Evening star., 1925-08-02
ore Victory as Told by Woman Who Entered Lhasa

steps. Once Thobgyal sank in a pit
filled with snow and. had he not been
robust fellow, perhaps he would not
have been able to get out Of It. Ac-
cidents OF that kind happen each
Winter TO poor pilgrims, whose bodies
are found when the snow melts, un-
less bones only remain, wolves having
feasted on the flesh.
1t was late at night when we reach
ed dry ground lower down. We found
plenty of fuel in an abandoned camp
of cowmen and decided to spend the
night there near a big fire. Most
parts of Tibet are barren and the
fuel is dried cow dung.
Now the weather was calm, the
moon shartc brightly in the wide. clear
sky; here and there stones We're gilt
terinS on the barren hills, reminding
one of the jeweled mountains and
the hidden treasure of the fairy tales.
What wonderful feeling of freedom
and serenity pervaded these mighty
silent solitudes! But tiredness pre-
vailed over admiration. l fell asleep
and awakened only when the sun was
rising.
We had to cross a pass called Rak-
shi la ia means a pass about 5000
feet high, and spent the morning in
search of some black tents of COW
men who could give us information
about the road. The result of our in
quiry was not encouraging; nobody
wanted to accompany us as guide.
The few coWmen we met declared that
before two months the snow would not
have melted enough to allow the
passage.
What was to be done? To turn
the range meant at least 10 days
supplementary marches in a country
where L was known by the tent
dwellers, who could put embarrassing
questions to me and perhaps guess
the goal of my journey. / could not
run such a risk, so ] decided to take
my chance and to attempt the
passage of the pass.
i; x x :;
WE spent. the night in a grotto at
w the entrance of the valley which
slowly ascended toward the crests.
The morrow, before daybreak, we
were climbing as fast as we could,
my companion repeating every 10
minutes that most cheerful lett mo-
tive: IF we do not succeed to pass
through, and to walk far down on
the other side we will be frozen to
death next night" l could not deny
the truth of his statement, but I
thought he insisted rather too much
on it.
In such a gay mood We proceeded
lonely for hours, the snow growing
deeper and deeper. Then the path
turned suddenly, and we confronted
a huge almost perpendicular wall Of
snow. That was the obstacle that
closed the path. as the cowmen had
told US. We looked at each other>in
dismay; we had not fancied such a
thing.
We had heard that, on the other
side of the hill, snow did not extend
far down, and that tents could soon be
reached. That hope gave US courage.
With the short sword that every
Tibetan traveller carries passed
through his belt Thobgyal cut steps
into the hardened snow and we began
the ascent. The young man passed
first, l followed. Sometimes, pre-
cipitately, l was taking hold of one
of his legs when he appeared about
to slide down, sometimes he seized my
hand and lifted me. 1t was a long
time before we reached the top of the
obstacle, but, happily. there we
found solid ground around the obo.
Before leaving Jakyendo l had set
tied with Yongden secret code of
correspondence so that when COM
ing behind me he could be informed
of my progress and, at the same
time, be warned in case of unexpect-
ed events. Tibetans have the habit
Of hanging small flags of thin ma
terial on branches stuck between the
stones of the ohos, on the passes
and on the roads. These flags are
of different color, either plain or
bearing some mystic formulas. I
saw there a way Of conveying mes
sageS.
Explaining to the people living
around me that l intended to offer
them to the mountains gods, I had
prepared a number of these flags,
their shape being slightly different
from those used by Tibetans, so that
they might be easily recognized by
Yongden or his servant and still
would not attract the notice of
others. Each of them had special
meaning. AS an instance, a plain red
flag meant, II have passed here; a
blue, Make haste to rejoin me-: a red
and green, There is a letter hidden
under the stone below the flag
Others were to be read: Il have seen
men who look suspicious" TT seems
that 1 am followed by spies" II have
heard about robbers roaming in the
country etc.
x X X
a MOTHER secret code regulated
= our correspondence when meet
ing on the road. Again it made use
of popular customs. Many Tibetans,
especially travellers, wear a rosary