The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1922-08-17

one or bnutan'S Castles
prepared by the National Geographic
Society, Washington, ID. c.
Though the feudaliSm of the Middle
Ages has disappeared from the west
ern world, it is In full flower in Blu
tan, just over the northeastern border
of India on the southern slope Of the
Himalayas. The main road to Lhasa,
the capital of Tibet, and the route fol-
lowed In recent attempts to scale Mt.
Everest runs just along the western
edge of this almost unknown country.
Ridge after ridge Of the worlds
highest mountains run southwark from
the Himalayas, and over these gigan-
tic ranges and valleys is spread Blu
tan, an area about equal to that of
West Virginia. Some of the Bhulanese
peas,s attain attitudes up to $4,000 and
$4,000 feet. From this roof of the
world flow great turbulent rivers
which would prove a Joy to non-tecfr
meal lovers of nature, hut almost a
sorrow to engineers, for in them mil
lions of potential horse power are run
ming to waste. The nearest approach
to power utilization is In the few
Buddhist prayer-wheels set up beside
some of these streams hat prayers may
be reeled off. mechanically.
In contrast to the sky-piercing peaks,
clad In eternal snow, are the deep
valleys, and to the southwark the low
plains of Bhutan, where in the damp,
over-powering heat grow dense jun
giles of palms, ferns and bamboos. Be-
tween the two extremes are magnl-
ficent grazing grounds In the higher
plateaus, high pine forests, ~rhododen-
drons, magnolias, chestnuts and oaks.
In eastern Bhutan the hills are
. densely clothed with forests, but have
practically NJ population, as the re-
giOn Is too fever-stricken to allow OF
any one living there. These hills are,
however, the haunt of almost every
kind of wild animal-elephant, rhino,
tiger, leopard, bison, mythun, sambur,
cheetah, hog-deer, barking deer, etc.
The river beds are full of u n leading
to the various salt-licks which occur
in the hills.
1t is an ideal place for shooting, but
not easy to follow game, owing to the
extreme steepness OF the sandstone
cliffs. The elephant In its wild state
can go over or down nearly anything;
= and one tusker in escaping a hunting
party of Europeans was found to have
gone up a precipics 30 feet high at
an angle very little short of perpendic.
ular.
Mules Are Fed Raw Eggs.
All TRANSFORMATION in Bhutan Is on
the backs of animals, and a queer
array of two and four-footed creatures
II is. ranging from coolies at one end
of the scale to pack-sheep at the other
and including elephants, mules, don
keys, ponies, yaks and oxen. Jules
are the standby for use on the noun
. tain trails, and the BhutaIese manage
to keep them in good condition despite
their strenuous employment. Whether
their odd custom of feeding the mules
a concentrated emergency. ration of
raw eggs has anything to do with the
good condition of the pack animals Is
not clear; certainly there are few
sights aueerer thar that of Bhutanese
mule tenders, just before a strenuous
climb, breaking eggs like IN American
soda-water vender, dumping them into
a horn, and pouring them down the
Threats Of the animals.
One of the most distinctive things
about Bhutan Is its architecture. Re
ligion and wal have been the chief
factors in molding 1t. Most of the
villages or towns are citadels or forts
and monasteries combined. And they
are truly castles In the air'-huge
piles usually perched on some dom
mating ridge or cliff brink or against
the side of a seemingly unattainable
precipice. One striking architectural
feature Is that all the walls have a
distinct slope inward as they rise.
The observer wonders where this form
of architecture came from; whether
1t came from this remote and mac
cessable region in the Himalayas
through the A~kkadians, Babylonians,
Assyrians and Persians from Egypt or
whether the center from which the art
spread Was founded by a race which
mad its habitat somewhere In Asia
Not many years ago Bhutan was the
scene Of seemingly amending wars and
raids between factions Of Its turbulent
hiIlmen. 1t was ruled Jointly by a
religious and lay ruler. Since 1907 II
oas become a kingdom and peace seems
10 have settled upon II. Many a jungle
hillside has given way to rice fields
and tea gardens.
Bhutaa's feudal system Is very close