an amaz-