YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

TIBET, THE MYSTERIOUS

The Potala, from the South

w

TIBET THE MYSTERIOUS

By COL. SIR THOMAS H. HOLDICH
K. C. M. G., K. C. I. E., C. B.

With illustrations from photographs, and maps
and with map in colours.

New York • FREDERICK A.
STOKES COMPANY • Publishers

Copyright, igo6,
By Frederick A. Stokes Company

Published October, 1906

THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.

PREFACE
^yfO country in the world has exercised a more
-l-^ potent influence on the imaginations of men or
presented such fascinating problems for solution to the
explorer as Tibet; and this influence has been active
amongst all the generations which have exploited the
byeways of the earth from the days of Herodotus to
those of Younghusband. It may be doubted whether
even now the fascination of Tibetan travel is dead. But
the glamour of it has undoubtedly faded somewhat since
the streets of Lhasa have been trodden by the spurred
and booted Englishman and his ruthless hand has
exposed the mystic shams of that quaint and squalid
city. With Lhasa, however, this book has little to do. It
is intended to illustrate to some extent the sequence of
exploration in that great wilderness of stony and inhos
pitable altitudes which lie far beyond Lhasa, and may
serve incidentally as a small tribute to the memory of
many great achievements. In compiling a record of
adventure so varied as this, no apology is necessary for
quoting the works of the best authorities within reach,
and the sources of information which have been laid
under contribution (Russian, American, Italian, Indian,
French, Swedish, and English) are so numerous that I
feel it to be impossible to do more than present the

vi PREFACE
reader with a general bibliography of Tibet, and to say
that this work owes something to every authority
quoted. For the illustrations I am mainly indebted to Major
Ryder, Captain Rawling, Lieutenant Bailey, M. Sibikoff,
Mr. Littledale, Mr. John Thomson, the Paris Geograph
ical Society, and to the Royal Geographical Society for
the use of their maps.
T. HUNGERFORD HOLDICH.

CHAPTER I
Early Tales about Tibet — Conformation of Tibetan Plateau
and its Mountain Barriers — Routes into Tibet — North
western Routes — Leh, Shipki, and Niti Passes — Sikkim
Passes — Eastern Routes — Ta-chien-lu — Routes from
the North  I
CHAPTER II
Geological Evolution — The Chang Tang and Northern Tibet
— Valleys of the Indus and Brahmaputra — The Janglam
Trade Route — Eastern Tibet — The Rivers of China and
Burma — The Southern Zone — Climate  33
CHAPTER III
Short Outline of Tibetan History — Introduction of Bud
dhism — Struggles with China and Mongol Interference —
Growth of Lamaism — Chinese Administration . ... 49
CHAPTER IV
The First Recorded Mogul Invasion of Tibet — Mirza Hai-
dar's Story — His Geography — Identification of his Route
towards Lhasa  60
CHAPTER V
Eighteenth Century Explorations — Grueber — Capuchin
Monks — Their Mission at Lhasa and their Struggles —
Jesuit Interference — Desideri — Beligatti — Last of the
Mission — Van de Putte — His Residence at Lhasa • , 63

viii CONTENTS CHAPTER VI Page
Bogle's Mission and Policy of Warren Hastings — Bogle's
Route to Shigatze — Description of the Country and of
Gyangtse — Reception by the Teshu Lama— Turner
despatched by Warren Hastings — His Interview with
the Infant Teshu Lama  90
CHAPTER VII
The Conquest of Tibet by China — Remarkable Military Ex
pedition — Its Route into Tibet and the Final Defeat of
the Gurkhas near Katmandu — Thomas Manning's Visit
to Tibet and Lhasa — His Route through Bhutan — Experi
ences with Chinese Officials and Interview with the Dalai
Lama — His Impressions — Moorcroft's Expedition to
Hundes — His Probable Residence at Lhasa and his Fate 104
CHAPTER VIII
The Jesuit Missionaries, Hue and Gabet — Journey from
Manchuria to Koko Nor — Notes on Early Christianity in
Coria — The Mongolian and Chinese Borderland Frontier
Farms — Mongolian Customs — Trade with China —
Lamaism in Western Kansu — The Koko Nor and Feast
of Flowers at Kunbum  125
CHAPTER IX
Hue and Gabet (continued) — From the Koko Nor to Lhasa
— Rockhill and Prjevalski in Northeastern Tibet — Rock-
hill's Second Journey towards Lhasa and in the Eastern
Valleys of Tibet  157
CHAPTER X
Hue and Gabet on the Post Road to China and in Eastern
Tibet — Approaches to the East from the Koko Nor and
its Geographical Connection with Assam — ,De Rhins and
Grenard — Needham and Krishna — The Brahmaputra
Valley and the Passes through Bhutan — Kinthup's Ex
plorations and Reports — The Methods of Native Ex
plorers — Chandra Das — Nain Sing's Early Journeys . 191

CONTENTS ix
CHAPTER XI Page
Nain Sing's Surveys in Southern Tibet — Krishna— Ugyen
— The Explorer G. M. N. — The Gold Fields of Thok
Jalung — The Source of the Indus and Brahmaputra . . 232
CHAPTER XII
Western and Northern Tibet — European Explorers — Deasy-
Stein — The Kuen Lun and Chang Tang — Wellby —
Bower — Littledale — Bonvalot — S ven Hedin — Compari
son of Routes from West and North  262
CHAPTER XIII
Recent Expedition to Tibet — The Reconnaissance of the
Upper Brahmaputra by Ryder, and the Exploration of a
Part of Western Tibet by Rawling  294
CHAPTER XIV
The Approaches to Lhasa — The Dalai Lama and High State
Officials — Feasts and Customs — Temples and Palaces —
Folk Lore — A Tibetan Story  300
CHAPTER XV
General Summary — Significance and Value of Approach to
Lhasa from the Northeast — Russia's Position relatively
to Tibet and India — The Value of Eastern and South
eastern Tibet — The Promise of Gold — Necessity of
Opening up the Valley of the Brahmaputra .... 322
APPENDIX: Bibliography of Tibet  337
INDEX  343

ILLUSTRATIONS
Tibet. Coloured Map  End of volume
The Potala, from the South  Frontispiece
Fra Mauro's Map of Tibet, 1459 .... Facing page 8
Map of Tibet. From Kircher's " China " . . " 16
Sanlan Sanpo. (Cane Bridge)  " 24
A Typical Peak of South Eastern Tibet ... " 40
Glacial Lake and Moraine, Chathangta Pass . " 44
A Tibetan Lhacham. (Tibetan Princess) . . " 50
A Tibetan Prince. Dungkhor at Home . . " 58
Tibet. From D'Anville's Map of Asia ... " 84
Tibet. From Klaproth's Map of Central Asia, 1830 " 86
Van der Putte's Sketch Map  " 88
Tashi Lunpo, from the South  " 98
Manasarawar  " 122
General Group of Lamas  " 142
Cliff Temple where Hue sojourned .... " 144
The Potala in the Seventeenth Century ... " 148
W. W. Rockhill  " 168
A. E. Carey  " 168
Jules Leon Dutreuil de Rhins  " 198
N. M. Prjevalski  " 204
Captain Kozlof  " 206
Rai Bahadur Kishen Singh, Milamwal ( Krishna) " 208
Shigatze, from the Fort looking East ... " 226
The Southern Watershed of the Brahmaputra . " 232

xii ILLUSTRATIONS
On the Brahmaputra  Facing page 232
Alung Gangri Mountains  " 236
The Late Nain Sing. CLE  " 238
A Typical Tibetan Valley  " 252
Captain H. H. P. Deasy  " 266
Captain Wellby  " 266
Dr. Sven Hedin  " 274
Colonel Bower  " 274
G. Bonvalot  " 280
St. George Littledale  " 280
Major C. H. D.Ryder, D.S.O., R.E. ... " 294
The Gorges of the Brahmaputra above Lhatse . " 296
Lhasa — Plan of the City  « 298
Tibetan Natives  " 306

TIBET
THE MYSTERIOUS

TIBET THE MYSTERIOUS

CHAPTER I
Early Tales about Tibet — Conformation of Tibetan Plateau
and its Mountain Barriers — Routes into Tibet — North
western Routes — Leh, Shipki, and Niti Passes — Sikkim
Passes — Eastern Routes — Ta-chien-lu — Routes from the
North
THROUGH all the ages Tibet has held a para
mount position amongst those regions of the
world which have been popularly invested with a
veil of mystery because they are inaccessible and
unknown. Tibet is so isolated, so lofty, so irresponsive to
outside influences, has held herself so far apart from
the meddling interference of the busy, commercial
world, as to provoke the enterprise of generations of
speculative geographers, who, accepting " omne igno-
tum pro magnifico," have startled the world with small
instalments of truth surrounded by wide embroideries
of decorative fancy. One of the earliest, if not quite
the first, of these Tibetan romances dates from the
days of Herodotus, nearly five hundred years be
fore our era. When all the writings of the great
" Father of history " can be carefully examined by the

2 TIBET
light of modern research, it will be found that his
general accuracy is indisputable. His knowledge of
Asiatic geography and his care in collating such evi
dence as may be gathered from the earliest of classical
" travellers' tales " testifies to the possession by him of
considerable analytical faculty and discernment. To
one particular tale at any rate he gives a cautious
admission of probability, but by no means a cordial
assent. It was said that in the extreme northwest
of India there existed a race of enormous ants, fierce
and powerful, whose peculiar mission in life was the
digging out of gold. Traders, mounted on swift
camels, occasionally succeeded in seizing the gold
which was accumulated in heaps by these excavating
ants, and then rode rapidly away, pursued by other
ferocious guardians of the soil who slew them if they
caught them. Amongst all the ludicrous exaggera
tions of ancient classical tradition relating to India,
this one story evinces a remarkable tenacity of exist
ence. It is repeated in every tale of the East that is
told by compilers and adventurers before the days of
Herodotus, and is only doubtfully regarded by him
as pure fiction. It was not until, in recent years, the
trans-Himalayan explorers of the Indian Survey
recorded their experiences that any light could be
thrown on its origin. These explorers, making their
way painfully over the terrific altitudes which inter
vene between India and western Tibet, reached at
length the gold-mining districts which lie beyond the
mountains on the great western plains. Here they

TIBET 3
discovered the Tibetan workman delving for gold after
a fashion of his own. The intense cold and the fierce
winds of the highlands compelled him to grovel on the
ground enfolded in a thick, black blanket, whilst he
dug, or scratched, painfully and slowly at the alluvial
soil with the end of the first tool available to his hand,
which was usually the horn of the Tibetan antelope.
To all appearance he was a rough imitation of a huge
horned ant grubbing up the auriferous soil and piling
it in heaps for subsequent washing. Guarded by im
mensely powerful dogs (whose ferocity even to this
day is a byword amongst travellers in Tibet), he has
pursued his unenviable calling from those very early
days until now, hardly improving his processes, mak
ing but slight impression and shallow indentations
in the soil, and probably leaving behind two-thirds of
the gold which it contains. Here, then, according
to Sir H. Rawlinson, is the solution of the mystery
that surrounded that particular tale; and it is but
one illustration of the perceptive faculty possessed
by Herodotus that he should consider it worthy of
record. Hardly anything of note concerning Tibet occurs in
the works of mediaeval geographical writers and com
pilers. The huge, great central upheaval south of the
Gobi depression extending along the whole length of
the Himalayas (which form its southern buttress or
revetment through which the great natural staircases
lead upwards to the plateau from the plains), geologi
cally coeval with the Himalayas of the Northwest,

4 TIBET
but newer by countless ages than those of the East,
has ever been a barrier against the ever-recurrent tides
of human movement southwards. No mediaeval trade
routes ever crossed Tibet from the north. Along the
length of the intervening plains of Chinese Turkestan
they ran westward from China till they touched the cen
tral barrier (the Taurus of the Classics), which is the
eastern wall of the Pamirs. They then diverged north
ward, or twisted over the Pamir region to Badakshan
and the Oxus, but they ever avoided Tibet. The
countless tides of Central Asian emigration (Aryans,
Skyths, Mongols, etc.), when they overflowed into
India, passed by way of Badakshan and the Hindu
Kush — never across Tibet. No Chinese pilgrim
seeking knowledge at the fountain-head in northern
India ever traced his way across the Tibetan uplands
from the plains of western China and Kashgar,
although he often selected a straighter route than that
of Mongol invaders. Avoiding the central Pamir
region and Tibet by crossing the Hindu Kush near its
northeastern base by either the Wakjir or Baroghel
pass, he entered the valleys of Gilgit and Chitral in
order to make his way over routes incredibly rough and
difficult to the ancient Gandhara — the seat of all that
was most sacred to Buddhism in the extreme north
west of India. The great rolling Tibetan highlands
have thus played a most important part in the history
of Asiatic migration. They have been the natural
buffer-land between Central Asia and India, covering
so wide a space of the northern frontiers of India, that

TIBET 5
the only mountain gateways that have ever been opened
from the north into the rich sunlit plains of the penin
sula are to be found beyond them, and within the
comparatively restricted length of the mountain bor
derland which stretches between Karachi and the
Kohistan of Kabul. Who shall say how much the
wealth of India, depending on the accumulation of
centuries of patient industry and taken from her own
prolific soil, owes to the Tibetan barrier. For count
less ages, ere there was added to the world a southern
zone of communication represented by the ocean and
ocean-going ships, that wealth has been protected
by mighty land barriers. For ages, when adventur
ous and mobile forces bred in the eastern steppes of
high Asia, hardened and trained to the exercises
of war, found power to traverse the huge conti
nent which contained them, — westward to Europe
or southward to Cathay, — and pillage the stores
accumulated in the cities of the unwarlike working
races of a softer and more genial world, it was only
from the west and by very narrow ways that they
could touch India. Truly they made good use of
their opportunities when they found them, but it is
worthy of record that the fiercest and most devastat
ing hordes of all the countless nomads who poured
out of Asia from age to age — the Mongols — only
made India the scene of their destroying migra
tions when they could turn the western flank of
the Himalayas. They never crossed the Tibetan
Chang.

6 TIBET
The great corrugated uplands of Tibet, seamed with
ridges of high altitude, inhospitable, bleak, and deso
late though they be, do not in themselves, however,
present any insurmountable difficulty to geographical
exploration. The chief obstacles to Tibetan exploration have
ever been the mountain barriers which surround the
plateau, rather than the plateau itself. These moun
tain systems on all sides of Tibet are massed into
a series of gigantic walls, the ranges and ridges of
which are not fashioned as long spurs reaching out
from the highlands and gradually diminishing in alti
tude till they fade into the plains below, enclosing long
sloping valleys which would answer the purpose of
ramps or shelving approaches to the heights ; but they
are folded range after range in gigantic altitudes
(higher than the ranges of the plateau), forming a
rough but readily recognisable system of parallel flex
ures flanking the general edge of the central Tibetan
upheaval. Tibet may be described as a huge pear-shaped for
mation, with the small end of the pear attached to the
southeastern corner of the Pamirs at the point where
the Kashmir hinterland, from the heights of the giant
Muztagh range, looks northward over the sources of
the rivers of Chinese (or eastern) Turkestan. The
Muztagh range might almost be called the stem of the
pear, the narrow end of the pear gradually widening
out therefrom being appropriately known as Little
Tibet. Little Tibet is politically an outlying province

TIBET 7
of Kashmir. As the northern side of the pear-shaped
formation curves boldly eastward it is represented by
the border mountain systems of Kuen Lun, Altyn
Tagh, Nan Shan, etc., which, following each other in
succession, carry the northern boundary of Tibet to
the province of Kansu of China. Where exactly
Kansu ends and Tibet begins is a matter rather of con
jecture than political certainty; but for the purposes
of description we will consider all the country south
of the Altyn Tagh and the Nan Shan ranges to be
Tibet. To the north of these ranges is the compara
tively low-lying region of Chinese Turkestan, with
abundant fertility about its western extremity and
along the edges at the foot of the mountains, and a
sand-strewn desert in its midst, hiding the remains
of those cities which have been made known to us by
the researches of Sven Hedin and Stein. Throughout
the Kuen Lun series of mountain systems there is a
certain structural similarity. The main ranges are
folded in vast anticlinals parallel to the edge of Tibet
and to each other, ridge upon ridge, like a series of
walls. It is not to be supposed that the simplicity of
this description is readily to be recognised in the moun
tain masses themselves. There is the usual complexity
of subsidiary spurs and more or less isolated massifs,
of geological faults, and inconceivably rough foothills,
which present to the eye the appearance of mountain
features without arrangement and without plan.
Nevertheless there is (as there is in the Himalayas)
an underlying structural basis which marks them rather

8 TIBET
as successive walls of the plateau than as direct exten
sions from it.
The result is extreme irregularity in the main lines
of drainage which cut their way through passages
transverse to the walls, following the weakest lines of
resistance (or, it may be, retaining a primeval course
during the upheaval of the mountain masses) till they
reach the plains. Not only are the valleys which form
the natural approach to Tibet from the north thus
liable to narrow restricted gorges and desperately
rough intervals where they break across or through a
ridge, but they are lengthened inordinately between
the plains and the plateau. These main lines of ap
proach (so far as they are known) will be described
hereafter. On the east, at the broad end of the pear-shaped
plateau, the mountains of the Kansu border curve
round southward (allowing the head- waters of the
Hoang Ho of China to pass through them as they
curve), and gradually merge into a fairly well-defined
north to south range which figures on the map as Sifan.
Here, within the limits of Tibet, there occurs the com
mencement of a most remarkable orographical feature.
Range after range striking outwards from the plateau
follows the same curving course from southeast to
south, bending in orderly procession like the waves of
the sea, deepening their valleys and steepening their
sides as they proceed southwards, till the whole south
eastern world of Tibet is but a succession of mountain
waves whose forest-crested summits gradually reach

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Fra Mauro's Map of Tibet, 1459
TIBET 9
southwards into Burma. Down the deep troughs of
these southeastern valleys of Tibet flow the waters of
several of the most important rivers of Asia. The Di
chu (or Yang tsi) is the outermost, with a course of
eight hundred miles ere it passes tlie Tibetan frontier.
The Mekong, the river of Siam, and the Salwin, one of
the two great rivers of Burma, lie within the Yang tsi,
and parallel to it. Recent evidence points to the fact
that the Irawadi, the next great Burmese river, does
not rise far, if at all, within the Tibetan border.
It is the contiguity of these intervening ranges,. the
difficulty presented by a succession of rugged moun
tain walls, which proves to be the great barrier between
Tibet and China on the east.
But wrhile approach directly from the east is ren
dered almost impossible by this geographical distribu
tion of ridge and valley, the same distribution rather
favours approach from the southeast, i. e., from the
province of Yunnan in China, or from Burma. Thus
there is a route from Yunnan which takes advantage
of the Di chu (Yang tsi) River valley. It is marked
by the trade centre of Batang.
In more irregular but still recognisable form the
curving structure of the mountain system continues
over the intervening space westwards till it determines
the bend of the river Brahmaputra, which changes its
direction as it flows from Tibet into Assam, and thus
rounds off, as it were, the eastern end of the Hima
layas. The irregular trans-Brahmaputra hills, through
which runs a part of the southern boundary of Tibet,

io TIBET
are drained by one or two minor rivers which join the
Brahmaputra from the east. They are supposed to
be within the sphere of British political influence, but
they are practically beyond it, and through their val
leys, owing to the fierce and irreconcileable nature of
the tribes which people them (Abors, Mishmis, etc.),
no right of way to Tibet has ever been established. It
may be that eventually it is here that we shall find that
open door which, leading upward by paths indicated
by geographical structure as the easiest, will reach the
cultivated lands of eastern Tibet (and ultimately the
plateau) by a route involving no high passes and no
long detours. The Brahmaputra marks the natural
gateway of the hills. Westward of the Brahmaputra,
to the extremest point of the Kashmir stem of the pear-
shaped plateau, are interposed the great Himalayan
barriers, which are perhaps the most effective barriers
of all.
The structural relationship of the Himalayan ranges
on the south of Tibet is very similar to that of the
mountains on the north. Throughout their whole
length, from the great bend of the Indus (where that
river leaves the longitudinal valleys of its upper
reaches to break transversely across the ridges as it
seeks its way to the plains) to the great bend of the
Brahmaputra (where that river is forced into a curv
ing deflection from its Tibetan channels), through
fifteen hundred miles of mountains, there runs a
dominant water-parting, or backbone to the whole sys
tem. This is set back from the plains of India at a

TIBET n
distance of about one hundred miles. It is on this
divide that the magnificent array of highest snow
capped peaks is to be found, from the giants of Kash
mir to the groups of pinnacles about Everest and
Kanchenjanga. It is the " snowy range " par ex
cellence, as seen from Himalayan hill stations. We are
not quite sure what becomes of it through the unex
plored regions of Nepal, but it apparently loses its
continuity as a district. The general trend or axis of
this great curving divide determines the shape of the
southern edge of the Tibetan plateau. Infinitely higher
than the plateau, it is yet but part of that procession
of mountain walls which form its southern support.
Northward it overlooks the plateau; southward it
overlooks the apparently confused and tangled mass
of lower subsidiary ranges which fill up the inter
vening one hundred miles between itself and the
plains of India. But there is no real structural con
fusion about these minor ridges and ranges. Most
of them maintain a parallel formation of ridge and
valley to the snowy range. This is very observable
in the extreme northwest, and is recognisable through
out the Himalayas in spite of the maze of spurs and
offshoots which tend to disguise the fundamental
design. North of this range there is a minor (yet
still gigantic) subsidiary and parallel wall (enclos
ing a space of upland waste about thirteen thousand
feet above sea level) which overlooks the great troughs
where the Indus, the Sutlej, and the Brahmaputra col
lect their forces. The Sutlej and the Indus flow west-

12 TIBET
ward by separate routes to India. The Brahmaputra
flows eastward through southern Tibet till it is turned
in its course by the eastern walls of the plateau and
forced through the Dihang gorges into upper Assam.
" On the north of the Himalayan wall rise the Kara-
koram and Gangri mountains, which form the imme
diate escarpment of the Tibetan table-land. Behind
the Gangris on the north the lake-studded plateau of
Tibet spreads itself out at a height averaging fifteen
thousand feet. Broadly speaking, the double Hima
layan wall rests upon the low-lying plains of India,
and descends north into the river trough beyond which
rises the Tibetan plateau. Vast glaciers, one of which
is known to be sixty miles in length, move their masses
of ice downward to the valleys. The higher ranges
between India and Tibet are crowned with eternal
snow. They rise in a region of unbroken silence like
gigantic frosted fortresses, one above another, till their
white towers are lost in the sky " (W. W. Hunter).
Yet another river besides the Sutlej, the Karnali,
one of the largest affluents of the Ganges, breaks
through the Himalayas between the arms of the Indus
and Brahmaputra. The Karnali is a Nepalese river,
and its upper course is therefore but indifferently
known. There is no doubt, however, that its sources
lie beyond the Himalayas.
The Indus rises on the slopes of Kailas, the sacred
mountain, the Elysium or Siva's Paradise of ancient
Sanskrit literature. Its long and comparatively
straight course from its source at sixteen thousand

TIBET 13
feet above the sea, through channels running northwest
through gigantic mountains, is often comparatively
placid. It flows over broad gravel beds, gathering
strength as it flows, for five hundred miles ere it
plunges into the gorge of Iskardoh, which is said to
be fourteen thousand feet in sheer depth. The Sutlej
rises on the southern slopes of Kailas. It flows no
longer from one of the sacred lakes of Manasarawar,
famous in Hindu mythology. Abandoning its ancient
cradle in Rakhas-Tal, it now issues from the foothills
of Kailas. It cuts its way from birth through a vast
accumulation of deposits by a deep gully between preci
pices of alluvial soil, and finally pierces the Himalayas
by a gorge with mountains rising to twenty thousand
feet on either side. This is in the region of the fa
mous Shipki pass, where the Tibetan outposts hold
the frontier.
The traveller who wishes to traverse the wide deso
lation of the Tibetan plateau has a considerable choice
of routes. From north, south, east, and west explor
ers and adventurers have tackled the problem of
reaching the capital of the country, Lhasa, and with
about equal want of success. The northern routes
from the plains of Chinese Turkestan which have been
exploited by Prjevalski, Sven Hedin, Deasy, Stein,
Littledale, Bonvalot, and others are distinctly the most
difficult and unpromising, partly because it is neces
sary to reach the plains of Kashgar before attempting
them — and this in itself is no mean performance ;
partly because these northern routes lead to the wildest

14 TIBET
and most desolate uplands of all the desolate field
which Tibet presents. These are Russian routes, inas
much as they lead direct from the Russian Asiatic
borderland of Chinese Turkestan, and they are long
routes, bristling with all the formidable barriers that
a bleak and immensely high mountain system can set
in their way ere the dreary open steppe is attained at
altitudes which are considerably greater than those of
southern Tibet. Russia is shut off from the capital
of Tibet by natural barriers which are infinitely greater
than those which present themselves on the side of
India. Geographically, Lhasa, and all of Tibet which
holds promise of future civilised development, is within
the meshes of the broad network of hinterland com
munication which is cast from India or from China,
and never could be attached to a direct northern sys
tem by any but the weakest of geographical ties. There
is nevertheless a bond of religious and commercial
union between Russia and Tibet which is maintained
by a much-traversed route on the northeast, — a long
route and an important one, — about which there is
more to be said hereafter.
These northern routes will be considered in con
nection with those explorations which led to their
discovery. From the south Tibet is approached by the Sutlej
opening through the Himalayas and by a group of
passes leading from Kumaon. There are also routes
about which we know little leading direct from Nipal,
but the principal (because the most direct and the

TIBET 15
nearest) group of trans-Himalayan passes into Tibet
are those which traverse the valleys of Sikkim and
Bhutan. On the east one or two routes are well known,
amongst them one which from prehistoric days has
been the main and the best-trodden route from China
to Lhasa, i. c, that which cuts the boundary at the
frontier station of Ta-chien-lu (Darchendo). This
indeed not only connects Pekin with Lhasa, and is
historically responsible for the great movement of the
Chinese race westward which ended in the conquest
of Tibet, but it stretches its length (as will be explained
more fully) to Kashmir and India, and must rank as
one of the greatest of Asiatic trade routes.
The routes into Tibet from the northwest diverge
from Leh, the capital of Ladak, and many a traveller
has started from that quaint Buddhist town in search
of adventure in the trackless Tibetan plateau land.
Ladak is the extreme outlying, uptilted province of
Kashmir, and the modern road between Srinagar (the
capital of Kashmir) and Leh is a well-laid-out route
two hundred and forty miles in length, frequently
traversed, but involving some formidable passes.
Leaving behind him the sombre shade of the thick pine
woods of the Sind valley, the traveller encounters the
main orographical line of division between Kashmir
and Tibet at the point marked by the well-known
Zoji La pass, — a pass which is typical of many other
Himalayan passes, where the cutting back of the
southern stream at its head has tended to obliterate

xS TIBET
the steep slopes of the northern side. A sharp ascent
of two thousand feet from the south, zigzagging up the
face of a precipitous slope, flanking a narrow and steep-
sided gorge, leads over the pass to an open and ap
parently level valley, partly blocked with debris and
talus, where it is difficult to determine in which direc
tion the stream runs. Approaching it from the Ti
betan side, the great traveller Sven Hedin calls it " the
worst pass I have ever seen," although its altitude (not
more than eleven thousand five hundred feet) is low
compared with many which he must have previously
encountered in Tibet. But he crossed it on the 9th
of January, when the pass is usually closed by winter
snow. Beyond the Zoji La the road drops into the Indus
basin, and is within the limits of Ladak (or Little
Tibet), which geographically and climatically belongs
rather to Tibet than to Kashmir. Hugging the river
banks (but one hundred and fifty feet above it), it
passes through some of the grandest of trans-Hima
layan scenery. Near Leh the Indus is walled in be
tween tremendous precipices, where it has literally
carved a way for itself through the mountains. Its
dark green waters flow in tranquil silence through
broad reaches, or break up in thundering cataracts
where the channel contracts. Occasionally the sun
light finds a way through the deep-shadowed cliffs
overhanging its southern banks, and then it strikes the
surface into emerald patches, and sends long, slanting
shafts into the glistening depths. It is a weird, wild

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T

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Map of Tibet, 1670. From Kircher's "Chi
TIBET 17
scene, a fit introduction to a weird and wild country.
Yet there are broken spaces of cultivation where apri
cot and apple orchards hide the dwellings of as cheery
hearted a population of mountaineers as is to be found
in the wide world. The Ladaki lives to laugh, and,
living (as he frequently does) a life in which the carry
ing of loads seems to be the fundamental object of
existence, he nevertheless succeeds in securing for
himself a fair share of that happiness which knows
no fixed geographical limits.
Leh is the market town, the commercial centre of
western Tibet. The town climbs up the side of a hill,
as do most Tibetan towns, and the general look of
it, flat-topped as to roofs and sloping as to walls, is
almost Chinese in effect; but it lacks the grace of
Chinese outline. As usual, a monastery dominates
the town with high splay-footed walls, perforated by
perpendicular rows of windows (or openings) mark
ing successive flats. Red and white against a brown
background of rugged hills is the prevaling colour
scheme; the air is dry and dusty, with the clear but
wintry light of all north Indian highland places. Leh
is distinctly Tibetan. There is none of the airy grace
of the rickety buildings which overlook the Jehlam at
Srinagar. It is substantial, square built, and some
what heavy — like the Tibetan himself. But it is a
busy town, and caravans are constantly coming and
going in its market-place.
From Leh into the Tibetan plains there is but one
recognised road, and that road crosses the Chang

18 TIBET
La (seventeen thousand six hundred feet) within
fifty miles of Leh. Still following the right bank
of the Indus for a space, amidst scattered evidences
of the Buddhist faith (kists covered with stone
slabs stretching their length for hundreds of feet
along the river side, and repeating with monotonous
reiteration the Buddhist formula " Om mane padme
hum " ) , the road diverges suddenly eastward from the
village of Sakti, and climbs the Chang La. It is not
such a formidable pass as its altitude might lead one to
expect, as the snow is usually less here than on the outer
Himalayan ranges of similar altitude. The vapour-
bearing currents from the southwest lose their moisture
on the outer Himalayan heights, where snow is precipi
tated in vast quantities. Tibet is on the whole remark
ably free from snow. The Chang La is occasionally
passable all through the winter, but it is precipitous and
difficult to climb, — " nothing but blank walls of bare,
gray rock," says Sven Hedin. However, he crossed
on the 1 8th of December without any mishap. From
the pass the road drops eastward to the Shyok valley
(where is Tanksi, with its picturesque monastery of
Jova perched on a detached crag) , and then rises over
the intervening eastern water parting, and drops to the
head of the Pangong Lake. Here commences Tibet
proper, and from here the recognised caravan roads
southeast to Rudok, or by the northern shores of the
lake to Gangra, have not always been those selected by
adventurous explorers for the purpose of crossing the
Tibetan Chang when they designed to leave their tracks

TIBET 19
on the map of the interior. Here we leave it. Beyond
this point the road to Lhasa is an explorers' route, of
which we possess but a scanty descriptive outline,
although it is one of the great highroads of Asia.
From Srinagar to the Tibetan frontier it is the best
known of all approaches to Tibet.
Next in order eastward amongst Himalayan ap
proaches are the Shipki and the Niti routes, which are
familiar enough to residents in Simla or Naini Tal,
but are, nevertheless, but seldom traversed by any
of them. Everyone who has visited Simla knows
the highroad to Mahasu and Narkanda. The view of
the northern mountains from Narkanda, forty miles
from Simla, is the most striking view of Himalayan
scenery that is to be obtained anywhere near Simla,
a town which is not well placed for landscape effects.
The sense of astonishment inspired by the magnificent
wall of snow-capped mountains towering over the
shadowed depths of the Sutlej valley is intensified by
the dramatic suddenness with which a sharp bend in the
road reveals the vision. So far the great central trade
route to Tibet (which this well-engineered road was
designed to be) has only carried one along the crests
of subsidiary spurs overlooking east and west, long
waving lines of green and purple hills spread abroad in
infinite variety of light and shade, and chequered with
patches of forest and terraced field. The rhododendrons
and blue pines and silver oak of Simla have gradually
given place to firs and green oak, and long, straight-
stemmed pines standing thickly and darkly in the lower

20 TIBET
depths ; but there has been no view of the majesty of
eternal snow and glacier till we reach Narkanda.
At Narkanda one suddenly faces a stupendous
range, and looks through a vast space of the uplifted
mountain side, slung, as it were, midway between
unknown depths below and the bright glory of snow
outlines clear cut against the azure sky above.
From Narkanda the road dips into the depths of the
Sutlej valley, passing under the shadow of gigantic
pines, thickly burdened with ferns and moss, till the
river itself is touched and the road commences to cling
to it. It then follows the Sutlej valley to the main
pass on the Tibetan frontier at Shipki, but it is no
longer a road of the same class as that which connects
Simla with Narkanda. As a Tibetan trade route the
road is a failure, but there is a very large local traffic
upon it, due to the development of villages and culti
vation in the valleys near Simla, which is largely
dependent on local means of supply for wood and veg
etables. Once in Tibetan territory this route follows
the southeasterly course of the Sutlej to its source near
the Rakhas-Tal, the westernmost of the twin lakes of
Manasarawar. About midway it passes through the
Tibetan town of Totling, where there is a monastery,
and which is a not unimportant centre of road com
munications in connection with the gold fields of the
west. Farther east again we find a group of passes con
necting Kumaon with Tibet to the north of Almorah,
— the Mana, Niti, Milam, Darma (Langpya La), and

TIBET 21
Byans (Mangohang La), all forking off from the
upper tributaries of the Alaknanda affluent of the
Ganges. The Mana (eighteen thousand five hundred
feet), which is at the head of the Badrinath stream,
leads directly northward to Totling on the Sutlej. The
altitudes of the Niti and the Milam are not well deter
mined, but they cannot be much less than that of the
Mana on the west. All these passes appear to be over
eighteen thousand feet. Across the Milam there is
still some traffic in gold-dust and borax, which is
brought across the Himalayas on the backs of sheep,
which (in spite of certain objections on the part of the
lamas at Lhasa) still continue to be beasts of burden
in southern Tibet. They travel remarkably well, and
keep their condition under circumstances which would
prove fatal to the condition of mules. They take back
to Tibet cooking-utensils, pots, pans, and earthenware,
but naturally no very bulky merchandise can be trans
ported over the rugged mountain tracks in this way.
The Karnali, or Gogra, River, rising near the sources
of the Sutlej and Indus, also affords a trans-Hima
layan passage; but it leads through a maze of moun
tains to the same focus on which the more western
routes converge, and has apparently no separate trade
outlet of its own on to the Tibetan plateau. All these
routes practically centre on the same point, — the twin
lakes of Manasarawar in the southern Tibetan district
of Nari Khursam, or Hundes, which lie below the
sacred peaks of Kailas. The great alluvial plain of
Nari Khursam divided by the gorge of the Sutlej

22 TIBET
River is a sort of landing in the Tibetan staircase. In
its midst Totling is the chief place of importance, as
we shall see further on. Beyond it are infinite mazes
of mountains still intervening between the landing and
the rugged plateau land, but there are no more Hima
layas. The farther mountains are but lofty incidents
of the great central table-land.
About the passes from Nepal to Lhasa we know
exceedingly little, although Nepal was the connecting
link of the Tibetan missions with India in the begin
ning of the eighteenth century. Nepal still maintains
a formal recognition of Chinese suzerainty, and from
Khatmandu there issues a periodic procession of priests
and high military functionaries bearing tribute to
Pekin. The procession moves by way of Lhasa, and
strikes straight into Tibet. Presumably it crosses the
main Himalayas by a pass which was used by an
Indian explorer in 1867, who made his way direct from
Khatmandu into the valley of the Yeru Tsanpo (Brah
maputra), to the well-known monastery of Tadum.
Aided by the disguise of a pigtail and a false bottom
to his box of merchandise, this explorer crossed by
the No-La (sixteen thousand six hundred feet), at the
head of a western affluent of the Gandak River of
Nepal, and thence made a most eventful journey
through Tibet. It is from such sources that we derive
all our geographical knowledge of the most important
part of Tibet, i. e., the southern districts which lie
immediately north of the Himalayas and are watered
by the great Yeru Tsanpo. Doubtless the Gandak

TIBET 23
affluents draining down the rugged sides of the main
range afford opportunities for other passes than that
of the No-La. The Kirong, the Jong-ka-jong, and the
Kuti, north of Khatmandu, surmount the main Hima
layan water-parting at points which can hardly be
twenty-five miles south of the Yeru Tsanpo. Nepal
has hitherto been a forbidden land to Europeans.
Europeans have seen most of Tibet, traversed it from
north to south and from east to west; but no Euro
pean ever made close acquaintance with Nepalese
topography until Captain Wood was permitted to fix
the position of Mount Everest from points of observa
tion near Khatmandu in 1904. It is impossible to
say exactly by what passes the Chinese invaded and
conquered that country. It is, however, certain that
they must be fairly easy and accessible.
The most significant group of passes leading from
India into Tibet is that of Sikkim, connecting the
basins of the Tista and of the Ammu Chu (river of
Assam) with the valley of the Tsanpo near Lhasa.
Two or three routes into Tibet diverge from our
railway base at Siliguri on the eastern frontier. One
is carried by the mountain railway line to Darjiling;
and from Darjiling as his base the traveller (such
travellers as Dr. Waddell, Mr. Douglas Freshfield, and
the Bengali pundit, Chandra Das, etc.) descends into
the Tista valley, and makes his way by an easily rec
ognisable, but occasionally difficult, route along the
Lachen affluent of the Tista and over the Kamba La
or Kangra pass (sixteen thousand six hundred feet)

a4 TIBET
to Kamba Jong. Kamba Jong is separated from the
trade and religious centre of Shigatze on the Tsanpo
by cross-country roads, for the most part no better and
no worse than the ordinary unmade country tracks
passing through the uncultivated areas of India, but
with one or two crossings of mountain passes en route.
Or, instead of following up the Lachen affluent of the
Tista, the traveller may take the Lach-lung affluent to
the Donkia pass (eighteen thousand one hundred feet)
and strike into the road to Gyangtse. This route, how
ever, involves five or six crossings of intermediate
passes before reaching Gyangtse, and although such
passes are not formidable, they are obstructive. By
far the most direct route to Gyangtse and Lhasa is that
which was followed by the Tibetan mission under
Colonel Younghusband. From Siliguri a cart road
runs by the Tista valley to Kalimpong, just below
Darjiling, and thence diverges to the northeast over
a series of ascents and descents for forty-two miles to
Gnathong (twelve thousand feet), and on ,to the.
" smooth and easy " pass called Jelep La, which divides
the basin of the Tista (or Sikkim) from the upper
basin of the Ammo Chu (or Chumbi), which is Tibet.
At this point only Tibet drives a wedge southward into
the body of the Himalayas. The valley of the Ammo
Chu formerly belonged to Bhutan, but Tibet has re
cently asserted the right of occupation, and it is here
that her troublesome intrusions into British territory
necessitated the campaign of 1888, which succeeded in
driving the Tibetan rabble over the Jelep La into

be

pq

'S

•Si

TIBET 25
Chumbi, from whence they came. Chumbi is said to
be a delightful country. It has been called the Enga-
dine of the Himalayas, and it is doubtless a pleasant
offset to the wintry regions which lie above and beyond
it. Pari, in the upper valley, is a town of about three
hundred houses, protected by a fort. According to
one authority, it is " abundantly bleak and bare," being
four thousand feet higher than the Chumbi town
(ten thousand feet), and not far below the Tang La
pass, over the principal Himalayan water divide be
tween the Tsanpo and the Ammo Chu. But Hooker
describes it as an important trade entrepot, where to
bacco, fruit, and cloth from Bhutan are found, together
with vegetables, cattle, and fish. Customs are collected
here by Tibetan officials. The Tang La, above Pari
(fifteen thousand seven hundred feet), is an exception
ally easy pass for the Himalayas. From it northward
there runs a rivulet which, swelling into a stream and
finally developing into a full-grown river, flows almost
directly northward through an open and gently rounded
plain to Gyangtse and the Yeru Tsanpo. There is not
a pass to bar the way nor a serious physical obstacle
to contend with, as far as Gyangtse. It is, par excel
lence, the great central route across the breadth of
southern Tibet, — that part of Tibet which, being within
the Brahmaputra basin, is in true geographical affinity
with India in spite of the intervening Himalayan wall.
The journey from the Indian frontier to Lhasa may
be made in a fortnight over fairly good country roads
and through tracts which are partially cultivated.

26 TIBET
From the north, — from Kashgar or the frontier of
Chinese Turkestan to Lhasa, — it is a journey of
months across a wild and desolate table-land, the hor
rors of which have been described to us by Sven Hedin,
Bower, Prjevalski, and others, presenting an aspect of
Tibet which has little in common with the Tibet of
the upper Brahmaputra.
Whilst the gates of Tibet have ever been jealously
guarded against European advance from the west or
south, and the wild, bleak wind-swept plains and rocky
defiles of the northwest, added to the desolation of
dreary steppes, stretching in stone-strewn monotony
for hundreds of miles, have effectually hindered the
progress of trade developments in these directions
through all historic times, it has not been the same on
the east or the northeast. From the west, in spite of
all obstacles, a certain amount of intermittent trade
has always filtered through Leh, or over the passes of
Kumaon to India, owing chiefly to the fact that gold
and borax are easily transportable commodities; but
the main trade of Tibet has always run China-wards.
Gold, even from the extreme western fields near the
Kashmir border, has been carried in far larger quan
tities to Pekin, over a distance of three thousand miles,
than it ever has to Leh, which is hardly three hundred
miles from the centre of the western mining districts.
The Sikhs, by way of Kashmir, and the Mongols, from
the north, have alike attempted the conquest of Tibet
with no substantial commercial profit ; but the Chinese
from the east have swamped the country with most

TIBET 27
practical results. With a loose and elastic system of
administration, which leaves both the spiritual and
temporal government of Tibet almost untouched, and
interferes not at all with the customs of the people, the
Chinese hold on Tibet has yet been of very solid advan
tage to China. Trade and commerce either follow the
flag, or precede it, and most of the material comforts
and luxuries of the few centres of semi-civilisation
which Tibet possesses are the direct result of Chinese
military enterprise. Tea, for instance, of a specially
inferior quality, made as much from refuse as from
the actual leaf, and cemented with rice water into the
form of hard unpromising bricks, is imported in im
mense quantities from China, and, strange to say, it
fully meets the requirements and the taste of a people
who do not appreciate Indian tea. Nearly all this
eastern trade now flows through the one centre on the
eastern frontier called Darchendo in the older maps, or,
more correctly, Ta-chien-lu in the newer ones.
From western and southwestern China the ap
proaches to Ta-chien-lu are through a mountainous
region by tracks which follow the main courses of the
upper affluents of the Yang tsi kiang in the province
of Ssu-chuan. From the Min river affluent, which
drains a busy and populous centre of Chinese industry,
a tributary called the Tung leads upwards to the fron
tier at Ta-chien-lu; another affluent flowing south,
itself a feeder of the Yalung, defines a route which con
nects Ta-chien-lu with the frontiers of the province of
Yunnan. There are no very high passages ; no enor-

28 TIBET
mous altitudes to be dealt with on these two Chinese
roads, which enclose between them a vast mountain
tract inhabited by the independent Lolos. They are
routes full of the interest of human activity and of
magnificent scenery; and about them one of the most
fascinating stories of travel ever written has been given
to the world from the pen of M. E. Colborne Baber,
once secretary to the Chinese legation at Pekin. It
is indeed a matter of deep regret that the mysterious
visions which haunt the mist-clothed Mount Omi at
the junction of the Tung and the Min (to use the Jesuit
name for a river which is not known locally as the
Min) are found too far from the borders of Tibet to
be included with due propriety in the stories of Tibetan
exploration. There is no enchanted Omi amidst the
bleak desolations of Tibetan highlands. No emanation
from the aureole of Buddha, seen as a " golden sun
like disc enclosed in a ring of prismatic colours more
closely blended than the rainbow," ever cheers the
hearts of the saints at Lhasa. Omi is Chinese, and but
serves to emphasise the fact that of all the roads that
run to Lhasa, that which approaches from the east is
certainly the most fascinating by reason of the glory
of its scenery, if it is not also the greatest by reason
of its trade.
Ta-chien-lu is a picturesque mountain town, not
more than eight thousand four hundred feet above sea
level, and it constitutes the doorway into a corner of
Tibet which is by far the richest in cultivation, the
best in climate, and possibly the most productive in

TIBET 29
mineral wealth. The town lies " at the western end of
a very narrow valley, so narrow indeed that for miles
together it has no floor but the path and the torrent,
which, after fifteen miles of cataracts, plunges into the
Tung at Wa-Ssu-Kou ; a mere gorge, in short, between
two spurs of the snowy range over which the Che-to
road passes." Bower calls Ta-chien-lu a " pestilential
spot," but this estimate of its salubrity is probably
based more on the well-known want of sanitation
which pervades all Asiatic hill towns than on any
known condition of climate. Other travellers are more
or less reticent. From Ta-chien-lu the great trade
route rises to the elevation of thirteen thousand four
hundred feet at Litang, between the Di chu and its
Tung affluents, ere descending again to Batang, which
is in the actual valley of the Di chu (or Kin sha, or
Yang tsi). Batang is only eighty-one hundred feet
above sea level, and from here the Tibetan highroad,
crossing a narrow intervening divide, drops into the
valley of the Nam chu, or Mekong River, which it
follows to Chiamdo at a high level on the left bank,
where " travelling is not difficult " but " the people are
given to much thieving." The narrow troughs (rather
than valleys) which enclose the waters of the upper
Yang tsi, the upper Mekong, and the Giama Nu Chu
(which is now believed to be the upper Salwin River)
are amongst the most populous and best-developed val
leys of eastern Tibet. Their contiguity to the main
trade route and their comparatively low elevation com
bine to render them prosperous, and it is here if any-

30 TIBET
where that the future prospect of economic value in re
gard to mineral wealth appears to be most promising.
It is therefore a matter of interest to note that this is a
part of Tibet which might be reached from India with
comparative facility and without encountering a rigor
ous climate by other routes than those of China. Fol
lowing up the Lohit Brahmaputra to the northeast
from the head of the valley of Assam, a forest track
runs for one hundred and twenty miles to Rima, the
capital of the Zayul district. From Rima routes
diverge to the northeast and the northwest. Either
route must inevitably encounter a high watershed be
tween the basins of the upper Salwin and the Dibang
affluent of the Brahmaputra, before descending into
the valley of the former river, and it is probable that
the passes over this intervening ridge would not be
lower than the fifteen thousand feet average of the
Tibetan plateau. But the route would not be long, —
from eighty to one hundred miles from Rima to the
Salwin, and perhaps seventy more to the China route
near Batang. This is, however, conjecture, for hitherto
the irrepressible hostility of the mountain tribespeople
of Upper Assam has proved an insuperable bar to
successful exploration. Between the Brahmaputra and
the Salwin, across the two hundred miles of interven
ing mountains, in the hidden depths of which are born
the infant streams which swell the waters of the mighty
Irawadi, no geographer has ever yet penetrated. It
will not always be so. Upper Assam may yet point
the way from India to northwestern China.

TIBET 31
Setting aside for the present certain routes through
Bhutan to Lhasa, we may note that there are yet other
ways into Tibet (highways in the literal sense of the
word) than those of the west and south and east, and by
these other ways adventurers have reached the plateau
from the north. By the northeast passage (a passage
of primary importance) that grand explorer of Russian
nationality, Prjevalski, and his lieutenant Roborovski,
penetrated southwards to the sources of the Hoang Ho,
the Yellow River of China. That way too came the
American Rockhill, and the Frenchman Bonvalot
(only a little more to the west). Sven Hedin, prince
of Swedish travellers, with Carey and Dalgleish, Stein,
Littledale, and Deasy, have all passed the northwestern
hills, — so there is no lack of record. Not one of them
ever reached Lhasa. Tibetan prejudice against trav
ellers was too much for them. But they all scaled the
northern walls of Tibet, and we know that there is not
one, but several, recognised passes from the lowlands of
Chinese Turkestan to the highlands of the plateau,
which even in their rough condition of natural obstruc-
tiveness are yet passable for horses and camels. The
point to be noted in connection with these northern
passes is that they are not, and they never can be,
important trade routes. The geographical conforma
tion of the Tibetan plateau itself forbids it. It is not
the passes themselves which are the obstacle. It is
the great central region of lake-splashed upland — one
huge, bleak wilderness of inhospitality — which inter
venes between them and the warmer and more genial

32 TIBET
(comparatively genial) districts of the Brahmaputra
basin, wherein are all the great villages and trade
centres of Tibet. This is the real obstacle, and has ever
been so. No artificial efforts of man will ever contend
against the giant distributions of nature in these up
lands. The general outline of these distributions will
be dealt with later. At present my object is to prove
that the outside fringe of the veil of mystery which
overhangs Tibet has been lifted on all sides of the
plateau. It may well be doubted whether any future
explorations will reveal to us more important breaks
in the border line of mountain wall than those which
we already know. If roads are to be made, we know
where they must be made. It concerns us now, geo
graphically, to consider what there is on the plateau
when once it is reached ; and this we can best do by
the light of such revelations as the Tibetan explorers
of all nationalities have given us in the records of
their wanderings from the earliest ages.

CHAPTER II
Geological Evolution — The Chan Tang and Northern Tibet —
Valleys of the Indus and Brahmaputra — The Janglam
Trade Route — Eastern Tibet — The Rivers of China and
Burma — The Southern Zone — Climate
SO unique is the position of Tibet that a short
description of its physical characteristics is almost
essential to a comprehension of successive methods of
exploration. It seems probable that the primeval forces which first
upheaved this gigantic excrescence on the face of the
earth gave it an axis running from west to east, which
approximates to the position of the northern water
parting or rim of the Indian hydrographic basin.
The plateau elevation culminates on this central line
at an altitude of seventeen thousand six hundred feet
about the seventy-ninth meridian. From this central
line the uplands slope away on all sides — to about
thirteen thousand feet towards the east and to eleven
thousand in the southern zone, i. e., the basin of the
Yero Tsanpo. A secondary axis of upheaval is some
times recognised in the Kuen Lun mountain system on
the northern edge. Modern Indian geologists are dis
posed to associate the upheaval of Tibet with that of
the great trans-Indus table-lands of Baluchistan and
3

34 TIBET
Afghanistan on the west, with the northwestern Hima
layas on the south, and the northern Burmese moun
tains on the east; that is to say, they consider it to
be very much more recent than the central portions of
the Indian peninsula, or of the Himalayas to the north
east of India. This contention appears to be justified
by the discovery of certain forms of fossils indicating
the existence of life which has nowhere been found
in the great highland steppes of the Asiatic continent,
or in the broad expanse of the ancient beds of Central
India. In later ages there must have accumulated on
these heights a vast superincumbent mass of ice and
snow, burying Tibet as effectually as Greenland is
buried at the present moment, grinding down the
mountain ranges to their present comparatively insig
nificant level, and spreading the debris of them in
vast accumulations of detritus over the face of the
table-land. The next process was the recession of the ice, the
gradual withdrawal of glaciers, the formation of lakes,
— of lakes innumerable, — which in their turn have,
for the most part, dried up and disappeared, leaving
traces of their ancient beds behind them, spreading far
afield from the present limited dimensions of such
relics as remain. There may have been more than
one or two glacial epochs, for all we know. There
probably have been cycles of accumulation and disap
pearance; but it seems certain that during all these
untold ages the process of gradual upheaval has been
continuous, and with the advance of scientific investi-

TIBET 35
gation it will probably be proved to be still in action.
When man made his first appearance we need not ask,
but there can be no reasonable doubt that the Tibetan
is the latest survival of the ancient Turko-Mongol stock
whicli once prevailed through all high Asia. The
Tibetan came from the northeast in a purely Mongol
form, and later from the southeast, — from Burma
and Assam in the form of the Tibeto-Burman of mod
ern ethnology, who aforetime occupied a great part of
northern India.
The valley of the Brahmaputra, of the Subansiri,
and of those eastern affluents of the Brahmaputra which
are separated from the sources of the Irawadi only by
the narrow Patkoi range, were once the main avenues
of approach to Tibet. It is worth noting that the
Tibetan himself claims descent from the monkey.
The boundary limits of Tibet and the ways which
cross the surrounding borderland of mountains have
already been indicated. Within the limits of the rec
ognised Tibetan frontier we have three great physical
divisions of vastly elevated plain which it is important
to distinguish from each other. There is ( i ) the great
northern plateau flanked by the Kuen Lun and the
steppes of Tsaidam, which we know as the Chang tang
(the " Northern Plain "). This is the region of high
est elevation, too high and too cold for anything but
pastoral use, where salt lakes are scattered at intervals
amidst vast sterile flats, where grass is scanty and
trees are absolutely wanting. It is sparsely inhabited
by Mongolian nomads. Intensely cold (yet occa-

36 TIBET
sionally baked by more than summer heat under the
summer sun), wind-swept, storm-beaten, and barren,
it is perhaps the most inhospitable region in the Asiatic
world. Its average elevation is about fifteen thousand
feet above sea level, and above this again rise the crests
of intersecting ridges of rounded outline which seam
its surface in every direction, and increase the altitude
by two thousand or three thousand feet. Rivers rise
in the Chang and flow northward through the Kuen
Lun range (and its extensions eastward) to the plains
of Chinese Turkestan; the Kiria is perhaps the best
known of them. Somewhere on the southern edge of
the Chang is the water divide of India. No one has
defined its exact geographical position. Some of the
gigantic lakes of Central Tibet may possibly be within
the Indian basin, but of many of them it is known that
they have no outlet. These lake regions form the
pasture lands of the Bod-pa nomads.
The Chang is the true Tibetan bulwark of the Indian
frontier. It is impassable for large bodies of people,
and has proved to be almost impassable for small
companies. The second physical division of Tibet includes the
upper valleys of the Indus and Brahmaputra and their
affluents, some of which are large rivers, e. g., the
Kyichu, on which stands Lhasa. At the parting of
the waters where the Indus, the Sutlej, and the Brah
maputra divide to the west and east, southern Tibet is
high (fifteen thousand five hundred feet) ; but for
three hundred miles to the northwest (following the

TIBET 37
Indus), and for seven hundred miles to the southeast
and east (following the Brahmaputra), the level grad
ually diminishes to about thirteen thousand feet near
the Ladak frontier, and eleven thousand feet on the
Brahmaputra, south of Lhasa. There is no sudden
fall ; the descent is gradual, and the great rivers often
flow in broad shallow reaches over smooth beds. This
is the land of the Bodyul, or settled inhabitants of
Tibet. Here are tracts that contain valleys warm
enough for cultivation ; these the Tibetans call " rong "
(a ravine or narrow cleft in a hill), which word is more
particularly applicable to the lowest and warmest val
leys, which produce crops twice in the year.
"The alluvial beds in the valleys are composed of
debris of the surrounding rocks, laid out in horizontal
deposits, which in course of time have become fur
rowed into gigantic ravines, with a succession of nar
row terraces forming steps on each flank. It is on the
existing lower alluvial beds that cultivation is carried
on in plots which are usually well watered and very
fertile. The sharp needle peaks which are highest of
all and bare of soil, but covered with perpetual snow,
are met with most frequently in tracts of rong, and
the rounded hills coated with grass to altitudes some
times exceeding sixteen thousand feet in parts of
Chang tang. The forest-clad mountain tracts which
are occasionally met with occur chiefly in the rong.
The general direction of hill and mountain chains is
east and west, but northwest and southwest in western
Tibet, where they are most irregular, — northeast and

38 TIBET
southwest in the province of U, and north and south
in eastern Tibet." Thus writes General Walker (late
Surveyor-General of India), as the result of observa
tions made chiefly by the native surveyors of his
department. The upper Indus valley contains some notable towns,
which are local centres of trade, such as Gartok, Dem-
chok, etc., and is not devoid of the softer beauty of
lower Himalayan scenery beneath the stupendous cliffs
and crags of the ranges stretching north of Kailas.
The Manasarawar lakes and the pasture lands which
border them are the western Tibetan shepherds' para
dise, — a paradise set amidst a vast stony wilderness.
In the valley of the upper Brahmaputra, where the
yellow glacial streams pour down from the outer Him
alayan wall, or the clear flow of currents from the
central lakes join the main stream, there is a gradually
increasing extent of cultivation and human habita
tion. Fine monasteries exist at intervals, great clus
ters of square-cornered white buildings clinging to
the hillsides overlook the valley between Tadum and
Shigatze. Although there is not a town in Tibet that would
rank as second class in India, there are imposing col
lections of stone-built, white-faced houses dominated
by ever-prevalent monastic buildings, which are quite
equal in the scale of township with the secondary
towns of Afghanistan or Baluchistan; and indeed are
not unlike the townlets that may be seen clinging to
the spurs of the Hindu Kush north of Kabul. Tadum,

TIBET 39
Janglache, and Shigatze are the most important towns
west of Lhasa.
Throughout the length of this southern region of
Tibet there stretches a very remarkable trade route
called the Junglam. From Leh it runs west of the
Pangong lake to Rudok, the western frontier town of
Tibet. Thence it crosses a breadth of the Chang tang
lake region till it touches the upper Brahmaputra at its
sources on the Mariam La (fifteen thousand five hun
dred feet), — the meridional water parting between
the Indus and the Brahmaputra. Twice it crosses the
Yero Tsanpo (upper Brahmaputra) by bridge or
ferry, and passing midway through Shigatze is carried
by a southerly detour to Gyangtse and Lhasa.
Within this stretch of nine hundred miles there are
twenty-five staging places from twenty to seventy miles
apart, with accommodation for about two hundred
men. The road is generally well defined, loose stones
are cleared away in the defiles, and piles of stones with
flags on sticks guide the way through the open stretches
of table-land. East of Lhasa it runs to Chiamdo (the
capital of the Kham province, — a garrison town), to
Batang, Litang, and Ta-chien-lu on the Chinese fron
tier. It is the official post-road between Kashmir and
Pekin, traversable at all seasons of the year by mounted
men, and is probably the most remarkable (as it is the
most elevated) postal highway in the world.
The third great physical division of Tibet com
prises the eastern mountains and valleys. From the
desolate steppes of Tsaidam on the northeast to the

40 TIBET
rim of the Brahmaputra basin north of Lhasa, the east
ern edge of the great central Chang tang forms an
orographical feature which is of vast importance in the
physical conformation of eastern Asia. Here arise
innumerable rivulets which gather their infant forces
together to form the first affluents of the great rivers
of China, of Siam, and of Burma. The Hoang
Ho (Yellow River) finds its source in the Oring
Nor lake (or group of lakes) to the southeast of
the great Koko Nor, and curving eastward and
northward through the country of the Sifan (the
western barbarians of China), till it approaches within
one hundred miles of the southeastern corner of the
Koko Nor, it takes its way as a full-grown river
through northern China to the Pacific. To the west
of the sources of the Yellow River rise those of the
next great river of China, the Yang tsi kiang. The
position of the extremest west of those sources which
contribute uninterruptedly to the Di chu (the upper
Yang tsi) is not exactly known, but it must be east of
the route followed by Sven Hedin in his last adventur
ous journey into Tibet from the north. It will prob
ably be found about the meridian of 91 ° east longitude.
Flowing southeast, and separated from the upper
Hoang Ho by the Baian-Kara-ulla range, it curves
southward in about the same meridian (ioo° East
Lon.) that the Hoang Ho curves northward, admit
ting of the rise of another great river (the Nag-chu)
between them. The Nag-chu eventually joins the
Yang tsi when the latter finally assumes its eastern

A Typical Peak of South Eastern Tibet

TIBET 41
course through the width of China to the Pacific.
Next to the Di-chu the Nam-chu (upper Mekong)
starts from this same meridional divide, but prob
ably from sources not so far west as the Di-chu, and
follows a course which throughout Tibetan territory
is almost parallel to that of the Di-chu. Finally a
fourth great river, the Salwin, a river of Burma, is
represented by the Giama-Nu-Chu, which, gathering
together many affluents from the highlands to the
northeast of Lhasa, follows a course parallel to the
Nam-chu and the Di-chu, curving gradually southward.
Parallel to the Giami-Nu-Chu (but separated there
from by a breadth of from four hundred to five hun
dred miles of mountains) is the Brahmaputra River,
which bends from its easterly course through southern
Tibet to pass southeastward through Himalayan gates
to the valley of Assam. This broad intervening space
belongs to the Brahmaputra basin. Some very im
portant valleys of no great elevation (Poyul, Zayul,
etc. ) drain into the Brahmaputra within it, being sep
arated by a lofty divide from the narrow valley of the
Giama-Nu-Chu, or Salwin, to the east. It is a very
remarkable feature in Asiatic orography which thus
presents itself. First, the Brahmaputra, maintaining
its general characteristic of a wide basin with impor
tant affluents converging on to the main stream up to
the point where it emerges into the plains of Assam;
beyond this, overlooking the sources of these con
verging affluents, a containing mountain chain, distinct
and apart from the Himalayan system, rounding off

42 TIBET
the heads of shelving valleys which slope westwards
to the Brahmaputra, and dominating an eastern struc
ture of enormous parallel mountain folds which en
close between their successive crests the deep troughs
of some of the greatest rivers of Asia.
So close set are the successive ridges and ranges
which part the Salwin from the Mekong, and the
Mekong from the Yang tsi, that, at a point level with
the head of the Assam valley, one hundred miles would
bridge them all. The Irawadi river of Burma is now
supposed to rise to the southeast of this eastern exten
sion of the Brahmaputra basin, amongst the wild hills
which lie between the head of the Assam valley and
Burma. In the future of Tibetan commercial policy it is
eastern Tibet which will prove to be the most impor
tant division, for it is the division of Tibet which con
tains the greatest present wealth and the greatest
promise for the future. Travellers leaving the cold
altitudes of the Chang behind them and descending
gradually through the long narrow valleys towards the
Chinese frontier are never weary of recounting the
delightful change of climate and scenery which they
encounter. There are magnificent forest-clad slopes
beneath the snow-clad crests of the main ridges ; there
are thousands of well-watered, well-cultivated, and
well-populated valleys hidden away amongst the folds
of the main chains. The large and better-known
valleys, such as Darge on the Di-chu, or Chiamdo on
the Nam-chu, are prosperous, populous, and priest-

TIBET 43
ridden; the lesser-known valleys, such as Poyul and
Zayul, are reported to be the centres of Tibetan art
and industry. The whole region is full of unexploited
mineral wealth, and, like western China, which it so
greatly resembles, is bound to prove eventually an
important factor in the world's economy. Two great
trade routes run through this country, which are suffi
ciently described elsewhere. One (the Janglam) con
nects Lhasa with Ta-chien-lu and China; the other
follows approximately (in several alternative loops)
that line of water division in which the Chinese rivers
rise, and connects Lhasa with the Koko Nor and
Sining fu in the province of Kansu. Both lead to
Pekin eventually, but the most important at present is
the Ta-chien-lu route, which absorbs the greater part
of the Tibetan trade.
Before describing in detail the progress of recent
Tibetan exploration, the reader would do well to recall
and fix in his mind the relative position of certain
geographical (or strategical) points, which may be
called obligatory points for the understanding of the
value to be attached to individual lines of research.
On the extreme west is Leh, the capital of the farthest
outlying province of Kashmir — Ladak.
From Leh the southern valley regions of Tibet can
be approached either by passing through Rudok at the
southeastern extremity of the Pangong lake or by
passing up the affluents of the Indus. It is equally
possible to reach the northern Chang from Leh; and
thus Leh figures as the principal focus, or point of

44 TIBET
departure, for those explorers who make Kashmir
their base. On the south Tibet is approached more
directly either by the Kumaon group of passes, by
Nepal, by Sikkim, or by Bhutan, the most direct route
to the heart of the southern provinces at Lhasa being
by Sikkim and the valley of Chumbi. On the east it
is well to note the position of Ta-chien-lu, — the Chi
nese frontier trading-post. It is by this route that
Tibet has been finally conquered, and by this route
Tibet now maintains by far the greater part of its
trade connections with the outside world. On the
northeast the position of Sining fu and the Koko Nor
region are of great political importance. This marks
the line of route between Manchuria and Lhasa via
Mongolia or China, and although the Mahommedan
rebellions have temporarily thrown it out of popu
larity, it is still a great highway of pilgrimage, — the
channel by which Lhasa maintains its supremacy in
the Buddhist world amongst the far-off peoples of
Mongolia and western China. The influence of Lhasa
southward terminates abruptly at the Himalayan wall.
Northward and northeastward it reaches to the
farthest limits of Asiatic civilisation, and it is to four
hundred millions of people in the far East what Mecca
is to the Mahommedan world of the West. On the
north the bleak desolation of the mountain barriers
which shut off the lowlands of Chinese Turkestan from
the highlands of the Chang tang (as well as the
breadth of the Chang tang itself) admits of no base
which is ever likely to be of the least importance for

GlaciaJ Lake and Moraine, Source of Zemu, Chathangta Pass

TIBET 45
the support of either political, commercial, or military
enterprise. It is southern and northeastern Tibet, not
northern, with which the world will interest itself
hereafter. The southern zone of Tibet, which includes the true
Bod-land, is divided into four provinces; viz., Nari
on the west, Kham (otherwise Do Kham) on the east,
and in the centre Tsang (adjoining Nari) and U
(adjoining Kham), these two provinces being known
conjointly as Utsang. A considerable belt of the
central country is known as Hor. Nari includes
Ladak and Balti, which are now part of Kashmir, but
which are frequently spoken of as Little Tibet, as well
as the districts of Khorsum and Dokthol, the latter
being conterminous with western Nepal, and both being
under the Lhasa government.
Nari has only been partially explored by European
travellers, the upper valleys of the Sutlej and Indus,
the Manasarawar lake region, and the sources of the
Brahmaputra and Karnali alone being accessible.
Eastwards from Nari, the Dokthol country and the
Utsang provinces (economically the most important
in high Tibet) were originally explored by the native
staff of the Survey of India; they have now been
partially surveyed by officers attached to the Young
husband mission, and geographically they may be
said to constitute the best-known part of Tibet. There
are still, however, some important valleys watered by
tributaries of the Brahmaputra flowing from the east
into the central channel of the river (where it follows a

46 TIBET
southerly course to Assam) which are an absolute
" terra incognita " so far as their topographical struc
ture is concerned. The valleys of upper Zayul and
Poyul are within the pale of Tibetan administration.
Lower Zayul is almost certainly outside that pale, and
is occupied by independent and barbarous tribes —
Maris, Abors, and Mishmis — who acknowledge no
authority. The elevation of lower Zayul is not more
than four thousand feet, and the climate of these low
lands is so repugnant to the Tibetan highlander that
lower Zayul is regarded and utilised as a penal settle
ment. We are not even absolutely certain that we are
correct in uniting the Giama-Nu-Chu with the Salwin.
So great an authority as General Walker considers that
the body of water contained in the Salwin at the farth
est north point to which it has been explored from the
Burmese side is not sufficient to warrant the inflow of
so large a river as the Giama-Nu-Chu, and that the
latter is really an affluent of the Irawadi and not of the
Salwin. Native reports however make the Giama-Nu-
Chu and the Salwin one and the same river, and this
is probably correct. We have at any rate some interest
ing geographical problems yet to solve in these re
gions, and they all lie near to our own border.
A prevalent misconception about Tibet is that the
climate is so rigorous and the cold so intense that
European existence in the country would be sustained
with difficulty. It is true that very severe cold is
encountered on the lofty passes leading into Tibet,
but so far as the southern regions of the plateau are

TIBET 47
concerned — the valley of the Bralimaputra and the
eastern valleys of aiffluents of the Chinese rivers —
no such extreme of temperature is to be feared. The
climate is dry, and snow seldom lies long in the plains
beyond the Himalayan barrier. Even in winter the
streams of the Brahmaputra basin are not always
frozen. Two crops a year are raised on the cultivated
areas of the lower valleys — such as Shigatze and
Gyangtse, or in the Kyichu. Climate and tempera
ture depend more on geographical position than on
mere altitude, and the latitude of the Brahmaputra
valley is low and its position sheltered. No vast
plains of sand stretch their length across its flanks to
send scorching blasts across in summer, or the freez
ing winds of the Turkestan " shamshir " in winter.
Under normal circumstances the climate of southern
Tibet (at eleven thousand five hundred feet) is de
lightful in summer, when " the land is covered with
vegetation, streams flowing in every valley, and all
nature bright, sparkling, and fresh." Even in winter,
when snow and frost claim the land as their own, there
is general movement throughout the country. It is
then that the roads and rivers are rendered passable
by ice to the trade caravans of the north and east. At
Lhasa the mean temperatue observed by Indian sur
veyors is thirty-six degrees Fahrenheit in February
and March, and sixty-one in June and July. In the
eastern valleys the climate is Himalayan in character,
and its degrees of salubrity are more or less dependent
on altitude. I have been cautious in dealing with

48 TIBET
map altitudes which have been determined by means
of barometrical observations. No such observations
are trustworthy at such elevations, and they may very
easily be in error by five hundred feet more or less.
We now have certain accurately determined trigono
metrical results from the observations of Major
Ryder, and his assistants with Sir Frank Young-
husband's mission in southern Tibet, where it is no
longer necessary to depend too closely on the results
obtained by native explorers.

CHAPTER III
Short Outline of Tibetan History — Introduction of Buddhism
— Struggles with China and Mongol Interference — Growth
of Lamaism — Chinese Administration
AN uninterrupted tale of exploration in the wil-
. derness of Tibet, devoid (as Tibetan tales mostly
are) of the stirring incidents of personal adventure,
would prove but flat and unprofitable reading if they
did not lead to a position from which we may form
a fair estimate of the present status of Tibetan nation
ality, and make a rough forecast of the possible future
of Tibet in the world of political strategy. But it
would take too much space to consider in detail the
opinions expressed by each individual traveller and to
compare their impressions seriatim. It will be more
useful to gather them at once into one collective whole,
and to give a short summary of the existing form of
government in Tibet and of its evolution, before we
follow further the lines of modern exploration. We
shall at least incidentally explain the position of some
of those Tibetan functionaries with unpronounceable
names who are so frequently referred to in the records
of Tibetan travel.
The history of Tibet is the history of a country
which, like India, has never lately been able to claim
4

50 TIBET
an integral nationality amongst the nations of the
world. Foreign domination, either in Mongol or Chi
nese form, is invariably to be recognised, and it need
be no matter of surprise to us if Tibetan traditions
point to a final domination which is neither Mongol
nor Chinese, but European. We are indebted to Prin
sep, Kosma de Coros, Schlagentweit, and Sarat Chan
dra Das for the earliest records which may be called
historical, including lists of kings dating from legen
dary beginnings (about the fifth century b. c.) to the
end of the monarchy in 914 a. d. Throughout these
legendary beginnings there runs a sort of traditional
recognition of a dual form of government for Tibet,
spiritual and temporal, — a form of administration
akin to that of Rome, and one which finally found
expression in Lhasa with the evolution of the Dalai
Lama and his regent.
The aboriginal Tibetans appear to have been a sav
age and warlike people who invaded China and upper
Burma with success, and even dictated terms of peace
to the Chinese government. It was from China that
the first principles of civilisation crept across the moun
tains to Tibet, coincident with the introduction of
Buddhism by the young Chinese wife of the Tibetan
King Srong-tsan-gumpo. She was the daughter of
the Chinese emperor, and was received in marriage
by the king after his successful invasion of China in
the year 640 a. d. She found a useful ally in the Nepa-
lese wife of the same monarch, and the two ladies
worked together in harmony to lay the foundation of

A Tibetan Lhacham (Tibetan Princess) in Full Dress

TIBET 51
one of the mightiest religious institutions that the world
has ever seen. King Srong-tsan-gumpo (converted
to Buddhism by his wife) founded Lhasa, and Lhasa
has ever since been the pivot of Buddhist thought
and Buddhist faith for all eastern Asia. It has been
as the holy of holies, the dwelling of the ark of the
covenant, to one-third of the human race. It is so
still. If ever England aspires to be a Buddhist power
she must reckon first with Lhasa.
The Buddhism then introduced into Tibet was sup
ported by books and relics collected from India, and
two great monasteries (Labrang and Rinpoche) were
founded. But Indian Buddhism had long lost the
grand simplicity of first principles. This had dis
appeared with the invasion of the Huns about the
beginning of our era. Fa Hian (the Chinese trav
eller) found the doctrines of the " Great Vehicle "
(sometimes called the Skythic form of Buddhism) in
full force at Peshawur in the fifth century a. d.
" Saints and angels sprang into existence, and grew
and flourished till the Buddhist sky was full of them "
(says Prof. Rhys Davids). Then the animism of the
barbarous Huns was revived, with debasing beliefs
in charms and ceremonies. The Tantra system, which
was started at Peshawur in the sixth century a. d.
was nothing better than witchcraft and sorcery. The
Buddhism of Tibet thus partly derived from India did
not supplant the older forms of Tibetan demonology
till King Kir Song de Tsan reigned over the land
(a. d. 740-786). It was then that true religion was

52 TIBET
acknowledged by ecclesiastical historians to be firmly
established, and the Samye monastery was founded to
contain the books collected from India. King Kir
Song de Tsan is reckoned in Buddhist records to be
the most illustrious and the most pious monarch who
ever reigned over Tibet. It is worth noting that the
son of this king was one of the greatest socialists in
history. He enacted that all men should be equal ; he
compelled the rich to share their riches with the poor;
he favoured an absolutely equal distribution of all the
comforts and conditions of life. This was indeed the
attainment of a high ideal — but it did not answer.
In a very short time his people by the natural force
of personal idiosyncrasy returned to their former con
dition of inequality, and after repeating the experi
ment three times he gave it up. The wise men of
Tibet said it was due to a survival of inequality in
methods of existence during former lives.
In the early years of the ninth century a severe
struggle with China took place, and thereafter,
throughout a period of intricate history, struggles
with Mongols from the north and with China on the
east were periodic. Nothing stands out very clearly
after the break up of the Tibetan monarchy into four
provincial kingdoms about the end of the tenth cen
tury, until the arrival of the celebrated Indian Bud
dhist Atisha, who settled in the great lamaserai of
Thoding in Ngari. He introduced books and educa
tion and some of the elements of astronomical science
in 1026, and he was probably the first of the great

TIBET 53
priests whose authority became paramount in the
country. He put the whole Tantra system into the
background and resorted again to first principles.
Fpr three hundred years a purer form of Buddhism
maintained its ground, whilst priests and lamas mul
tiplied exceedingly, until the Mogul Emperor Kublai
Khan (son of Genghis Khan) invested the high priest
of the red-cap sect with sovereign power over the
thirteen provinces of U and Tsang (which comprise
Tibet proper), together with Kham and Amdo, in
1252. This was a complimentary exchange for the
kindly offices of the abbot in crowning him emperor
of the widest empire the world has ever seen. For
four centuries more the lamas of the Sakya monastery
remained spiritual rulers of Tibet, temporal authority
being exercised by regents whom they appointed.
Meanwhile a new and powerful sect had arisen in
Tibet. Modern lamaism (defined by Prof. Rhys
Davids as " the union of ethical and metaphysical
ideas with a hierarchal system and temporal sover
eignty at Lhasa") may be said to have been founded
by the great reformer Tsong kapa (the Luther of
Tibet) in 1390. By 1410 there were three huge mon
asteries and thirty thousand disciples to testify to the
activity of the reformation. In all respects Tsong
kapa appealed to first principles, following Atisha, and
pleading for the re-establishment of ancient customs.
It was he who founded the custom of an annual week
of fasting and prayer in which churchmen and laymen
alike take part, and which is described by the Jesuit

54 TIBET
missionary Hue. He never disputed the authority of
the red-cap Sakya lamas. His sect is known to this
day as the " yellow " or " orange " sect, from the
colour of the robes its disciples wear. By the middle
of the fifteenth century the yellow caps were para
mount, and a dual spiritual authority was established
over Tibet at Lhasa and Tashilumpo.
When the Mongol dynasty of China ceased, that of
the Mings yet further enlarged the authority of the
Tibetan rulers and recognised the chief lamas. The
failing power of the Mings in China favoured the
interference of the Mongols in Tibetan affairs again,
and a Tartar invasion occurred in the middle of the
seventeenth century, which partially ended the Sakya
red-cap rule and established that of the rising yellow
caps. The fifth of the grand lamas of the reformed
faith appears to have been a man of great strength of
character and much diplomatic ability. According to
Waddell he made excellent use of the opportunity
afforded by the incident of the Tartar irruption, and
with the assistance of the Tartar prince wrested the
temporal authority out of the hands of the red-caps,
and established himself as the first Dalai (or Tale)
Lama of Tibet, — practically uniting in his person the
offices of high priest and king, although a Tartar
prince was nominally installed as king at Lhasa. The
word " Dalai " appears to be merely the Mongolian
rendering of his name (Vast as the Ocean).
He then set about establishing for himself and his
successors a divine origin, based on a book of " reve-

TIBET 55
lations" which he "discovered," proving that all
grand lamas were incarnations of the Great King
Srong-tsan-gumpo, and enforcing his claims and his
creed with such strong measures that the Jesuit mis
sionary Grueber calls him " devilish God the Father
who puts to death such as refuse to adore him." He
however recognised the Grand Lama of Tashilumpo
(Shigatze) as the reincarnation of a pseudo-Buddha,
second only to himself in spiritual significance, and
thus founded the present recognised system of a dual
spiritual rule in Tibet. The theory of reincarnation
in infant form was not introduced into practice till
later, and it was the cause of so much friction between
rival sects as to lead to another Tartar invasion in
1717, when Lhasa was taken by storm.
Then the Emperor of China intervened with a
powerful army. He ejected the Tartars, established
the succession of the Dalai Lama by re-births, and cur
tailed his power at the same time. Two Ambans (or
Ambassadors) were then appointed, with a Chinaman
as regent or king. The " king " was murdered by the
Dalai Lama in 1727, and the inevitable Chinese re
prisals included the transfer of temporal power to
a "mayor of the palace," one Miwang, of whom we
shall hear more from the Capuchin fathers of the
Tibetan missions, whom he befriended for years. A
massacre of the Chinese in 1749 led to another puni
tive expedition (which will be referred to later), and
from this time Chinese influence has been paramount
in Tibet, until it was discredited by the late war. Lat-

56 TIBET
terly the present Dalai Lama, assisted by the young
" national " party, has openly defied Chinese authority
and has declared himself pro-Russian.
We may note here that the present Dalai Lama is
the thirteenth in succession; that he has reached the
mature age of thirty (his four predecessors having
died or disappeared about the age of eighteen) ;
and that he shows every disposition to follow the dic
tates of a headstrong will under Russian influence.
There is a popular saying in Lhasa, referred to by
one of the native explorers of the Indian Survey forty
years ago, that the thirteenth Dalai Lama will be the
last. Briefly we may indicate the chief features of present
Tibetan administration.
The Ambans appointed by China are responsible
for the foreign and military government of the coun
try, leaving civil and religious administration in the
hands of the Tibetans. They are appointed for three
years only. Subordinate to them at Lhasa and Shi
gatze are two chief commandants and two paymasters
of the Chinese army. These, with three subordinate
commanders at Lhasa, Shigatze, and Dingri (on the
Nepal frontier), and three non-commissioned officers
complete the entire administrative staff of China. It
is not a large one. The whole force of Chinese troops
in the country does not exceed forty-five hundred men,
distributed between Lhasa, Shigatze, and the Nepalese
frontier. The chief civil authority in Tibet is invested
in the head of the Tibetan hierarchy, — the Dalai

TIBET 57
Lama (gyal-rinpoche), — who resides in the far-famed
Potala at Lhasa. Nominally equal to him in rank, but
in reality secondary in authority, is the Panchen rin-
poche, or Grand Lama, who resides at Tashilumpo, near
Shigatze; and there is in the far Mongolian distance
(directly under Russian influence) a third Grand Lama
of Tibet, known as the Bogda (himself an " avatar "),
the supreme pontiff of the Lamaistic church, who
resides at Urga. This spiritual dignitary is really of
older creation than the Dalai Lama, for his office was
founded when the Mongol dynasty in China finally
disappeared. The authority of the Dalai Lama is
unquestioned. His decision is final, and he is only
questioned in cases of emergency. His powers are
transmitted to a special officer nominated by the
Chinese government, who is called by various names.
He is the Gyalpo, or regent (when the Dalai Lama is
a minor), or Nomokhan (Mongolian), — the "king
of the law," — and he is frequently referred to in books
of travel as the " king." He is traditionally selected
from the four head lamas of the monasteries of Cho-
moling, Kondoling, Tangialing, and Chajoling, each
one of whom is an " avatar," i. e., he is reincarnated
at death in the body of an infant. Equal in rank to
the Nomokhan is the Deba Lama of Galdan, the great
monastery near Lhasa. But he is not an " avatar."
Next to him is the Lama Guru or chaplain of the Dalai
Lama, who (like the Deba Lama of Galdan) is the
subject of Chinese nomination.
China thus preserves a careful supervision over the

58 TIBET
religious element in the Tibetan government. The
Nomokhan rules with the help of a council of five
ministers representing the financial, judicial, revenue,
and home departments, with a lama for ecclesiastical
affairs. The four provinces, Nari, U, Tsang, and
Kham, are each under a Kablon, or governor, assisted
by a competent staff. Outside these provinces are
several minor " kings," or Gyalpos, and within them
there are four principalities directly under Chinese
authority. These are Dyag and Chiamdo on the east,
Tashilumpo, and Sakya Kongma to the southwest of
Tashilumpo. In the east the principalities of Darge
and Ta-chien-lu (amongst others) are more or less
directly under the control of China. The remarkable
feature about this form of government is the main
tenance of Chinese authority throughout so vast a
country with the assistance of so small a military
force. China was till lately nominally dominant
everywhere, holding the keys of all important posi
tions in Tibet, and regulating all important appoint
ments. Lately the authority of the Amban has been
set aside without difficulty when convenient to the
Tibetan rulers to dispense with it. Tibet has assumed
a new and stronger position of independence since the
results of the late Chinese war have discredited the
power and prestige of China; and doubtless Chinese
diplomacy sometimes finds it convenient to shift the
responsibility of action on to Tibetan shoulders when
ever such action might jeopardise her friendly relations
with foreign powers whom she has reason to respect.

A Tibetan Prince. Dungkhor at Home

TIBET 59
'Such a government presents unusual difficulties to
political negotiation. A nebulous responsibility in the
councils of Tibet has hitherto baffled our efforts at es
tablishing a definite basis for the opening of trade and
free intercourse with the rich and promising valleys of
southern and eastern Tibet. The Tibetan government
has throughout all historical negotiations treated the
Indian government with the contempt which is always
shown by the semi-barbarous and ignorant tribespeople
of the Indian frontier towards a power whose reluc
tance to use force is attributed to weakness. We may
perhaps hope for a stronger position in future, but it
will depend on some outward and visible sign of our
authority at Lhasa.

CHAPTER IV
The First Recorded Mogul Invasion of Tibet — Mirza Hai-
dar's Story — His Geography — Identification of his Route
towards Lhasa
ISLAM has never made much impression on Tibet.
Sweeping past its northern hills into High Asia, or
through the western passes into Hindustan, the banners
of Mahomed left Tibet almost unvisited. And yet
there has been no lack of determined effort to estab
lish Islamism in these elevated strongholds. We have
in the excellent translation by Ney Elias of the Tarikh-
i-Rashidi — a history written by one Mirza Haidar,
the Mogul cousin of the Turko-Mogul Emperor
Baber (who established the Mogul dynasty in India)
— a very authentic account of the conquest of Little
Tibet {i. e., Ladak) in the sixteenth century a. d., and
the extension of that conquest into Kashmir. This
may be reckoned the beginning of modern Tibetan
exploration, and is well worth a reference in this book
for its geographical indications. The history concerns
the doings of a branch of the Mogul Khans who sepa
rated themselves early in the fourteenth century from
the main branch of the Chagatai, which was then the
ruling (albeit a declining) power in Transoxiana, and
considering the disorder which reigned among the

TIBET 61
leading families, their constant movements through
countries which had no definite boundaries, and the
infinite complications resulting from intermarriage, it
is a very clear exposition of the events of the times of
which it treats, i. e., the commencement of the six
teenth century. Mirza Haidar was but one of the class
who made history in those days, — a roving adven
turer, or soldier of fortune, exposed to all the vicis
situdes of the times. Neither as a writer nor as a
soldier was he comparable to his inimitable cousin
Baber (afterwards Emperor of India), but he is not
altogether unjustified in his claim to be considered
a master of verse-making and of epistolary style at a
time when literature was the study of every well-bred
Mogul gentleman.
Whilst quite a boy he was raised to high position
by his kinsman Sultan Said Khan, whom he served
for nineteen years as a soldier; commencing in 1527
with a successful expedition against the Kaffirs of
Bolor (which then included Hunza, Gilgit, and Chit-
ral). He followed with a less successful incursion
into Badakshan; and it was not till 1531 that he
undertook his most important service for Sultan Said
Khan. This was, first, the invasion of Little Tibet,
or Ladak, then of Kashmir and Baltistan, and finally
of Tibet proper, — i. e., the Tibet of our modern maps.
The excuse for a wanton attack on Ladak was the
usual one. There was much paganism in that country,
and the Khan, animated by a love of Islam and a
desire to carry on holy wars, was anxious to smite

62 TIBET
the infidel. This was not the first time that Ladak had
been invaded by the Mussalman hordes of the north,
but we know very little about the earlier records.
None of them made much impression; nor did even
the successful advance of Mirza Haidar. The Ladaki
has fallen, like the Kashmiri, under the Hindu yoke
of the Dogra since then, but he still preserves his con
nection with Lhasa in all religious and social matters.
It is at any rate clear that such northern routes as
exist were well enough known in those days. Sultan
Said in striking south from Kashgar was apparently
inclined to follow the Kiria-Polu route from Khotan,
and to cross the western extremity of Tibet to Leh.
This indicates that this was a recognised route then,
and it is significant that this is the direct route to the
western gold-fields of Tibet, which centre to the north
of the upper Indus, some three hundred miles to the
southeast of Leh. But Mirza Haidar knew what the
northern steppes (the Aksai Chin) were like, and dis
suaded Sultan Said from attempting to cross a corner
of Tibet which has since proved fatal to more than one
expedition. The advancing force crossed the Kara-
korum by the usual trade route between Leh and Kash
gar; and it is a matter of surprise that any force
(mobile as the Mogul troops undoubtedly were)
should have been able to invade Ladak by such an
elevated, bleak, inhospitable route as that which
stretches its length across that dreary space between
the two towns. The invasion was entirely successful.
" The talons of Islam seizing the hands of infidelity,

TIBET 63
the enemy were thrown into disorder and routed.
Having deserted the fort, they fled in confusion and
dismay, while the Mussalmans gave them chase as far
as was possible, so that not one of these bewildered
people escaped. Bur Kapa was slain together with all
his men; their heads formed a lofty minaret, and the
vapour from the brains of the infidels of that country
ascended to the heavens." Sultan Said Khan followed
his army into the field, but " damgiri " (or mountain
sickness) assailed him, and he nearly died on the
journey. He recovered sufficiently to lead a part of
his army into Baltistan, where he suffered great hard
ships, and had to retreat first to Ladak and then to
Kashmir. But " damgiri " was too much for him on
the return route. He died on the Suget pass, and was
succeeded by his son. Mirza Haidar meanwhile had
advanced into Kashmir by the Sind valley and Zoji
La route, and gained some victories. But he could
not control his army, and retired without effecting
anything important. On the death of the Khan, Mirza
Haidar pursued the holy war with much zeal. He
even started on a " jehad " to " earn merit " by de
stroying Lhasa. He advanced into Tibet with two
or three columns by the same southeastern route which
must, through all time, have been the recognised line
of communication between Leh and Lhasa. It is now,
as it was then, the great trade route from Kashmir
to Pekin. Unfortunately Mirza Haidar is not as
sound a geographer as he is historian, although it is
true that as a geographer he gives us information

64 TIBET
which is of some value. It is from his writings, for
instance, that we can define the limits of the ancient
kingdom of Bolor, which for centuries has been the
despair of the geographical compilers. But when
dealing with Tibet he is unsatisfactory. He puts the
distance between Leh and Lhasa at one hundred and
sixty marches. The configuration of mountain and
valley and the opportunities for a route through such
highlands as those of southern Tibet could not have
differed largely then from those which obtain at pres
ent. The same physical difficulties faced the traveller
of the sixteenth century as would face the traveller of
the twentieth. The route must have been determined
by the same distribution of mountain ridge and river
course, and on that route certain obligatory points
exist which must have defined the position of the chief
trade and religious centres just as they define them
still. Four hundred years have modified or changed the
names (Tibetan names are not easily transcribed at
any time), but the sites of the principal towns in the
valleys of the upper Indus and Brahmaputra cannot
have shifted far. The first place of importance reached
was called Barmang. Here sheep were captured, and
the Champa people (i. e., the settlers in the valley)
were plundered of their goods and horses. I can find
no trace of Barmang in modern maps, and as there is
no mention of a fortress, it is possible that it was no
more than what it is described to be, i. e., a suitable
pasture land for a halt. The next place is Khardun.
I see no reason why this should not be the modern

TIBET 65
Khardam, a little to the south of the Manasarawar
lakes, near the sources of the Sutlej and Brahmaputra.
Next he mentions a place called Luk Liuk or Luk
Lanuk (there are other variants of the name) as being
half way to Ursang (which is clearly Lhasa, Lhasa
being the capital of the Utsang province), and he asso
ciates it with a fortress near a great lake one hundred
and sixty miles in circumference. Ney Elias identifies
this place with Manasarawar on account of the enor
mous size of the lake, and from the fact that one of
the two Manasarawar lakes is called the Tso Lanak.
But there are difficulties in the way of accepting this
identification. In the first place, we should have to
give up Khardam, for Khardam is too close to the
lake to coincide with the narrative; and in the next
place, we should find ourselves nowhere near to the
half-way point between Leh and Lhasa. About such
a matter as this Mirza Haidar would be likely to be
fairly correct. The length of marches no doubt varied
considerably (as they would vary to-day), but the
average over a long distance would remain fairly con
stant. About half way we find the main road approach
the Brahmaputra at a point where the monastery of
Likeche overlooks the river, nearly opposite Tadum.
This more nearly corresponds to Mirza Haidar's de
scription of the castle on the shores of the lake, but
raises the objection that it is a river and not a lake
which is so commanded. But his estimate of the size
of the lake (one hundred and sixty miles in circum
ference) is so vastly in excess of the size of the Mana-
5

66 TIBET
sarawar lakes (even putting the two together and
allowing for the very probable extent of desiccation
which has occurred in the last four hundred years) as
to throw some doubt on his accuracy in describing it
as a lake at all. The river widens greatly at this point,
and flows with a broad and placid surface, and it is
here navigated by Tibetan boats. Looking east and
west it would appear limitless, even as an enormous
lake might appear.
Finally he records that with an attenuated force of
ninety mounted men (the rest of the horses having
died of damgiri) he succeeded in reaching and pillag
ing a place called Askabrak. There is nothing in
modern maps answering to this name, but there is only
one place of importance which would give opportunity
for the capture of valuable booty anywhere near the
position assigned to it by Mirza Haidar (i. e., eight
marches from Lhasa), and that place is Shigatze. It
is, however, impossible to arrive at any certainty in the
identification of this early record of Tibetan invasion.
The loss of his horses decided him to return from this
point, wherever it may have been, and he retired appar
ently unmolested, overtaking the remnants of his force
on their way back and forming a rendezvous at Guga.
There is no difficulty about identifying Guga as Gartok
on the upper Indus, about eighteen marches (accord
ing to the narrative) from Maryul or Leh. The name
Giugh La is still preserved in the pass which crosses
the first range north of Gartok on the way to the
mining district of Thok Jalung. The expedition failed

TIBET 67
in its object, but it was not altogether disastrous.
There had been but little fighting, and that little had
been near the commencement of the raid at Barmang,
against a force of three thousand men sent by a
" Hindu Rai," who are said to have fought with short
knives. This, as Ney Elias points out, appears to have
been a Nepalese force armed with kukris (the national
weapon of the Gurkha) and not a Tibetan force. But
the fight was severe, and Mirza Haidar lost a brave
young brother, who was cut to pieces — " so completely
that each separate part of his cuirass and coat was in
the possession of some infidel." The people of Guga,
with true Tibetan complacence, received the broken
and battered remains of the frostbitten and starving
force with all hospitality. They fed them and kept
them, and finally assisted Mirza Haidar to raise a fresh
force with which to harry the western districts of their
own country. This is the earliest authentic record
of any expedition into the southern regions of Tibet
which can be said to be productive of geographical
information.

CHAPTER V
Eighteenth Century Explorations — Grueber — Capuchin
Monks — Their Mission at Lhasa and their Struggles —
Jesuit Interference — Desideri — Beligatti — Last of the
Mission — Van de Putte — His Residence at Lhasa
IN estimating the position which Lhasa holds as
one of the great centres of the religious world,
it is necessary to recognise the significance of her re
ligious affinity with Mongolia. The sort of affinity
which is based on community of faith bridges over
geographical space as nothing else bridges it. Across
Mongolia, from Manchuria to the northeastern border
of Tibet, there intervenes a good thousand miles of
more or less difficult and desert country ; but this thou
sand miles is but a step when the way is a pilgrims' way,
and faces are set towards Lhasa as the centre of reli
gious light. No power paramount in Mongolia would
experience much difficulty in reaching out its fingers
to the indefinite fringe of Tibetan borderland indi
cated by Tsaidam and the Koko Nor region. The
acceptance of such a power by Mongolia would be a
spiritual introduction to Tibet, and with such an
introduction geographical distances and physical diffi
culties would be found to disappear with marvellous
rapidity.

TIBET 69
Mongolia has assimilated Buddhism from a very
early period. Mongol power in China was first broken
by a Buddhist lama, who founded the Ming dynasty of
China in 1355 a. d. Subsequently we find that a noted
Mongol chief, Altan Khan, embraced Buddhism about
the year 1570, and as the result of his successful raids
into Tibet he brought lamaist prisoners to the north,
who introduced lamaism to the Turned branch of his
race. He received at his court one Bogda Sodnam
Gyamtso Khutuktu, a notable lama of high degree,
who is now represented by one of the great leaders of
the Buddhist hierarchy who resides at Urga in north
ern Mongolia under the shadow of the Russian domi
nation. In the beginning of the seventeenth century
Mongolia was honoured by the selection of a Dalai
Lama from amongst her infants, and by the time that
the Ming dynasty was replaced by the Manchu, and
the Ordus Mongol tribes were established in the loop
of the Hoang Ho River under the suzerainty of China,
the power of the Buddhist lama had grown para
mount. Probably there is at this time more real
honest devotion to the faith of Buddhism amongst
the rough and scattered herdsmen of the Mongolian
steppes than there is in all Tibet put together. Touch
Lhasa, and all Mongolia to the borders of Manchuria
will certainly respond.
Mongol expeditions into Tibet from the northeast
have been constant through all Asiatic history ; but there
is little detailed record of them, nor do they add much
to our geographical knowledge. Trustworthy narra-

7o TIBET
tive of Tibetan exploration (other than military expedi
tions) commences only with the seventeenth century.
Friar Odoric of Pordenone is said to have reached
Lhasa. from Cathay in 1328, and there appears to be
substantial reason for believing that he really was the
first European to cross Tibet of whom we have any
record. But authentic information regarding his jour
ney is unobtainable, and we must content ourselves
with according him the honour of being first in the
Tibetan field. The great Marco Polo never really
entered Tibet at all, although he crossed the Pamirs.
In the seventeenth century the first great traveller of
whom we have authentic record (and whose adven
tures have been published in at least five European
languages) Avas the Jesuit father Antonio de Andrada.
But the story of his travels as we possess it at present
is unsatisfactory in many particulars. The letters
written in 1626 to his superior, the Jesuit General
Mutio Vitelleschi, give but scanty and confused details
of a journey which apparently terminated at Tsapa-
rang on the river Sutlej. It is difficult to reconcile the
account of his explorations beyond the Manasarawar
lake to Rudok, and thence to Cathay and back, either
with the topography of the Tibetan highlands, or with
the exigencies of time that would be required for such
a journey. In spite of his hitherto prominent position
as a pioneer in the field of Asiatic geography, An
tonio de Andrada must be regarded as but a doubtful
authority. The next recorded exploration in Tibet is that of

TIBET 71
the Jesuit fathers Johannes Grueber and Albert de Dor-
ville (which appears to be his correct name, although
it is usually written d'Orville) in the years 1661 and
1662. We are indebted to Herr R. Tronnier for an
exhaustive examination into the records of this re
markable journey, published in the " Berlin Zeitschrift
der Gesellschaff fiir Erdkunde " for 1904, which has
been made with the object of giving the German Jesuit
the place to which he appears to be entitled in geo
graphical history. He is clearly the first European
who brought back a genuine record of Tibet and its
people, and his journey was one of geographical dis
covery, for it was imposed, not by missionary zeal, but
by the necessity of discovering a new route from China,
via Lhasa, to Europe. The material from which an
account of his travels is constructed are his letters (of
which one written from Rome in 1664 is by farx^he
most important), a report by the Jesuit Athanasius
Kircher (who published his sketches in his " China
Illustrata"), and a long Italian " Relazione " by an
unknown author, which appears to be an authentic
account taken from the lips of the travellers themselves.
De Dorville was a Belgian by birth, who had laboured
for some years in the Chinese missionary field at
Shansi. Throughout the journey he appears only as
the companion of Grueber, to whom alone we are in
debted for the astronomical determinations and notes
which render this exploration notable in geographical
annals. De Dorville died at Agra in 1662, from the
effects of the hardships involved in the journey.

72 TIBET
Grueber originally occupied the position of mathe
matical assistant to the Court of Pekin, but after the
death of the first emperor of the Manchu dynasty
(February, 1661) he was " recalled to receive instruc
tions from the General of the Order at Rome," De
Dorville being chosen to accompany him. Macao,
which pointed the usual route between Europe and
Pekin, was then under blockade by the Dutch, and
Grueber was instructed to discover a new route over
land. As a matter of fact, he followed a very old one
(the same, or nearly the same, which will be de
scribed at length in the narrative of the Jesuits Hue
and Gabet), — one which has through all historic
times connected Pekin with the Chinese frontier town
of Sining fu, and which, passing the great blue lake
of northeastern Tibet (the Koko Nor), traverses the
successive mountain ridges of the Kuen Lun system,
and surmounting the Tang-la prominence, drops into
the basin of the upper Brahmaputra. It is a long road
(with several alternative loops), and a road which
bristles with physical difficulties; but it is one of the
great pilgrim roads of the world, and it connects, and
has always connected, Lhasa more surely with Pekin
and Manchuria than any existing route has hitherto
linked Lhasa with India. A comparison of existing
records shows that Grueber reached Barantola (the
Tartar name for Lhasa) in about three months from
Sining fu, and that he adopted a westerly route, passing
south of the Koko Nor before traversing the ranges
bordering Tsaidam. This was then regarded as a

TIBET 73
" new " route, in contradistinction to an " old " route
running more directly southwards from Sining fu via
the lacustrine sources of the Hoang Ho River. Recent
explorations however tend to prove that there are
many routes between Sining fu and Lhasa. Since
Hue and Gabet succeeded in reaching Lhasa by much
the same route which had been adopted by Grueber,
several modern travellers have crossed the ranges south
of Tsaidam, and have attempted to reach Lhasa either
by the " old " route (via the sources of the Hoang Ho)
or by those more westerly routes which either directly
traverse the Tang-la divide or flank it on the west. It
seems probable that the most direct and the most fre
quently traversed route is that followed by Hue and
Gabet in the winter time, when the affluents of the
Mu ussu (or Di-chu) are frozen, and present no se
rious obstacle. At Lhasa Grueber took observations
for latitude (which he places about half a degree too
far south), and made sketches which have been repro
duced by Kircher. He also set about the discovery of
a new route to India. From Lhasa to India was a
journey of one or two months (Grueber speaks of one
month, but Kircher makes it two, which is the more
probable if Agra was the terminus), crossing a high
range (Langur) at four days' journey from Lhasa.
Herr Tronnier identifies this with the Himalayas gen
erally ; but it will probably be safe to assume that it is
the range which borders the Yero Tsanpo on the
south (now known as the Kambar), on the direct
highroad to Gyangtse, or to Nepal via Shigatze.

74 TIBET
From Kuti, on the Nepal frontier, they reached the
capital, Khatmandu, in eleven days (Tronnier). Here
they were well received; and it is one of the most
interesting facts about this early connection between
Lhasa and India that Nepal, equally with Tibet, was
open, not only to European travellers, but to Christian
missionaries, who established at Patan (near Khat
mandu) a mission which for many years formed a
connecting link between Christian centres in Lhasa
and India. From Nepal Grueber's journey has been
traced by Markham through Molihari (then a Mogul
town on the Indian frontier) to Patna, Dinapur, Be
nares, and Agra, where De Dorville died, aged only
thirty-nine years. The two travellers reached Agra
in March, 1662 (having crossed the Himalayas at the
worst time of the year) ; and as they started from
Pekin in April, 1661, the journey had taken them
exactly eleven months, as Grueber himself states.
Grueber's observations for latitude in India exhibit
a general mean error of about — 30' (or half a degree),
and if we attribute this error to a defect in his instru
ment, and apply a corresponding correction to all his
observations, the results are neither discordant nor inac
curate, considering the nature of the instrument he
used, — an astrolabe with certain attachments new to
the science of those times. Grueber's journey through
Tibet must ever be reckoned a remarkable geographical
achievement. Now that the general trumpery nature of
Lhasa's " mysteries " is fully recognised, it is well to be
reminded by his story that two centuries and a half ago

TIBET 75
there were no mysteries. Tibet (like Nepal) was open
to the European equally with the Asiatic traveller.
Grueber finally reached Rome from the Sind fron
tier of India by way of Makran, Persia, and Smyrna
(which was in itself a journey of remarkable interest),
and he subsequently made an attempt to reach China
via Asia Minor and Bokhara. This venture was un
successful, owing to the disturbed condition of Asia
at that period. He died in 1680, at the age of fifty-
seven. The commencement of the eighteenth century wit
nessed more direct communication between Tibet and
Europe than has ever existed either before or since.
It seems strange now to recall the fact that for thirty-
eight years a Christian mission existed in the very
capital itself, maintaining, it is true, but a precarious
existence, but never wanting for witnesses to the Chris
tian faith. This Capuchin mission practically died a
natural death in the year 1745, when the broken
hearted Orazio della Penna di Billi (the Livingstone
of Tibet) breathed his last ; although a branch mission
near Khatmandu continued in active operation as late
as 1768, and only disappeared with the Gurkha revo
lution. Surely no tale of missionary enterprise which
ever was told in this world is more stirring and more
pathetic than the story of the Capuchin missions as
given to us by the Rev. Graham Sandberg in his
recent book, " The Exploration of Tibet."
As early as 1701 Catholic missionaries were on the
borders of northeastern Tibet (under the jurisdiction

76 TIBET
of the Roman Catholic bishop of Pekin), and in touch
with certain Christians, who were in all probability
remnants of those Nestorian Christian communities
of mediaeval times which once spread far and wide
throughout the highlands of central Asia; but it was
not till 1708 that four Capuchin friars started from
Nepal (having founded the mission station near Khat
mandu) and boldly made their way via Gyangtse to
Lhasa. One of the four was Father Orazio della
Penna. Here they were well enough received, and
they set about their work " humbly and inoffensively,"
meeting with no great success. But the enterprise was
not well supported. The missionaries were reduced
almost to starvation, and maintained their existence
by writing begging letters to their brethren at various
stations. In 171 1 the mission was perforce abandoned,
and the whole body of Tibetan and Nepalese mis
sionaries were concentrated at the French settlement
of Chandernagore in India. Subsequent representa
tions made at Rome, however, by Father Dominico de
Fano were successful, and the mission was revived.
Twelve priests were allocated to the Tibetan mission,
of whom four were to be at Lhasa, two at " Drogu-
gne " in the province of Takpo, two in Nepal, and the
rest at Chandernagore and Patna. Once again did
Orazio della Penna return to the scene of his former
labours. This was early in 1715, and from that time
till July, 1733, the solitary little outpost of the great
army of Roman Catholic missions maintained its
chequered existence, in constant danger from the hos-

TIBET 77
tility of the lamas, and the intermittent superstitions
of the people, who were ever ready to attribute any
disaster that occurred in their city to the devices of
the missionaries. Yet it was under the protection of
the Gyalpo (Miwang) and of the Grand Lama, who
issued permissive decrees in its favour, stamped on
yellow satin, with the confirmatory seal of the Celestial
Emperor. Ten years after the re-establishment of the
mission a little church and mission house were com
pleted, and at the opening ceremony eleven Christians
(chiefly natives of Nepal) were present. Delia
Penna states that the new establishment was even vis
ited by the Grand Lama of Lhasa, and he further
asserts that on leaving their house the holy man ex
claimed, " Your God is in truth a great God." But the
old trouble arising from want of financial support was
ever with them, and the Jesuit community was ever
against them. In 1729 " starvation once again con
fronted the workers, of whom two only were left in
Tibet, namely, Orazio della Penna and Gioachino da
San Anatolia." It appears that the Gyalpo actually
offered to provide for them, and suggested that they
should charge medical fees for such practice as they
had among the people. This suggestion was declined
on principle. The missionaries would not receive
charity from non-Christians.
Between 1729 and 1733 political troubles super
vened, and the enmity of the priestly and magician
classes was renewed. Della Penna's health (after
twenty years of missionary work in Tibet) began to

78 TIBET
give away, and he was finally persuaded by his com
panion to leave Lhasa for Nepal. At Khatmandu he
was promptly imprisoned, but he was subsequently
released, and for two years more (after being joined
by Father Gioachino) he carried on mission work in
Nepal under comparatively favourable auspices; for
the king, who had first imprisoned him, afterwards
gave the missionaries considerable encouragement
from political motives. The Capuchin fathers of the
so-called " Tibetan mission " had by this time been
reduced to three, not one of whom was really fit
for active service. Driven to desperation, Orazio
della Penna set out for Rome to plead his own
cause and outwit the tacit foes of the mission, — the
Jesuits. His modest record of work accomplished
during twenty-five years of service included the bap
tism of 2,587 infants, and a small company of Christian
converts (Nepalese, Tibetans, and Chinese), number
ing about forty in all. It was a scanty harvest, but
nevertheless it roused the jealousy of the Jesuit Order,
who urged their claim to the Tibetan field on the
grounds of priority in exploration. The decision of
the Vatican was eventually given against them, but
not before the Jesuits had despatched an agent of their
own to enquire into the working of the Capuchin
missions and to discredit them as far as possible. This
agent was Ippolito Desideri, who thus first appears on
the field as a Tibetan explorer. Desideri entered Tibet
by Ladak, and, as he was something of an observer and
a writer, we have some most interesting records from

TIBET 79
his pen of the nature of the now well-known route to
Leh. It is unfortunate that in the history of geograph
ical exploration we should be so dependent on the
records of the few who write rather than of the
many who observe. Considering the number of edu
cated Europeans who visited Lhasa in the early years
of the eighteenth century, and who knew the Tibetans
as no one knows them now, we have strangely little
information concerning the country or its people.
Desideri was one of the writers. The route from
Kashmir (Srinagar) to Leh was that part of his
journey which impressed him most. " The greater
part of the road is along the flanks of the loftiest and
most awful mountains, and in which there is ordinarily
not found sufficient space for one man to pass by
another." Desideri and his companion (Manoel
Freyre) remained eight weeks at Leh, and in August,
1715, resumed their travels eastward. It seems pretty
certain that they passed through Tashigang on the
Indus, but beyond that their route seems doubtful. It
is probable that they passed by the regular Leh-Pekin
route over the Mariam La to Shigatze, Gyangtse, and
so to Lhasa, which place they reached in March, 1716,
seven months after leaving Leh. Naturally there was
some little friction at first between the Jesuit Desideri
and the Capuchins, whom he had come to report upon ;
but finally all differences of opinion were smoothed
over, and they lived together in one common bond of
Christian brotherhood. Desideri prolonged his stay in

80 TIBET
Tibet for five years, until he was ordered home by
Pope Clement in 1721. Meanwhile he had shown
much more geographical enterprise than the worthy
Capuchin missionaries, for he had visited many of the
most interesting places in southeastern Tibet. When
he arrived in Rome he at once drew up the claim of
the Jesuits for precedence in Tibet, being opposed by
Felice da Montecchio, who advocated the cause of the
Capuchins. Finally judgment was given (in 1732) in
favour of the latter, and shortly afterwards Desideri
died, it is suggested, from chagrin at the result
of the decision; but this seems hardly probable, if
Desideri's character is to be estimated from his own
friendly relations with the Capuchin fathers during
his stay at Lhasa.
For seven years (from 1733 to 1740) the Lhasa
mission was abandoned, not a Capuchin monk being
left in Tibet or (latterly) in Nepal. But the represen
tations made at Rome by that valiant old missionary
Delia Penna at last had effect, and the Pope him
self was interested in the revival of the mission. In
1738 Orazio della Penna and nine Capuchin brethren
started for the East, bearing with them presents from
the Pope of Rome to the Dalai Lama. Amongst them
was Cassiano Beligatti da Macerata, who subsequently
proved himself to be the most literary, if not the most
capable, member of the whole Tibetan mission. It is
from his pen that we get by far the most interesting
narrative of the journeys of the Capuchin missionaries,
and the most detailed accounts of the manners and

TIBET 81
customs of the people, albeit we get but little valuable
geographical information. The story as told by Sand-
berg is taken from the " Revista Geografica Italiana,"
Florence, 1902. The party reached Patna in Decem
ber, 1739, and there picked up the veteran Gioachino,
with whom they continued the journey to Nepal. So
little do we know even now of the Nepal approaches,
that Beligatti's narrative of one hundred and sixty-
four years ago would still be of real geographical value
could we only identify the places he mentions en route.
But this is impossible. At Khatmandu (now the
capital of Nepal, then a provincial town) they re
mained till the rainy season of 1740 had passed, when
it is said " the king suffered them to depart," and they
started northeastward for Lhasa. Their journey seems
to have been painfully slow. It is indeed difficult to
account for the time that was taken over its successive
stages, unless we assume that the party (now reduced
to seven) was occupied with missionary work as they
went. There is no difficulty in following their route
through Kuti (the frontier town of Nepal, through
which all merchandise passes even now) to the valley
of Dingri, the great monastery of Sakya Jong, and
Gyangtse, which they reached on December 24, 1740,
having left Khatmandu on October 1 .
Beligatti's description of methods of travel; of the
miseries experienced at high elevations; of the obsti
nacy of the mule drivers; the pig-headedness of the
local authorities; the intense cold (it was winter);
the want of fuel; and of hospitality on the part of
6

82 TIBET
Tibetans generally, — might apply to the Tibet of to
day. Nothing appears to move in Tibet, and Beligatti's
experiences would be those of any modern European
who trod the same route now. It is a narrative of
more than passing interest, and must have delighted
the heart of its discoverer, Signor Magnaghi, who
found it in the Biblioteca Comunale at Macerata ( Beli
gatti's native town) a year or two ago.
Beligatti's description of Gyangtse might have been
written by the special correspondent with Sir Frank
Younghusband's mission; but there is added thereto
an account of a certain weird Tibetan ceremony which
no member of the late mission ever had the oppor
tunity of witnessing. It was the burning of il turma
(the tor ma sacrifice) on the fourth or fifth day of the
new moon.
From the fusileers who headed the procession, to
the cymbal and tambourine beating monks, the " choir
master," the medicine man, the dancing Ngaramba
("who danced like lunatics"), the pantomimic hats,
the incense-bearers, and the turma itself, we have the
whole grotesque show vividly depicted. The turma
was a cone of paste tricked out with coloured butter,
which was finally deposited on a tripod in front of the
temple. Here rites were performed before it, and
grain offered to it; hymns were sung, and further
invocations and libations poured forth.
Finally it was kicked over by the Ngaramba; the
fusileers discharged their blunderbusses, and the cere
mony broke up " confusamente e senz' ordine." And
yet some of the worthy Catholic fathers have traced

TIBET 83
points of resemblance between Tibetan ceremony and
that of Rome !
On the 27th of December the missionaries started
from Gyangtse and trod the now well-known route to
Nagartse Jong and the Yero Tsanpo. At Nagartse
they tell us of the famous Samding monastery and the
Dorje Pagmo, — the abbess who is venerated nearly
as much as the Dalai Lama, and is the only Tibetan
lady permitted to ride in a palanquin. In Beli
gatti's time her morals were not beyond reproach,
but her sanctity did not seem to be impaired thereby.
From Nagartse over the Kamba-la to the Brahma
putra and Lhasa there is nothing new now to be told
about the route. They crossed the river in a boat,
as the bridge was even then reckoned unsafe, — the
boat being navigated by means of a " pulley " attached
to a rope stretched across the river, even as our engi
neers navigated it a short time ago.
At Lhasa the Capuchin fathers resumed their old
quarters, which appear to have been preserved. The
Capuchin friars were welcomed by all the chief Lhasa
officials, including the Gyalpo (king), the Kalons, and
the Chinese Amban. It must be remembered that
since 1720 Tibet had been formally annexed to China.
They were even honoured by an invitation to dine
with the king's son, and it is clear that they were
on the most friendly terms with many of the leading
lamas of the city. Beligatti's narrative is of peculiar
interest where he gives us a detailed account of Tibetan
religious ceremonies and court functions, and an in-

84 TIBET
sight into the inner life of Tibet at least a .century and
a half earlier than that obtained by the agency of our
own native explorers, which were regarded as alto
gether new to the world when they were first published.
The general accuracy of his narrative has been most
fully confirmed by these later reports, and it is cer
tainly extraordinary that for so long a period after
the final collapse of the Tibetan mission such a veil
of ignorance should have again been drawn over Lhasa
and its people as that which has lately been disturbed
by a mission of a very different nature. Amongst
other ceremonies he describes the procession at the
Moulam festival (which is officially, recognised as a
period of prayer lasting twenty-three days, but which
is in reality a time of licence and excitement), during
which many of the most weird and fantastic perform
ances for which Tibet is famous are rehearsed in full
est pantomime. It commenced on the sixth day of the
new year (i. e., 21st of February, 1741), in Beligatti's
time, and the Capuchins were enabled to watch the
proceedings through their intimacy with " that some
what disreputable personage," the father of the then
Dalai Lama, whose home overlooked the great square
where the Central Temple and the Labrang buildings
are situated. In short, throughout his narrative the
worthy father is much more concerned with the
strange processions and the extraordinary antics of
the Tibetan priesthood than he is with the records of
his own mission — about which he tells us very little
indeed. It appears, however, that the veteran Father

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TIBET 85
Gioachino was despatched to Rome in 1741 to report
the safe arrival of the mission, and that within four
months of their arrival opposition and even persecution
commenced. The Tibetan priesthood were naturally
antagonistic, and they were alarmed at the favour
shown to the mission by the hitherto faithful King
Midwang (or Miwang) and others in high places.
Finally they invaded the king's palace en masse and
resorted to threats and invective. This was quite
enough for the king, who declared at once against the
mission, and caused many of the converts to be flogged.
Matters continued to grow worse and worse, until in
1742 three of the fathers (including Beligatti) re
turned to Nepal. The valiant old Father Prefect Delia
Penna, although enfeebled by years and labour, still
held on at his post; and it was not till April 20, 1745,
that he was finally compelled to acknowledge himself
beaten, and resolved to abandon the mission. It broke
his heart.
"As his hopes departed for ever, so the man al
ready and almost at once began to fade and die.
Beholding themselves hedged in on every side, they
decided to depart, so much the more as they were
assured that the king had ordained that no other mis
sionaries were to be permitted to cross the frontier,
and that he worked to make delays till the prefect —
already failing through advanced age and the fatigues
of thirty-three years of mission work (of which twenty-
two had been passed in Tibet) — should be dead, in
order that he might then banish the others. Eventu-

86 TIBET
ally, the king having granted them permission to
preach only on condition that they should declare the
Tibetan religion to abound in goodness and perfec
tion, they determined to start even at once." The sad
little party of three reached the mission hospice at
Patan (Khatmandu) in Nepal on the 4th of June.
Six weeks later the broken-hearted old chief Delia
Penna breathed his last. He was sixty-five years old,
and he had laboured to the end. He rests in a little
Christian cemetery which once existed at Khatmandu,
but now is absolutely unrecognisable. Not even the
site of it is known. The mission in Nepal lasted till
1768, and disappeared at the time of the Gurkha
revolution. Beligatti died in 1785 at Macerata, his
birthplace. The old hero Orazio della Penna (like
Livingstone) rests in peace on the field of battle.
Geographically we learn little from the investiga
tions of the Capuchin monks. The early outlines of
Tibetan geography were filled in, but very indifferently
compared to those of early history. Under instruc
tion from the Jesuits the lamas of Tibet acquired a
rough idea of map-making and surveying, and they
set about after their fashion, providing a general map
of the whole country for the Emperor Kang-he of
China. Rough and inaccurate as these early maps are,
they are of considerable value as first maps. From
the data preserved in them D'Anville's Atlas was pub
lished in 1733, and they still formed the basis for the
mapping of Tibet when Klaproth issued his map in
1824; but there is not much in them beyond rough

TIBET 87
route traverses and the determination of the position
of certain towns said to have been fixed by astronom
ical observations. Such places as Lhasa and Batang
are from thirty to sixty miles in error in latitude, and
it seems probable that hearsay evidence supplemented
by conjecture had a good deal more to do with the
construction of these early charts than any more exact
process of surveying. Even in D'Anville's map it is
difficult to recognise modern names. Lhasa is indi
cated only by " Pontala " (Potala), the hill on which
stands the palace of the Dalai Lama. The Indus is
mistaken for the Ganga (Ganges), but the general
course of the Tsanpo River and the existence of the
Central Lake region are shown clearly enough.
Whilst the Capuchin missions were still in existence,
between the years 1723 and 1736 one of the most
remarkable journeys in Tibet ever made by any Euro
pean was made by the Dutchman Samuel Van de
Putte, whose father was a vice-admiral of Zealand.
He originally left Holland for a three years' tour with
a friend, but his love of adventure carried him far
beyond his original programme. It carried him with
a caravan from Aleppo to Ispahan, and from Ispahan
to India. In India he adopted the dress of a native,
and extended his tour for several years before he
finally crossed the Himalayas into Tibet. We have
the evidence of one of the Jesuit fathers that he was
an excellent Tibetan scholar and the friend of some
of the leading lamas. The tendency of the European
to " come to stay " was not at that time fully under-

88 TIBET
stood in the East. Not only Tibet, but the frontier
countries of India on the northwest, Afghanistan, Per
sia, and Baluchistan, were equally open to the Euro
pean adventurer, who obtained something more than
mere formal right of way as a foreigner in the coun
try. He was received with courtesy and hospitality.
The objection to the incursion of " foreign devils " is
comparatively modern. Two hundred years ago the
same freedom was accorded to the European to tread
the forbidden lands of the East, as we ourselves have
ever offered to the Asiatic in the West.
Van de Putte remained in Lhasa apparently as an
honoured guest, and when he finally adopted the cos
tume of a mandarin and accompanied a deputation
of lamas to the Court of Pekin, he was apparently as
well received in China as he had been in Tibet. The
route he took was afterwards followed by the Abbe
Hue, and will be described further on. On his return
to Lhasa he was regarded almost as a saint, on account
of the purity of his life. He subsequently recrossed
the Himalayas, and reached India in time to be an eye
witness of the sack of Delhi by Nadir Shah. No more
thrilling story of travel and adventure could be told
than that which would record the experiences of this
observant Dutchman, if only there was a story to tell.
But unfortunately the accumulation of notes and man
uscripts which contained the history of his wanderings
was destroyed at his death. He died in Batavia, when
on his way home in 1745, and he desired in his will
that all his papers (which had been written in a cypher

iW.

... DE PUTTE* SKETCH MAP PBOM THE MJS » THE MUSEUM AT MIODELBUBO.

Van der Putte's Sketch Map

TIBET 89
only intelligible to himself) should be burnt. Doubt
less he was afraid (as Sir Clements Markham sug
gests in his account of this great traveller) that an
improper use might be made of records unrevised and
unpublished by himself, and so the geographical world
is rendered infinitely the poorer by the loss of know
ledge gained at first hand by a most trustworthy
observer. A sketch map which he left of a part of
southern Tibet on the borders of Nepal shows roughly
the portion of the Kuti pass leading from Nepal into
Tibet, and the course of the Arun River, both impor
tant in view of our very incomplete knowledge of the
Tibeto-Nepalese frontier. The loss of his journal is
irreparable.

CHAPTER VI
Bogle's Mission and Policy of Warren Hastings — Bogle's
Route to Shigatze — Description of the Country and of
Gyangtse — Reception by the Teshu Lama — Turner de
spatched by Warren Hastings — His Interview with the
Infant Teshu Lama
THE first English mission to Tibet was in 1774,
when George Bogle, a Bengal civilian, was
deputed by Warren Hastings to visit the capitals of
Bhutan and Tibet with a view of opening up friendly
relations and promoting trade between Bhutan and
India. No happier selection of an envoy could have
been made, for Bogle carried out his mission with tact
and determination, and established a basis for mutual
understanding between India and those countries of
her northern borderland which should have been last
ing, and should have ended in the establishment of
free intercommunication. But the enlightened policy
of Warren Hastings has never been popular in India,
and this important sphere of British influence has been
forgotten for a full century. The seeds of a good
understanding which were sown by Bogle never sprang
to full maturity, and, indeed, so deeply did the shadow
of forgetfulness close over his proceedings that it was
with some difficulty, and only by patient reference to

TIBET 91
journals, official despatches, and private correspond
ence, that Markham rescued the records from obscurity
and published an account of the mission in 1876.
From his account we learn that Bogle (accompanied
by Dr. Hamilton) followed the same route from India,
via Buxa and Punaka (the capital of Bhutan) to Tibet,
that was subsequently attempted in 1865 by a British
force which failed to penetrate farther than a few
marches into the Himalayas.
The Parchu affluent of the Chinchu River leads up
wards to the dividing line between Bhutan and Tibet
from Paro, the capital of western Bhutan. The pass
is certainly not a difficult one, but we have no record
of its exact height. From the pass the road drops into
the upper valley of the Ammo Chu, leading to Pari
(or Pari-jong), where our troops with Younghus-
band's mission were quartered. This position is
abundantly " bare, bleak, and uncomfortable," says
Bogle. From Pari (or Phari) fort (14,200 feet)
the ascent runs northward to the main water part
ing where the Tang la (15,700 feet) marks the pas
sage across the backbone of the eastern Himalayas.
Bogle says little or nothing about this crossing, which
apparently was not formidable enough to attract his
attention. Almost overshadowing the pass is the giant
Chumulari, a magnificent snow-bound peak, which ever
formed the central point of interest in the restricted
Bhutanese landscape during the campaign of 1865-
66. One of the lines of advance into Bhutan during
that campaign followed the route taken by Bogle,

92 TIBET
above which towers the cloud-wreathed peak of
Chumulari.
Bogle's mission to Tibet is of peculiar interest for
two reasons: First, because he is one of the few
Englishmen who have lived in the country and asso
ciated sufficiently long with Tibetans to become an
authority on the idiosyncrasies and characteristics of
the people. Bogle was an excellent observer, and pos
sessed the rare faculty of adapting himself to the man
ners and habits of his hosts, as well as the capability of
sharing something of their outlook on the world out
side Tibet, appreciating their views and to a certain
extent sympathising with them. Seldom indeed, in
these later days, does any explorer ever study the moral
attitude of a strange branch of humanity with such
patience, or with the advantage of so close a contact
as that possessed by Bogle. To this day, after a hun
dred and thirty years, he is to us the first and best
English authority on the inner social life of the people,
— a life which is essentially the same now as it was
a hundred and thirty years ago. Secondly, Bogle's
route from the head of the Chumbi valley to Gyangtse
has become familiar in connection with Colonel
Younghusband's mission, for it is the route which that
mission followed.
Markham's " Tibet " gives so good a summary of
the events and circumstances of Bogle's mission that it
is hardly necessary to do more than refer to a few of
its main features. The plains of Tibet, over which he
passed, after crossing the Tibetan frontier, are de-

TIBET 93
scribed as covered with gravelly sand, producing noth
ing but some tufts of withered grass which afforded
a scanty subsistence to herds of cattle. The slopes of
the western hills were perfectly bare ; " they appeared
like rocks over which the sand and stones had been
heaped, leaving here and there the sharp points jutting
out. Beyond them could be seen the high mountains
in the Demijong country " (the Tibetan name for
Sikkim), " among which I fancy is the snowy hill seen
from Dinapur and other plains in Bengal. For sev
eral days the country bore the same bleak and barren
aspect answering to Churchill's description:
« • Far as the eye can reach no tree is seen,
Earth clad in russet scorns the lively green.'
The plain cause of this poverty of soil is that God
Almighty has so ordered it ; but a much more ingeni
ous reason may be drawn from the following circum
stances." Bogle then describes the Tibetan method
of making their fires and cooking their food with
cow-dung gathered from the fields; but whether he
considered that the consumption of this material
for fuel deprived the fields of their natural manure
and so left them barren and unprofitable is not quite
clear. Bogle's journey was taken late in October, and at the
elevation of eleven thousand feet there is nothing left
of the green of agriculture above the surface so late in
the year. " We arrived at Tunno, our next stage,
about three o'clock." If Tunno is the same as Turner's
Teuna (or Tuna) this was only a twelve to fourteen

94 TIBET
mile march ; and yet Bogle found his servants so tired
that they had to be "brought home on peasants'
backs." The names of places are not to be depended
on over such a length of time as has elapsed since
Bogle's and Turner's missions. Moreover, Bogle
found the whole country devastated as far as Gyangtse,
but he does not say to what this was due. He had to
procure " cow-tailed bullocks " for his followers to
ride, and thereby offended their Hindu prejudices.
By " cow-tailed bullocks " we may presume that the
ordinary bullock of the country is indicated in contra
distinction to the bushy-tailed yak. " Our road next
day led us along the banks of the lake called Sham chu
Pelling. It is fed by a large mineral stream which
issues out of the side of a mountain and extends about
eighteen miles from north to south. It was half frozen
over and well stocked with wild ducks and geese. We
also met with some hares and a flock of antelopes,
besides a herd of wild animals called " kyang," resem
bling an ass." " A stream of water falls from the
Sham chu into the Calo chu Lake, which extends about
ten miles east and west, and another stream runs from
it northward." This is the Kalwa-tso of modern maps,
near which stands the town of Kalwa Shar. " We kept
close to this stream for several days; it falls into the
Tsanpu Shigatze, turning many miles on its way."
" There are also several bridges on this river, but very
different from the wooden ones we met with among
the mountains. They are walls, with breaks or open
ings, to let the water through, which are covered with

TIBET 95
planks or large flags." All this gives a very fair idea
of the nature of the long, narrow curving valley of the
Nyang chu, which connects the pass of Tang la (at
the head of the Chumbi valley) with Shigatze on the
Yeru Tsanpo. It falls gradually and gently to the
Tsanpo (upper Brahmaputra), offering no obstacles
to the movements of troops. Bare and desolate in the
late autumn and winter, it has clearly always been
cultivable to some extent in summer, when the green
crops which subsequently furnish grain for the mills
must give a very different aspect to the scenery. There
is indeed nothing more remarkable in the way of con
trast than the bare dust-covered yellow plains of the
highlands adjoining India in the winter and the almost
brilliant effect of luxuriant cultivation in summer. It
is the same in Baluchistan as it is in Tibet in spite of
the great difference in altitude. Kanmur (Khangmar)
is the most important point on the route, for there are
good houses at Khangmar with a caravanserai and a
temple. Also there were a few willows in Bogle's time
which may still survive as the first trees encountered
after leaving the Chumbi valley. There is a cross-
route to Lhasa from Khangmar which is shorter than
the Gyangtse route, but it involves several formidable
passes. After passing Khangmar there is a distinct
improvement in the character of the country. The alti
tude falls to thirteen thousand five hundred feet, and
the river is made use of for irrigation. The valley
widens, evidences of cultivation are abundant, and hot
springs burst from the ground some three and a half

96 TIBET
miles beyond the town. It was here that Bogle lodged
in a house " which had lately changed its inhabitants.
Of fifteen persons who formerly lived in it every one
had died last year of the small-pox." At Dudukpai
(possibly the Changra of modern maps) Bogle re
marks the cheerful aspect of the village scenery, —
willows planted all about, and the people " busy build
ing and stacking their straw and singing at their
work." Twenty-four miles from Khangmar is the
town of Gyangtse (modern), or Giansu (Bogle and
Turner), a large town standing on the right bank of
the Nyang chu, in a broad and open valley full of white-
walled villages, and commanded by a castle pictur
esquely clinging to the face and summit of a steep
and lofty rock above the river. Gyangtse is about
one hundred miles from Phari jong, in the upper
Chumbi valley, and can be readily reached in five or
six marches. The town climbs the hill slopes, the
houses being ranged around the central market-place,
and is enclosed within a wall said to be one and a half
miles in circumference. Above it towers the famous
monastery, the Palkhor Choide, built after the fashion
of a pagoda in nine storeys. According to informa
tion obtained from Tibetan sources by the Rev.
Graham Sandberg, Gyangtse is a trade centre for
Tibetan horses, dried and fresh mutton, butter, barley,
radishes, and coarse cloths, the staple product of the
place. There are Nepalese shops and Chinese restau
rants, and accommodation for travellers in the temple.
The garrison includes four hundred badly armed

T I B ET 97
Tibetans and about fifty Chinese troops. Bogle says
little about " Giansu," as he did not stay there. He
passed through the town on his way farther northward.
But Gyangtse is of importance as the junction for the
road to Lhasa, which follows a large affluent of the
Nyang chu eastward. It is one of the towns which by
the treaty lately ratified is open to foreign trade in
future. Bogle duly notes the change of scenery after passing
Gyangtse, — numerous villages and cultivation fairly
abundant in a light and sandy soil. At Painom, a
day's journey farther north, he writes of the valley
that it was the most populous he had yet seen,
with villages standing very thick. Painom, with its
castle rock-crowned and battlemented, he compares to
Gyangtse, but considers the position finer. At this
point he left the main road to Shigatze, and struck
off eastwards by a direct route to the Tsanpo River
and the residence of the Teshu Lama near Namling,
beyond it. He says little more of the Tsanpo than
that at the point where he crossed it was about as
wide as the Thames at Putney. He describes the
boats as flat-bottomed wooden constructions, oblong
in shape, about twenty-five feet in length, with four-
foot sides to them. This appears to be the regulation
pattern for the larger-sized ferryboats of the Tsanpo,
and tallies exactly with the later descriptions given by
Indian explorers. From the river he travelled by an
easy open road to Namling, near to which place was
" Desherigpag," the Teshu Lama's residence.
7

98 TIBET
Bogle did not live in days of scientific exploration,
and his records are wanting in geographical exactness.
But if he did not excel as a geographer, he has given
us a knowledge of Tibetan social life and customs
which is as charming as it is original. Instead of the
thick-headed obstinacy and pertinacious interference
with all freedom of action which we are apt to asso
ciate with Tibetan lamaistic methods, Bogle found the
people friendly, cheery, easily accessible, good tempered,
and always willing to entertain or assist him. Men
and women alike — he made friends with them all.
At one time he is the official guest of the Teshu Lama,
the second great religious dignitary in the land. At
another he is entertaining Tibetan girls in his own
quarters, or joining the young relatives of the great
high priest in hunting the musk deer or shooting
partridges, an amusement in which those young peo
ple indulged only when they were far enough from
the paternal eye. But wherever he is there is always
the same friendly interest in all that he heard or saw,
and the same rare faculty of observation from the
local point of view. Consequently no other writer has
given us so useful an insight into the inwardness of
Tibetan existence. No native Indian explorer, how
ever shrewd, is capable of entering into the spirit of
European enquiry as regards Asiatics. He cannot
know or understand what it is that we want to know.
He is in fact faced with exactly the same difficulty
that besets the European who wishes to explain or
describe Europe to the Asiatic.

Tashi Lunpo, from the South

TIBET 99
Tibet is an old, old country, wherein the spirit of
conservatism still reigns supreme. No European fads
or inventions (excepting perhaps those which apper
tain to firearms) ever disturb the serene assurance of
the Tibetan priest, and the priest decides for the peo
ple, for Tibet is absolutely priest-ridden. Thus it
happens that what Bogle saw and described so many
years ago may be accepted as identical with that which
the members of our own mission have seen and de
scribed to-day, if they are gifted with Bogle's power
of perception and enjoy his opportunities.
Next to the Dalai Lama, the Teshu Lama of Teshi-
lumpo (whom Hastings believed to be the chief reli
gious authority) is the ruling high priest in Tibet.
Bogle's description of this personage is exceedingly
interesting. " On a throne carved and gilt with some
cushions above it " sat the lama cross-legged. " He
was dressed in a mitre-shaped cap of yellow broadcloth
with long bars lined with red satin; a yellow cloth
jacket without sleeves, and a satin mantle of the same
colour thrown over his shoulders. On one side of
him stood his physician with a bundle of perfumed
sandal-wood rods burning in his hand, on the other
stood his Sopon Chumbo, or cup-bearer." He re
ceived Bogle " in the most engaging manner," and
thereafter, when two or three official visits had been
made and returned, he used to receive him without
ceremony, " his head uncovered, dressed only in his
large red petticoat, which is worn by all the gylongs "
(priests or monks), " red Bulgar boots, a cloth thrown

ioo TIBET
across his shoulders." He threw aside all the " awful
part of his character " as " God's vice-regent through
all the eastern countries of Asia," and behaved with
the greatest freedom and affability. His complexion
was fair, he was inclined to be fat, and his age was
about forty; and he is described as intelligent, liberal,
and humane. But Bogle got no further with his
negotiations than the Teshu Lama. At Lhasa the Dalai
Lama was an infant, and the temporal power was in
the hands of the Greshub Rimboche, who being
anxious to secure supreme authority for himself and
his family after him, and being entirely adverse to
" Fringies " (whom he accuses of being " fond of
war, and, after insinuating themselves into a country,
raising disturbances and making themselves masters of
it"), advised the Teshu Lama to find some method
of sending Bogle back,_ " either on account of the vio
lence of the small-pox or any other pretence." The
same authority blocked the way to Turner subse
quently, so that no fully accredited trade mission ever
really reached Lhasa. Bogle returned from Tibet in
June, 1775, with the object of conducting further
negotiations at Pekin. Dr. Hamilton, who accompanied
him on this first mission, was subsequently appointed
to conduct a mission to Bhutan, which country he
visited twice, and thus maintained to a certain extent
the open door for Tibetan trade.
Warren Hastings determined to keep up the inter
course with Tibet so well inaugurated by Bogle, and
in 1779 again appointed him as envoy to Tibet. But

TIBET 101
news reached India that the Teshu Lama proposed to
visit Pekin. He actually made the journey, and sacri
ficed his life in his efforts to promote a good under
standing between China and India, for he died at
Pekin of small-pox. Not long after his death his
English friend Bogle died at Calcutta.
Warren Hastings, however, persevered in his policy,
and with the reappearance of the Teshu Lama in infant
form he arranged another mission under Captain
Samuel Turner, which started by the old Buxa route
through Bhutan in the summer of 1783. Turner's mis
sion added but little to our knowledge of southern Tibet.
He followed more or less directly in the footsteps of
Bogle, but instead of diverging south of Shigatze to
the Tsanpo, he continued his route to Shigatze (or
rather to Tashilumpo), where the reincarnated Teshu
Lama was conveyed in state from Namling. The chief
point of interest in his narrative is that which concerns
his interview with the small personage who now rep
resented the Teshu Lama, and the cordial reception
which awaited him from the relatives of the late high
priest testifying to the popularity and success of Bogle.
Markham thus describes his interview with the holy
infant, whose regent and adviser were Chanzu Cusho
(the brother of the late lama) and Sopon Chumbo,
his cup-bearer, both of whom are frequently mentioned
by Bogle. The interview took place at Terpaling,
about two miles south of the great Tashilumpo mon
astery. The princely child, then aged eighteen months,
was " seated on a throne, with his father and mother

io2 TIBET
standing on his left hand." Having been informed
that though unable to speak he could understand,
Turner said that the governor-general, on receiving
news of his decease in China, was overwhelmed with
grief and sorrow, and continued to lament his absence
from the world until the cloud that had overcast the
happiness of this nation was dispelled by his reappear
ance; and then, if possible, a greater degree of joy
had taken place than he had experienced of grief on
receiving the first mournful news. The governor
anxiously wished that he might long continue to illu
mine the world by his presence, and was hopeful that
the friendship -which formerly subsisted between them
would not be demolished, but rather that it might
become greater than before; and that by his continu
ing to show kindness to my countrymen, there might
be an extensive communication between his votaries
and the dependants of the British nation. The in
fant looked steadily at the British envoy with the
appearance of much attention, and nodded with re
peated but slow motions of the head, as though he
understood every word. He was silent and sedate;
his whole attention was directed to the envoy, and he
conducted himself with astonishing dignity and de
corum. He was one of the handsomest children Cap
tain Turner had ever seen, and " he grew up to be an
able and devout ruler, delighting the Tibetans with
his presence for many years, and dying at a good old
age." Turner returned to India in the spring of 1874,
and the following year India lost Warren Hastings.

TIBET 103
After his death diplomatic relations between India and
Tihet finally ceased.
It is interesting to note that the first great Church
dignitary of Tibet, who, abandoning traditions of
sanctified aloofness, descended from Tibetan altitudes
to the plains of India in 1905, and there took an
active, human interest in the pomps and frivolities of
the civilised world, should be the same Teshu Lama of
Tashilumpo. According to Lamaistic canons he is
literally and actually the embodiment of the same
personality who received Bogle with such sympathetic
cordiality and good fellowship.

CHAPTER VII
The Conquest of Tibet by China — Remarkable Military Ex
pedition — Its Route into Tibet and the Final Defeat of the
Gurkhas near Katmandu — Thomas Manning's Visit to
Tibet and Lhasa — His Route through Bhutan — Experi
ences with Chinese Officials and Interview with the Dalai
Lama — His Impressions — Moorcroffs Expedition to
Hundes — His probable Residence at Lhasa and his Fate
SUCH was the last official mission to Tibet ere that
of Younghusband took the field. It was shortly
followed by the occupation of Nepal by the Gurkhas,
and during the stormy times which followed on the
Himalayan frontier the passes from India became per
manently closed.
The final conquest of Tibet by China marked an
epoch in Asiatic history, but the story of so remark
able and important an achievement is altogether be
yond the scope of this work. Troubles with China
did not end, however, with the subjugation of Tibet,
and there was at least one Chinese expedition (directed,
it is true, rather against Nepal than Tibet) which is
of such special interest as illustrating the military
possibilities of the eastern and most direct route
between Pekin and Lhasa via Ta-chien-lu, that a
brief reference to it will probably do more to dissi
pate the many mistaken notions which exist about

TIBET 105
Tibetan invasions than any record of individual
exploration. The murder of the Gyalpo, in 1749 (thirty years
after the Chinese conquest), by the Chinese Ambas
(or Ambans) led to a general rising and massacre of
the Chinese and a final retaliatory expedition from
China, which completely restored Chinese ascendancy.
The readiness with which such an expedition was
organised and led across the Chinese border into the
heart of the Bod-yul of Tibet, and its success, is one
of the most interesting features in Tibetan history.
Mongols, Sikhs, and Gurkhas have alike made the
same venture and failed. It still rests with the Chinese
to claim the proud position of having reduced by force
of arms what may be justly termed the most inacces
sible country in the world.
The Capuchin friars left Tibet about 1760, and took
refuge in Nepal ; and it was about this period that the
conquest of Nepal by the hardy mountaineers of the
Gurkha tribe was effected. Originally recruited to
assist in settling internal disturbances at the capital,
they soon made themselves masters of the country by
sheer hard fighting and the terror that their frightful
atrocities inspired. From the time that the Gurkha
Prithi Narayan was installed on the throne of Nepal
until now, the gates of that country have been closed
to India, and a trade that was once flourishing has
been almost annihilated.
In 1792 (after the missions of Bogle and Turner
to Tibet) the Gurkhas, inspired by the lust of loot,

106 TIBET
invaded Tibet. An expedition which numbered eigh
teen thousand men crossed the Kuti pass (140 miles
from Khatmandu) and advanced with great rapidity
on Tashilumpo (Shigatze), which was distant another
257 miles. They captured the city and looted the
palace. The cowardly Tibetans fled in a panic. The
infant Teshu Lama was carried off to Lhasa, and
Chinese assistance was at once invoked to repel the
invasion. Then followed one of the most remark
able retributions that the world has ever seen. Over
the gigantic mountains and snowbound passes of
eastern Tibet a force of no less than seventy thousand
Chinese was led in two columns by General Sand Fo
into the elevated regions of the plateau. The Gur
khas rapidly retreated to a position near their frontier,
called Tengri Maidan. Here the first battle was
fought, and they were . completely defeated. The Kuti
post was captured after a second fight, and the Chi
nese advanced by way of Kirong (on one of the chief
rivers of Nepal) to Khatmandu. Their artillery con
sisted of light field guns made of leather, which fired
a few rounds and then burst. The Gurkhas had no
guns, and they made their last stand on the river
banks at Tadi just above Nayakot, about twenty miles
from Khatmandu. To appreciate the position it must
be remembered that this unwieldy force of seventy
thousand Chinese had marched across one of the most
difficult mountain districts in the world for 800 miles
from their own frontier before reaching Lhasa. They
had then advanced at least another 400 miles over

TIBET 107
uplands at elevations which were never less than 10,000
feet, involving tlie passage of many passes higher than
Mont Blanc, before meeting the enemy. Practically
they were without artillery, and they had in front of
them the most tenacious and most valiant foe that
ever stood up to fight in Asia, — a foe, too, that was
flushed with recent success. It is true that the strength
of the Chinese at starting may be reckoned to be vastly
greater than that of the Gurkhas in the field against
them, and it is improbable that they dispersed that
strength by holding positions on the line of advance.
It was almost impossible that they should do so. But
they must have lost numbers in the passes of the
mountains which barred their progress through that
1,200 miles of route from their frontier (2,000 miles
at least from the populated district of China), and it
could have been little more than an advance guard
that faced the Gurkhas on the river Tadi. The Gur
khas, on the other hand, in falling back on their base,
were consolidating their strength from day to day,
and as they turned with their backs to the river (like
terriers against a wall), they were fighting for their
women and their homes behind them, and they knew
well what defeat would mean. The Chinese wavered.
They were massed in front of the Gurkhas, who were
between them and Khatmandu, and they were ter
ribly spent with the length and the trials of that long
march in the thin atmosphere of the Tibetan highlands.
There seemed a chance that the attack would fail at
the critical moment. It is under such circumstances

io8 TIBET
as these that great generals prove their right and title
to the confidence which their country has bestowed
upon them. Sand Fo was a great general, and he rose
to the occasion. He turned his leather guns on to the
rear of his own wavering troops, and drove them and
the Gurkhas in front of them in one comprehensive
sweep into the river. The Chinese trampled over
friend and foe alike, and they speedily sacked Khat
mandu. Oriental methods of treating the vanquished
(especially Mongol methods) are usually distinguished
by deeds of the most ingenious and repulsive barbarity.
Even the Gurkha of to-day is not gentle with a foe.
But ingenious as he is in his methods of savage re
prisal, he is probably more than equalled by the China
man. Khatmandu has never forgotten the lesson that
was learned at that blood-stained time. Every five
years a deputation proceeds from Nepal through Lhasa
to Pekin, and there offers tribute at the foot of the
Chinese throne.
Such at least is the story as culled from the lips of
an ancient Gurkha official by Mr. Brian Hodgson, and
as retold by Sir Clements Markham in his "Tibet."
There may be other ways of accounting for the defeat
of the valiant Gurkha by the Chinaman of the eigh
teenth century than those narrated by this ancient
Gurkha warrior ; but the fact remains, as a marvellous
record of Chinese persistency, that Nepal was utterly
subjugated by the Chinese at a distance of some 2,000
miles (stretching across a solid barrier of mountains)
from their base. It is a useful commentary, first, on

TIBET 109
the usual statements of Tibetan accessibility, and, sec
ondly, on the usual criticisms applied to the Chinese
soldier. During the progress of the Chinese retaliatory ex
pedition we declined to assist the Gurkhas, and the
Chinese had all along been watching with jealous sus
picion our attempts to establish diplomatic relations
with Tibet. Thus we soon lost all the good effects of
the missions of Warren Hastings. The Chinese closed
all passes into Tibet to Indian natives, and established
military posts along the trans-Himalayan frontier. The
Gurkhas despised us. The inevitable result was a war
with Nepal (which lasted from 1814 to 1816), the
final occupation of Sikkim (after the advance of
Ochterlony and the capitulation of the Nepalese), and
the opening up of the difficult Sikkim passes into
southern Tibet ; but the interposition of British author
ity in Sikkim led to no amicable relations with the
Bhutan. We have never been able to effect much
with that country. Pemberton's mission in 1838 led
to the acquisition of much useful information about
the passes; but the unstable condition of the gov
ernment, the perpetual feud between the Tongso Penlo
of the East and the Paro Penlo of the West (the two
local governors), and the absence of real authority in
the hands of the Deb Rajah and the Dharma Rajah
(the two elected chiefs), appears to be chronic, in spite
of the fact that the Dharma Rajah is the perpetual
incarnation of the Deity. The same uncertainty in
the temporal administration existed when in 1865-66

no TIBET
another campaign was undertaken in the interests of
peace on the Assam border. Now the passes through
Bhutan which were used by Bogle and Turner are no
longer open to Englishmen.
It cannot be other than a matter of surprise that
at a time when our relations with Nepal and China
were about at their worst in the troubled times before
the occupation of Sikkim, the one solitary English
man who has ever reached Lhasa (so far as we know
for certain) should have started on an unofficial ven
ture to study China in her most remote dependency, —
Tibet. Thomas Manning was an independent gentle
man, a friend of Charles Lamb, and an unaccredited
traveller, who had been a resident in Canton for a
sufficient time to pick up a rudimentary knowledge of
Chinese. He had also a certain amount of medical
training which (whether rudimentary or otherwise)
enabled him to rank as a physician amongst Chinese
subjects. In September, 1811, he crossed the north
east frontier by a route to the west of the Buxa route
through Bhutan, which had been followed by his
predecessors (known as the Laki Duar route), to Paro
and Parijong. No European has followed Manning's
route either before or since, and it is unfortunate that
he has left no record of it which is of the slightest
geographical interest. It is indeed much to be re
gretted that this one English traveller, who, of all
the many who have attempted the feat of entering
Lhasa, is the only one successful, should be in most
essential respects a bad traveller and a worse observer.

TIBET in
Markham has given his diary in extenso in his
" Tibet," and it is a monotonous record of small wor
ries and insignificant details which quite block out
that larger view of his Tibetan surroundings which
it was obviously his intention to present. He gives us
little insight into Tibetan character, but incidentally
he gives us a far better idea of his own and of that of
his Chinese " munshi " (or interpreter), with whom
many weary hours must have been passed in the sim
mering enjoyment of mutual bickering. The munshi
was finally retained at Lhasa " in chains " when Man
ning was permitted to leave, and it is not recorded
that a single tear was shed over his fate. Thus he
passes as happily from Manning's narrative as he
passed from Manning's company. In due time Man
ning reached the inevitable " take off " for Tibet, —
Parijong. There he found the Chinese in some force,
and his medical attentions to the general in command
and his success with the soldiers ended in an invitation
to accompany the general to Lhasa. Of the Chinese
soldiers he has much that is good to say, for he re
marks on their attention to duty, their civility, and
their good behaviour. They might have be~n " civil
ians " and not " soldiers." Manning's admiration for
their manners is something of a commentary on those
of the British soldier of the period, — the Waterloo
period, — which evidently furnished his standard of
comparison. His complaints of Tibetan horses and
Tibetan saddlery have been echoed in other years by
other travellers. Evidently the fashion in saddles has

ii2 TIBET
lasted for some time, and there seems to be no im
mediate prospect of a change. Like Bogle and Turner,
he was struck with the generally cheerful and well-to-
do aspect of the country about Gyangtse after passing
through the desolate stretch of elevated plateau, bare
of vegetation and swept clean by the wind, which lies
northward of the Himalayan water-parting. His route
to Gyangtse was the route of the previous missions,
but from Gyangtse (where he parted with his Chinese
general) he was for some inexplicable reason able to
procure an invitation from the regent to visit Lhasa.
For a description of the further section of his route
between Gyangtse and Lhasa it would be quite useless
to refer to Manning's records. It must be taken from
those of later explorers (natives of India), who have
carefully described this 150 miles of road, and it is
of passing interest just now inasmuch as the experi
ences of the late Tibetan mission include it in their
records. The following account of the route to Lhasa is
derived from native sources of information. At first
the road is good, but it rapidly merges into a mere
country track running through cultivation which is
abundant. About eleven miles from Gyangtse it fol
lows the course of a hill torrent running through a
steep and narrow valley. Crossing a bridge at Ku-
dung and passing the village of Gyari-dom, the first
stage Gobshi (the " Four Gates ") is reached at the
end of a fifteen-mile march. Gobshi is a compara
tively large village, standing amidst poplars and wil-

TIBET 113
lows and possessing a mill house and a bridge. A
stage of nineteen miles connects Gobshi with the post
station of Ralung Sampa, where there is a Chinese
" stage " master with a large and comfortable rest
house for travellers. The track passes through vil
lages at intervals, but involves the passage of a narrow
defile and the fording of the river at a point called
Shetoi. Monasteries are of course much in evidence
along a frequented trade route such as this. From
Ralung Sampa to the pretty little village of Dzara
is a seventeen-mile march. Near the post-station of
Ralung Sampa is the monastery of Ralung Thil, the
headquarters of the Red Cap Buddhist sect to which
all the people of Bhutan belong. The forward route
now involves much steep ground, and the frequent
crossing of streams half frozen with slippery blocks
of ice, besides the passage of a sixteen-thousand-feet
pass — the Kharo la — the highest point between
Chumbi and Lhasa. Below the pass, south of it, is
a long stony plain scantily supplied with grass, where
the black huts of the Dokpa herdsmen are pitched
and herds of yak find their living. It is called
Womathang, or the " Milky plain." At this eleva
tion glaciers are encountered, and the whole landscape
is wind-dried, bleak, and barren. The ascent to the
pass is easy, but the eastern descent to Dzara is steep
and rapid. Dzara boasts a bad post-house and little
besides — no forage and no fuel, but there are scat
tered grass patches beyond where yak and sheep can
graze. The road now runs for six or seven miles
8

n4 TIBET
through a series of gorges or defiles with a rapidly
descending grade till it opens out on the vast stony
plain which stretches to Nangartse Jong and the great
" Scorpion " Lake — the Yamdok tso. Fifteen miles
separate Dzara from Nangartse Jong. Roughly
Nangartse may be reckoned at seventy miles from
Gyangtse, Lhasa being about eighty miles to the north
east of Nangartse. The route so far presents no very
formidable difficulties, although it is often narrow and
steep and involves the crossing of the Kharo la. On
ward t'o Lhasa it is a rough country track following
the western shores of the Yamdok Lake to about its
extreme northern point, and then striking off across
the plain that intervenes between the lake and the
mountain ridge which overlooks the deep valley of the
Tsanpo. All this part of Tibet has been described by
the native surveyors who have visited it, and by Man
ning, as extremely picturesque. Nangartse stands two
hundred feet above the blue waters of the Scorpion
Lake (the latter being thirteen thousand nine hundred
feet above sea), facing the strange mountain forms of
the peninsula which, jutting out northward into the
lake, spreads itself into the form of a central, circular,
and almost insular mountain mass, which itself encloses
a minor lake. The deep, dark, mysterious waters of
the smaller depression are known to the people as
the Dumo tso, or Demon Lake. The great Samding
monastery overlooks the weird depths of the Dumo
tso from a hill about three miles east of Nangartse
Jong. The presiding abbess of this monastery is a

TIBET 115
very young lady (at present only nine years old),
but Dorje Pagmo is the highest lady in the land, and
the only one who has a right to be carried in a chair.
Spread about Nangartse are fertile flat plains with
abundant grass for the crowding herds of yak. There
is a fishing population on the lake shores as well as
herdsmen, and crudely built boats of hide are used for
local purposes of navigation — probably the most ele
vated navigation in the world. Leaving the northern
shores of the lake, the road to Lhasa may cross the
low range of hills bordering the Tsanpo valley by
either of two passes. The one generally made use
of is the Khamba La, but the Nyabso La, not far to
the west, is said to be as practicable and fairly easy.
The ascent of nine hundred feet from the basin of
the lake is not severe, but the northern descent into
the deep trough of the Tsanpo is short and sharp
(especially near the summit of the pass), although it
is engineered in zigzags to reduce the grade. Striking
the great Tsanpo River some four or five miles from
the foot of the pass, the road to Lhasa now follows the
right bank of the river to the historic old suspen
sion bridge of Chaksam Chori near the junction of
the Kyichu (the river of Lhasa) with the Tsanpo.
The descent from the pass to a level of about eleven
thousand feet above sea introduces the traveller (weary
with the monotony of sterile altitudes) to quite a new
landscape. The route has latterly been picturesque
enough, now slanting across plains with patches of
good grazing, now striking wide fields of irrigated

1x6 TIBET
cultivation, and then again taking to mountain tracks
and winding over the face of precipitous slopes with
a rushing torrent below; but the grace and beauty of
vegetation has been wanting. In the valley of the
Tsanpo dense clumps of bush border the river and fill
the dells; orchards of peach and walnut trees cluster
thickly round the white walls of the villages; wind
swept sand drifts into dunes by the river-side, and
low down about the foot of the pass the wild rose
blossoms, whilst brambles, fir-trees, and rhododendrons
make what show they can.
The ancient suspension bridge which spans the river
near the monastery of Penchen Chu Wori is a relic of
antiquity and of former trade developments in Tibet,
of which it is difficult to obtain a history. Said to
have been constructed four hundred and seventy years
ago, it certainly did credit to the highland engineers
who were responsible for it. Two chains (deeply
rusted with age) about four feet apart support a road
way of narrow planking which is supported from
them by loops of rope. The extremities of the chains
are about seventy feet above the river. In the centre
it sags to about fifty feet. No one uses the bridge
now-a-days (or has used it for the last twenty years),
but the main stays of the bridge, the massive masonry
" chortens " within which the chains are anchored to
logs built into the masonry, are said to be sound
enough, and it is but the roadway which is lacking.
The passage of the river is effected by ferries. Two
classes of boats of the crudest construction are used.

TIBET 117
The lighter leather-covered " coracles " (ko-a)> are
used for casual passengers, the larger wooden boats
(shingi tru) carry horses, cattle, and merchandise.
They have been described by one native traveller as
" shallow wooden boxes about twenty feet long by
eight broad." The junction of the Kyichu (the river
of happiness) with the Tsanpo is about three miles
east of the ferry. After leaving the Tsanpo, the
Lhasa road ascends the valley of the Kyichu affluent,
first passing over the marsh lands of the delta where
there are scattered villages and townlets belted with
willows and poplars. Sand and gravel plains alter
nate with patches of rich cultivation where peas, beans,
and white mustard make a variety in the landscape
during the season of flowers, until, beyond the village
of Jang toi, the road again takes to the rocky banks
of the immediate river-side and runs a chequered
course (a part of which is known as the Gaglam, or
"path of hindrance") to the historic village of Ne
thang — the last stage ere reaching Lhasa. Nethang
possesses the historical interest of being the place
where the great Buddhist missionary from India,
Atisha, died. The village stands in a beautiful valley,
but is not itself beautiful. " The road passes through
a dirty village street flanked by houses of two or
three storeys, mostly of a mean and filthy exterior.
A large number of pack ponies and donkeys are kept
by the inhabitants to be let out by the dozen or so to
travellers," says Mr. Sandberg. After Nethang the
whole country appears to bloom into luxuriance. Irri-

n8 TIBET
gated cultivation rather interferes with the traffic along
the route; grass lands, houses, gardens, and fruit
orchards are passed in succession for several miles,
when once again the stone dusted gravel plain of
Tibet is encountered. But here at last is Lhasa in
sight. Fourteen miles away the palace of the Dalai
lama — the Potala — can be seen glinting in the sun.
Crossing an important stone bridge one hundred and
eighty feet long over the Thi Chu affluent of the Kyi
chu River at the village of Toilung, and traversing a
populous tract of willow-planted cultivation, the great
highway between India and Lhasa strikes the first
evidence of the existence of the sacred city in the
ghastly debris of its slaughter yard, where hundreds
of sheep, goats, and yak are daily slain for the con
sumption of the town. Bones and horns are heaped
up by the road-side and around a foul blood-stained
tank. Sloping upwards from these repulsive relics are
the spurs of the wooded hill on which stands the great
Daipang Monastery, which is said to provide accom
modation for seventy-seven hundred inmates. Here,
doubtless, in the leading monastic establishment of
Lhasa are inculcated those Buddhist tenets which pro
hibit the taking of life. Groves of poplars and wal
nuts now close in the road which ends at the western
gateway of Lhasa.
Such, briefly, is the road onward from Gyangtse to
Lhasa untrodden by any Englishman save Manning
hitherto, but now familiar to European footsteps. It
is not a road which would be written down as " pass-

TIBET 119
able for field artillery," but it is not a bad road, and is
full of surpassing interest. The view of Lhasa from
its western approaches is one which warms even a
Bengali heart to enthusiasm. " It was indeed a superb
sight, the like of which I never beheld in India," says
Chandra Das. It was the Potala, the palace of the
great high priest, the Dalai lama, which gladdened his
weary eyes. Set up high on an isolated hill, raising its
stupendous walls to a height of nine storeys above the
summit, crowned with gilded cupolas glinting in the
sun, buttressed on the rough crags over which the long
lines of countless banner-bedecked staircases climb
upward from the plains, a solid red and white embodi
ment of the strength and might of Buddhist lamahood,
the Potala must indeed be a most impressive vision.
At Lhasa Manning was well received by the author
ities, though he complains greatly of the want of
accommodation in the house in which he was lodged.
It must be remembered that his status was purely
unofficial. He came with no proposals from the Indian
Government to establish either diplomatic or com
mercial relations. He was simply a travelling Euro
pean with a knowledge of medicine; and just as the
same knowledge has ever and anon led to most im
portant results in the history of the Indian Empire,
and the medicine man has been almost invariably the
first in a new field, so Manning was now enabled to
maintain a tolerable position in the great centre of
Buddhism. It was a great opportunity lost to the
East India Company's Government. It was also a

i2o TIBET
great opportunity for the acquisition of a knowledge
of Tibet and of Tibetan affairs such as never has
occurred since the days of Van de Putte, but Manning
was not the man to make use of it. Had Masson, for
instance, been there instead of Manning, the results
would have been very different. He did what he
could, however, to make the acquaintance of Tibetan
and Chinese dignitaries who might be helpful to him.
He polished up a pair of old brass candlesticks which
were not his own property (they belonged to the Hon
ourable East India Company), and adding them to
two wax candles, some pieces of cloth, and a few silver
coins, he made them presentable as an offering to the
Grand Lama. He also possessed a bottle of some
ancient form of scent (Smith's lavender water) which
was added to the offering. The bottle was broken
during the process of presentation, and the streamlets
of scent imparted a new character to the pervading
essence of burnt sandal wood which permeated the
sacred presence chamber. But he saw the Grand Lama
and made his " katesi," " touching the ground three
times with my head to the Grand Lama and once to
the Ti-mu-fu." He presented his " clean-shaved head "
for the lama to lay his hands upon, and then sat on a
cushion not far from the lama's throne to partake of
" suchi." " It was most excellent, and I meant to have
mended my draught and emptied the cup, but it was
whipped away suddenly, before I was aware of it."
This was a temporary grievance, but the effect was
effaced by his impression of the Grand Lama, which

TIBET 121
is really interesting. " The lama's beautiful face and
manner engrossed almost all my attention. He was
at that time about seven years old ; had the simple and
unaffected manners of a well-educated princely child.
His face was, I thought, poetically and affectingly
beautiful. He was of a gay and cheerful disposition,
his beautiful mouth perpetually unbending into a
graceful smile, which illumined his whole countenance.
Sometimes, particularly when he had looked at me,
his smile almost approached to a gentle laugh. No
doubt my grim beard and spectacles somewhat excited
his risibility, though I have afterwards, at the New
Year's festival, seen him smile and unbend freely,
while sitting myself unobserved in a corner, and watch
ing his reception of various persons, and the notice he
took of the strange variety of surrounding objects."
Manning asked for books respecting the Buddhist
religion and the history of Tibet, together with a
lama who could instruct him and talk Chinese. His
request was only partially complied with, but he
received a part of the Buddhist ritual. He adds : " I
was extremely affected by this interview with the lama.
I could have wept through strangeness of sensation.
I was absorbed in reflections when I got home."
There is undoubtedly some strange fascination about
this child presence which embodies the very spirit of
Buddhist mysticism. All who have experienced it
speak of it with deep reverence. Something of the
spirit of mysterious awe and irresistible attraction
which drew the wise men from the East to the foot of

122 TIBET
the cradle at Bethlehem inspires the modern devotee
who toils painfully up the steps and ladders of the
Potala to receive the child blessing above. We of the
West who honour the wise men should appreciate the de
votion of the climbing pilgrim. Manning had not the
opportunity of enquiry such as has been given to later
visitors to Lhasa, and he tells us little of the life of the
people in the sacred city. Incidentally we gather that
the Tibetan of Lhasa is hospitable, cheerful, and con
tented, civil to strangers, appreciative of kindness, and
he generally figures as a law-abiding and good citizen.
The manners of the women are affable and friendly,
but when Manning writes of " pretty faces " we
feel that his long absence from higher civilisation must
have quickened his susceptibilities. Beauty of feature
is doubtless not altogether incompatible with dirt
(the Tibetan men and wcmen never wash their faces),
but the final charm of an unsullied complexion must
surely be wanting. It is Bogle, I think, who tells of
an infant Tibetan which was washed for his benefit,
that he might judge of the general complexion of the
Tibetan skin, which otherwise there was no possibility
of observing. The child screamed and struggled to
such a degree as nearly to bring on convulsions, and
the experiment was a failure. Manning was not struck
with the town, although the palace exceeded his expec
tations. " There is nothing striking, nothing pleasing
in its appearance. The habitations are begrimed with
dirt and smut. The avenues are full of dogs, some
growling and gnawing bits of hide which lie about in

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Manasarawar

TIBET 123
profusion and emit a charnel-house smell; others
limping and looking livid; others ulcerated; others
starved and dying, and pecked at by ravens; some
dead and preyed upon. In short, everything seems
mean and gloomy, and excites the idea of something
unreal. Even the mirth and laughter of the inhabi
tants I thought dreamy and ghostly." Manning left
Lhasa on the 19th of April, and reached Kuch Behar
on the 10th of June on his return journey to India.
Almost contemporary with Manning's journey to
Lhasa was the first exploration undertaken into
Hundes on the southwestern Tibetan border by a
civilian of the Indian Civil Service named Moorcroft.
He obtained permission to cross the Himalayas by
the Niti pass north of Almora, and to visit the Mana
sarawar Lakes with the object of making a survey of
the country at the foot of Kailas, and of procuring
samples of the famous wool of which Kashmir shawls
are made. After crossing the Shangki (or Niti) pass
he travelled for about ten days, till he reached the
camping station of Daba on the upper Sutlej. Here
he was very well received (Moorcroft being disguised
as a merchant) , and was allowed to proceed to Gartok
on the Indus. Gartok was then but an encampment
of black hair tents, a village of herdsmen who here
tended enormous flocks of goat and sheep. On the
5th of August he reached Manasarawar, which was
then observed to consist of two lakes divided by an
elevated isthmus. The eastern lake was fifteen miles
long and eleven broad, enclosed by a magnificent

i24 TIBET
entourage of rugged hills. Moorcroft failed to note
the connection between the two lakes, the existence
of which was subsequently established by the two
Stracheys. This journey in itself is only remarkable
as an early venture across the Almora passes into
Hundes. Many travellers and sportsmen have since
followed in Moorcroft's footsteps, but Moorcroft's
name is chiefly remarkable for the story told by the
Abbe Hue (whose adventures will be narrated else
where) of his hearing the name in Lhasa, and of his
being told that an Englishman of that name had lived
in that city from the years 1826 to 1838; that he was
assassinated on his way back to India via Ladak,
somewhere in Nari Khorsum. The murderers were
caught by the Lhasa people and Moorcroft's property
rescued. Amongst his papers were found maps and
plans of Lhasa and Tibet. The story is too circum
stantial to be ignored. All we know for certain is
that Moorcroft made a second journey to Kashgar
and Turkestan in company with a German named
Trebek, and that in 1825 information was received
from Trebek that Moorcroft had died between Balkh
and Bukhara. This story was always regarded with
suspicion in India, and consequently Hue's informa
tion was received as credible from the day that he
published it, — all the more so that the Tibetan de
scription of the Englishman who resided in Lhasa and
made surveys tallied very fairly well with what we
know of Moorcroft,

CHAPTER VIII
77te Jesuit Missionaries ¦, Hue and Gabet — Journey from
Manchuria to Koko Nor — Notes on Early Christianity in
Coria — The Mongolian and Chinese Borderland Frontier
Farms — Mongolian Customs — Trade with China —
Lamaism in Western Kansu — The Koko Nor and Feast
of Flowers at K unburn
THE, chronicles of Tibetan exploration are full of
the records of vain attempts to unveil the mys
teries surrounding that holy of Buddhist holies, — the
city of Lhasa. Geographical literature teems with
them. Now that the veil has been easily lifted, and
such mystery as there may lie behind it has been ex
posed to the world at large, it proves somewhat dis
appointing. The enchantment of speculation has died
a natural death, and Lhasa itself, reduced to the level
of ordinary experience, will probably soon cease to
arouse even the languid public interest which is taken
in the world of famous Indian cities. The record of
attempts to reach Lhasa is not, however, one of un
redeemed failure. We have already referred to two
Europeans who have succeeded in their quest, —
Van de Putte and Manning. Unfortunately, neither
of these two great travellers have told us much of
the city wherein the interest of Tibetan exploration
has been so long centred. Several native explorers

126 TIBET
in British or Russian pay have been there and have
had their say about the holy city; but the Asiatic
mind lacks imagination, and hardly grasps the trend
and aim of European enquiry. That which is too
familiar to the Asiatic to require comment is often
just the point which most usefully illustrates some
special characteristic of a people; and when Asiatics
deal with the physical aspects of a country, the whole
landscape around them is apt to become coloured with
the drab tints of their own weary-minded sensations
as they toil bravely through the monotonous task
which has been committed to their care. Consequently,
a very peculiar value is to be attached to the story of
those Europeans who, in days later than Van de Putte
or Manning, not only reached Lhasa and lived there,
but have left a most interesting record of their ex
periences in a book which is written with vivacity and
intelligence and never lacks the interest of personal
adventure. M. Hue was a Jesuit missionary, who> was
appointed about the year 1840 to a Mongolian mis
sion centre which still maintained a precarious exist
ence on the northern borderland of China. He passed
through Canton on his way to Pekin during the war
which was then progressing between England and
China, and whilst the foreigner was yet specially ob
noxious to the Chinese nation. A French Lazarist
priest " le venerable Perboyre," was about this time
publicly executed at Canton, and it was apparently
under his auspices that M. Hue made his first venture
in the missionary field. He claims that the Catholic

TIBET 127
missionaries were the only Europeans who then dared
to cross the provinces of China ; and he was probably
justified in his claim. Christianity on the Mongolian
borders of China fifty years ago was but a faint re
flex of the widespread form of Christian faith which
prevailed throughout so great an extent of High Asia
during the middle ages. Without ascribing much
value to the mediaeval traditions which invested the
semi-mystical Prester John with a halo of religious
romance and represented him as combining in one
person the high offices of priest and king over the
vast empire of the Kara Khitai, and at the same time
crediting him with untold victories over the invading
powers of Islam, there can be no doubt that as late
as the middle of the tenth century Nestorian Chris
tianity prevailed in Central Asia to an extent which
is hardly realised in the twentieth. Whether or no
Gur Khan, emperor of the Kara Khitai in 1150 is
to be identified with the mystical Prester John is still
a matter of conjecture. Evidences of his Christianity-
are obscure, but it is an historical fact that the
daughter of the last of his race was a Christian, and
that she married Kushluk Khan, the king of the great
Tartar clan Naiman. There is some ground for sup
posing that the whole Naiman tribe was once Chris
tian. Traces of the Christian ritual are still to be
recognised in the marriage customs of that tribe and
amongst the nomadic people of the Pamirs to this
day. Christian relics have been unearthed from the
ruins of some of the buried cities of Chinese Turkes-

121

TIBET

tan, and it seems probable that the Nestorian form
of Christian faith, which first spread through Persia,
extended eventually right across Central Asia through
Tartary to China and Japan, where (we have recently
been told) there were more than a million Christians
at the period when Japan adopted the form and
methods of Chinese civilisation. In the early years
of the fourteenth century we find Kuluk Khan treat
ing with favourable consideration John of Monte-
corvino, the archbishop of Pekin, who was engaged
in as fierce a dispute with the Nestorian Christian
leaders of his day as that which divided Dominicans
and Jesuits three centuries later in China. The first
Chinese emperor of the Ming dynasty who defeated
the Mongols and drove them back beyond the Great
Wall was a Buddhist priest, and from his time onward
systematic assaults of Islam and Buddhism combined
appear to have prevailed against Asiatic Christianity.
We learn little of this from Hue's narrative, but he
states that the Pekin mission flourished under the
earlier emperors of the Manchu dynasty, and that it
was chiefly owing to the precautions of Kia King,
the fifth emperor, that the Christians of China were
scattered and driven into Mongolian territory. The
vicar apostolic of Mongolia fixed his residence at Si-
Wang, and it was he who deputed Hue (with one
companion, Gabet) to visit Tibet in the interests of
Christian missions.
The Catholic community in Mongolia was still hold
ing its own bravely in the middle of the last century,

TIBET 129
and the story of Hue's parting with his Christian flock
when he undertook his perilous enterprise in 1844 is
told with pathetic force. Hue had carefully studied
the tenets of Buddhism with a view to complete prep
aration for a theological campaign in Tibet; but it
does not appear that he found any lamaistic champion
in Tartary who was worthy of his steel. There was
a universal tendency to back out of logical argument
and to refer him to the headquarters of Buddhism
(always "in the West") whenever he endeavoured
to push home his advocacy of Christian doctrine with
any of the ignorant lamas who professed to be the
guides and teachers of the nomadic herdsmen of the
Mongolian steppes. To them the great fountain of
light was to be found only in Tibet (the West), and
they would not admit of any lesser source of doctrinal
teaching. It is noteworthy that the camels of the mission be
fore starting were pastured in the " Kingdom " (roy-
aume) of Naiman (tribal districts are thus indicated
by Hue), and its chief pastures were at He-Chung
(which appears to be a Tartar and not a Chinese
name), about five hundred miles northeast of Pekin
and on the southwest borders of Manchuria. Hue's
narrative, therefore, first deals with the route connect
ing Manchuria with the Koko Nor Lake on the ex
treme northeast borders of Tibet, and then with the
recognised highroad to Lhasa from the Koko Nor,
which may be described as the main entrance to Tibet
from the north, and the only one of importance from
9

i3o TIBET
any commercial point of view. It is well to the east
of the routes taken by Sven Hedin, Bonvalot, and
others, but it includes a part at least of that traversed
by Rockhill, about whom there will be more to say
later on. It is well to remember at this period of
our history that whereas the possession of the plains
of Chinese Turkestan, and the occupation of Kashgar,
Khotan, etc., would assist little or nothing towards
a systematic extension of Russian influence into Tibet,
owing to the nature of the intervening country, the
right of way through Mongolia from Manchuria to
Koko Nor and the occupation of that region (which is
geographically about as far from Lhasa as is Khotan)
might conceivably prove most useful.
The route from Koko Nor to Lhasa is, and has been
through all historic ages, a recognised commercial
route. This is my excuse, at any rate, for entering
rather more fully into Hue's narrative of this pre
liminary journey through Mongolia from the borders
of Manchuria than the limits of this work would other
wise justify.
There were no half measures about Hue. He
adopted the dress of the Tibetan lama, the yellow
gown and cap, shaving his head and conforming rig
idly to all the little social forms and ceremonies which
the code of Chinese manners so strictly enforces. He
started with his companion Gabet on his adventurous
journey, not only prepared to see a strange land and
live amongst a strange people, but to live as they
lived ; to look on the Mongolian world from the point

TIBET 131
of view afforded by the tent door of the nomad, shar
ing their sympathies and their prejudices as he shared
their dwellings and their food. He piloted the little
caravan across the wide steppes on horseback, whilst
his fellow missionary Gabet rode a camel, and their
one Tartar retainer, mounted on a black mule, led
the "baggagers." Owing to his intimate knowledge
of the language of the country he was able to make
himself at home either in camp or city, and he has
consequently illustrated the home life of the border
people of Mongolia — Chinese and Tartar alike — as
no one else has been able to illustrate it before or since.
Starting southwest on the road to Dolan Nor, he
struck at once into the desolate plains which stretch
away from the foothills of the southern Kinghan
Mountains constituting the territory of " Ouniot."
According to Hue there was a time (not far distant)
when this part of the Chinese borderland was forest-
covered, inhabited, and rich in cultivation. About the
middle of the seventeenth century the Chinese swarmed
into it, destroyed the forests, and spread general de
vastation through the land, reducing it to its present
condition. Deforestation has led to a total change of
climate (it is somewhat strange to find a Jesuit mis
sionary of the middle of the last century supporting
such a theory), and the terrific " black " storms which
now sweep across it unchecked carry periodic destruc
tion with them, filling the air with dust and sand and
swamping wide areas with rain flood. Hail storms of
extraordinary violence are frequent. We have Hue's

132 TIBET
testimony to the fact that hail stones weighing two
pounds frequently descend on the hard baked earth —
such stones as can only be broken in pieces with axes.
This is below, and to the east of, the central Kinghan
system, which is part of the orographic backbone of
Asia. But we beg leave to doubt whether the " black
buran " of eastern Mongolia differs essentially from
that which is encountered further south on the Chang
plains of northern Tibet, which has been so graphically
described by Sven Hedin. Desiccation and the result
ing deforestation is not the work of man in high
Asia. Whatever may be the ultimate cause of the
gradual changes in the physical conditions of the con
tinent which . have led to these recurrent changes of
climate which can be marked by geologic investiga
tions, they belong to a group of natural phenomena
which are not even yet fully understood. Throughout
Asia such changes are to be noted perhaps more
readily than in any other continent; but they are the
common heritage of the whole changeable world. Hue
had not proceeded far before he mounted the great
central plateau spreading southward from the King
han, and from this point he commences a daily narra
tive of his journey, which is full of interest and by no
means devoid of humour. The great wide-spreading
plains or steppes, the long eternally-winding track
(which there was no difficulty whatever in following,
for it was often a cart track), the periodic hunt for
water, the scattered clusters of nomadic "kibitkas"
(or felt tents) which comprise the Tartar villages

TIBET 133
are all familiar enough to the Central Asian traveller.
There is a monotony about Asiatic travellers' tales in
this respect which only reflects the monotony of the
wearisome grind of each day's toil which they en
counter. Even the " black buran," hurling its terrific
forces of wind and driven sand upon the devoted little
camp, is becoming rather a well-worn experience.
Hue, however, introduces an interesting variety into
his tale by his description of the Chino-Tartar " au-
berge " or " sarai," which is to be found at intervals
along the Chinese frontier, and in some respects
reminds one irresistibly of the Russian steppe post-
house. The huge mud-built apartment is reserved for
the guests in the centre of the establishment, in the
midst of which is the " khang," an admirable arrange
ment for keeping guests warm and comfortable. The
khang is a raised platform, about four feet high,
beneath which hot air is introduced from the stoves
(chaudieres) ranged about the apartment. Here the
traveller sits ; here he takes his meals and smokes his
pipe or his opium ; and here he spreads his blankets at
night and sleeps. It often becomes crowded and noisy,
and even to a veteran traveller like the Jesuit mission
ary it was occasionally difficult to find the needful rest.
Nor does it appear that the menage of these caravan
serais includes conveniences for cleanliness. There is
a gruesome chapter in Hue's narrative devoted to the
results of a month's travel without the opportunity of
washing his linen. Of all the horrors that can befall
the civilised traveller in Asia this he justly reckons to

134 TIBET
be the most lively and the most intolerable. Uncivil
ised travellers, however, do not mind it.
The convenience of possessing a tent of their own
which they could make use of whenever the laws of
hospitality did not enforce their company with fellow-
travellers was greatly appreciated by the Abbe. The
best of his time was passed in the wilderness, when,
free from the wearisome intimacy of the sarai, Hue
was left with the wide world of nature around him,
listening to those spirits of earth and air which Tartar
imagination has conjured from the unknown, or en
gaged in his own familiar forms of ritual and prayer.
But Hue was essentially a man of warm sympathies,
a good story-teller, and a good companion ; so he never
missed an opportunity of attending any Tartar func
tion which might afford him food for amusement or
for reflection, even though his efforts to distribute a
few ideas of the grace and beauty of the Christian
faith amongst his companions generally met with no
response. He was present once at a singular opera
tion which aimed at casting the devil out of a man;
this was new to him, and had the merit of being
perfectly successful. Every form of sickness in Tar
tary is attributed to some special " Tchutgour," or
demon, who fosters it. Consequently the only medical
practitioners in Mongolia are the lamas. They pre
scribe medicines or remedies, always composed of
vegetable matter pulverised and made up into the form
of a pill. Mineral specifics count for nothing with the
lama medicine man, and if vegetable ingredients fail,

TIBET 135
that also is not of much consequence. The name of
the remedy is then written on paper, rolled up and
mashed with saliva, and administered in the same
form as a veritable dose, with precisely the same effect.
After medical treatment prayers are said, strictly
conformable to the quality of the devil to be exor
cised. If the sick man is a poor man, the " Tchut
gour " obviously is of no great account ; he is but a
" diablotin," and a simple exorcism is usually sufficient
for him. But if the sick man is rich, " les choses vont
tout differemment." The devil is of a certainty
powerful and terrible, a bad spirit worthy of great
consideration. It is not decent that he should make
his exit as if he were a mere " diablotin " ; he is sup
plied with good clothes, a hat, boots, and, withal, a
young and vigorous horse to ride ; and it may happen
(in the case of a very rich patient) that the devil main
tains a troop of servitors, all of whom must be supplied
with mounts. The ceremony of exorcism finally com
mences. Many lamas are invited, and prayers are
continued for seven or eight days without intermission
until such time as the lamas are assured that the devil
has disappeared, — that is to say, until they have ex
hausted the resources of the family on which they live.
If " au bout du compte " the man dies, that only shows
how well the prayers have been recited. It is true
that the sick man is dead ; but he will lose nothing by
that. He will transmigrate into a better state with a
yet larger fortune at his command. Hue was present
at a ceremony where the devil was actually represented

136 TIBET
by a dummy ("mannequin"), which was set upright
in the family tent. After a frightful musical orgie
and much lamaistic ritual, with prayers and incanta
tions and terrific din, ending with a wild dance of the
entire assembly round the tent, the chief lama set fire
to the " mannequin," who was then seized by " les
hommes noirs " (i. e., the lay members of the as
sembly), and carried out into the prairie to burn. The
lamas meanwhile sat in the tent and chanted their
prayers gravely and solemnly. When the brave de
stroyers of the " mannequin " returned, the chants
ceased and gave way to joyous congratulations. The
family formed a procession, — the " hommes noirs "
first, then the sick man supported by two relatives,
then eight or ten lamas, — and they all marched to the
sound of their " epouvantable musique " as far as a
neighbouring tent, where the sick man was to remain
for some days. After this bizarre treatment, says
Hue, the sick man was entirely cured. The devil was
the devil of intermittent fever, and he returned no
more. Incidentally we learn something of the natural
aspects of the country through which the missionaries
passed, but we do not gain much in the way of
geographical information. It was not all desolate
wilderness that spread itself between the intermittent
cities of the route. We hear of wild roses and goose
berries, and, when once the plateau land had been
reached, of wide forest reserves especially sacred to
the imperial chase. As they ascended to the uplands

TIBET 137
of the southern Kinghan they almost touched the
sources of the " Chara Muren," — the river we know
as the Liao Ho, which flows into the Liao Tung gulf
to the west of Port Arthur. Brigands, of course, kept
them in constant fear for their lives and property, but
the brigand of the Chinese border is far in advance
of his confrere on the Tibetan side. His politeness
would do credit to the old school of British highway
men, who were nothing if not gentlemen in their
methods of robbery and murder. There is much said
about the genuine feeling of kindly hospitality which
is invariably shown by Tartar nomads to strangers.
The two missionaries were never at a loss for food
and shelter so long as a nomadic village was in sight.
Invariably treated with respect and consideration, they
naturally bestowed their sympathies on the simple-
minded folk of the field rather than on the long-headed
and far-reaching Chinese townsmen, who made an easy
prey of the Tartar nomad whenever the two met on
commercial grounds. Many a tale has Hue to tell of
the ingenuity of the heathen Chinee in extracting
money from the pockets of the slow-witted Tartar,
who appears to be equally robbed by the Chinese
dealer and his own priest. " Catching a Tartar " is
a phrase which apparently carries a different signifi
cance in the East to that which it bears in the West;
but it does so happen now and then that the China
man overreaches himself, and the Tartar maintains
his European reputation. Hue's description of the
Chinese frontier towns of Dolon Nor (Tolon Nor in

138 TIBET
map) and Kuku Khoto, which he passed en route to
Tibet, is full of the lively interest of personal adven
ture. Narrow disreputable streets, so full of pitfalls
and clogged with mud as to make the passage of
camels through them a process of probable shipwreck
and disaster; a crowded township full of the lowest
class of Chinese traders, who were, however, distin
guished for a most remarkable code of slimy polite
ness ; fifth-class restaurants and overflowing pawnshops
surrounded by a sea of insanitary filth, — combined to
produce an impression which required the wild, free
sweep of the black buran of the open plains to wash
out of the mind and memory. Between the two towns
the travellers crossed the great Russian port and cara
van road to Pekin which links the capital city of China
with the southern shores of Lake Baikal. It is about
900 miles from Pekin to the Russian frontier, and
would involve rather more than 1,000 miles of line to
connect the two by rail. Of that 1,000 miles some 250
or 300 would run amongst the mountains which frame
in the Baikal depression. The rest would be more or
less of a surface line across the Mongolian steppes.
After passing Kuku Khoto, our travellers adopted the
direct route to Sining-fu and the Koko Nor, which
crosses the great northern bend of the Hoang Ho
(Yellow River), and this proved to be the most seri
ous of the difficulties which they encountered. The
Hoang Ho was in flood, and days were spent in floun
dering through the flood-ridden plains on either bank
of the river before the actual crossing was effected.

TIBET 139
But this was only rendered necessary by the limit of
time and expenditure which the missionaries had im
posed on themselves for the maintenance of their ad
venture, and which precluded the lengthy detour which
would have been entailed by rounding the northern
loop of the Hoango Ho. On the whole the route was
evidently a well-trodden and comparatively easy com
mercial road. Immense caravans were met with
strings of camels extending for miles in length. Carts,
too, were a feature of the road traffic; no formidable
passes were encountered; and it may be accepted that
the road from Pekin to Sining on the Tibetan frontier
is a fairly practicable one for all classes of conveyance.
The one great obstacle is the Hoang Ho, and that may
possibly be turned or navigated.
There is so much direct analogy between the nomad
peoples north and south of the Tibetan border that a
comparison between their methods of life and means
of subsistence would reveal no great difference. Chi
nese brick tea is the universal drink, and whether it
finds its way by Ta-chien-lu direct across the eastern
Tibetan border, or through the frontier Chinese towns
into the Mongolian plains, it appears to be precisely
of the same quality. Hue describes the brick tea of
Kuku Khoto in almost the same terms as Little de
scribes that of Ta-chien-lu (Darchendo) . It is made up
of big leaves and twigs, the refuse, in fact, of the tea
industry. It is hardened into cakes or bricks by the
liberal use of rice water, and is finally prepared for
consumption with butter and salt. Neither Bhutia,

i4o TIBET
Tibetan, or Tartar will use any other, and no effort
to introduce the tea of civilisation into these vast tea-
consuming areas has had the slightest success so far.
The Tartars, however, seem to prefer milk to butter
with their tea. There is no accounting for the taste
induced by education and custom. The Russian pre
fers lime-juice or jam ; the Persian takes his tea with
so much sugar as to render it nauseous to Europeans.
The habitations of Tartar and Tibetan nomads is the
same in all essential particulars, as we may find in
Turkman villages on the Oxus, or in Kirghiz encamp
ments on the Pamirs. It is common to all the wander
ing peoples of Asia, and the construction is the same
whether it is called " kibitka," " yurt," or " aul." The
felt rugs stretched over the circular lattice framework
with the rounded roof and the upper aperture for the
chimney, the division of the interior to screen off the
apartment of the women folk; the domestic imple
ments, reeking of butter and mutton grease, the anti
quated arms, and the pungent smoke, are to be found
in all of them; and in all of them that nameless es
sence of rancid grease and unwashed humanity, which
Hue calls the " odeur empyreumatique," permeating
the interior with an atmosphere that can be felt. The
atmospheric oppression of a late second-class metropoli
tan railway carriage sometimes conjured up a faint
reminiscence of it.
The extraordinary influence of Lhasa as the centre
of the Buddhist faith over the whole of eastern Asia
was brought home to the missionaries wherever they

TIBET 141
set their feet, or announced their proselytising purpose.
All enlightenment was to be found in the West. All
lamas with any pretensions to influence amongst the
tribespeople or the townsfolk were educated in Tibet.
From Tibet came the law and the gospel of Buddhism,
and there can be no doubt that political influence in
Lhasa meant then (as it probably means now) political
strength in all the councils of the far East. There was
more than the extension of the Christian faith to be
attained in Lhasa by the missionaries. There was an
outside knowledge of the world to be carried to the
inner recesses of the holy places of the great Buddhist
hierarchy, which might open their eyes to the advan
tage of secular alliance with the powers of the West.
In Lhasa was to be found the key which might unlock
many doors at present shut to the Christian missionary,
through which might drift the first ripples of Catho
lic temporal ascendancy, along with Catholic spiritual
enlightenment. Mongolia is permeated with lamaistic influence and
superstition. The easy life led by the priest is doubt
less a great inducement to join the religious brother
hood, and the whole country is consequently as
completely overridden by the priest as is Tibet itself.
Hue describes the Mongolian lama, whether of the red
or the yellow sect, as belonging to one or other of three
very distinct types. The " home " lamas (lama a domi
cile), after taking a degree in one of the lamaserais
which abound in all the central towns, seldom definitely
fix themselves as permanent residents therein. They

142 TIBET
return home, preferring the smaller field of labour
which offers itself in the scattered colonies of the
prairies or steppes. There they live a life which is
more free and independent than that of the Buddhist
universities. Sometimes they live in the bosom of
their own families, occupied, like other Tartars, in
sheep farming. They prefer the life of the nomad to
the rules of the monastery and the daily repetition of
prayers. These lamas are no more religious (says
Hue) than the red or yellow garments which they
wear. A second class of lama neither remain in the
lamaserais nor with their families. They are vaga
bonds on the face of the earth. They live like birds,
which roost nowhere in particular. Impelled by some
secret nomadic instinct, they start on their travels for
the simple sake of moving, to traverse the road, to
change their scenery. They travel from lamaserai to
lamaserai, stopping en route at all the pastoral tents
they meet, ever assured of the welcome accorded by
the rule of Tartar hospitality. They walk in without
ceremony and seat themselves by the fire, and whilst
they drink the tea which is offered them, they recount
with vast pride the number of districts they have vis
ited. If they wish to stay the night, they just stretch
themselves out like dogs in a handy corner, and sleep
soundly till morning. At dawn, before starting on
their vagabond voyage, they take count of the weather
and the prospect, turning their heads from side to
side " comme pour interroger les vents." Then they
start, without definite aim or object, with their heads

C

a

TIBET 143
stretched forward, their eyes on the ground, a long
stick in their hands, and a deerskin wallet on their
backs; when they are tired they repose under the
shadow of a rock, on the crest of a hill, at the bottom
of a ravine, or anywhere else that appeals to their
fancy. When night surprises them on their pilgrimage
they sleep beneath the sky, which is, they say, but the
roof of the world's tent. The vagabond lama visits
all eastern Asia, China, Mongolia, and the Tartar
steppes, Koko Nor, Tibet, India (not many reach
India), and Turkestan. There is hardly a river which
they have not crossed, a mountain they have not
climbed, a grand lama before whom they have not
prostrated themselves, nor a people amongst whom
they have not lived and whose manners and customs
they do not know. They are never afraid, they can
not lose themselves, as the place they reach is always
for them the objective of their day's journey. Like the
wandering Jew " qui marche et marche toujours,"
they seem to be impelled by some of that divine force
which gives impulse to the solar system, and keeps the
planets ever moving through infinite space.
The third class of lama is composed of those who
live in community. A lamaserai is a collection of
small dwellings centring on a Buddhist temple. They
vary in style and quality, but the lama of the lama
serai is almost always of a superior stamp to the vaga
bond or the tent dweller. He is given to study and
to prayer, and lives a life of regularity if not of as
ceticism, modified, however, by many comforts. He

144 TIBET
has his cow and his horse, and is generally a sheep
owner. Most lamaserais are endowed either locally
by the royalties of the district, or else by the imperial
treasury. At certain seasons the revenues thus paid
in to the establishment are distributed amongst the
lamas according to their standing in the hierarchy.
But no lama is ever rich. His money is spent as soon
as he gets it. He will visit the nearest Chinese town,
and swagger in fine clothes so long as his money or
his stock will last. After a month or two his money
will be gone and his fine clothes will be found in what
M. Hue frequently refers to as the Mont-de-Piete.
This appears to be perhaps the most flourishing com
mercial establishment of all Chinese frontier towns.
It is the equivalent of the pawnshop. The fine clothes
remain there, however, and the lama returns neither
sadder nor wiser to his habitual disregard of the first
principles of economy.
It is always an interesting question what proportion
of the entire male population of Mongolia and Tibet
are lamas by profession. Hue estimates their propor
tion at one-third, but it is a little doubtful whether he
includes both men and women in the term "popula
tion." Probably he means men only; but considering
that in nearly every Tartar family all the sons, with the
exception of the eldest, are lamas, this proportion seems
small. There is no question of inclination about it.
The parents of the family decide for the children, and
the latter gradually accustom themselves to their voca
tion, and usually end by acquiring a certain " exalta-

Cliff Temple where Hue Sojourned

TIBET i4S
tion religieuse," which seals them by choice to the
priesthood. In the discussion of questions such as this, the tes
timony of an earnest-minded missionary, of whatever
persuasion, is most valuable. It is indeed in the presen
tation of a comprehensive idea of the social life of the
people, whether priests or laymen, that the records of
this traveller are of unique value. No subsequent
traveller has enjoyed similar opportunities for study
ing the idiosyncrasies of the eastern Asiatic from a
standpoint of such intimacy ; neither has any European
since his time been received into the inner sanctuary
of Buddhism, and there examined the fundamental
doctrines of a creed which has influenced so vast a
proportion of humanity.
The journey of the missionaries through the western
regions of the Kansu province from the Yellow River
to Sining fu (the great commercial centre and frontier
town of China, east of the Koko Nor Lake), presented
almost more difficulties from the excess of cultivation
than of desert. It was frequently difficult to find a
passable track through the mazes of the cultivated
fields which spread around towns, villages, and ham
lets, riddled and intersected with the network of an
ingenious system of irrigation. Precisely the same
difficulty occurs in the cultivated villages of Persia and
Afghanistan to this day. Now and then the travellers
hit upon a good road for a certain distance, as, for
instance, after passing the old town of Ninghia, when,
for a time at any rate, the road was found to be excel-

146 TIBET
lent, until, after crossing the great wall, they gradually
drifted into more deserted tracts ere they encountered
the sandhills of Alechan. So far as the route through
Kansu to the Koko Nor is concerned, there is obvi
ously nothing in it to prevent the movement of a con
siderable force. It is on the whole cultivated, well
supplied, and flat. Between the Yellow River and the
Koko Nor the great wall is crossed three times. The
Abbe Hue is careful to explain that between the great
wall, as seen near Pekin, and the great wall of these
outlying western provinces of China, there is a very
great difference. Built (or commenced) about the
year 214 a. d., it is supposed to have taken ten years
to build, and it was doubtless a gigantic work from
whatever point of view it is examined. But the solid
masonry construction of Pekin is not found in the
far West, where it is not always a solid masonry, and
frequently nothing but mud.
Where our travellers first crossed it after leaving
the Yellow River it was in ruins. They were on one
of the great Asiatic trade routes which runs westward
from China through Tsaidam in northeastern Tibet to
Chaklik and Lob Nor, and thence passes to Khotan —
which is probably the Hi referred to by Hue as the
bourne from whence no Chinese exile returns. Some
thing of the nature of the widespread pest of brigand
age which prevails all through high Tibet and the
borderland of China may be gathered from a curious
experience of these two missionaries. They were
given their choice of inns or sarais in which to put up

TIBET 147
for the night, the difference between these various
" hotels " being chiefly in their cost. There were inns
where they " fought " and inns where they did not
fight. The latter were the cheaper of the two classes.
Here they received travellers hospitably, but no guar
antee for security. If the brigands came, so much
the worse for the resident travellers if they could not
defend themselves. At inns where they fought there
was no satisfactory guarantee either ; but the defence
of the position against brigands was not left to the
travellers only. The people of the inn undertook to
make the best fight that they could under the circum
stances; but travellers must of course pay for the
possibility of such a casual engagement being rendered
necessary, and the hotels were dear in consequence.
Hue describes the people of western Kansu as being
far more Tartar, or Tibetan, in their social character
istics than Chinese. He calls them religious and hos
pitable, but inquisitive. They could not divine the
nationality of the Frenchman. They knew that they
were not "diables marins" (English), because they had
neither red hair nor blue eyes, and, moreover, they
could ride, — and it was well known that the sea devils
could do nothing of the sort. All the same, Hue en
countered a " Buddha vivant " who could talk English
and Russian, and was apparently much grieved at his
want of knowledge of French. The reverend Abbe
is nothing if not a loyal Frenchman, and a profound
hater of the English and all their ways. The pleasure
of his ultimate voyage to his sunny home in France

148 TIBET
was much marred by the prevailing evidence of British
occupation, which seemed to him to stretch from the
English Channel to India — as indeed it really did.
Hue observed a slight alteration in the method of
warming the kang, or central platform, of the houses
in western Kansu from the Tartar fashion of the
steppes. The kang in one form or another seems to
be an institution which is indigenous to all high Asia.
An analogous method of warming the actual floor (not
a raised platform) by flues is to be found in Korea.
A method which is but another variation is common in
Afghanistan, where a " charpoy " or raised dais on
legs is placed in the centre of the room with a brazier
of live charcoal beneath. The guests sit round it, and a
" rasai " or felt rug is then spread over the table and
carried across the legs of the sitters around. If it is
properly tucked in, it is astonishing what a power
of heat this " thermal bath " arrangement is capable
of evolving. In western Kansu the kang, instead of
receiving currents of hot air beneath derived from the
stoves used for cooking, has the heat generator placed
directly beneath its boards, where a judicious admix
ture of "fumier" (powdered horse-dung?) and live
charcoal is so spread about and arranged as to start
the warming process from all points at once.
Sining fu is described as an immense town with but
few inhabitants, but the surroundings appear to be
fertile, cultivated, and picturesque, with villages, hills,
and streams forming a distinctly Chinese landscape
rather than a Tibetan one. Not far to the south is the

The Potala in the XVII. Century

TIBET 149
great lamaserai of Kunbum, and here our missionaries
made the first stand for their faith and endeavoured
to start a Christian propaganda. Three months were
passed in Kunbum ere moving farther on the way to
Tibet, and it is doubtful if this would not have served
the good Abbe as a permanent resting-place and a
centre for the diffusion of Christian teaching and en
lightenment, but for the dress regulations of the
monastery, with which the reverend pilgrims were
unable to comply. Some of the religious customs
of the lamahood are graphically described by Hue,
and are well worth a reference. The great Kunbum
monastery is a borderland feature of Tibet, situated
on the wild mountains which lie southeast of the Koko
Nor Lake, the summits of which overlook the upper
tributaries of the Hoang Ho. Here are gathered
pilgrims in countless numbers from every part of Bud
dhist Asia. There is not a day in all the year un
marked by the advent or departure of strangers from
Tartary or Tibet. The monastery is chiefly famous
for the religious festivals which are held three or four
times during the year, which are celebrated with such
pomp and solemnity that not even Lhasa itself can
boast of such impressive Buddhist functions. Amongst
them that which is called the " feast of flowers," which
takes place on the fifteenth day of the first month, is
most famous. For weeks beforehand the influx of
pious pilgrims commences, and for days nothing is
heard but discussions apropos to the fete. The rav
ishing beauty of the flowers is the theme of every

150 TIBET
tongue. The council of the " Beaux Arts " (it is a
little doubtful to what council the Abbe refers here)
pronounced them on that particular year to be superior
to any which had preceded them; and the Abbe him
self awaited with impatience the explanation of this
magnificent exhibition of flowers in an all but flower-
less land. The explanation was simple. Such flowers
as there were were made of butter, and the whole
exhibition was but a sort of waxwork show in which
butter took the place of wax. Six lamas distinguished
for their artistic skill were employed in the prepara
tion of this quaint museum of art, which included rep
resentations of men and things in as nearly a natural
form as they could be made to assume. One master
mind, or chief, directed the artists who manipulated
the raw material into the desired form. He further
superintended the subsequent colour effects which were
as important as those of design. On the day of the
fete enormous crowds assembled. The grave and
serious air of religious existence which usually sur
rounded the monastery, enveloping it with an atmo
sphere of saintly grace and mystery disappeared, and
a little host of tents sprung up around on the mountain
slopes. On the fourteenth day the usual pilgrimage
around the monastery took place. The great crowd of
slowly moving pilgrims, prostrating themselves at each
pace they took, and repeating the Buddhist formula
with each prostration, affected the Abbe greatly. He
saw amongst them Tartars moving with firm and
heavy mien, but applying themselves withal to the

TIBET 151
most strict performance of this religious duty;
" longues chevelures," or the bandits, who trod freely
and proudly with full equipment of arms and a savage
air of devotion which was strangely in contrast with
Mongol mysticism; and the Sitan pilgrims of Amdo
who took matters with a general air of being too much
accustomed to such performances to be particular as
to details, together with not a few Chinese merchants
of Khata, who " thought nothing of Buddha, but a
good deal of a passing reputation for godliness which
might assist in the disposal of their wares." The good
Abbe did not take kindly to the heathen Chinee, and
has but little good to say of him apart from his own
beloved missionary field. But he was immensely struck
with the fashion of the women of Amdo, who wore
caps, or little pointed hats, altogether of the style
which in France (in his time) were known as " cha-
peaux a la trois pour cent," and who allowed their
hair to fall in ringlets rather than divide it into the
dual pigtail which is the common Tartar and Tibetan
fashion. On the 15th the crowd of peregrinating
devotees was not so great. All thoughts were centred
on the approaching fete. At night-time it took place.
The " flowers " were arranged in the open air in front
of the temples of the lamaserai. They were illumi
nated brilliantly with lamps artistically arranged in
yellow or red copper vases distributed amongst them
in fanciful designs, and the Abbe declares that it could
not have been better done in Paris. The flowers
(" fleurs ") struck him with astonishment. The artis-

152 TIBET
tic efforts of the lamas had resulted in the production
of works of art such as could hardly have been antici
pated in a country where nature lends little aid to
the imagination. They consisted chiefly of bas reliefs
of colossal size, representing incidents in the history
of Buddhism. The figures were living and animated
in expression, the pose natural, and the draperies
arranged with grace and ease. It was even possible
to distinguish the nature of the material thus repre
sented in butter, especially the furs and skins, which
the Abbe declares to have been so well reproduced that
it was necessary to touch them in order to feel assured
that they were not real. The figure of Buddha, where
it appeared, was full of majestic grace and beauty,
represented with Caucasian features true to the ac
cepted type which historically declares him to have
been light in colour, with a pink and white complexion,
wide open eyes, prominent nose, and long undulating
wavy hair. All other figures were Tartar or Mongolian
in type, but it was easy to distinguish Tibetan, Tartar,
Chinese, or Si-fan (eastern Tibetan nomads) by their
peculiarities of feature, and to differentiate between
them. Hindus and Negros were also represented and
attracted much attention from the crowd. The repre
sentations of human types were surrounded with dec
orative designs which included animals and flowers;
the whole exhibition being remarkable for fidelity of
expression and colour.
Whilst we must make allowances for the impres
sion produced on the mind of the Abbe, which might

TIBET 153
be due to his long separation from civilised centres of
art, and the savage and wild nature of his surround
ings, we possess quite sufficient evidence of the artistic
capabilities of the Tibetans in their quaint and original
works in copper and bronze to assure us that the in
stinct for design is very highly developed amongst
them. Rougher and more crude than that of China,
there is nevertheless a strength and a breadth in the
quality of Tibetan design which places it in a position
unique amongst Oriental art work; and we need not
discount the vivid description of the Abbe too severely.
We must remember, too, that he had no opportunity
of judging the quality of Buddhist design from the
famous examples which exist in India. He had never
visited the Peshawar valley, Benares, or Sanchi, and
consequently he was unprepared for the developments
which certainly were derived in the first instance from
India. The one feature of this singular exhibition
which seems altogether unaccountable is the introduc
tion of a variety of natural colour. Tibetans are
colourists without doubt, but their scale is limited.
Red and yellow, black and white, pretty nearly com
plete the list of primary colour effects which they
employ, and in what way these could be modified and
intermingled so as to produce anything approaching
to the natural beauty of floral colouration in such a
material as butter it is hard to imagine. However,
we must accept the reverend traveller's description of
the exhibition with such reservations as we find neces
sary for our own faith in his general truthfulness, and

i54 TIBET
we shall find far less difficulty in realising his sensa
tions as the fete proceeded. A theatrical representa
tion (all in butter) in front of one of the temples did
not amuse him; it struck him as incongruous; but
the arrival of the Grand Lama of Kunbum, preceded
by a vast concourse of priests and much noise of
trumpets and " cinques marines," interested him
greatly. The Grand Lama was middle-aged, fat, and
common looking, but his clothes were superb. He
carried a yellow mitre on his head, a long " baton "
in the form of a cross in his right hand, and his
shoulders were covered with a mantle of violet " taf
fetas," which rendered his whole appearance singu
larly like that of a Roman Catholic bishop. Hue does
not fail to remark maliciously that as this Grand Lama
surveyed the dignified and well-proportioned figures
of the butter Buddhas, he must have been struck with
his own modern degeneracy from the original type.
When he had made his tour of the butter exhibition,
he returned to his palace. With the exception of the
Tartars (always the most devout and religious-minded
of Central Asiatic communities) few in the crowd paid
much attention to his movements; but his departure
was the signal for the commencement of one of those
orgies, or carnivals, for which Tibet is famous all over
the world. Out of the howling and gesticulating crowd
the Abbe and his companions were extracted by their
faithful attendant with some difficulty, glad enough to
escape from the risk attending further developments.
They returned to their lodgings, and by the following

TIBET 155
morning nothing remained of the " fete de fleurs "
except a vast quantity of butter, massed in a neigh
bouring ravine, where it had been thrown to feed the
ravens. With the butter images the pilgrim crowd
too dispersed, scattered into the wilds of the Chinese
borderland and the Tartar steppes, and probably also
on the road to Lhasa, which was shortly to be followed
by the missionaries.
The Abbe has much to say about the beauty of the
great blue lake, the Koko Nor, and its magnificent
pasturages, and he relates the tradition of its first
appearance in the region which it now occupies, which,
by the light of Sven Hedin's recent investigations in
the Lop Nor basin, is of considerable geographical
interest. It is too long to narrate here, but it recog
nises the fact of migratory or moving lakes, and makes
Koko Nor one of them. Further, it connects the ap
pearance of Koko Nor on the land surface with the
building of Lhasa. For many years it was found to
be impossible to construct buildings on the site of the
present city which did not collapse as soon as they
were completed. Their foundations gave way and
the buildings disappeared. When, however, the great
secret of an underground sea which swallowed up the
buildings was at last revealed by accident to the Lama
of Oui, the escape of that sea by an underground
channel to the site of Koko Nor was the immediate
result. Vast areas of prairie land were inundated,
and the luckless individual who gave away the secret
was the first to perish in the flood. It is a curious

156 TIBET
tradition when collated with the known fact of the
present migrations of Lake Lop Nor; and it possibly
points to a geographical fact that the Koko Nor is
of comparatively recent origin. The Koko Nor was
originally known to the Chinese as Si-Hai (western
sea), but they now call it Sing-Hai (blue lake). In
Hue's time (i. e., fifty years ago) it was said to be
one hundred leagues in circumference, but it is prob
ably desiccating and diminishing, like all other Tibetan
lakes. Its waters are salt as the sea, and subject (Hue
again) to tides like the sea. This now is known to
be the normal condition of all great bodies of water,
but the phenomenon is not precisely the same as that
of ocean tides, nor is it due to the same causes. A
rocky and barren island in the Koko Nor is the per
petual home of some twenty lamas, who live a life
of silent contemplation and cannot be reached from
the mainland excepting at those periods when the lake
is covered with ice. South of Koko Nor is the dis
trict of Amdo, occupied by nomadic pastoral Tibetan
tribes, — and here the cultivated and luxuriant fringe
of western China comes to an end. Amdo is a re
gion of wild and savage mountain scenery, the typical
scenery of northern Tibet, and from this point onward
to Lhasa Hue has a new and very different tale to tell
of the varied adventures of the two plucky mission
aries, who, after a vain effort to establish Christianity
in Kunbum, moved southwards to Lhasa.

CHAPTER IX
Hue and Gabet (continued) — From the Koko Nor to Lhasa —
Rockhill and Prjevalski in Northeastern Tibet — Rockhill' s
Second Journey towards Lhasa and in the Eastern Valleys
of Tibet
LEAVING Kunbum after a three months' resi-
/ dence, where the missionaries found themselves
unable to comply with the regulations of the lamaserai
in the matter of dress, but were otherwise under no
sort of compulsion, they took up their quarters tempo
rarily at Tchogorton (not marked in any modern
map), which cannot be far from Kunbum, as it is
called, the country residence of the Faculte de medicin,
and a single day's march was sufficient to bring them
there. As, however, it was necessary to cross a moun
tain and descend into a wide valley, it is probable that
Messrs. Hue and Gabet were still in the mountains
south of Koko Nor. It was the month of May, but
there was little appearance of spring about the valley.
The lamas' homes were situated at the foot of a barren
hill, but shaded by trees which were the resort of
thousands of crows. Little irrigation rivulets mean
dered through the flats, and in the distance were the
black tents of the Si-fan with troops of goats around.
On the summit of a rocky hill adjacent, lived five " re-

158 TIBET
ligieux contemplatifs," like eagles in an inaccessible
nest. Some of them had excavated their own caves
in the rocks; some had built for themselves cells of
wood, " fixed to the hillside like swallows' nests."
These saintly hermits, living a life of eternal con
templation apart from the world, were frequently
encountered, and exercised the mind of the Abbe con
siderably. What was it that engaged their thoughts?
What were they eternally contemplating? He com
plains with some bitterness that they none of them
seemed to know. They lived that life because they had
read in their books that saintliness was acquired thereby ;
just as certain well-intentioned Chinese Buddhists live
near the summit of a mountain pass in order to acquire
merit by feeding passers-by, or even as certain Alpine
monks exercise the rites of hospitality to much the
same purpose. For the rest, they were a quiet, sensible,
peaceable folk " nullement farouche," and often ren
dered assistance to the missionaries. Their stay at
Tchogorton was not for long. Lhasa was the first
objective, and between them and Lhasa lay nearly
one thousand miles of most difficult and most inhos
pitable country. We must, however, concede that the
route followed by the missionaries is probably the best
of all the northern routes to Lhasa. Littledale, Sven
Hedin, Bonvalot, Rockhill, Prjevalski, and others
have crossed the Tibetan border from the north, but
always in small parties, with a light company and little
impedimenta. The two Jesuit missionaries accom
panied a huge caravan which they encountered on its

TIBET 159
way back from Pekin (as we shall see), and although,
for some part of the distance at any rate, they must
have been pointing the way for Prjevalski and Sven
Hedin to follow subsequently, it is not clear that they
were actually on the same route as those travellers.
It is improbable that a large caravan of Tibetans ac
customed to pass between Lhasa and Pekin would
have taken any but the most favourable road.
From the month of May till late in September the
travellers rested near the Tchogorton Monastery, and
during that time collected much valuable information
about the country of the Si- fan (eastern Tibetans) and
its climate. Snow fell more or less to the middle of
June, when it gradually gave way to mists and rain.
Later in August the hills and plains lost the effect of
barren desolation which usually distinguishes them,
and freshened up with an abundant vegetation. Then
the medical faculty spread abroad for the collection of
medicinal plants. Hue thinks that the Tibetan lamas
really possess valuable secrets in the healing art which
might be well worth investigation ; and indeed it seems
probable that in a country where the drugs of Europe
are not to be had, necessity has long ere this taught the
people the value of such simple remedies as lie to their
hands in the glens of the mountains and on the banks
of their streams.
Late in September came the news that the Tibetan
ambassador had arrived on the frontier, and was busy
making up his caravan for the forward journey to
Lhasa. This was Hue's opportunity. It was obvi-

i6o TIBET
ously late in the year for such a journey in such alti
tudes, but the very fact that Tibetans face the moun
tainous North at all seasons of the year leads to the
inference that it is regarded as an open road, and that
in favourable seasons it may present no very formi
dable difficulties.
Hue made a four days' march from Tchogorton to
Koko Nor, where he picked up some useful ethno
graphical information in the tents of the Mongol
nomads. All Tibet is infested with brigands, but
nowhere do they flourish with such vigour as amongst
the Si- fan Tibetans in the neighbourhood of Koko Nor ;
there they are known under the generic name of Kolo,
and they still keep the whole country in terror of their
depredations. As an ethnographical designation, Hue
maintains that the well-known name " Kalmuk," ap
plied to certain Tartar or Mongolian tribes, is unrecog
nised in high Asia. He failed to identify any people
under that name. He found, however, a small sub
division of the great Kolo fraternity (Tibetan in
origin) called Kolo-Kalmuk, who possess no lands of
their own. They are a comparatively insignificant
section of the Kolo hordes. If this is so, the name
Kalmuk has certainly attained a significance in geo
graphical records which it is not entitled to bear.
For about a month the missionaries remained with
the Tartar shepherds of the Koko Nor plains, shifting
camp from time to time for fear of brigands. It was
not till the end of October that the ambassador arrived,
and with him a number of Mongolian caravans which

TIBET 161
had seized this opportunity of making the journey to
Lhasa in force. Once every three years a political
mission visits Pekin from Lhasa and returns. At one
time this mission was annual, but the annual embassy
was abandoned after the Grand Lama who filled the
post of ambassador had once been stolen, and once
been slain, by the brigands en route. Now the mission
moves in force, and of late years has passed along its
way in peace; but it is always the brigands — never
the passes or the rivers — that are the terror of the
pilgrims of the Tibetan embassy. The company which
the missionaries joined for the journey to Lhasa must
have been sufficiently remarkable. Hue estimates the
number of men composing it at two thousand, with
fifteen thousand yaks, twelve thousand horses, and as
many camels. The " Tchanak Kampo " (or ambas
sador) travelled in a litter carried between two mules.
The mounted men were all well armed, and prepared
to defend this unwieldy assemblage from the Kolo
brigands. The time of the year was late autumn,
verging on winter, and the road to Lhasa was inter
sected with ranges of vast altitude, and with immense
stretches of plateau land devoid of vegetation, scoured
by terrific winds, and petrified by intense cold and
biting frost. Yet there seems to have been no hesita
tion in taking the road, and it is tolerably clear that
whether this is or is not the same route which was
followed by Prjevalski, it is a well known and very
much trodden route. On the 15th of November they
left the magnificent pasture land of Koko Nor and

162 TIBET
passed into the windswept valley of Tsaidam. The
pastoral country extended northwest from Koko Nor
for about eleven days' march, during which they
crossed the Puhain Gol (Buhain Gol), flowing from
the Nan Shan mountains on the north, and subse
quently the Toulain Gol — both shallow rivers, but
covered with ice. After passing the latter river they
struck southwards into Tsaidam, and at once the
promised charm of an ideal march through a land of
plenty and luxury was rudely destroyed. Thencefor
ward they had the typical characteristics of northern
Tibet before them, — arid, boundless wastes of stony
upland, streaked with yet more barren rocks and ridges
which occasionally rise to the eminence of mountain
ranges and bar their southern tracts with inconceiv
ably rough and difficult passes. They were to the west
of Koko Nor, and almost due north of Lhasa, having
made a considerable detour to avoid crossing the
range immediately south of Koko Nor. Hue, at any
rate, says nothing of crossing any pass into Tsaidam.
The Tsaidam valley is not high (8,000 to 10,000 feet)
but it is inconceivably bleak and inhospitable, and
is only occupied by rough Mongol nomads who
talk a guttural language which the Abbe could not
understand. Only two days were occupied in crossing the valley
ere encountering the pestilential heights of Bourhan
Bota. The Burkhan Buddha range (to give it its
modern name) is a portion only of the mountain
" system " which parts the lower steppelands of

TIBET 163
Tsaidam from the great upland flats of the Tibetan
plateau. The system stretches itself northwest to a
junction with the Altyn Tagh mountains, and, like
them, is the flanking revetment of a plateau rather
than a distinct anticlinal formation. Hue has a story
about poisonous gases which hang about the northern
slopes on a windless day, which are said to deprive
travellers of the power of motion. Animals are said
to be equally affected with men. Great precautions
were taken against their influence. The thin cloud
films which cling to the mountain sides were declared
to be gaseous emanations of this poisonous character,
and great was the discussion, and very varied were
the oracular indications of the most trusted prophets
amongst the lamas as to what the end might be
should this gigantic caravan face the danger so visibly
displayed before them. However, the auguries were
of the usually vague nature, and they all acted as
they thought best. The two missionaries crossed with
out mishap, and those who waited for the clouds to
disappear were equally fortunate. Hue seems to be
persuaded that it is really carbonic acid gas which
forms these emanations. A day or two after crossing
the Burkhan the travellers encountered the Chuga, —
a range which is obviously the modern Shuga, of
which the pass would be about seventeen thousand feet,
— and there their troubles commenced. Deep snow,
intense cold, and the impossibility of finding fuel
enough for the cooking required by such a host of
people were but a part of their daily miseries.

164 TIBET
M. Gabet lost his nose and ears from frostbite, and
subsequently became so desperately affected by the
severity of the cold that his life was despaired of.
The everlasting prevalence of gales of wind in such
a temperature was the one feature which made the
cold so unendurable. This country, according to Hue,
was the border of Tibet proper, and from this point,
accordingly, all the Mongol and Tartar escort returned.
Winter was well advanced now, and the demons of
snow, wind, and cold were set loose on the caravan
with a fury which seemed to increase from day to
day. The Abbe describes this part of Tibet as "le
pays le plus affreux qu'on puisse imaginer." The ani
mals died first, and were left on the road where they
fell; then men began to drop out, and there is a
gruesome tale of a lama found sitting frozen on a
rock by the wayside. Early in December they reached
the foothills of the Bayen Kharat (Baian Kara ula),
which separates the sources of the Hoang Ho, or Yel
low River, from those of the Di chu, or Yang tsi. Hue
says that he crossed this range not far from the sources
of the Hoang Ho, which was on his left about two
days' journey. This would be in about 940 30' east
longitude (by Walker's map), and he was then close
to the route followed subsequently by Wellby, running
north of the range and parallel to it, if, by " source
of the Hoang Ho," he refers to its remotest source in
the mountains.
The subsequent account of a lake from which water
was procured in abundance appears to support this

TIBET 165
view, and it is the most obviously direct route south
ward to Lhasa. Here the climatic conditions were
somewhat better, and, being now on a well-trodden
pilgrim route following the Di chu valley, plenty of
the usual fuel in the shape of " argols " was found.
Crossing the Di chu (or Mur ussu, as it is called near
its source), an extraordinary spectacle presented itself.
A herd of yak had endeavoured to pass the river
whilst it was in the process of freezing, and had been
frozen in, — caught in the grip of the ice and retained
there with just their heads above the river surface.
They appeared as if they were still swimming, but
they must have been frozen for a considerable time.
After leaving the Di chu valley the caravan broke
up into troops for the convenience of camping, and
the missionaries having camels (which are much faster
over a road than yaks) proceeded ahead with the first
party moving. The next two or three weeks brought
but the repetition of their previous experiences of the
intense misery of an ice-cold, northerly gale perpetu
ally acting on their half-frozen bodies. More than
forty of the party died of cold ere they crossed the
plateau commencing at Tangla. The ascent to these
mountains is described by Hue as a gradual rise, step
by step, over successive ridges which formed a vast
amphitheatre; and it lasted six days. It was about
this part of their route that they encountered Kolo
brigands for the first time, but there was an apparent
bond of union between certain of their own party and
the brigand company which saved them from disaster.

166 TIBET
The brigands indeed seemed to have behaved with all
the courtly grace and consideration which we usually
associate with the best traditions of the early British
highwayman. For twelve days the party was occu
pied in crossing the plateau of Tangla, which Hue
believed to be the highest part of Tibet. The altitude
is generally about 16,000 feet above sea, the pass itself
being about 16,400. This is geographically the most
important water divide of Tibet. From the Tangla
mountain crest northern affluents wind their way to
the Mur ussu, — the upper Yang tsi. From the plateau
land southward meandering streams collect to form the
head of the Giama Nu Chu, which we believe to be
identical with the Salwin River of Burma; and some
where between the two, a little further to the east,
are born the infant sources of the Mekong. Rising
and falling between 15,000 and 16,000 feet, the moun
tain uplands from which these rivers flow extend with
a general falling grade to its southern edge. In spite
of its altitude, the crossing of this wide expanse of
upland did not prove to be nearly as trying as the
previous experiences further north. The air was still
and the atmosphere clear. M. Gabet rapidly recovered
(contrary to the prognostications of the lamahood),
and, excepting for a continuance of intense cold (it
was now the depth of winter), and the absence of
fodder for the animals, the journey would have been
endurable. The winter snow was hard frozen under
foot, and the stiff spikes of such yellow herbage as
existed, incapable of nourishment, cracked between the

TIBET 167
teeth of the famished baggage animals. The track
became bordered by the skeletons of mules and camels,
whilst monstrous eagles followed the caravan, picking
up a ghastly livelihood from the debris. The scenery
is described as magnificent, — line upon line of snow-
white pinnacles stretching southward and westward
under a bright sun and the clear blue sky of the still
winter days. After twelve days on the plateau the
descent is described as " long, brusque, and rapid,"
like the " descent of a gigantic ladder ; " but it is diffi
cult to understand how any descent of such a nature
could have lasted through four days without arriving
somewhere near sea level. They did, of course, reach
much lower ground, and Hue speaks of the camp
being pitched in a wide plain with such a spread of
pasture land that the dry winter grass caught fire, and
the conflagration was with difficulty arrested without
doing serious damage to the Tibetan encampment
pitched near by. There were sheep here in abundance,
and hot sulphur springs, which sent clouds of white
steam into the still air. Several days were next passed
in traversing " a series of valleys " before arriving at
the edge of the Na Ptchu ( ? Nu Chu or Salwin)
River, where they encountered the first Tibetan town
and the homes of settlers instead of the tents of
nomads. It is a little difficult to place Na Ptchu, but
it is apparently six days' march (and exceedingly
rough marching) from Lhasa. This would bring it
about thirty miles to the east of the lake Tengri Nor,
on about the same line of latitude ; but as Tengri Nor

168 TIBET
is more than 15,000 feet above sea level, the good
Abbe must clearly be a little wrong in his general
estimate of descent from the Tangla plateau. It is
quite possible that the head of the Nu Chu lies as far
south as this point. South of " Na Ptchu " the road
is described as so rocky and difficult that camels had
to be exchanged for donkeys. Snow and ice seemed
to have gradually disappeared. Five days' march from
Na Ptchu, at Pampou (which, on account of its
contiguity to Lhasa, is generally looked upon as its
suburb), there was apparently no snow, and only the
edges of the stream and canals were fringed with ice.
This at the end of January.
Pampou is a well cultivated plain, with neat white
washed farmhouses standing about at intervals, well
shaded with trees, on the terraced hillsides. But it
cannot stand at less than 12,000 feet above sea level,
and the absence of rigorous cold at such an elevation
in January proves that Lhasa is abnormally situated
as regards temperature. The valley of the Tsanpo
(or upper Brahmaputra) is obviously much warmer
than any known region in the same latitude, and at
the same altitude in the Himalayas. Indeed we know
it to be so from the testimony of subsequent travellers.
The people were friendly and hospitable, and appeared
to possess that charm of happy-mindedness which is
a distinguishing characteristic of most Tibetans. But
one more pass remained to be surmounted before
reaching Lhasa, and (according to Hue) it was as
bad as the worst they had encountered. On the 29th

u
U <

TIBET 169
of January, 1846, our two travellers, after paying some
little needful attentions to their toilet, descended from
this intervening pass into the valley of the Kyi chu,
and there at their feet lay Lhasa, — the mystical, the
inaccessible, — unknown to Europeans, hidden from
the south in the folds of the northern mountains. Girt
around with thick groves of trees, its spreading" vista
of white flat-roofed houses dominated by the gilded
spires of its many temples, and the majestic influence
of its crowning glory the great palace of the Potala,
impressed the good missionaries deeply; and one can
easily imagine the devout feelings with which they
received the welcome of their Mongol friends who had
preceded them to prepare a place for them.
Here for a time we must take leave of these Jesuit
fathers, for their record of experiences in the city of
Lhasa must be co-ordinated with that of other later
visitors who have had perhaps even better opportuni
ties for recording impressions than they. Lhasa, after
all, but represented the end of one stage on the most
remarkable journey made by any traveller of the
period. From Lhasa through Tibet to China we may
follow them again; but across the wide regions of
Central China to Nankin, Canton, and Pekin, or by
their devious tracks along the eastern coast through
many thousands of miles by sea and land, they wander
too far from Tibet to keep touch with our purpose.
Meanwhile it may be useful to note what other sub
sequent travellers have to say about the great high
ways between Manchuria (or Pekin) and Lhasa, for

i7o TIBET
it is probably the best-trodden route of any which end
in the Tibetan capital excepting the more direct Chi
nese route via Ta-chien-lu and Batang. We shall see
subsequently that it is the only route from the north
that can bring Russia into practical communication
with southern Tibet. The possession of Manchuria
would undoubtedly carry with it a possibility of com
mercial enterprise along that line; it is therefore a
matter of rather exceptional interest to examine its
possibilities by the light of explorations subsequent
to those of the Jesuit missionaries.
Two travellers only can be said to have added much
to our knowledge of the eastern edge of the Tibetan
plateau ; one an American — Rockhill ; the other a
Russian — Prjevalski. The latter was the first great
practical geographer to teach us the real nature of the
orography of northern Tibet. It was Prjevalski who
first discovered the connection existing between the
Nan Shan mountain range to the north of Koko Nor
and the Altyn Tagh, which latter range forms an inter
mediate link in the great buttress of the Tibetan
plateau which thus stretches from the Muztagh or
Karakoram mountains to the frontiers of China in
one unbroken line of vast elevation parting the Tibetan
uplands from the Turkestan lowlands. During his
journey of 1879-80 Prjevalski explored southward
from Saitu (or Sha-chan), — the well-known Chinese
frontier station on the eastern edge of Chinese Turke
stan, — crossing the Altyn Tagh at the point of junc
tion with the Nan Shan, and then skirted along the

TIBET 171
eastern limits of the Tsaidam depression till he hit
off the head of the Baian gol River about the same
point to the southwest of Koko Nor that presented
itself to the Abbe and his pilgrim company. But he
did not immediately cross the Burkhan Buddha and
the Shuga ranges by the pilgrim route. He bore away
westward along the foot of the Burkhan Buddha by
the defile of the Nomokhan gol, and crossing the Bur
khan and Shuga mountains on comparatively easy
terms by a pass 15,200 feet, entered a remarkable
valley seventy miles long, which formed a natural
causeway between two ranges. He crossed the range
to the south (which he calls Marco Polo range, but
which appears to be a mountain extension westwards
of the Baian Kara ula) and reached the elevated
plateau land wherein the great Yang tsi (under vari
ous names — the best known of which are Mur ussu
and Di chu) takes its rise. He crossed the most
northerly affluent of the Yang tsi somewhere midway
between Hue's route and Rockhill's, and pursued a
southwesterly course towards the Koko Shili (another
branch westwards of the Baian Kara ula) which lay
like a wall in front of him. Crossing the Koko Shili,
which rises about 1,500 feet above the plain (16,000
feet above sea) with difficulty, and without a guide,
Prjevalski found himself on a plain 15,000 feet above
sea, studded with lakelets set in a sandy soil which sup
ported a scanty vegetation including both alpine and
steppe floral forms. The Dumbure was the next range
presenting itself, which must have been crossed close to

172 TIBET
the pilgrim route, but was found to be flanked by half-
frozen marshes which presented great difficulty to the
travellers. At the foot of the southern slopes of the
Dumbure they hit off the pilgrim route of Hue and
must have crossed the main affluent of the Yang tsi
almost at the same point. The Mur ussu was then
only two and a half feet deep, with ice which would
not bear the weight of a loaded animal. Here sickness
and privation had begun to tell severely on the party,
and the baggage had to be decreased on account of the
loss of animals ; but still, with the great swelling upland
of the Tangla before them, they determined to push
on. The Tangla upheaval is only 2,000 feet above the
level of the Mur ussu on the north, or of the Sang chu
(Giama Nu Chu — Salwin) on the south, yet the
ascent was eighty miles long, and the descent fifty.
" Thus," says Delmar Morgan, " the Tangla might
be easily crossed by a railroad." If the Tangla stood
alone perhaps it might. Hue, however, describes the
descent as sharp and severe. The Tangla is the crown
ing orographical feature of eastern Tibet. East and
west of the pilgrim route it concentrates into well-
defined masses of great elevation crowned with per
petual snow. The route across it, followed by the
pilgrims, is a natural depression which is not found
elsewhere. Rockhill's route southward turned the
range by a detour far to the west. On the fifth day of
their descent from the Tangla the Russian party
reached the Sang chu (14,700 feet), where they en
countered the first black tents of nomadic Tibetans, and

TIBET 173
two marches further, at the village of Nat chu, they
were met by Lhasa officials (170 miles from the capi
tal) and compelled to turn back. Here, then, we have
a very fair confirmation of the story of the Abbe's
wanderings, but we have in addition an immense
amount of scientific information which it was not in
the Abbe's power to collect.
The flora and fauna of northern Tibet are described
with scientific accuracy by Prjevalski. We find a poor
vegetation contrasted with a most unusual number of
herbivorous animals. There are no trees in northern
Tibet, and only three kinds of bush, including the
willow. There are three or four sorts of grass, but
they are all of them scanty, and it appeared marvellous
that the enormous herds of wild yak, antelope, and
asses should be able to find the sustenance necessary
for their existence in such regions. There are also
two species of wild sheep, and a deer which is found
only on the mountains. Prjevalski's description of
the general character and scenery of northern Tibet
differs but little from such generalisations as may be
gathered from Hue. The great expanse of elevated
salt marsh and clay flats which constitute the Tsaidam
"depression," swept by perhaps the most persistent
and awful winds in the world ; the gigantic table-lands
13,000 to 15,000 feet above sea and the stupendous
mountain ranges which streak them, not relatively
lofty, perhaps, but entirely alpine in character; the
utter loneliness, the weary desolation of it all; the
intense cold even in summer, and the prevalence of

174 TIBET
storms of terrific violence in spring, — all these things
place northern Tibet outside the category of possible
theatres for military expeditions involving the march
of armies, or even for the rapid advance of commercial
development. We know that in spite of all these
physical difficulties trade between Pekin and Lhasa
is a busy and flourishing institution ; but it can main
tain only a chequered existence so far as northern
Tibet is concerned. We must look to the East for
further avenues of commercial traffic with China. Bad
as they may be, they would seem to be better than this
Manchurian route from the northeast. Before follow
ing the venerable Abbe eastward from Lhasa, how
ever, it will be convenient to turn to the records of
another great traveller from the northeast, who com
bined the vigorous determination of a born explorer
with the ripe knowledge of an Oriental scholar. Rock
hill is very much more than a scientific adventurer.
His knowledge of the Chinese and Tibetan languages
places him almost in a line with Hue as an authority
at first hand on the subject of the religion and liter
ature of the country. No other European has, of
course, enjoyed the opportunity of the Jesuit mission
aries for that social intercourse and intimate relation
ship with the priestly peoples of western China and
Tibet which must make them for ever the best possible
exponents of all that concerns the inwardness of
Tibeto-Chinese existence. They stand in relation to
the Mongolian, Tartar, and Tibetan as Burton stood
to the Arab, — the interpreters of native philosophy

TIBET 175
of life and its surroundings to the European mind.
If they fail somewhat as students of geography they
stand unrivalled as students of humanity; and not
even Rockhill, with the learning of an Orientalist and
the discriminating eye of the geographer combined,
can tell us so much of the Tibetan as Hue, though he
may tell us much more of Tibet.
On his second journey to Tibet Rockhill left Pekin
in December, and practically followed the route taken
by the missionaries forty-six years earlier to the
Chinese frontier at Sining fu, east of Koko Nor. He
passed through Kalgan to Kweihwa and maintains
the general accuracy of Hue's description of that
town. The inhabitants (all Chinese) are "about as
rascally and depraved a lot as I have ever seen in
China. The town is dirty and ill built." The trade
between Kweihwa and Chinese Turkestan is described
as insignificant. Crossing the Yellow River at Dugei
(important on account of its soda works) he found
himself amongst the Jimgar Mongols, the easternmost
of the seven Ordos tribes. The Ordos country is now
settled by Chinese from Shensi, who rent the land from
the Mongols. Recrossing the Yellow River, he trav
ersed the desert sandy waste of Alashan, where " travel
is rendered difficult by the innumerable holes dug over
the face of the country by licorice diggers," varied by
spaces of " soft sand, irrigation ditches, willow brush,
and alkaline bog." Perpetually sweeping over all was
the everlasting wind. He made a short halt at Ning-
hsia-fu to engage carts to Lanchan. This city has

176 TIBET
been identified as the Egrigaia of Marco Polo, and is
a great centre for rug (or "camlet") making. The
plains beyond, for a distance of 175 miles, consisted
of drifting sand alternating with alkaline marshes and
patches of mixed loess and gravel. " Chinese enter
prise has converted this unpromising plain into one of
the most fertile districts of the province." Wheat and
rice and fruit in abundance, with all manner of vege
tables, are sold in the " bustling villages." Passing
through Lanchan, Rockhill adhered to a former route
of his through the Hisho valley to Hsining (Sining-
fu), from which place he made for Lasar (Kunbum),
where the Jesuit missionaries had remained so long,
and where there were exceptionally good opportunities
for making preparations for the journey onward into
Tibet. So far Rockhill only confirms the Abbe's story.
So far there appears to be no essential difficulty about
this Chinese frontier route from Pekin. It is Tibetan
altitudes which form the real obstacle to communica
tion with Lhasa. Before starting on the difficult and
dangerous quest of Lhasa, Rockhill (like Prjevalski)
crossed the Nan Shan range and visited the valley of
the Hoang Ho, or Yellow River, which at this point
is barely fifty miles south of the Koko Nor. Here he
made an interesting discovery. He found a colony of
Kargan Tibetans who had mostly become converted
to Islam by the contiguity of a tribe of Salar Turk
mans who had no written tradition of their migration
into China, but maintained that their advent dated
from about the middle of the fourteenth century.

TIBET 177
There are some forty thousand of them at present,
and they live distinctly cleaner and more enterprising
lives than their Buddhist compatriots. South of the
river the mountains were covered with a forest growth
of pines, juniper, birch, and cypress, and here was an
agricultural Tibetan people (Rongwa), living in log
cabins surrounded with cultivated patches in the midst
of the forest clearings. They irrigated their fields
much after Swiss fashion by means of troughs made
out of pine logs, and turned their prayer wheels by
an ingenious application of heated air from the cook
ing stove. They were chiefly of the Binbo religion,
and offerings to their great god Shenrab were gen
erally to be found in one corner or another of their
dwellings. Over the flat-roofed houses, " tied to long
poles, white flags wave, printed with prayers and
charms to ward off danger; and below the house, in
a log hutch built over the brook, a big prayer barrel
is kept turning ever by the water as it dashes by."
It was not till the middle of March that Rockhill's
preparations were complete for his journey southward.
The springtime of the year is certainly better for travel
over such vast altitudes as are presented by Central
Tibet than the winter months, when the Jesuit mis
sionaries made their venture in company with the
Pekin ambassador's suite and his escort. But the
snow time is usually in the early spring, just as it is
in the Himalayas, or in eastern Tibet between Lhasa
and the Chinese frontier at Ta-chien-lu. From mid
summer to late autumn the best opportunities occur
12

178 TIBET
for travel between the Pamirs and China. To one
item of equipment for his venture Rockhill failed to
give proper attention, — viz., shoes for the bag
gage animals, and he was severely handicapped in
consequence. Not a remnant of his transport reached
the journey's end.
Once more crossing the Koko Nor range, Rockhill
struck almost due west across the basin of the Wayen
(Baian). The country is an "undulating plateau,
bounded by low hills running east and west. To the
southwest, in the direction of the Yellow River, we
could see, a hundred miles away, snow-clad peaks
rising above the bare reddish maze of the mountains.
Not a tree, not a shrub anywhere; here and there a
black tent and a little flock of sheep huddling together
to escape the fierce, incessant west wind. This is the
country of the Panaka or Panakasum, who, coming
from the south of the Yellow River, have within the
last fifty years dispossessed the Mongol owners of the
land, driving them back towards the bogs and desert
wastes of the Tsaidam. It is a magnificent pasture
land, but poorly watered except at the foot of the
mountains." " From the Wayan Nor we could see
the mountains which mark the famous Gork gold-
fields, from which the Yellow River and the ' Three
days' desert ' separated us. Discovered in 1888, they
yielded to the Chinese who flocked to them over ten
thousand ounces of gold in less than two years; but
now they are abandoned, the primitive methods of
the gold washers being only remunerative with the

TIBET 179
richest gravel." Passing through the valley of the
Huyuyang River (which may possibly be an affluent
of the Hoang Ho), Rockhill struck southwest for the
Wahon La Pass, over the mountains separating the
basin of the Huyuyang from the Tsaidam basin. This
(late in March) proved to be an exceptionally difficult
snow-covered pass. It was apparently not the same
as that crossed by Hue's company, who took a more
northerly route from the Koko Nor into Tsaidam.
Both authorities agree about the richness of the pas
turage found in the undulating uplands south of Koko
Nor and east of Tsaidam.
From the Wahon La he dropped into an affluent of
the Yellow River called Tsahan Ossu, which flows
" through the mountains from Tsaidam on the north
east." Four days' march along this valley brought
him to the head of a small southern feeder of the
Tsahan Ossu, and he mentions a pass (Koko-Kutul
— it is strange to find the Persian word " Kutul " or
" Kotal " so far east) where were cedars and junipers
and a fine grass valley. He remained in the valley of
the Baian Gol, at Shang, till the end of April, before
resuming his journey to Tsaidam. Shang is not far
from the spot where Hue crossed the Baian Gol, before
ascending the Burkhan Buddha range.
Once in the Tsaidam basin Rockhill continued to
follow the northern flank of the mountains which are
known under various local names (Burkhan Buddha,
Ho Shili, Tokai, etc.), but which form the northern
ridge of the Kuen Lun extension eastward. He

180 TIBET
crossed the routes of Hue and Prjevalski, where they
strike southwards over these mountains, taking a more
westerly pass, which followed the Naichi Gol.
He reached the Naichi Gol on the nth of May, after
a horrible journey through the morass and shifting
sands which flank the mountains (where, however, he
found excellent grass), and made his final dispositions
for entering Tibet. The Naichi Gol turns the western
flank of the Burkhan Buddha and Shuga ranges
(which unite a little to the east of it), and this cer
tainly would appear to present an easier route than
that of the pilgrims' highroad to Lhasa, which nego
tiates both these ranges at points of formidable alti
tudes, but which, on the other hand, avoids the terrible
Tsaidam swamps. Rockhill crossed the range at the
head of the Naichi Gol some thirty miles west of
Prjevalski's and Carey's route, and from this point
across the intervening lateral valley to the Koko Shili
range; across the next lateral valley to the Dungbure
range; and again from the Dungbure range over the
elevated steppes of the upper Yang tsi (Mur ussu or
Di chu) to within sight of the Tangla upheaval. Rock
hill was not far west of the routes of Prjevalski,
Carey, Sven Hedin, or of the pilgrims of Hue's adven
tures, whose route was, and is, the recognised high
road to Lhasa. Once south of the mountain system
which represents the Kuen Lun extension, the succes
sive ranges encountered on the route southward, i. e.,
the Koko Shili, the Dungbure, and other lateral ranges
running more or less east and west between the Kuen

TIBET 181
Lun extension (represented by Hue's Burkham Bola
and Shuga ranges) and the great Tangla upland, are
but natural divisions between the various affluerits of
the upper Yang tsi. This is the great feeding-ground
of the Yang tsi, which, taking its rise so far west and
flowing southeast, still leaves room to the east of its
sources for those of the Yellow River, which are shut
off from it by the Baian Kara ula range, and which
also start on their way to the southeast. The Baian
Kara ula gradually merges into a wild mass of inac
cessible and untraversable mountains dividing the two
rivers so effectually that they never approach each
other again between the highlands of Tibet and the
Pacific Ocean. All this region, including the Tangla
Upland, represent the great transverse water parting
of Tibet, dividing the eastern region of great rivers
from the central region of inland lakes, and connecting
the Kuen Lun on the north with southern Tibet (or
the valley of the Brahmaputra) on the south. Apart
from its altitude, its wild desolation, and its inhospi
table character, it does not appear to present great
physical difficulties to travel. Travellers have crossed
it (or rather followed its strike) where they will, and
have always crossed it successfully. They have rarely
trodden in each other's footsteps, nor accepted the
verdict of the inhabitants as to the most practicable
highroad to Lhasa. The physical obstacles of the route
have never barred the way to Lhasa.
Rockhill's experiences in the month of June were
not very dissimilar to those of Hue in December.

182

TIBET

" Grazing was better here than in the north, but the
weather was bad, the wind so violent, the snowstorms
so frequent and severe, that we could make but little
headway." " Throughout the journey across this high
plateau I was surprised to find so few snowpeaks. No
chain except the Dangla rose much above the snow
line, which my observations fixed at about seventeen
thousand feet above sea level, nor do I believe that
I saw on the whole journey through Tibet a single
glacier, though there was much neve on the Dangla
and other chains further south." About the head of
the Mur ussu (the river) the country was mostly of
limestone formation, the grazing good, and game
plentiful. There were even primroses here and there.
" Until we reached the tents of the Namru Tibetans
in July, it changed in no appreciable way. The soil
was sandy or alkaline, or limestone, or granitic forma
tion, but for ever our route was over low hills or down
broad valleys with just enough grass to keep our
animals from dying, and fuel so scarce that we could
barely find enough yak droppings to make our kettle
boil." Keeping westerly along the base of the Dangla,
Rockhill reached the great central plateau known as
" Naktsang," and here he considered that he had
reached the true boundaries of Tibet. North of this
he calls the land a " no-man's land," the home of the
Golok (Kolo of Hue) and kindred brigand tribes.
About two days' march north of the Tengri Nor
Lake, and the same distance west of the Amdo tso,
Rockhill's route southwards (and his provisions also)

TIBET 183
came to an end. He had been starving for two or
three days when he first fell in with Tibetan tents and
encountered signs of inhabited country. He was here
clearly very close to Bonvalot' s route from the north,
if not actually on it; but he could get no farther
south. By the same marvellous system of intelligence
which invariably keeps the Lhasa officials well in
formed of the approach of travellers from the north,
and which frustrated the intentions of Bonvalot, Little
dale, Sven Hedin, and others, the movements of the
American had all been recorded, and there was a guard
on the northern passes awaiting his arrival. The usual
negotiations with obstinate Tibetan officials ended in
the usual way. Rockhill was told to go back on his
own footsteps and retrace his way to the north. The
utmost concession that he was able to obtain was
permission to work his way out of Tibet eastwards
instead of northwards, and to make his exit by the
better known trade route of Chiamdo and Ta-chien-lu.
This, however, from the geographical point of view,
was not altogether a disadvantage. We know pretty
well what lay between Rockhill and Lhasa, and we are
by no means without good records of Lhasa itself, but
we knew nothing of that province which appears to
be under special Chinese jurisdiction, called Jyade, and
we should have continued to know nothing but for
Rockhill's detour through it on the way to China.
First striking northeast back again towards the
Dangla (or Tangla), he turned southeast from the foot
of those uplands, and followed the main valley of the

i84 TIBET
Giama Nu Chu (Salwin) basin, by a route running
north of that river, through a rough and mountainous
country, till he reached eastward the meridian of 960
E. L. He then crossed from the upper Salwin basin
into that of the Nam chu (or upper Mekong) by a track
which appears to be the main trade route from Lhasa
followed by Hue, and which joins Rockhill's route in
the upper Salwin valley, and so reached the neigh
bourhood of Chiamdo on the upper Mekong. He did
not see Chiamdo, — he was held off by officious* local
magistrates and compelled to pursue his journey to
the Tibetan frontier at Ta-chien-lu by the regular Lhasa
route, the road which possesses Chinese posts and rest
houses at intervals. Whilst in Namru discussing future
movements with the Lhasa authorities he was well
treated. " I had been supplied daily with every deli
cacy of the Tibetan cuisine — sour milk, clotted cream,
tsamba, mutton, and buttered tea — which our long
fast prevented us for days from enjoying; and the
Deba had made me many presents, amongst others a
good saddle pony; and now I left with an escort of
ten soldiers, resplendent in purple gowns, high, wide-
brimmed, summer hats, and all their many silver-
mounted arms and accoutrements." The incessant rain
(July) acting on soft gravelly soil and bog rendered
all the first part of their journey distressingly uncom
fortable and difficult, and solid ground was not met
with till the party crossed the regular Lhasa route
from Kunbum (which was followed by Hue) near
Nagchuka. Rockhill's Tibetan escort had returned to

TIBET 185
Lhasa, as he was now under direct Chinese jurisdic
tion in the province of Jyade. This Chinese province
extends from east to west over two hundred miles
and more of country, " with a probable breadth of
sixty or seventy miles, touching, to the north, the
Dangla and its eastern branches, and, to the south,
bordering on Lhasa governed provinces." " Its people
have from the oldest times preferred the Binbo
religion (a form of devil worship or Shamanism
which has at one time or another prevailed over most
of Asia), — a creed not tolerated in the kingdom of
Lhasa, which tried for a long time to crush it out of
these regions." The incessant warfare between the
two ended in the formation of a special province by
the Chinese, which included all the Binbo principali
ties. Thirty-six chiefs are appointed by the Chinese
Amban at Lhasa, and they govern the various clans
under their own hereditary chiefs. Jyade is all pas
ture land (13,500 feet), and the people, though poor,
are a happy-hearted race. Binbo lamaserais are neither
large nor numerous, and the lamas of this faith are
liberal in their views. Rockhill says that the impor
tance of this form of lamaism has not been hitherto
suspected. All along the eastern borderland of Tibet,
in Jyade, and in all the southern provinces of Tibet,
not under the direct rule of Lhasa, its lamaserais may
be found. So it seems that this faith obtains in two-
thirds of Tibet, and that it is popular with at least a
fifth of the Tibetan-speaking tribes. "In dress and
in their mode of living the Jyade differ in no appre-

186 TIBET
ciable way from most of the Tibetan tribes leading
a semi-pastoral life." " The clothes of both sexes
consist in a single gown with a high collar; in winter
of sheepskin, in summer of " pulo " (native cloth) ;
violet for the men, blue for the women. Sometimes
they also wear a light shirt of silk (bure) with a high
red collar. Boots with cloth tops fastened below the
knee by broad garters complete this picturesque though
rather clumsy dress. The women wear their hair in
a great number of little plaits, falling over the shoul
ders like a cloak and reaching below the waist. Down
the middle of the back is fixed a broad band of red,
green, and other coloured stuffs, on which they sew
any ornamental knick-knack they may own." So far-
reaching is fashion in the Asiatic highlands that women
may be seen very similarly dressed sitting in rows at
the annual fair at Sipi, near Simla, waiting for matri
monial engagements. Their clumsy ornaments of
silver and turquoise are a source of much competition
amongst the smarter ladies of Simla society. The
valley of the Upper Salwin was " fairly well peopled.
We passed, every mile or two, clusters of tents, near
which were herds of Yak and little flocks of sheep
and goats." Here, on August 18th, at a village on
the Zechu (one of the northern affluents of the upper
Salwin), Rockhill found himself to be on Bower's
route by the unmistakable evidence of a receipt for
forage which had been given to the head man of the
village by that traveller on December, 1891. Here,
too, Rockhill gathered some interesting information

TIBET 187
about the wild country immediately to the south, lying
between the upper Salwin and the Brahmaputra, near
its bend. Poyul is an absolutely unexplored part of
Tibet, yet it appears to be one of the richest. The
mountains of northern Poyul are inhabited by a law
less race of herdsmen, but southern Poyul is said to
be warm and fertile, and to offer such attractions that
a number of Chinese soldiers deserted to this district
in former times and settled there, with the result that
there is now a thriving trade in blankets, baskets,
silver and ironwork, red pepper, and remarkably fine
wheat flour. As will be seen from more modern re
ports, there can be little doubt that the basin of the
Brahmaputra about its great bend southward from
Tibet is full of most promising country. Poyul is
practically independent.
As the elevation of the upper Salwin (the Giama
Nu Chu) lowered, the scenery changed from Tibetan
to Himalayan, and gradually became strikingly beau
tiful. Crossing into the Tsechu valley (an affluent of
the Salwin), Rockhill reached Riwoche, with its beau
tiful temple and " picturesque situation, at the foot of
steep forest-covered mountains, between which winds
the broad, swift river, here spanned by a substantial
bridge of huge pine logs, " and in two days more
(August 24) reached a Chinese post station. Avoid
ing Chiamdo (under compulsion), he followed the
Chinese trade route to Batang; at first over steep
and high mountains, then down a " valley covered
with most beautiful pine-trees, their branches draped

188 TIBET
in long cobweb-like moss of light yellow and bright
orange; " with pheasants in the underwood, and bears,
leopards, and wolves in the forests above; following
next a valley of great beauty, in which " I found
nearly every variety of tree and wild fruit known to
Tibet, — cedars, junipers, cypress, pines, and maples,
plum and apple trees, cherry and apricot, raspberries,
both the orange and red varieties, strawberries, and
currants." This part of the journey was full of
Himalayan characteristics. At Batang Rockhill found
but little trade, — only two small Chinese firms doing
business. The bulk of the trade is in the Lamas'
hands, who prefer the pawnbroker's business and lend
money to the Chinese soldiers. This is exactly what
Bower says of them. He learnt with astonishment
that the bulk of the Lhasa-Chinese trade from
Ta-chien-lu followed the route through Horba and
Darge countries, which he had explored in 1889, in
stead of the more direct Chiamdo road ; but it appears
that there were serious war operations in progress at
Litang (between Batang and Ta-chien-lu) which might
have diverted the trade for a time. The northern
route, however, possesses material advantages over the
Chinese post road in spite of its circuitous character.
The latter first rises from Ta-chien-lu (8,300 feet) over
the divide separating the Ssechu from the Nagchu
(14,700 feet), then drops to Nagchuka (8,400 feet),
next rises to the Litang uplands (13,400 feet), drops
to Batang (8,150) on the Di chu, crosses the divide
(about 14,000 feet) into the valley of the Chiamdo

TIBET 189
(Nam chu, or Mekong), which it ascends to Chiamdo,
and then, rising and falling over many successive
ridges and spurs (described subsequently in Hue's
narrative), it reaches Lhasa by a comparatively
straight route, south of that taken by Rockhill
through Jayade. This is the Jung-lam, or official
road, from Lhasa to China, along which Chinese posts
are maintained at intervals. It is said to be about
nine hundred and fifty miles long, but it is probably
more. The former (or Chang lam) also passes by
the valley of the Di chu, but it strikes off to the north
west from Ta-chien-lu, and following up a succession
of valleys (trending from N. W. to S. E.), it clearly
involves gradients of much less severity before it
finally drops into the Di chu valley in the district of
Darge, at least three hundred miles above Batang.
Darge is reputed to be one of the richest and most
populous valleys in all Tibet, containing towns where
all the best jewellery, saddlery, guns, and swords are
manufactured. Passing through the important centre
of Jyekundo, the Chang lam turns westward across
the Chang tang highlands for three hundred miles,
till it strikes into the southern pilgrim route from
Koko Nor followed by Hue. Very little is known
about this part of the route. Jyekundo has been visited
by several travellers from the north (including Rock
hill and Miss Taylor), and it was near Jyekundo that
the luckless De Rhins was murdered; but between
Jyekundo and the pilgrim route is an unexplored sec
tion of the Hor country, from which innumerable

i9o TIBET
tributaries of the great rivers (the Yellow River, the
Yang tsi, the Mekong, and Salwin) take their rise.
Its altitude cannot be much less than that of the
Tangla, farther west. It is said that official obstruc
tions to trade are less heavy by this route, and that
there is good pasturage throughout, but the fact that
such a detour northwards should be preferred to the
Junglam says much for the difficult character of the
latter.

CHAPTER X
Hue and Gabet on the Post Road to China and in Eastern
Tibet — Approaches to the East from the Koko Nor and its
Geographical Connection with Assam — De Rhins and
Grenard — Needham and Krishna — The Brahmaputra
Valley and the Passes through Bhutan — Kinthup's Explo
rations and Reports — The Methods of Native Explorers —
— Chandra Das — Nain Sing's Early Journeys
FOR an account in detail of the official road (the
Junglam) between Lhasa and the Chinese fron
tier at Ta-chien-lu, we are still dependent on the Abbe
Hue if we wish for European authority. The Abbe
left Lhasa under compulsion, but it was a retreat with
honour, and a very different experience from that of his
northern travels. He had no tent to pitch, no baggage
animals to tend and guard, — no difficulty but that
of keeping on good terms with his fellow-travellers.
Chief of the party was a Chinese mandarin of great
magnificence, haughty and insolent in the presence of
Tibetans, but most insignificant when faced with an
official superior, who was entitled " Pacification des
royaumes." He had the good sense to look well after
his European fellow-travellers who had been specially
confided to his care, and, on the whole, he fulfilled his
trust satisfactorily.

i92 TIBET
Some of the most interesting pages of Hue's narrative
deal with the manners of the Chinese in intercourse
with the Tibetans, and the social spirit of fraternity
which prevailed amongst the latter. The little touches
of human sympathy, the humour and the shrewd per
ception which underlie the story told in the book, show
the Abbe to have been a man of warm feelings and
good heart, — one who thoroughly appreciated the
value of good fellowship and mutual understanding
between fellow-travellers of whatever degree. He
only hardens when he has anything to say about Eng
land. The English were to him as to the Chinese, —
" marine devils," capable of no good thing. From
no other writer on Tibetan life do we get so much
insight into Tibetan character and the mutual relations
between themselves and their conquerors. The rest
of the company was composed of escort, and returning
traders taking advantage of the official journey to
China ; with them all the missionaries were on equally
good terms.
The river of Lhasa, the Kyichu, flows from the
east and the valley of it affords the best opportunity
for a route eastward. For a couple of days travelling
was easy and pleasant, following the well-cultivated
riverain, but for the next five or six days Hue de
scribes the Junglam as passing through a labyrinth
of mountains. It then strikes the upper course of
" the same " river (this is, I think, doubtful) as it
turns north to avoid the bend of the Brahmaputra
(Tsanpo), which here makes a loop northward ere

TIBET 193
finally sinking southeast to the head of the Assam
valley. The Junglam at this point cannot be more than fifty
miles or so from the Brahmaputra, which would cer
tainly appear to offer the greatest facilities for a road
eastward, but which probably lies enclosed amongst a
rugged wilderness of impassable mountains. Crossing
the Loumma Ri Mountain (Gia la in Walker's map)
by an easy pass which did not oblige them to dismount
from their horses, they arrived at Chiamdo, which is
described by Hue as a " vast agglomeration of houses,"
where were to be found Bhutanese traders and a
fair surrounding of cultivation, with a wretchedly bad
bridge over the local river. For the next four or five
days they were wandering over apparently deserted
mountains, but as the " oulah " (the enforced supply
of baggage animals) was always forthcoming from
stage to stage, Hue considers that there were populous
villages concealed amongst the folds of the hills, which
were not visible. Of a place which he calls Atdra
(where there is a small lake) he records that this is
the favourite haunt of the Tibetan " licorne " or uni
corn, an animal in which, apparently, he possesses con
siderable faith. He gives it the local name of " serou,"
however, — a name which is well enough known in
many parts of the Himalayas, and indicates a species
of mountain goat (Nemorhaedus bubalina). It chiefly
inhabits the precipitous wooded mountains of the cen
tral ranges of the Himalaya between Kashmir and Sik
kim, and is always found in thick forests. It stands
13

i94 TIBET
about three feet two inches in height, and weighs about
two hundred pounds. The horns (two) are short,
roundish, ringed more than half way, tapering, and
curved backwards, with points inclining outwards, and
measuring about ten inches. This generally answers
to Hue's description of the " licorne," with the excep
tion, of course, of the remarkable feature indicated by
a single horn.
They crossed the watershed of Lha-ri (the " spirit "
mountain, which can only be the Tola la of the Indian
explorers, 17,400 feet) with some difficulty, owing to
the depth of snow. The passage of it affords the Abbe
an opportunity for some thrilling details. He was
apparently much surprised to find a glacier on the
northern flank of the mountain, at the foot of which
was the town of Lha-ri. The travellers had no sooner
accomplished the feat of crossing the pass of the great
spirit mountain than they were faced with another
pass, called by Hue Chor Koa la. This must be the
Archa-La of Walker's map. However, it proved to
be less formidable than the previous pass, but the gen
eral altitude of the route from this point was extremely
great. There is a legend of a mutiny of Chinese
troops at the top of the Archa-La, where they success
fully threatened their officers with instant destruction
unless they were promised more pay. The legend, at
any rate, indicates that it is over this most remarkable
military route that the Chinese armies have passed
to and fro. Probably there is no other military route
in the world to compare to it for altitude. The pas-

TIBET 195
sage of the Alps by Napoleon, or of the Andes by San
Martin, was child's play compared to it. For some
days they followed a comparatively level road over
these huge elevations (which almost overlook the
valley of the Brahmaputra) until the descent into the
valley of a southerly affluent of the Giama Nu Chu was
before them. The horrors of this descent seem to have
impressed the pious missionary more than any which
preceded it. He dare not dismount, so " nous recom-
mandames notre ames a Dieu," and feeling " une sueur
glacee ruisseler de tous nos membres," arrived at the
bottom safely, without, apparently, the loss of a single
baggage animal. From Alan-to (? Alachiago), at
the foot of the pass, to the village of Lang-tsi-Koung
was but a day's march over the slopes of a pine-clad
valley. There they were face to face with a new
peril. The passage of the Tanda watershed was before
them, and it was pronounced by experts to be impass
able from the depth of snow which covered it. Hue
would have been very well content to remain where
he was in the town of Lang-tsi-Koung, where the
quaintness of the habitations, and of the people inter
ested him greatly. He could occupy himself with
"prayers, chess, and promenade." But an official
mission to China was not to be delayed by such a trifle
as snow. Spring was now well advanced ; Lhasa had
been left in March amidst the usual spring downpour,
and probably the dreaded Tanda was about as deep
under snow as it could well be at any time of the year.
A month or so of delay would have improved their

196 TIBET
prospects of crossing. The Tanda is probably the pass
entered in Walker's map as Nub Gang La, the second
name being derived from the explorations of native
surveyors. However, by making use of the yaks to force a
passage through the snow for three days previous to
their start, the mission accomplished the passage of
the pass without any greater difficulty than was caused
by its formidable altitude. We have no authentic data
for its height, but it is probably not less than seventeen
thousand feet. Between the Tanda pass and the Chi
nese post of Barilang the route runs through a plain
of sufficient magnitude to be called locally the " widest
in Tibet." There was, however, yet another pass to
be surmounted, which Hue calls the Dchak-La. It
did not prove to be formidable, and probably only
crossed a southern spur flanking the Giama Nu Chu,
which valley the party was now following. The road
was now fairly good as far as Chobando (Shobando
of Walker's map) . Two long and difficult days' jour
ney from Shobando brought them to the banks of the
Suk-chu (? Giama Nu Chu — Salwin), which was
crossed without accident in spite of the bridge having
broken down. They were then confronted with the
famous Wa-ho plateau, which, according to Walker,
marks the divide between the Giama Nu Chu and an
affluent of the same river from the north. On the
summit of the Wa-ho is a lake, and by the borders
of it dwells the spirit of the mountain in the form of
a gigantic toad which is seldom seen but very fre-

TIBET 197
quently heard. Strict silence in crossing this plateau
is enjoined. A word hastily spoken may bring de
struction on travellers, who will instantly be engulfed
in snow. Possibly there is something in the legend.
It is a pass which is evidently dangerous from the
presence of avalanches, and it is possible that (as the
story states) the reverberation of a cannon-shot in
advertently fired might tend to loosen a hanging mass
of snow, and bring it on to the heads of passers-by.
The dreary desolation of the snow-covered plateau
is well described by Hue. There was not a tree, not
the trace of animal existence, not a sign in all the
whole expanse except the line of straight black poles
set up to guide the traveller. Twenty hours of con
tinuous marching on a clear bright day, without wind,
brought them to the eastern foot of the plateau, and
to the port of Ngenda-Tchai. Three " detestable "
stages further, " penibles et irritantes," on account
of numerous Tibetan bridges of frail construction,
brought them to Chiamdo, " on the Kiang Tang Chu,"
where we can leave them, for the rest of the route
has been described sufficiently. It is, however, clear
that the last three days' march was along the course
of a river, and that the Wa-ho was the last pass
surmounted. This, however, creates a map difficulty,
as it would indicate that the Wa-ho mountain, or
plateau, divided the Giama- Nu Chu (Salwin) from the
river of Chiamdo (which is the Mekong) and not
from an affluent of its own (as indicated in Walker's
map), which would involve another "divide" before

198 TIBET
reaching the Chiamdo valley. It is, however, to be
noted that the lower course of this affluent and its
junction with the main river is only shown in dotted
lines. This means that it is doubtful. So it may
possibly join the Mekong and not the Salwin. It is
also to be noted that there is a pass called the Dja
La (suspiciously like the Dchak La of Hue), marked
in Walker's map far to the north of Shobando. It
is impossible, however, to bring this pass within
Hue's itinerary. It clearly belongs to a more north
erly route.
Before parting with such an enterprising, devoted,
entertaining, and (on the whole) truthful explorer as
the Jesuit missionary, it is as well to reckon up what
he has told us of the Junglam (the great official high
road between Lhasa and China) , so far as that section
of it is concerned which links Chiamdo with Lhasa.
Hue makes the distance 750 miles. This is, of
course, an exaggeration. Measured directly, it hardly
amounts to 500, and by the same measurement the
onward route to Ta-chien-lu amounts to another 400.
Taking Walker's estimate of 930 miles (derived from
the route reports of native surveyors) as fairly ap
proximate for the total length of the Junglam from
Lhasa to the Chinese frontier, it is probably about
550 miles in length, including all divergences. Hue
describes at least six formidable passes, any one of
which must be considerably higher than Mt. Blanc.
Between Chiamdo and Ta-chien-lu there are at least
five more of equal difficulty, besides a multitude of

Jules Leon Dutreuil De Rhins

TIBET 199
local " divides " of a less formidable nature. By the
light of such geographical evidence as this, added to
the information which we possess of the wide wastes
of inhospitable highland which prevail at intervals
along the route, the extraordinary military feat of
the conquest of Tibet by a force of seventy thousand
Chinese in 1720 (a force which included guns) be
comes little short of miraculous. No military march
in history encountered such altitudes. The retreat of
the Greeks under Xenophon from Persia ; the advance
of Alexander to India over the northern passes, and his
subsequent retreat from India through the Makran de
files, are all marvellous records far surpassing those of
modern times ; but they will not bear examination when
placed in comparison with this Chinese exploit. Even
Mirza Haidar's extraordinary achievement when he
advanced on Lhasa from the west, pales before it. It
is true that the Chinese guns were made of leather, that
they burst easily, and that they were more useful when
applied as persuasives to the rear of the Chinese army
than as destructives to the front of the foe ; they were
in fact archaic mountains guns; but that hardly de
tracts much from the astonishing feat of endurance, of
resistless, patient determination which must have ani
mated that Yellow Mongol host setting forth on its
gigantic enterprise. It brings home to us a lesson in
Mongol persistency which is useful. It explains some
thing of the impetus which moved Mongol irruptions in
the middle ages, and, at this late period of the world's
history, it appears to be recrudescent in Japan.

200 TIBET
Further than this, it brings a strong geographical
light to bear on the political problems which beset
Tibetan national existence. Bad as are the approaches
to Lhasa from China on the east, and northeast, they
are even surpassed in difficulties by those directly from
the north, or from the west, as we shall see. It is only
from the south — from Chumbi, and from India —
that Lhasa is easily reachable. Only one formidable
pass (the Tangla), which is high, bleak, windswept,
and occasionally dangerous (but which is not steep),
separates the Chumbi valley from the Tibetan high
lands. Between the Tangla and Gyangtse, there is
no formidable divide to cross, and the routes which
we have already described, one of which was followed
by the late mission to Lhasa, include two difficult
passes only between Gyangtse and Lhasa.
Amongst those travellers who have contributed val
uable additions to our knowledge of eastern Tibetan
geography, the luckless Frenchman Dutreuil De Rhins
takes a prominent place by reason of the excellent
topography which, with the able assistance of M. Fer-
nand Grenard, he was able to secure. The hurried
journey of his compatriot Bonvalot, who was accom
panied by Prince Henri d'Orleans, resulted in no very
satisfactory additions to the map of Tibet. No per
sistent effort was made to secure good observations, or
to keep a record such as would certainly indicate the
direction of their route, or the precise position of their
halting-places ; but their success in crossing Tibet was
undoubted, and it inspired De Rhins to attempt a sim-

TIBET 201
ilar enterprise. De Rhins and Grenard left Cherchen
in Chinese Turkestan on the ist of September, 1893,
and struck across a new and unexplored pass through
the Akka Tagh. Then commenced the dreary monot
ony of northern Tibetan travel through wide desolate
valleys, with blue lakes scattered at intervals; across
stormy uplands and rocky snow-bound passes with the
same forbidding aspect of desolation, and the same
eternal silence around them, that have left so deep an
impression on the minds of all who have faced the
desolation of the Chang wilderness. It is this monot
onous tone of weary desolation which leaves so little
to tell of the features of northern Tibet. For hundreds
of miles there is no change, no life, no movement
but for the furious rushing wind. The mournful
ness and the melancholy of it seem to permeate the
story of every explorer who writes. Three months of
this uninviting experience brought the travellers to the
Tengri Nor, and here they were but a week's march
from Lhasa. After Bonvalot, they were the first
Europeans to touch the shores of this lake since the
days of Hue. Here the usual Lhasa deputation met
them with the usual apologies and excuses for stop
ping their further route. There was no incivility.
There was but the usual shifting of responsibility from
the shoulders of the Chinese members of the mission
to those of the " barbarous " Tibetans, and from the
Tibetans back again to the obstructive and stiff-necked
Chinese. Either Tibetan envoys or Chinese would
have been equally delighted to welcome the foreigners

202 TIBET
at Lhasa, but for the impossible attitude assumed by
the other, so they said. It was but a sample of Tibetan
policy in larger matters than those affecting the pro
gress of an exploring party. So they turned northward
as Bower, Littledale, Rockhill, and Bonvalot had to
turn, and set their faces for the Chinese frontier at
Sining fu. As far as Nagchu they were but following
the usual Mongol pilgrim and caravan route, which
was traversed previously by Hue, although they sepa
rated and reached that point by different roads in
order to embrace a wider field of observation. From
Nagchu (which they reached on the 27th of January,
1894, and where they remained until early in March)
they left the direct pilgrim road and struck into the
northern trade route between Lhasa and Batang, east
ward. This apparently was unintentional, for they sub
sequently made a long (and as it proved a fatal) detour
in order to regain the direct road to Sining; but it
was then that they made what was, from the geograph
ical point of view, the most interesting discoveries of
their journey. After crossing four most formidable
ranges and losing the last of their camels in the
snow-blocked passes, they reached the most southerly
affluent of the Yang tsi kiang near its source. They
were then in territory inhabited by Tibetans of the
Bon religion, who were more or less hostile to the
lamahood of Lhasa and professed themselves to be
friendly to travellers on that account. On the 8th
of April they crossed the Dzanag-lung-mung pass, and
found themselves in the region of the sources of the

TIBET 203
Mekong River, never previously explored. It was a
great achievement, this determination of the sources
of the great river of Siam, and it sent them on their
way rejoicing in the assurance that they had made
a new and important geographical discovery. Here
they joined a small fraternity of lamas on their way
to the Tashigompa monastery. This position is not
fixed on our maps, but it is said to be fifteen days'
march from the central town of Jyekundo. On the
1 6th of April they reached the monastery at the junc
tion of the Lung-mung stream with the Dza-chu,
where a fair was being held which had attracted great
crowds from the surrounding country. After thor
oughly exploring the Dza-chu affluent of the Mekong,
they surmounted a dividing watershed (17,500 feet),
and dropped into the valley of another affluent of the
same river — the Dze-chu — and again devoted them
selves to the examination of the river to a point where
it divided the mountains by a terrific gorge, and could
be no more followed. Once more resuming their
route to Jyekundo they reached that large straggling
village in the basin of the Di chu (Yang tsi kiang),
on the 22d of May.
Here their troubles began. A turbulent and hostile
population, lay and clerical, made themselves most
objectionable to the French visitors. Stones were
thrown about, and it was evident that nothing but the
most tactful determination would prevent a tragedy.
Rockhill had once been obliged to take a hurried de
parture from Jyekundo in the middle of the night,

2o4 TIBET
and it is clear the Jyekundo is a place to be avoided
by those who wish to journey in peace through the
heart of eastern Tibet. Unfortunately it is a most
important centre for supplies and transport, and is
not easily passed by. It is doubtful whether De Rhins
possessed the requisite combination of tact and firm
ness which has carried other Tibetan explorers so far
afield. It is true that he obtained all that was abso
lutely necessary to enable him to make a start north
ward for Sining, and that he succeeded in making
one day's march from Jyekundo in safety. The dawn
of next day heralded disaster. The rain poured down
in torrents. The travellers lost their way, and finally
hit off a wayside village named Thom Bundo, where
they secured a very rough shelter under the roof of a
surly Tibetan, who was at first but little inclined to
receive them. On June 3 the weather cleared and a
bright sunshine tempted them once again on to the
rough and dangerous mountain paths which lead north
ward to the Chinese frontier. There had been trouble
the previous day, owing to the theft of two of the bag
gage animals, and there were ominous signs of the
coming tragedy in the air even before they started. It
appears that the route ran for some distance, skirting
the side of a stream on the opposite banks of which
a straggling line of low-roofed houses and walls
afforded cover for a flanking fire on the party as it
advanced. It was not long before the shooting com
menced. Tibetans are as a rule such amazingly bad
marksmen that it can only be accounted as a most

N. M. Prjevalski

TIBET 205
unlucky accident that De Rhins should have fallen a
victim to them. He was severely wounded in the groin.
Grenard's attempts to rescue him and to induce a
parley with the Tibetans were fruitless. It was as
much as he could do to save himself. He improvised
a litter for De Rhins, but the instant the march was
resumed the firing recommenced, and the baggage ani
mals fell one by one before it. Grenard was himself
struck down as the villagers rushed upon the party,
but he was not injured, and he was able finally to reach
the boundary of the Thom Bundo district, where his
pursuers left him, content, apparently, with having
ejected him. Luckily he had previously made friends
with a Chinese government official in the neighbour
ing demesne of Labug Gompa, and with him he ulti
mately found refuge. From Labug he endeavoured
to recover the body of his friend, together with some
of his baggage and animals. But all demands were
met with a flat refusal from the Thom Bundo villagers
to surrender anything, and it was not till his cook
turned up that he learnt that the end of the tragedy
had been the casting of De Rhins' body into the Di-
chu stream. So passed away one of the pluckiest of
the many French explorers who have done so much
to make Tibetan geography. Grenard returned to
Europe with the results of the joint work of the expe
dition; and amongst the many additions to Tibetan
topography which have been placed before the public
none excel these French maps as specimens of effec
tive cartography.

206 TIBET
It was in northeastern Tibet in 1898 that the Dutch
missionary Rijnhart met with a fate similar to that
of De Rhins. This brave missionary conceived it
possible to reach Lhasa with his wife and child from
the Chinese frontier by passing east of the Koko Nor
without any suitable escort. The little party did
actually reach the Dza-chu affluent of the Mekong.
Here it is believed that Rijnhart was murdered by
nomads, from whom he requested food and assistance.
At any rate, he never returned from their tents. His
wife, who was a lady doctor, subsequently accom
plished a march of three hundred and fifty miles to
Ta-chien-lu, the frontier town of Sechuan, all alone,
and finally wrote an interesting account of her travels.
Expeditions of this nature, however, do not throw
much new light on the geography of Tibet.
The scientific expeditions of the assistants of the
great explorer Prjevalski, however, which were car
ried out after his death, notably those of Roborovski,
have indeed added immense material value to our gen
eral knowledge of the topographical conformation,
geology, botany, etc., of the northeastern frontier pf
the plateau. Russian explorers were, in fact, continu
ously busy along the Tibetan frontier between the
years 1889 and 1894, but their explorations seldom
overlapped the northern borderland southward. Prjev
alski alone attempted to penetrate to Lhasa. The
Koko Nor steppes, Tsaidam, and the ranges north and
south of the great blue lake, have been most thor
oughly mapped by Russian surveyors, and the Russian

Captain Kozlof

TIBET 207
government undoubtedly possess accurate geograph
ical maps of all these regions. This great no-man's
land lying cornered between Mongolia, Tibet, and
China possesses a future value in the political distri
bution of Asia which is neither overlooked nor under
estimated by Russia. The record of Russian activity
in eastern Tibet would not be complete without some
reference to their latest efforts in the cause of geo
graphical discovery which have recently led the gallant
explorer Koslov to a point within measurable distance
of the Assam frontier. Starting from Urga (from
which place it will be remembered that the Dalai lama
retired during the British occupation of Lhasa) he
crossed the Mongolian steppes to Sining fu and the
Koko Nor. Then, crossing the Koko Nor range by
Wellby's route, he struck southward to the sources of
the Hoang Ho and into the Darge valley (the valley
of the Di chu). About the parallel of 32" north lati
tude he left the Di chu and crossed into the valley of
the upper Mekong (Nam chu or Chiamdo chu) and
thus opened up the direct route to Batang and the
eastern Tibetan valleys generally, reaching the eastern
edge of Brahmaputra basin at a point barely two
hundred and fifty miles from the Assamese frontier.
He must have touched the trade route between Lhasa
and Ta-chien-lu. This appears to be the most southern
exploration effected by any Russian explorer, but it is
significant, indicating that it is the rich eastern and
southeastern valleys of Tibet that are really the Russian
objective, and that there is no great difficulty in reach-

2o8 TIBET
ing them from the Koko Nor. The Koko Nor region,
at present regarded as an insignificant geographical
feature — a sort of waste hinterland to Tibet proper
— and the home of the worst robbers in Asia, will
some day rise to importance as the subject of political
controversy — is it Tibetan, or is it Mongolian ?
We have enough before us in these records to
indicate the general character of eastern Tibet, and to
guide us to some conclusions as to the possible future
development of those long curving valleys of the great
rivers of China, Siam, and Burma, which constitute
its main features. Undoubtedly much of the wealth
of Tibet lies in them, — wealth which is not only
represented by somewhat crude but original arts and
manufactures, but by immense mineral value. The
possibility of gold production will be dealt with else
where. Here we only wish to point out the bearing of
the geographical features which we are considering on
Tibetan policy. One important feature to note is that
the geographical remoteness and inaccessibility of
Lhasa is not repeated in the case of the towns and vil
lages of eastern Tibet. There is no vast difficulty in
approaching these eastern valleys from the Koko Nor
region, itself closely adjoining the Kansu province of
China. About the Sipan country, which embraces the
sources of the Hoang Ho, we do not know very much ;
it appears to be a wild wilderness of mountains; but
the route from the Koko Nor district to the head of
the Hoang Ho and hence southward into the valley of
Yang tsi (Di chu) about Jyekundo has been fre-

Rai Bahadur Kishen Singh, Milamwal. (Krishna)

TIBET 209
quently traversed, and from Jyekundo at once the
whole series of southeastern valleys, gradually stretch
ing southwards, populated, rich, and often beautiful,
is open to the explorer through Tibetan territory.
Geographical difficulties no longer stand in the way.
Eastern Tibet is accessible from the Koko Nor, and
the Koko Nor is easily accessible from China, and
(more remotely) from Manchuria. The occupation
of Manchuria would give Russia a predominant influ
ence over all western China, and would inevitably lead
to the gradual absorption and occupation of that no-
man's land in the northeast of Tibet which borders
the Koko Nor.
The Koko Nor can be approached through Mongolia
as readily as through China. Already Russian conces
sions are said to be granted in western China, — in
Sechuan, — closely bordering Tibet ; and Russian in
terest is undoubtedly much alive in that quarter. It
seems probable therefore that political relations be
tween Russia and Tibet would lead much more defi
nitely to developments in the valleys of the East than
to any direct commercial relations with Lhasa. Lhasa
is out of reach from the north; but eastern Tibet is
well within reach, and from the politico-geographical
point of view there is a wide world of difference be
tween them. Some 700 or 800 miles of difficult, yet
traversable country separates the central villages of
eastern Tibet from the Koko Nor pasture lands. And
over this 700 or 800 miles the foot of the European
has trod, if not frequently, at least sufficiently often
14

2io TIBET
to test the general character of the intervening high
lands, and to prove the possibility of establishing a
right of way. Only 200 or 300 miles (possibly less)
separate British Indian territory from the lower
reaches (and therefore the richer and more produc
tive reaches) of these same valleys, and over that 200
miles no foot of European has ever trod at all. The
valley of the main Brahmaputra stream leads directly
up to that region of Poyul which is described by Rock
hill as such a land of promise. The shorter valley of
the Dihang taps the same country on the south. The
Lohit stretches upward and eastward, pointing the
direct route to Batang from the head of the Assam
valley, and indicates the most direct route to Sechuan
and the upper Yang tsi basin. Some of its shorter
affluents drain Zayul and other valleys which lie east
of the Brahmaputra bend and run parallel to it, about
which we know only what native explorers have told
us. This is all close to our frontier ; but we have never
properly exploited it, and it is not surprising that our
enterprise, when balanced in the scale with that of
Russia, should be found so wanting as to induce the
theory amongst our frontier neighbours that we are
afraid to venture. Possibly our improved relations
with Tibet may lead to exploration of the Brahma
putra bend, but it must be remembered that, so far as
the Assam borderland is concerned, the Lhasa hier
archy possesses very little influence in these eastern
hills. From such information as that enterprising trav-

TIBET 211
eller and Tibetan scholar, Colonel Waddell, has been
able to obtain, it might appear that the actual valley of
the Brahmaputra itself affords as little opportunity for
road-making as do those of the Indus and Sutlej,
where these rivers part the Himalayas to make their
way to the plains of India. It may be interesting,
therefore, to note what the experiences of our native
explorers have been in these same districts, anticipat
ing to a certain extent the record of their great achieve
ments in southern Tibet. The explorer Krishna, whose
marvellous adventures in Tibet and Mongolia would
fill an entertaining volume of travel, and to whom we
owe the only plan of the city of Lhasa which we pos
sessed before the late mission reached that city, once
traversed the highlands between Batang and a point
on the Lohit River called Rima, which is about one
hundred and fifty miles from Sadiya in upper Assam.
An enterprising political officer (Mr. Needham) in the
winter of 1885-86 explored the Lohit valley route
as far as Rima in lower Zayul, and (with his com
panion Captain Moles worth and three policemen) is
the only European who has penetrated far into the
Mishmi country. Thus between Krishna and Need-
ham we have the whole route illustrated from Assam
to the Chinese frontier. Krishna was himself unable
to reach Assam through the one hundred miles of
intervening frontier hills from Rima. He was com
pelled to turn northwest from Rima, and has thus
given us another instructive route running parallel
to the Brahmaputra, on the eastern side of its southerly

212 TIBET
bend, and joining the official Junglam route at Sho
bando, about which place we have heard from Hue.
Needham's journey was most adventurous, and fully
illustrates the extreme hostility of those tribes which
are more immediately contiguous to our own frontier.
It is not amongst the more remote peoples, but amongst
those who have the most constant and direct communi
cation with us, who trade daily across our borders and
know well their own way into British territory, that hos
tility mostly lies. It is precisely the same thing on the
northwestern border, where the Ghilzai povindah, who
trades through the passes into India, and traverses the
peninsula through the length and breadth of it, is pre
cisely the most determined opponent to any reciprocal
movement from the side of India into his own country.
Krishna was afraid to venture alone through the
Mishmi band of hills, although he was within a week
of Assam and had already spent three years of travel
in the northern countries. He preferred to go round
by Lhasa. However, his route report from Ta-chien-lu
and Batang to Rima is most instructive. Between
Ta-chien-lu (which he reached from the north by Rock
hill's route from Jyekundo through^ Darge) and Ba
tang he was on the regular post road, and his route
survey sufficiently illustrates its difficult character. He
followed this road to the crossing of the Chiamdo
(Mekong) River, and then struck southwards through
Dayul to the next great river, the Giama Nu Chu or
Salwin. Crossing by a rope bridge (7,160 feet above
sea) he then zigzagged his way, first up a small affluent

TIBET 213
of the Giama Nu Chu, over a divide by the Tila pass
(16,100 feet), and finally down an affluent of the Zayul
or Lohit, till he reached Rima without much difficulty.
We thus possess the certain information that between
the head of the Assam valley and the Salwin there is
but one pass (16,100 feet) ; another between the Salwin
and Mekong, which is probably about the same height ;
and a third between the Mekong and the Chinese post
road near Batang, which is certainly lower. The route
is full of villages and population. The valleys are
narrow but well cultivated, bridges are maintained at
intervals across the rivers, and the whole route passes
through a fairly prosperous country. Not less remark
able is the result of his journey northwest from Rima
to the post road at Shobando. Here we have the same
evidences of great prosperity and agricultural wealth
extending first up a subsidiary valley of the Lohit, and
then along a line of high elevation crossing the upper
spurs of the formidable snowy range which here forms
the backbone of the Himalayas enclosing the Brahma
putra basin. This main water-shed dividing the Lohit
from the Giama Nu Chu is crossed by a pass about
sixteen thousand feet high. The passes which are
involved by crossing successive spurs of the snowy
range as the route keeps high up the mountain side
till it reaches Shobando are about six in number, but
probably not very much above the general altitude of
the route.
There are in the world of geography certain links
between well known and much traversed systems of

2i4 TIBET
communication as yet unopened, and even unexplored,
which in the course of time, as the commercial world
develops and the necessities of international commu
nication become too pressing to be longer set aside
in favour of political inaction, will inevitably become
links in the world's highways. One such certainly
appears to exist at the present time in the Dihong,
or Brahmaputra, valley, which links together two great
commercial highways, i. e., the Tsanpo, or upper
Brahmaputra, and Assam, or lower Brahmaputra. It
is only lately (comparatively lately) that it has been
proved that the two valleys contain sections of one
and the same river, and the record of how this fact
was ascertained is certainly one of the most interest
ing in geographical story. The Tsanpo has been
followed down from its source eastward through the
central valley of southern Tibet by various explorers
of the Indian survey, although I do not know that any
European has actually followed its banks to the point
where it first loops itself northward and then strikes
south through the mountains to the head of the Assam
valley. Some forty miles to the southeast of Lhasa
there stands the great Samye monastery, near the
river, and the road thereto is a much traversed route.
Ten miles further is a ferry across the river near the
town of Chetang, at eleven thousand five hundred feet
above sea level. Chetang is important, for there is
a trade route due southward from Chetang across
eastern Bhutan to Tawang (a frontier market town
not far from the Assam border) which might appear

TIBET 215
to be a most convenient route for reaching India. It
is not so, however. Between Chetang and Tawang are
at least four considerable passes, and Tawang itself is
one of those trade marts which it is impossible to
reach from India on account of the fierce hostility of
its barbarous guardians. I have already told how
Krishna, in descending from the Zayul country down
the Lohit River, encountered obstacles at Rima near
the Indian border, which prevented him from reach
ing Assam by that route, and turned him back to
Lhasa. Tawang is much nearer to India than is Rima,
but it is equally impossible to the ordinary traveller.
A third trade market of much more geographical sig
nificance than either Tawang in southern Bhutan, or
Rima in the Mishmi country, is Miri Padam, in the
hills of the Abor tribe. Miri Padam is actually within
two days' reach of the Assam valley, — thirty-five miles
fairly easy route. It is near, if not on, the Brahma
putra River. It is a central market town for dealers
from the northwest, northeast, and south, and yet it
is even more unreachable than either Tawang or Rima.
The old pundit Nain Sing traversed the route between
Tawang and Assam. The plucky political officer
Needham reached Rima at the risk of his life, but
no explorer, either native or European, has ever
crossed that thirty-five miles of intervening hills which
part Miri Padam from the Assam frontier. Miri Pa
dam is the key to the whole valley of the Brahmaputra
from its great bend in meridian 94 east longitude
to its debouchment into Assam. Between Chetang,

216 TIBET
on the Tsanpo, fifty miles southeast of Lhasa, and
Miri Padam, we know all about the river, although
we have no exacter survey of it than could be made
under most difficult circumstances by one of the native
employees of the Indian survey. His tale belongs
rightly to the chapter on Indian exploration in Tibet;
but as we are dealing now with eastern Tibet and the
ways thither, we must include this (the probable high
way of the future) amongst them. It is certainly a
remarkable testimony to the extreme caution with
which the Indian government approaches any question
of transfrontier exploitation that through all the years
of our occupation of Assam no determined effort
should have been made to place the independent tribes
people of the Assam border in a position which ad
mitted our right to visit their country as equal to their
own right to visit ours for purposes of trade. Rus
sian officers are rather fond of saying that were Eng
land in Russia's place she would have had a warm
weather port for her navy a century ago. It is prob
ably true; but it is certainly equally true that had
Russia been in England's position in India, there would
have been a right of way, if not a railway, up the
Brahmaputra valley long ere this.
K.P. (or Kinthup) was a native of Sikkim, who
had been trained in the Indian survey department as
an explorer, and who had already done a good deal
of useful work for his government, when he was
selected in 1880 by Captain Harman, R.E. (one of
the foremost of Indian frontier geographers) to ac-

TIBET 217
company a Chinese lama into Tibet, and make his
way from Lhasa to the Brahmaputra bend, with the
object of dropping certain marked logs of wood into
the stream, which Harman himself was to watch for
as they drifted into the Assamese plains. Had K.P.
been instructed in the history of the Abbe Hue's
travels, and studied the opinions of that worthy Jesuit,
he would never have trusted a Chinese lama, and it
was certainly a doubtful policy on the part of the
survey authorities to have made such a selection for
their trusted agent. The lama and K.P. made their
way to Lhasa by the ordinary route, and then visited
the Samye monastery and Chetang. From Chetang
they followed more or less the footsteps of previous
explorers along the river banks to the point (Gyala
Sindong) where the Brahmaputra has already been
turned from a northeasterly into a southeasterly chan
nel. So far no great difficulties present themselves.
The river bends and slides first eastward and then
northeastward ; and there are villages and " Jongs "
at intervals, with fairly wide spaces for cultivation.
The greater part of this route is on the southern, or
right, bank of the river. With the bend, however,
there comes a narrowing of the valley, caused by the
enclosing mountains; these grip the river some five-
and-twenty miles below the bend, and produce a series
of rapids and falls. It is, however, possible to follow
the left bank of the river pretty closely to a point
about five miles above the principal fall '(Sindi Chog-
yal), whilst from a point two miles below them there

218 TIBET
is a well-trodden route passing from village to village
to the market town of Miri Padam. On the right,
or southern, bank of the river there are also tracks,
some following the river pretty closely through a series
of large villages, of which one, Pema Koichung, just
above the falls, is the capital of the district, and others
striking inland to hill settlements and monasteries.
But on the right bank there appears to be no prac
ticable route past the falls any more than on the left.
The road on the left crosses to the right bank by a
bridge below the falls, and from that point it runs
through cultivation and villages at intervals for at
least another forty miles. But we have no record of
its further connection with Miri Padam, which is
approached apparently from the right bank only.
Kinthup's description of the valley, its cultivation
(which included rice, cotton, and fruit), its monas
teries and sacred places, and the wild and savage
people inhabiting the Abor country, is deeply inter
esting. The roads are apparently such as are to be
found throughout Bhutan, or the eastern Himalayas,
— mere tracks rising over successive spurs, and drop
ping again into the flats on the river border, precisely
as do the majority of native tracks in all mountain
regions. The region of the falls below Gyala Sin-
dong appears to present the chief break in their con
tinuity. The falls are very sacred, and the bourne of
many a devout pilgrimage. Clouds of misty spray rise
into the clear atmosphere above them, and it is said
that a rainbow ever spans the valley. Those who

TIBET 219
have seen the valleys of Bhutan (the Tista and the
Monas) can well imagine the wild magnificence of
Brahmaputra valley scenery where the river rounds
the Himalayas on the east. A dense sub-tropical
jungle, rich with every variety of tree fern and
bamboo, stretches up the hillsides to the limits of
more open spacing, and a more stunted growth of
rhododendron and oak. Towering above all are the
eternal snows and the everlasting silence of the ice
fields. But there is nothing formidable (so far as
we can tell) in this route. The grades seem to be
easy, and the villages on the flats have often a mile
of valley between themselves and the stream. There
are no high passes to surmount. It is a gradual rise
from the plains of Assam (500 feet) to the highlands
of Lhasa (11,600 feet), and in those good times when
the last relics of savage barbarism shall give place to
that interchange of commercial rights which is, after
all, the best guarantee of international peace (a guar
antee founded on mutual interest), it will be realised
that this is the natural highway from India to Tibet
and western China, and we shall have a Tibetan
branch of the Assam railway, and a spacious hotel
for sightseers and sportsmen at the falls. This pros
pect is not more visionary than twenty-five years ago
was that of a modern hotel at the Victoria Falls of
the Zambesi; or the splendid establishments which
will soon overlook the falls of Iguazu on the Parana,
in South America. But the people of the Old World
move slowly, and it may be long yet ere we can ex-

220 TIBET
tend our route from India to the highlands of eastern
Asia. Meanwhile we have only to record our ignorance.
Perhaps not one geographer in twenty has ever heard
of this approach to Tibet, and even now we have no
accurate survey of it. Kinthup could not make one
for reasons which will be explained. I have said that
the tightest place of all in the valley is undoubtedly
that which narrows to the falls a few miles below
Sindong. Beyond the monastery of Pema Koi Chung
Kinthup and his companion could not proceed on the
right bank, so they retraced their steps in order to
strike the river on the left bank below the falls; a
considerable detour had to be made, which passed
through the provincial town of Tongjuk jong, some
fifteen miles to the northeast of the point of the river
bend. Here was a Jongpen, a Tibetan official of some
dignity, and here was Kinthup sold (literally sold) by
the Chinese lama, who returned to his own country,
selling the Indian survey department at the same time
as Kinthup.
On the 24th of May, 1881, the lama left Kinthup in
this strange plight, and it was not till the 7th of March,
1882, that the latter succeeded in making his escape
from domestic drudgery, which was little suited to his
fancy. Constantly crossing and re-crossing the river,
sometimes on one bank and sometimes on the other,
the explorer (who had lost most of his instruments)
continued his journey southward. Such bridges as
exist are described as composed of a single rope with

TIBET 221
a loop suspended therefrom. The traveller who
crosses hauls himself across whilst lying suspended in
the loop with his legs twisted over the rope. It is a
crude method, and with the exception of the late Gen
eral Woodthorpe (who left no travelling artifice un
tried), I know of no European who has experimented
with it. At a monastery (where " fifteen nuns and
thirty priests were allowed to live together ") Kinthup
heard that he was being hunted by his former master,
the Jongpen. He " ran to the monastery, and bowed
thrice at the foot of the great lama, and told him all
that had happened and the cause of his flight from the
Jongpen." In reply the lama asked where he was
going, and whether he had parents living. Kinthup
said "he was on a pilgrimage, and had no parents.
He begged the lama not to hand him over to his pur
suers." The end of it all was that the lama paid fifty
rupees for him and he was a slave once again. After
four or five months, however, he obtained leave for a
pilgrimage. About twelve miles down the river he
hid his things (compass, etc., such as he had managed
to retain) in the jungle, and then set about executing
the commission which had been entrusted to him by
Captain Harman, i. e., the floating of logs down the
stream. He prepared five hundred logs and hid them
in a cave, carrying them there on his back, and re
turned to the lama at Marpung.
From Marpung, which is fifty miles below the Brah
maputra bend, Kinthup (on the plea of another pil
grimage) made a remarkable journey to Lhasa via

222 TIBET
Tsari. Tsari is the chief town of a district south of
the Brahmaputra and not far from Chetang on that
river. It was important, because it proved that there
is a direct route from the Brahmaputra valley at
Marpung to Lhasa without following the river. He
returned once more from Lhasa by another route.
Following the China route to Giambo, he struck off
southeast through the Kongbu valley (where he found
a rich soil and big villages) to the Brahmaputra, and
again made his way to his old friend the lama at Pema
Koichen. For nearly a year more he continued in
service, and was then set free by his master, who com
plimented him on his devoutness as a good pilgrim.
Making his way to Bepung he found his logs, and at
last started them floating down the stream; but alas,
too late. The gallant Harman had died meanwhile
(literally worn out by his own unresting energy), and
the logs floated unmarked and unowned into the broad
bosom of the great river of Assam. But the purpose
they were to serve was attained in another way. With
almost pathetic devotion to his work, the explorer
turned southward to see if he could not reach India
himself by the river route. All that we know of the
valley has been gleaned from his remarkable experi
ences. He reached a place called Ohlet, not far from
Miri Padam, and there his career was stopped by the
obstinate and pigheaded persistence of local savage
officials who allow no strange tracks to be made over
their road to India. There was no special difficulty
in reaching this point, but he was now beyond the

TIBET 223
indefinite boundary of Tibet, in the land of semi-naked
savages, albeit these same savages knew very well how
to trade with India. There is no open door where they
are concerned. Just as Krishna had been turned back
from Rima, so was Kinthup turned from Miri Padam.
Once again had he to retrace his steps to Lhasa en
route for Darjiling, where he finally arrived after
further vicissitudes in November, 1884, — four years
after he set out on his quest. This is but one instance
out of many of the strange persistency with which the
native explorer will stick to his work. Time is nothing
to him, and the same characteristic of dogged obsti
nacy which distinguishes the Mongolian character in
general, and the Tibetan in particular, has been turned
to most excellent account by those who train explorers
for Asiatic research in India. With the exception of
the thirty-five miles or so intervening between Assam
and the central mart (a very considerable one) of
Miri Padam, the course of the Brahmaputra has been
traced from its source to India, and as far as the great
bend southwards it is known not to one but to several
Indian surveyors. It is impossible to follow their
experiences in detail. We can but take an instance or
two here and there of the unravelment of some spe
cially complicated geographical knot.
So far we have been dealing with eastern Tibet;
we will now take a cursory glance at the course of
those explorations beyond the Himalayas which occu
pied much of the latter end of the nineteenth century,
and which have resulted in the map of Tibet as it is

224 TIBET
now presented to us. This map (usually attributed to
General Walker, R. E., Surveyor-General of India)
has been corrected up to 1899, and although far from
perfect, there is very little indeed that could be added
to it since that date. It will be apparent at a glance
that we know a great deal more of southern Tibet
(that part of Tibet which it is most useful that we
should know) than we know of the central and north
ern Chang-tang. But the blank spaces of the map to
a certain extent indicate blank spaces in nature. There
is really little that is important that we can know about
the northern Chang-tang. It is, in a sense, one of the
best explored parts of Tibet. A whole company of
distinguished European explorers (as will be hereafter
narrated) have struck into that blank space from the
west and the north, and one reason why it is not filled
up with topographical details is the want of such
details, at any rate the want of features sufficiently
marked to render them important in a map on so small
a scale. On the other hand, in the south, where we find a
fairly good show of topography, not a single European
has ventured far since the days of Hue to the date of
the Younghusband mission. The mapping, as we have
it, is almost entirely the result of native exploration
in geographical interests. About the middle of last
century the work of trans-Himalayan exploration was
taken seriously in hand. General Walker, Basevi,
Montgomerie, Trotter, Tanner, Woodthorpe, and Har
man are a few of the names of those who supported

TIBET 225
this work with all the scientific energy that a life of
enterprise and devotion to geographical pursuits had
fostered in them. When we read the marvellous rec
ords (till lately branded as " strictly confidential " by
the government of India) of those patient, painstaking,
unresting native explorers who had been trained to use
certain simple instruments to perfection, we must
always remember who was behind them. They were
the agents, but theirs was not the plan. They form
(together with another most useful band who have
given us most of what we know of the northwestern
frontier, and of the hinterland of India even to the
border of Russia) a very remarkable group of Indian
employees, — a staff of " intelligence " workmen such
as probably no other country in the world possesses.
They have been as useful in Africa almost as in Asia.
Skilful, faithful, persistent, and cheap, there is no
where that they will not venture, and no physical diffi
culty of mountain or desert that they will not face.
Although northern Tibet and Mongolia have been
traversed by some of them, — notably by Krishna,
whose marvellous record of five years of adventure
in these northern lands ere he descended into eastern
Tibet is one continued story of persistent effort and
final success (except that he was unable to bridge the
short interval between Rima and Assam), inasmuch
as he preserved his instruments and his records and
produced a capital map of the route he followed, —
still southern Tibet has been their special field of
action, and it is to these men that we owed such knowl-
15

226 TIBET
edge of the Brahmaputra valley as we possessed
before the late mission. No European has assisted
them excepting so far as the surveyors of the Hima
layas have fixed for them by triangulation a number
of the remote peaks (even including points in the Kuen
Lun north of Tibet) which have been their guiding
points in the field, and references by means of which
the final record of their own surveys has been pieced
together. Various have been the artifices whereby
these explorers have effected their purpose. Instru
ments have been concealed beneath the false bottoms
of boxes containing merchandise and tea. Their daily
records of distance and bearings have been written in
verse, and recited as a Buddhist poem. Then clothes
have been made useful by a dozen different devices,
and in their hands these pious pilgrims have carried
their Buddhist rosaries, counting their paces and drop
ping a bead as every one hundred or one thousand
has been completed. For Himalayan work they have
been mostly men of the hills, Gurkhas, Tibetans, lamas
of Sikkim or Bhutan. Elsewhere on the frontiers of
India they have been less of explorers and more of
survey specialists, good topographers, drawn (often)
from the ranks of the Indian army, but always specially
adapted by their nationality for the region which they
have been instructed to map. It is quite a mistake to
suppose that we know nothing about Tibet and Lhasa.
We knew almost as much as could be told by any trav
eller many years ago, and there is nothing new in some
of the tales which we have recently heard. One excep-

Shigatze. from the Fort looking East

TIBET 227
tion, however, must be made to the rule that natives
who have visited Lhasa in our interests (and Lhasa
has been visited countless times) are men of the hills.
The exception is in favour of a Bengali babu, — Sarat
Chandra Das, — who accompanied a Tibetan lama of
the Indian Survey to Lhasa, and, being himself an
advanced Tibetan scholar, a student of Buddhism, and
a writer, has given us information which is of special
value. But the Bengali was not a geographer. He
has added nothing to our map knowledge of the coun
try. He did not even know for certain by what pass
he entered Tibet, till it was pointed out to him by Mr.
Douglas Freshfield lately; and he cannot rank with
the systematic explorers and map makers of the coun
try. He is, however, a living witness to the fact that
a certain amount of enterprise (combined with much
learning) is to be found in the ranks of the Bengalis.
As a rule, the best explorers have been men of action
rather than of the pen. It has sometimes been difficult
to extract information from them which, having been
absorbed in the course of daily routine, does not appear
to them to possess much significance. They cannot quite
grasp the spirit of curiosity which prompts the Euro
pean to seek after truth in such unlovely regions as lie
north of the Himalayas or west of the Indian frontier.
To a certain extent it is necessary to associate the
west of Tibet (the Indus districts adjoining Ladak)
with the Brahmaputra valley, as much of the best
exploration surveys have started from the west rather
than from Himalayan stations.

228 TIBET
One of the earliest was also one of the best, for it
opened up to us a new era in trans-Himalayan know
ledge. It revealed for the first time something of the
nature of that central watershed which separates the
rivers of the north, the upper Indus, and the upper
Brahmaputra, from each other, or rather from the in
tervening lake land which gives birth to the Sutlej.
Pundit Nain Sing was a schoolmaster in Kumaou
when he first mastered the rudiments of exploratory
surveying, and no explorer who ever lived made better
use of his knowledge. His first Tibetan venture was
as early as 1865, and his point of departure was Khat
mandu, the capital of Nepal. The frontier town of
Nepal, on the direct route to Tibet, is Kirong, a town
where there is always jealous guard kept on the Tibetan
road by Chinese officials. The governor of Kirong
detected weak points in the story told by the pundit,
and absolutely declined to let him pass. Other routes
across the Himalayas to the Manasarawar lakes were
tried, and found to be impracticable. The pundit
changed his disguise, — added a pigtail and adopted
the role of a Ladaki, — and then made friends with
a merchant who borrowed money of him and failed
to keep his promise to see him across the border. But
by luck the merchant's relations proved better men
than the merchant himself. The pundit (Nain Sing,
to call him by his right name) managed to persuade
them that he was an honest trader, and escaping the
inquisitive scrutiny of the Governor of Kirong, he
finally succeeded (in August, 1865) in crossing the

TIBET 229
boundary, and reached Tadam on the Brahmaputra.
Tadam is a well known halting place on the great
road (tlie same Junglam which we have followed east
of Lhasa) between Ladak and China, where there
is a great monastery. Here he feigned sickness, and
stayed behind his party, for he was travelling in the
wrong direction for Lhasa, and here he had the good
luck to fall in with a bona fide Ladaki merchant from
Kashmir, who took him with him eastwards to the
town of Janglache. From this point to Shigatze
(eighty-five miles) the great river is navigable for
the Tibetan wicker-and-skin craft which they call
boats, and it is usually by river rather than by road
that this part of the journey is accomplished. This
method of progression, however, would not suit a
route survey, and Nain Sing stuck to the road. From
the end of October to the 22d of December the party
remained at Shigatze, where Nain Sing interviewed
the Grand Lama of the Tashilunpo monastery, which
lies about half a mile to the southwest of the city.
It is worth recording that the Lama, in 1865, was a
boy of eleven, who did not evince any extra intelli
gence. From Shigatze the Junglam ceases to follow
the river, but runs south to Gyangtse, which place is
therefore on the Chinese highroad.
In the middle of December they crossed the
Kharola mountains and passed by the Yamdokcho
(or Scorpion) Lake, where Nain Sing nearly finished
his career at the hands of robbers. This was the
first view that was ever obtained of the topography

230 TIBET
of that lake and its surroundings.1 Nain Sing natu
rally, from his point of view, supported the Chinese
legend of a large island in the centre, with hills ris
ing to two thousand or three thousand feet above the
lake level. We know now that it is not an island
but a peninsula connected on the southwest of the
lake with the mainland. For some years after Nain
Sing's visit to Lhasa the theory of the central island
was maintained, although Captain Montgomerie ( Nain
Sing's instructor) was always sceptical on the subject.
Crossing the Khambala mountain pass, Nain Sing de
scended rapidly into the valley of the Brahmaputra
at Khambabarche. Thence by boat to Chusul village,
and from Chusul, following the Kyichu, he reached
Lhasa on the ioth of January, 1866. This first modern
journey of a British subject to Lhasa was performed
in the middle of winter, and it is remarkable in many
ways. Nain Sing's description of Lhasa is full of
interest, nor have any very essential additions ever
been made to it by subsequent native visitors. At
Lhasa, however, his disguise was penetrated by two
Kashmiris, — who kept his secret well, — and he had
the additional bad luck to encounter the Governor of
Kirong. He was in great straits, too, for money, and
altogether he was thankful when his merchant friends
were ready to return to Ladak in April. They re
ceived him as a member of their company with much
cordiality. The pundit was a favourite wherever he
1 All this country has now been scientifically mapped by the surveyors
of the late mission.

TIBET 231
went. His popularity carried him far. In this in
stance he had his expenses paid over the return jour
ney to Manasarawar (Darshan), where he encountered
a friend who advanced him money. After some fur
ther adventures he recrossed the Himalayas by one
of the western passes, and reached the headquarters
of the Indian Survey in October, after an absence of
eighteen months.
This journey was an invaluable incentive to enter
prise on the part of later explorers. It opened out
a possibility not only of reaching Tibet, but of map
ping that country on scientific principles. It showed
what was wanting in the technical arrangements for
the work of an explorer, and led to new devices and
new methods. Tibetans always make use of a rosary
and a prayer-wheel (mani chuskor) , which latter con
sists of a hollow cylindrical copper box, which revolves
round a spindle, one end of which forms the handle.
The cylinder is turned by means of a piece of copper
attached to a string. A slight twist of the hand makes
the cylinder revolve, and each revolution represents
one repetition of the prayer (Om mane padme hum),
which is written on a scroll inside, or engraved on the
copper outside. It was clear that these ritualistic in
struments might (with a little adaptation) be turned
to useful account. The pundit carried both. His
prayer-wheel had within it long strips of paper on
which to record his bearings and distances, and the
rosary was made up with one hundred beads (instead
of one hundred and eight, which is the correct num-

232 TIBET
ber), with each tenth bead a little larger than the
others. The prayer-wheel was made to cover obser
vations with the prismatic compass for bearings, whilst
the rosary checked off the paces by hundreds as he
went. Latitudes were taken with a sextant, and pre
sented some difficulty. The artificial horizon was made
with mercury placed in the ordinary wooden bowl,
which every Tibetan carries. These bowls are made
of very hard wood (not grown in Tibet), and some
times are highly ornamented, and fetch large sums.
The prayer-wheel was found to be exempt from ex
amination by custom-house or other officials. This
immunity led to the introduction of a special form of
prayer-wheel (containing a compass) as an item of
proper survey equipment under circumstances where
prayer-wheels were recognised. There were gradually
adopted other devices also, which all tended to simplify
the work of the trans-Himalayan explorer, if not to
aid his devotions. This first trip over the Tibetan
border resulted in a route survey of twelve hundred
miles, defining the mountain route from Khatmandu
to Tadum, and the great China road from Gartok
(on the Indus) to Lhasa, and fixing the course of
the Brahmaputra from its source to its junction with
the Kyichu. It is a notable record in the annals of
Tibetan exploration, for the work done was excellent
throughout. The subsequent survey by Major Ryder
confirms its general accuracy.

The Southern Watershed of the Brahmaputra

On the Brahmaputra

CHAPTER XI
Nain Sing's Surveys in Southern Tibet — Krishna — Ugyen —
The Explorer G.M.N.— The Gold Fields of Thok Jalung
— The Source of the Indus and Brahmaputra
IT is often a little difficult to obtain a really graphic
and intelligible account of the country explored
from the native surveyors who explore it. They be
come so engrossed with the details of their work that
they forget to use their eyes and make those general
observations on the people and the scenery about them
which is a most important objective of their journeyings,
Nain Sing, however, is an exception to the general rule,
and from him we have obtained a very fairly compre
hensive view of the valley of the upper Brahmaputra
and the great China road which follows it. As has
already been pointed out, the Brahmaputra and the
Indus start from nearly the same point, the inter
vening watershed between their sources being called
the Mariam La, in about east longitude 82 °, not very
far east of the Manasarawar Lake. The great road
from the crossing of the Mariam La does not closely
follow the river at first, but is never more than ten
miles or so north of it. The upper reaches of the river
are hedged in on the south by a gigantic glacier-
streaked range which for the first fifty miles of it evi-

234 TIBET
dently furnishes the chief water supply. All this upper
part of the river (above the junction of the Charta
Tsanpo) is known to the people of Nari and Ladak
as Tamjan Khamba (horse's mouth), and the first
point where road and river meet is at the Tamjan
stage. Here, on 7th June, Nain Sing found the river
was much swollen, its current rapid, and its waters
turbid. The surroundings were wild and desolate.
Only small patches of cultivation existed in the imme
diate neighbourhood of the successive stages. There
is nothing attractive or promising about this part of
the valley. Two or three great affluents swirl down
from the central lake district on the north, between
Tamjan and the Charta Tsanpo junction, which is
eighty miles below the great Tadum monastery, a well
known halting place on the river. All these northern
tributaries bring down clear water with them, and
some of them are of considerable size. For another
hundred miles or so the road and the river separate,
touching again near Janglache, a large market town
13,800 feet above sea. From Janglache to Shigatze
(eighty miles) the river is navigable. Near Jang
lache (about twenty miles below it) an enormous
tributary flows in from the north called Raka Tsanpo,
which is not shown on the map, but of which the
course has been traced for a considerable distance.1
Judging from the great size of these northern
tributaries, and the number of them, there certainly
1 Major Ryder's survey shows this river to rise close to the Brahma
putra, and to flow for about a hundred and fifty miles parallel to it.

TIBET 235
seems good reason for supposing that part of the
central lake district lies within the Brahmaputra
basin. There is no other way of accounting for their
volume. The southern tributaries from the Hima
layan glacier are comparatively insignificant. The
Charta Tsanpo from the north, to which we have re
ferred, was two hundred paces wide in the month of
May, at which time of the year it was but very slightly
frozen, with ice clinging to its edges. Nain Sing con
tinued his survey by road from Janglache to Shigatze,
crossing a fair-sized southern tributary. At Shigatze
the river and road meet again. Here is the junction
with the Nyangchu from Gyangtse, the river which
has been followed by the late expedition from the
Tibetan frontier to Gyangtse. As already explained,
the post road leaves the river at Shigatze, passing
southward through Gyangtse over the intervening
mountains to Khambabarche, Chushul, and Lhasa.
Between Shigatze and Khambabarche the Tibetans say
that the river is too rapid for boats, and indeed navi
gation with Tibetan craft seems to be rather perilous
anywhere. Captain Montgomerie reckons from Nain
Sing's measurements that the Brahmaputra at Tadum 1
(just below the junction of its first great tributary)
must be one half wider than the Ganges at Hardwar.
The main river below this point is never fbrdable, nor
are the tributaries from the north during summer.
There is not a single wooden bridge over the upper
Brahmaputra, and no twig, rope, or cane bridge either.
1 Tradum in Ryder's map.

236 TIBET
Iron suspension bridges have been made at Janglache
and elsewhere, but they are all dangerous to use and
the Tibetans prefer boats. Navigation at 13,500 feet
above sea is unique, and must be regarded as a record
for the world. Lake Titicaca, on the borders of Peru
and Bolivia, which is systematically navigated, is only
12,500 feet above sea, but there navigation is well de
veloped. Montgomerie, after a very careful estimate of
the volume of the many affluents, and a comparison of
Nain Sing's observations with those of Turner, reckons
the discharge of the river just below its junction with
the Lhasa River (Kyi-chu) to be about 35,000 cubic
feet per second in the low season, or about seven
times that of the Ganges at Hardwar (where the river
leaves the Himalayas) under similar conditions. Prac
tically, then, it is to Nain Sing that we must accord
the credit of proving that the Brahmaputra of Tibet is
the same river as the Brahmaputra of Assam, for no
other river channel issuing southwards, to the east of
the Himalayas, contains this amount of water. Tak
ing it for all in all the valley of the Brahmaputra above
Shigatze affords fairly easy opportunity for travelling
between Kashmir and Lhasa. The great rolling stone-
dusted plains, in which the road often loses itself, pre
sent no great physical obstacle. There are no passes
east of the Mariam La till after passing Gyangtse ; but
there is a lamentable want of grass or forage for
animals. There are a few large towns, about which
a very fair spread of agriculture is maintained; but
the large towns (strikingly picturesque, with dominat-

Alung Gangri Mountains

TIBET 237
ing monasteries and white lines of stone-built dwell
ings climbing the slopes of hills) are at long intervals,
and the ordinary post towns on the great trunk road
are not equal to any greater demand than that of a
passing caravan. Nevertheless a considerable amount
of traffic yearly passes along that road, and it is one
to be reckoned amongst the world's great trade high
ways. The altitude is nowhere excessive; it is often
subject to unpleasant warmth as well as rigorous cold.
We shall have to refer to Nain Sing's journeys again ;
but meanwhile it will be well to turn our attention to
the western end of this China road (the Janglam)
within that part of Tibet which is watered by the
upper Indus, and which is not really of much less
importance than is the long lateral valley of the Brah
maputra. Nearly coincident with the despatch of
Nain Sing on the Brahmaputra quest was that of other
explorers to the upper Indus, who left with instruc
tions to seek out the source of the river, and to report
on the gold mines. A glance at the map at once
reveals the main features of southwestern Tibet.
From the remarkable hydrographic centre which is
indicated by the Manasarawar lake system, and the
great group of sacred peaks to the northwest domi
nated by Kailas, the Indus starts westward to Ladak ;
the Sutlej starts southwest to join the Indus in the
plains of India; and one of the largest affluents of
the Ganges starts southeastward for the Bay of Bengal.
The bleak and desolate district of Nari Khorsum,
through which flows the Sutlej, as well as the eastern

238 TIBET
branches of the Indus, were not known to us fifty
years ago. The veteran explorer, Richard Strachey
(afterwards president of the Royal Geographical So
ciety), and his brother Henry were the first actually
to demonstrate the physical characteristics of the coun
try surrounding Manasarawar, although Moorcroft
and Hydar Hearsey had crossed the Himalayas in
1812, whilst other surveyors (notably Godwin Austen)
first approached the Tibetan frontier from the Kashmir
dependency of Ladak, and, after fixing the position
of the great Kailas with many other peaks to the
north, mapped the region of the Pangong Lake on
the Tibetan border. Traders passed to and fro across
the Kumaon group of passes to Gartok on the Indus,
and Totling on the Sutlej, or else made their way by
Shipki to Nari Khorsum, but nothing like systematic
exploration of these regions was attempted until Mont
gomerie took the matter in hand with his gallant band
of trans-Himalayan explorers. The pundit Nain Sing
and his companions had already visited the trading
centre, Gartok, in 1867, when he was detailed with
two other explorers to work northward into the upper
Indus valleys, in order to connect Gartok with the
regular Ladak surveys, and to explore the region of
the gold and salt mines. In June, 1867, they started
from Badrinath and made their way by the Mana
pass (18,570 feet), north of that place, into the Sutlej
valley. The Chinese officials on the frontier had given
the usual amount of trouble. From their lofty eleva
tion in the Himalayas they had looked down on the

The late Nain Sing, C. I. E., Survey of Indi

TIBET 239
plains of Hindustan, and had condescended to admit
that the country was fit to trade with. They declared
the pass open, and they set about searching the bag
gage of all traders as they passed to make certain of
their bona fide character. However, in this instance
they missed the explorers' instruments, and the little
band got over safely. At Totling they crossed the
Sutlej by a remarkable iron bridge of seventy-six feet
span suspended forty feet above the water, and then
passed over the watershed between the Sutlej and the
Indus by the Bogola (19,200 feet), continuing over
the Gugtila (19,500 feet) to a vast desolate plateau, the
home of antelope and multitudinous wild-fowl. Yet
another pass had to be negotiated before they dropped
into an eastern affluent of the Indus and encountered
a Tibetan camp. Here they nearly came to grief.
The head man not only disbelieved their story, which
represented them to be harmless Bisahari traders, but
he actually pointed out with great accuracy who they
really were! Nain Sing, however, was equal to the
occasion. He was a man of extraordinary nerve as
well as of great powers of persuasion. Bribery helped
him through the difficulty, and with his smooth tongue
and an open hand he managed to get leave for him
self to proceed, and at the same time detached one
of his survey companions on a separate exploration.
The third pundit had had enough of it, and he was
left behind.
Making a long march to avoid further complica
tions, Nain Sing found himself at the foot of the

24o TIBET
Chomorang la (18,600 feet), the last pass which sep
arated him from the gold-fields; but the snow fell so
heavily (even in August) that it was three or four
days before he could push his way across and descend
upon those historic diggings which have proved such
a source of wealth through untold ages. Here at
last was Thok Jalung. The miners' camp was pitched
in a broad, desolate, red plain, and the sound of sing
ing came from the midst of it to greet the pundit as
he approached. The miners and their families in those
days (the Thok Jalung mines have since been deserted)
were a happy-hearted people. The head of the mines
was, however, most suspicious, and not even a letter
of introduction which the wily pundit had extracted
from the last suspicious head man, or a present of
the best Indian tobacco, soothed his objections, until
coral ornaments were displayed to his wife. These
were irresistible, and although the pundit had to drive
a very bad bargain in his role as trader with these
Lhasa officials in the matter of ladies' outfit, he suc
ceeded in winning his way with them, and establish
ing himself as the friend of the family. Never was
his power of ingratiation shown to such advantage,
for the result is a graphic description of these remark
able Tibetan mines such as no other explorer has ever
been capable of attaining. In a wide expanse of red-
brown upland the black tents of the Tibetan miners
were massed without order or arrangement. Around
the plain were bare and desolate mountains, with snow
on their summits at the time of the pundit's visit, and

TIBET 241
not a vestige of a green thing in the whole dreary
landscape. The altitude of the camp was about 16,330
feet above sea. The tent of the head man was made
of black yak's hair. In it were bales of wool for shawl-
making (pushm), leather, packages of tea, strings of
dried yak beef, dried fruit, and domestic utensils. On
the poles were hung ancient matchlocks and a sword.
From the fact that this chief wore the red lama robe
(with a brown felt hat), Nain Sing was inclined to
believe that he was a lama, and his suspicions were
strengthened by observing images, brass bells, books,
pictures painted on cloth, and other ritualistic prop
erty piled up behind his seat. But he never ascertained
the fact for certain. The chief's time was mostly
passed in the congenial occupations of smoking a
silver-mounted Nepalese hookah, and in drinking tea
or "chung" (whisky). At the door of the tent was
tied one of those gigantic black Lhasa dogs, of a
breed which Nain Sing at once recognised by his
deep jowl and white chest mark. These Tibetan
mastiffs are unpleasantly savage. Sudak Mingmar
(the miner chief) was a shrewd observer. It is
doubtful whether he ever believed in the pundit. He
examined his box with great care, and asked how it
was that he came to have such a good box; but he
was not sharp enough to detect the secret compart
ment which contained the sextant.
Gold was worked from the alluvial soil by digging
shallow trenches (about ten feet deep — as deep as
the Tibetan workmen could get with their long-
16

242 TIBET
handled spades) and throwing out the earth to either
side. A small stream was introduced into the gpld
pit (diverted from the neighbouring hills) and used
for washing. The water was dammed up with a
sloping channel of escape. A cloth was spread at
the bottom of the channel, and kept in position by a
number of stones, which made the bottom lumpy and
uneven. One man sprinkled earth over the channel,
whilst a second drove down the water by means of
a leather bag. The lighter soil was carried away, but
the gold sediment remained deposited in the uneven
places, collected in the cloth. The yield of gold was
large and the finds occasionally heavy. The pundit
saw one nugget which he estimated to be about two
pounds weight. The diggers maintained that they
could always tell at once when the soil contained
gold. All round Thok Jalung (indeed all the way to
Lhasa across the Chang) are the remnants of ancient
gold mines now disused and abandoned. Thok Jalung
itself is now exhausted. The gold industry in that
part of Tibet seems to have been incapable of surviv
ing the enormous taxes imposed by the Chinese. Most
of the miners hail from the Chung province around
Shigatze. In spite of the intense cold the diggers pre
ferred the winter for work, as the excavations stood
so much better under the action of frost. The cold
is much intensified by wind, and the tents of the dig
gers were generally pitched seven or eight feet below
the ground level for shelter. Throughout these ele
vated regions the nomad inhabitants usually sleep

TIBET 243
whilst resting on their knees and elbows, with all the
clothes they can get piled on to their backs; and in
some parts of western Tibet they have been observed
to work at their digging, scratching up the soil into
heaps, in much the same attitude. It was this, and
the probable use that they made of antelope horns
as instruments for scratching the soil, that originated
the ancient fable of gold-digging ants protected by
dogs to which Herodotus alludes.
The gold-digging industry must be inconceivably
ancient in the western part of Tibet. Ancient mines
exist in numbers to the east of Thok Jalung and
throughout the Chang; to the northeast of the Aru
Tso (lake) there are many square miles of alluvial dig
gings, which are worked even now. The gold of the
Jalung mines was conveyed to Pekin by regular offi
cial caravans which visited the fields every year for
this purpose until the mines were abandoned. These
particular mines may have lasted some twenty-five
years, or possibly rather more, before they were
definitely left as unprofitable. The climate and alti
tude proved no obstacle to working them.
In spite of the desolate nature of the surrounding
hills there is a great deal of coarse grass to be found,
and enormous troops of wild animals, but no wood
or timber. Water, too, is not very abundant. It is
more probable that the mines were closed on account
of the heavy imports levied on the miners than for any
other reason. There is quartz in the neighbourhood;
the surrounding hills are decorated with the mystic

244 TIBET
sentence " Om-mane-padme-hum," picked out in white
quartz stones and repeated on every point of vantage
in the landscape. At the time of Nain Sing's visit
(1867) gold was worth thirty rupees per ounce in the
camp. This visit to the gold workings of Thok
Jalung was most useful, for we get therefrom the
only authentic account of Tibetan processes of gold-
working which we possess. The methods employed
at Thok Jalung are the methods employed throughout
the Tibetan highlands, and we see at once how very
elementary they are. The gold which from time im
memorial has enriched the Pekin treasury, and which,
in smaller quantities, has found its way to India and
to Kashgar, is all obtained from alluvial soil. There
is no deep mining (i. e., no shaft sinking) to be found
in any of the thousands of disused workings which
are scattered over the surface of the Chang. The gold
has all been taken from alluvial, or surface, soil, and
it has all been washed out by the very crudest of
washing processes. At a moderate computation there
must have been as much gold left behind on the sur
face of the land as has ever been put into the market,
and it can only require the application of scientific
methods to make it available. But it is impossible
without scientific examination to decide whether it is
there in paying quantities, estimated by the cost of
working in such a country and such a climate. The
Tibetan miner represents cheap labour. It is notori
ous that he never grows rich, — in fact he often
starves ; but that again is no criterion of the value of

TIBET 245
his labour to his employers. So far as the mining
districts of Jalung are concerned, the difficulty of
reaching them is not to be estimated by the pundit's
account of his own experiences.
There are other ways of getting to them, and to
the borax fields which lie east of them. The Tibetan
frontier town of Rudok, at the eastern end of the
Pangong Lake, is (as we shall see presently) on one
of the highroads from Leh to Lhasa and not 150
miles from our frontier. From Rudok to Jalung is,
perhaps, another 150 miles of route, involving but
one considerable pass ; and from Jalung onwards the
pundit ascertained that there was a fairly open road
by the Ghalaring Cho to the Brahmaputra valley,
following one of the great northern affluents of that
river. One of the best of Nain Sing's performances was
his first exploration of Central Tibet (the lake region)
from the west to Lhasa, — a route survey which gives
us most that we know of that remarkable region.
Bower, Littledale, Deasy, and Rawling have also added
much to our knowledge of the Chang, but their sphere
of Tibetan exploration belongs to another chapter, and
we must turn again to the west and south.
On the pundit's return from the gold-fields he fell
in with his survey companions who had exploited the
upper Indus and mapped its upper branches, meeting
with no special opposition (when once over the
border) but running considerable risks from the bands
of robbers who infested the country. Fortunately

246 TIBET
" Pundit No. 2 " was a tall and powerfully built man,
and he was well able to defend himself ; otherwise, on
one occasion at least, he would have been murdered
on the banks of the Indus. So far we are indebted to
these plucky agents of Montgomerie for all we know of
the districts of Majin, Bongthol, and for most of Nari
Khorsum. Between Sikkim and Lhasa, and northward to the
Tengri Nor Lake, it will be apparent from the map
that we have more complete topography than we
possess elsewhere to fill up the map of Tibet, and for
this we are indebted to a large number of native
explorers. Lhasa has been frequently visited. The
best map which we possess of it is that made by that
grand explorer, Krishna (A. K.), whose performances
fully equal those of the pundit Nain Sing, and who car
ried his route surveys so far afield that he anticipated
nearly all the subsequent efforts of European adven
turers. He traversed much of the ground which has
been more recently (and perhaps more fully) illus
trated by Prjevalski, Rockhill, and others, and a full
examination of his work is unnecessary here. We have
already referred to a small section of it in south
eastern Tibet. Perhaps the most useful additions to
our knowledge of this (by far the most important)
region to us have been from the work of the explorer
" G. M. N.," who mapped the Brahmaputra from the
meridian of Lhasa to its great bend ; and of the lama
U. G. (or Ugyen), who worked with the Bengali
Chandra Das between the passes north of Sikkim and

TIBET 247
Lhasa. Chandra Das (as I have pointed out) is him
self no surveyor, but the lama Ugyen not only com
pleted a very large amount of useful work on an
independent excursion, but has added a good deal of in
teresting detail to the accounts of Lhasa given by Nain
Sing in the first instance, and by Krishna and Chandra
Das subsequently. As I compiled his reports for him,
I do not hesitate to say that there is much valuable
material in them which has never yet seen the light.
The lama (like Chandra Das) was an employee of the
Bengal educational department, but he joined the
headquarters of the Indian Survey for technical in
struction under Colonel Tanner. He entered Tibet by
the Donkhya la, west of the Tangla (the pass used by
the late expedition in the summer of 1883), and first
travelled westward to Khamba jong, now well known
as the first advanced post of the Tibetan mission, in
order to secure his footing with the local officials.
During this journey he was accompanied by his
wife, and he found that it was much easier to main
tain his role of a pilgrim under such conditions. From
Khamba jong he retraced his steps to the Tha sang
monastery (south of Bamtso), and then struck out
northwest for Gyangtse. This part of his journey is
interesting, as it illustrates a second route from the
Sikkim frontier to Gyangtse, parallel to that taken by
our force following the valley of the Nyangchu, but
separated therefrom by an intervening watershed to
the east. In some respects it appears to be a better
route, more thickly inhabited, and very full of local

248 TIBET
interest in the matter of monasteries and rock-cut
caves, about which Ugyen has many curious and child
ish legends to relate, — legends, however, which are
not at all more childish than those which may be heard
any day in more civilised centres. Open gravelly
plains and a fair amount of barley cultivation are the
chief features of this new route, which includes the
crossing of three minor spurs from the watershed on
the east, and finally of the pass across the watershed
itself, from whence Gyangtse may be seen surrounded
by orchards and gardens across an intervening waste
of gravel plain. The pass is the Pongong La (16,200
feet), and is described as very difficult. Crossing the
Nyangchu by a stone-built bridge three hundred
paces in length, Ugyen visited the old temple of Gy
angtse. It is nine storeys high and octagonal in shape.
On each storey in succession he found eight chapels or
sacred places, corresponding to the sides of the build
ing. At the top there were images or " cylindrical
figures." The roof is covered with plates of mixed
copper and gold, and from it are suspended bells
attached to chains. From here he could overlook the
market-place with its busy crowds. Gyangtse has now
been made familiar to us in the pages of our illustrated
journals. On the 24th of August he left Gyangtse and fol
lowed the course of the Nyangchu towards Shigatze.
This part of his journey lies through a valley already
described; but Ugyen adds more positive information
about the extent of cultivation in it. Continuous vii-

TIBET 249
lages, gardens, and barley fields formed the chief
features of the route, which, combined with the stu
pendous mountains on either side, and the blue waters
of the Nyangchu meandering gently near his path,
impressed even this unimpressionable Tibetan with its
beauty. The river is fed by innumerable streams, and
the whole wide expanse of plain is cultivated up to
Shigatze. Tashilumpo (described by Bogle and
- Turner) is, according to Ugyen, an enclosed position,
forming a sort of outwork to Shigatze itself. Nain
Sing calls it " a well-built monastery surrounded by
a wall, enclosing numerous houses and temples, about
a mile in circumference." There are upwards of three
thousand priests in residence. The Panchen Lama
(co-equal in dignity, or nearly so, with the Dalai
Lama of Lhasa) in Nain Sing's time was a boy of
eleven years of age. Bogle's account of the cheery,
hospitable individual, about forty years old, who rep
resented this high authority in his days, will be fresh
on the reader's memory. But this was not Ugyen's
first visit to Tashilumpo. He had been there in the
winter of 1881 with the Babu Chandra Das. On the
early morning of the 3d of December, 1881, in intense
cold, with a light wind blowing, the two weary trav
ellers approached the Jong. Chandra Das records
that he was " in high spirits," but " not so Ugyen : he
was ill and fretted fearfully; his appearance was re
pulsive, and his language to the Tang lung men, whose
ponies we rode, was most abusive,1 but they bore
1 Joumey to Lhasa and Central Tibet, p. 43.

250 TIBET
patiently with him." The lama (Ugyen) was the
harassed and hard-working surveyor; the Babu the
light-hearted observer. Of the two the lama went
furthest. But we owe much to the Babu for his
description of the social life and customs of the people.
He describes a " black-hat " dance which took place at
Tashilumpo in presence of the Grand Lama with
much more graphic power than he describes the place
itself. We are, however, on well trodden ground at
Tashilumpo and Shigatze, and we must move farther.
In August, 1883, the lama continued his surveys along
the southern banks of the Brahmaputra, passing
through well-cultivated and well-populated country,
with sweet valleys reaching from the southern moun
tains down to the river banks, to Tagh-tu-ka, where
there is a ferry and where the river valley road prac
tically ceases. At the junction of the Rongchu he
struck off southwest and followed that river to the
great Yamdok tso, or Palki lake. In the Rongchu
valley he found many celebrated monasteries, of which
the Rong cham chen is perhaps the chief. It is a culti
vated and well-peopled valley, — one of the " oases "
of Tibet. Nothing in the story of Tibetan exploration
appeals more strongly to the imagination than his
subsequent account of his survey of the Yamdok tso.
The weather was unpropitious ; thick mists enveloped
the mountain sides and hung over the surface of the
water; from the western shores of this vast lake a
mountainous peninsula projects northeastward into it,
connected with the mainland by two arms which them-

TIBET 251
selves enclose a second and smaller lake called the
Duma tso. One of these arms is a precipitous mountain
ridge called the Tag La, the sloping sides of which
descend so sharply to the water's edge as to bar all
access to the peninsula. The other arm forms an acces
sible link between the grass lands about Nagartse and
the towering mountains which are the central feature
of the projecting mass. They are margined, however,
with a^ cultivated border dotted with fishing villages,
fringing the purple sides of the hills with green, and
dividing them from the deep, blue waters of the lake.
Hidden in the dark recesses of the mountains is the
secret hermitage of Padna Sambhava. Ugyen made
his way right round the peninsula, meeting with hos
pitality from the people after much questioning and a
boisterous reception on the part of the huge Tibetan
dogs. Footsore and weary, he reached Samding on
the 29th of August, after losing his way and risking
his life amongst the rocky passages which overhung
the Duma tso. The Duma tso impressed him mightily ;
its deep, still waters embosomed amongst terrific cliffs
and precipices; the silence which hung over the stu
pendous crags encircling it, broken only by the rush
and roar of falling masses which ever and anon thun
dered down the mountain sides into the depths of the
lake; the legends of the demons and genii who inhab
ited the lake, and whose good will was daily propi
tiated by the people living around, — all these things
reduced him to a condition of superstitious awe and
reverence to which his usually phlegmatic nature was

252 TIBET
a stranger. The level of the Duma tso is five hundred
feet higher than that of the Yamdok tso (13,800 feet),
and it is said to be gradually rising. There is no ap
parent outlet, and the landslips to which Ugyen refers
must in time sensibly affect the lake level, so there is
a probability of truth in the suggestion. The supersti
tious' inhabitants believe in an eventual overflow which
will destroy all human life; hence their dread of the
lake and their constant endeavours to live on good terms
with its presiding demons. The belief in the change
of lake levels seems to pervade all Tibet, and is com
bined with strange legends of their shifting character.
There can be no doubt that the level varies consider
ably in the course of years, and that Lob Nor is not
the only lake which will eventually be proved to shift
its position as the ages pass.
From the Yamdok tso Ugyen struck off southwards
to explore another lake, — the Pho Mo Chang Tang
tso, — which presented a strong contrast to the
gloomy grandeur of the Yamdok tso. To the south
east he could see ( from the Yeh La) the snowy peaks
of Kulha Kangri and Menda piercing " the vault of
heaven like the dazzling spires of crystal chhortens "
(a chhorten being a solid masonry building of pagoda
form, frequently embellished with a gilt ball and cres
cent at the top, enclosing certain religious books and
stone engraved prayers which are placed in a recess
in the interior) " whilst the lake was surrounded by an
array of magnificent peaks such as my eyes never
before beheld." " There is a belt of gentle slopes

A Typical Tibetan Valley

TIBET 253
round the lake, dotted with Dokpa tents; a spacious
plateau extends to the northeast of it, along which the
road to Manda La lay." The name Pho mo (male and
female) is derived from two islands near the north
eastern shores. The people about here are of Mon
golian race (Hor dokpa and Sog dokpa), but they
are comparatively civilised. Crossing the Manda La
(17,450 feet) after leaving the lake, from the province
of U he passed into the Lhobrak country. The upper
Lhobrak valley is well cultivated. Barley, peas, mus
tard, wheat, and rape crops were all abundant. Here,
too, are great monasteries and the shrine of a saintly
Guru built upon the ancient model of the Nalendra
Monastery in Magadha. The shrine is surrounded
by groves of poplar, and contains important relics,
" amongst others a stuffed horse of great sanctity " ;
but the lama's story about the horse must be left (with
many of his inimitable folklore tales) to another his
torian. Ugyen was now on the borders of Bhutan, and he
has much to say abqut the trade routes between
mat country and Lhasa. Crossing the Turn La pass
(after leaving the Lhobrak valley by a southern
affluent) he reached the grassy plateau which em
bosoms the sacred cave of Tong tso Pama ling. He
describes this as " a beautiful flat country which gently
sloped up to the foot of the mountains, carpeted with
exquisite verdure and lovely flowers and bushes of
different shrubs." At the head of the lake is the great
monastery from which, looking to the southeast the

254 TIBET
view embraced " the crystal surface of the thrice holy
lake flanked by a range of billowy mountains, over
topped in the distance by the lofty snows of Kulha
Kangri," which " with their snow-clad peaks standing
in picturesque array, resemble (to compare great things
with small) the Buddhist prayer-offering called Torma.
To the north of Kulha Kangri is the dome-like peak
called Kulhas Cham, — that is, his wife ; on her sides
stand exalted the sublime peaks Chenrezi, Lonchen,
Lathoi Kar (the hoary-headed minister) as also Gar-
toi, Namgyal, and others. In her front is the pinnacle
of Dsam balairi." Who shall say that the Mongol
mind has lost its mediaeval capacity for poetic impres
sion? The couplets with which the Emperor Babar
interlines his inimitable " Memoirs," or those which
enliven the pages of his cousin Mirza Haidar, are not
a bit more poetic in their imaginings than the similes
which the Lama Ugyen draws from the abundant
sources of nature. Descending again into the Lhobrak
valley, he followed it to its junction with a large afflu
ent from the northeast called the Tamshul. Near the
junction is the great monastery of Lha Kang jong
(9800 feet). In this part of his journey he speaks of
spacious flats and beautiful parterres adjoining the
river; of large villages, monasteries, stone bridges
over the river, and terraced cultivation. The valley is
reckoned " the most populated and fertile valley in
Tibet." It was harvest time when the lama passed
along it, and the air was full of the song of the reapers.
He crossed both the Lhobrak and the Tamshul by mag-

TIBET 255
nificent stone bridges. At the latter bridge he found a
guard house. A large bell was suspended to the top
of the narrow gateway of this house, which he struck,
when the door opened and on either side a fierce
Tibetan mastiff was found chained to guard the pas
sage. The use of these magnificent dogs as guards is
often referred to by Ugyen. They are quite as large
as the English mastiff, rough-coated, shaggy, and un-
tamably fierce. At Lhakang jong he found himself
in difficulties. During his absence from the house his
baggage was examined. His wife managed to hide
his instruments, but there was quite enough evidence
left to prove him to be a British spy. The Tibetan
officials seem to have behaved with remarkable moder
ation. They burnt his note-book, but they restored
all the rest of his property.and gave him a free pass
onward. Possibly a few judicious bribes and his own
tact in replying to his cross-examiners saved the situa
tion. Anyhow he proceeded unmolested up the Tam
shul bank again to Tibetan territory.
The Tamshul valley possesses all those attractions
which we usually associate with Sikkim rather than
Tibet. Villages, cultivation, rich monasteries (about
which the lama has much to say), stone bridges, and
all the accessories of a rich country with a fine climate.
But beyond the head of the Tamshul the wide gravel
plains surrounding the Tigu tso (about which Ugyen
says very little) are typically Tibetan. Between the
head of the Tamshul and the sources of the Yarlung
he had many a rough experience, and often literally

256 TIBET
did not know where to lay his head. The Yarlung
valley is famous throughout Tibet. A rich damp soil,
with- abundant crops, flower gardens around the mon
asteries, temples, and " Mendongs," must have been
in pleasant contrast to the sterility of the Tigu tso
plateau; but the lama tells us little about the nature
of the cultivation or of the architectural beauties of
the Yarlung valley, and only dwells on the richness
and importance of one temple at Kha Chung Na,
which was built as a protection against the ghosts of
certain men who were murdered there many years
ago, and which decline to leave the neighbourhood.
The valley of the Yarlung must be very rich and
abundantly fruitful, or it could hardly support the
number of monasteries which Ugyen found there, the
legends and traditions of which he is never weary of
relating. The copper and gilt images with which they
are filled struck him forcibly. Here again are tradi
tions of severe floods which have depopulated and laid
waste the valley. At Chetang he was on well trodden
ground, but he adds a few details about the places
which are interesting. Wheat and meat soup are sold
in Mahommedan shops here. Pork is especially cheap,
three annas being the price of a pig's head. Radishes,
carrots, and yak's flesh is also abundant. The Mahom-
medans inter-marry with the Tibetans, but the form
of marriage is, I suspect, wanting in ritual. From
Chetang to Lhasa the lama worked his way system
atically, hiding his instruments at night, but making
on the whole a very effective survey. He was con-

TIBET 257
stantly on Krishna's tracks, and on those of other ex
plorers, so that we have several authorities for all this
part of our Tibetan mapping. Incidentally in his nar
rative are many quaint stories of Tibetan manners and
customs which show the freedom accorded to women
in Tibet. He was constantly indebted to the kindness
of the gentler sex for shelter and food, and he relates
on one occasion that, having experienced an undignified
repulse from a Tibetan gentleman, he accidentally met
the man's daughter-in-law soon afterwards and related
the occurrence to her with a good many uncompli
mentary remarks about her relative. The girl laughed,
and took him straight back to the house, and treated
him with marked respect and consideration. She was
very fair, and Ugyen records his impression that a
fair skin always covers a soft heart.
Working along the northern bank of the Brahma
putra to the great Samye monastery (most celebrated
of all in Tibet), he tells of scenery that must rival
that of Kashmir, — woods and gardens and, above all,
excellent roads " like the roads of Darjiling." The
eighth book of his adventures is full of queer legends
about the Sangri Kha Ma monastery, and about Dansa
Til, which is overshadowed by a hill covered with
cypress trees, every one of which sprung from the hair
of a saint. The monastery of Ngaritatsang also
attracted his attention, with its surroundings of houses
and gardens, streams and trees, now tinted and bright
ened with the touch of early October. The Samye
monastery is literally enveloped in legends — some of
17

258 TIBET
which as touching the rise and early progress of
Buddhism are interesting. Here there is a large image
of Sakya Muni in gold and brass, ten feet high, and
many sacred treasures. The legends and stories re
lated by the lama are of course of varied character;
some are but the record of childish superstitions ; some
are fairly authentic history; and some are very re
markable repetitions of old-world tales and folk-lore
gathered in Lhasa, which are of much more than
passing interest — for they clearly indicate the possi
bility that many of the Eastern fables (such, for in
stance, as the Arabian Nights stories) may have had
their origin in the farther East — in Tibet, Mongolia,
or China — rather than in Arabia. No one yet has
made any use of them, or even properly examined
them. Samye is about 11,500 feet above sea. A wall
of 1,700 paces encloses the religious edifices (including
a temple) and four large monasteries besides small
ones. The roof of the temple is gold and copper and
its construction regarded as " miraculous." " In all
Tibet," says the lama, " there is no place so celebrated
as Samye, and throughout Tibet and Sikkim there is
not a man who does not worship Samye Gyalpo, the
great god enshrined in its temple."
The lama experienced some difficulty in re-entering
Lhasa. A solitary wayfarer on foot runs no little
risk from the number of savage dogs which prowl
around the city-walls feeding on offal and human
corpses. He had to supply himself with bones and
delicacies such as dogs love in order to win his way

TIBET 259
amongst them. His residence of several months at
Lhasa was chequered by his being recognised by a
Darjiling coolie. He had to go into hiding, taking
refuge in the house of a Chinese soldier, where he
gathered together his quaint collection of Tibetan and
Chinese stories. He managed to effect a fair amount
of surveying in spite of the hampering precautions
which such work rendered necessary, but his maps and
plans of Lhasa are not on the whole so good as those
of the distinguished explorer Krishna.
He has, however, much to say about Lhasa; but
the story of Lhasa must be told subsequently. From
Lhasa he finally made his way to Darjiling and India
by a route which is important as the most direct and
shortest route between our frontier and the capital of
Tibet. The late mission to Tibet traversed the usual
route via Gyangtse, which is by no means direct.
That of the lama Ugyen is considerably shorter, but
his account of it would not lead one to prefer it. The
route from Lhasa to the southwest of the Yamdok tso
(Nagartse Jong) is the same, but from that point, in
stead of striking westward over the Kharola pass to
Gyangtse, it reaches out southward over the Dug pass
(16,900) into the basin of the Pho Mo Chang Lake,
skirting its western extremity, and then making
straight for the head of the Chumbi valley over the
successive spurs of the great water divide to the
east of the Nyangchu — the river of Gyangtse. The
passes over these spurs are not high, but there are at
least three of them averaging about 16,000 feet, with

260 TIBET
no great ascent or descent, but still presenting diffi
culties which are not to be found in the valley of the
Nyangchu below them. A part of the district trav
ersed is reckoned to be the coldest in Tibet, and in
October the lama suffered considerably from the in
tense fierce winds and the biting frosts of the bleak
bare plains. There is, however, a fair amount of
grass to be found in the upland valleys to the east of
the Nyangchu, although there are periods when the
passes remain snow-bound for weeks together. It can
in no sense be reckoned a better military route between
Lhasa and our frontier than the circuitous road which
passes through Gyangtse, but at certain seasons of the
year it might prove to be a useful alternative. The
Horpa herdsmen of this part of Tibet claim a Mon
golian origin and consider themselves superior to the
Tibetan. With the lama's return via Chumbi to Darjiling
there closed one of the most useful and one of the
best records of Tibetan travel ever made by an agent
of the Indian Survey. The short description of it
herein given by no means includes the full extent of
it, and to the greater mass of information obtained it
is hardly possible even to refer. It is through the
lama, and men like the lama, that we have obtained
our knowledge of western and southern Tibet; that
is to say, we owe to them all that we know of that
part of' Tibet which it most concerns us that we should
know — as being not only contiguous to our frontier,
but beyond any comparison the richest and most valu-

TIBET 261
able part of the country. For this reason I have given
some space to these explorations — and for another
reason also. These men do not write for themselves.
They send in useful reports, it is true; but their re
ports get no further than the docket stage. It is un
fortunate in the interests of the public which concerns
itself about Tibet (a very small public indeed) that
the best and most important of all the stirring records
of that remarkable country have never yet seen the
light of publication. The one native who has written
on his own account (the Bengali, Chandra Das) has
nothing to say about the country at large. He con
fines himself to Lhasa and its neighbourhood, and
even there he is on well trodden ground.

CHAPTER XII
Western and Northern Tibet — European Explorers — Deasy-
Stein — The Kuen Lun and Chang Tang — Wellby —
Bower — Littledale — Bonvalot — Sven Hedin — Compar
ison of Routes from West and North
THERE is a useful geographical corner of Tibet
to be studied which lies just beyond the wall
of the Himalayas, stretching northwest and southeast
from the central lakes of Manasarawar (Tso Mobang
and Tso Lagang). On to this narrow stretch of
highland known as Nari Khorsum, or Hundes, which
includes the valley of the Sutlej flowing northwest,
and the valley of the Karnali (afterwards the Gogra)
flowing southeast,1 there converges a whole series of
Himalayan passes, of which the Shipki from Simla,
the Niti at the head of the Alaknanda (a Ganges
affluent), and the Milam at the head of the Sarda, are
perhaps the best known. They all attain great alti
tudes, and none of them are open for more than a
few months of the year (15th of June to 15th of
October). Nevertheless, over these heights there passes
to and fro a considerable amount of trade between
1 Neither of these rivers takes its source from the Manasarawar
Lakes. The former channel of the Sutlej River from Tso Lagang
(Rakas Tal) is now dry.

TIBET 263
India and the elevated valleys beyond. The pasturage
about the Manasarawar lakes is excellent, and the
shawl wool (or pushm) grown in this part of Tibet
is of especially fine quality. A great deal of it is
traded into India, and with it a certain amount of
gold dust and borax. Most of the trade is effected
by the use of sheep as transport animals, but a hybrid
between the yak and the cow (known as the jibu) is
also commonly used over the rough paths which lie
beyond the crest of the Himalayas. Up to the crest
roads have here and there been engineered from the
Indian side, and are passably good, but beyond the
line they are little more than a series of narrow steps
hollowed from the face of rugged cliffs. Men of
Hundes (Hunias), Bhotias (of Kumaon and Garwhal),
and Bisaharis (the recognised trans-frontier traders)
are continually to be met with in the Himalayan fron
tier markets between Ladak and Almorah, and these
are the people with whom we are most familiar on the
Tibetan border. North of the great lakes is the sacred
mountain of Kailas, the paradise of the Hindoos of
northern India. Shaped roughly like a Hindu temple
with a part of the conical top knocked off, Kailas is
a strikingly remarkable peak. From its immense bulk
and height it is probably one of the most impressive
amongst trans-Himalayan peaks, but its altitude is less
than that of Gurla Mandhata (25,860 feet), from
which it is separated by the lake region of Manasa
rawar. This mountain also has its legend. It is said
to be the transformation of the body of a Raja of

264 TIBET
Banares, who died on the banks of the lake some thou
sands of years ago.
The trading town of Gartok, now open by treaty
to foreign trade, on the upper Indus, to which we have
already alluded, is the chief town of a lengthy province
which extends from Rudok on the Pangong Lake to
the sources of the Brahmaputra and Karnali. Wild
and apparently desolate as this region is, it is by no
means destitute of wealth.
The Hunias are of Tartar origin, with many of the
leading characteristics of that race. They are not pre
possessing in appearance. The life they lead on those
sublime heights has wrinkled them exceedingly, the
old people being especially hideous. But they are all
rich after their fashion, owning large flocks of sheep
and herds of cattle and goats, which latter are the cele
brated breed known as shawl goats. The gold which
finds its way to India was once brought chiefly from
the Thok Jalung fields and is still found in the Sutlej
valley, and on the edges of the Manasarawar lakes.
Borax and salt are abundant, but borax has become
lately almost a drug in the market. Pushm is the
chief export now, and (curiously enough) tea, which
comes from Lhasa, and is carried into India even as
far as Amritsar. There is a strong prejudice against
Indian tea amongst the natives of the Tibetan border,
which is of course carefully kept alive by the Chinese
officials. Much of all this Himalayan hinterland has
been surveyed by European officers of the Indian Sur
vey department, working from Himalayan stations,

TIBET 265
and explorations further north have been pushed
through by Montgomerie's staff of native explorers.
Rawling and Ryder have lately completed a valuable
geographical survey of all this country, from Gartok
on the Indus to the sources of the Brahmaputra, and
from those sources to the city of Lhasa. British ex
plorers have passed into Tibet eastward from Leh fre
quently, but till lately they have kept north of the
Brahmaputra valley. It is with the experiences of
some of these that we now have to deal. They must
be dealt with shortly, chiefly from want of space, but
also because the great central and northern theatre of
their researches is not nearly so important to British
interests as is the southern ground of Tibet. Bower,
Littledale, Wellby, and Sven Hedin all have reached
far into Tibet, sometimes crossing each other's tracks,
sometimes wandering in the footsteps of the native
explorers; and all have made splendid additions to
our knowledge of the great Chang Tang. Deasy and
Stein have worked in the north and northwest, and
these two gentlemen (with Bower) have added thor
oughly sound and scientific geography to our mapping,
working on scientific methods and employing native
surveyors on their staff. It cannot be too strongly
urged that the employment of professional assistance
is the real way to amass consistent and homogeneous
map information. No traveller responsible for the
welfare of a mixed caravan of Europeans and natives
can possibly spare the necessary time for the patient
drudgery of survey duty (if he would make the most

266 TIBET
of his opportunities) in addition to those of his com
mand. The work of such a scientific observer as the
great traveller, Sven Hedin, stands perhaps unrivalled
in the annals of geographical research, but it may be
surmised that even this great explorer would have been
thankful enough to have been spared some of the more
or less mechanical drudgery of constant observations
and records by the employment of a trustworthy and
well trained assistant.
Leh has always been a favourite position for the first
take off into the wild regions of Tibet. At Leh there
is a permanent political resident, for it is the farthest
outpost of the Kashmir state; and there is a good
bazaar and fair opportunity for careful equipment.
But immediately beyond Leh the traveller faces a for
midable mountain barrier and must accept the difficul
ties of a snow-bound pass at the very outset of his
travels. The Chang la has, however, never presented
such physical obstacles to advance as has the careful
watch of the Chinese outposts on the frontier ; and the
difficulties of the pass have never been greatly dwelt on
by explorers. Once over the Chang the Pangong Lake
depression opens out into a long southeasterly plain,
with the Tibetan market town of Rudok at its south
eastern extremity picturesquely clinging to the moun
tain sides and dominated by an imposing red and white
monastery. Many travellers and sportsmen have been
to Rudok, but few succeed in penetrating further. An
alternative route on to the elevated Chang Tang of
Central Tibet avoids Rudok and passes over some

. .

^1 1 l^lLn 'SE*& ¦P''-

Captain H. H. P. Deasy

Captain Wellby

TIBET 267
difficult ground at the northern end of the lake,
whence it emerges straight on to the wide wilderness
of the north central highlands, crossing the Kashmir
frontier at the Lanak la and skirting the southern
borders of that inexpressibly dreary region the Aksai
Chin. By this route, turning northwards, the head of
the Keria River can be reached, and the Polu route to
Chinese Turkestan. It was opened up by the explora
tions of Deasy. Avoiding the northerly bend, and
proceeding straight eastward, we have the route of
Wellby to Tsaidam and Koko Nor, and between it
and the Kuen Lun, some of the many Tibetan detours
of Sven Hedin, which, with Stein's useful topography,
gives us a very fair idea of that long strip of northern
Chang Tang, which for desolate sterility and general
unproductiveness is probably unmatched in the world
by any other region which is not actual desert. It
is, however, exceedingly interesting to us to know
the quality of these Tibetan uplands which lie between
the lowlands of Chinese Turkestan and the compara
tively depressed basin of the Brahmaputra. They
form the great obstacle to advance from the north,
and the records of those travellers who have vis
ited them is our guarantee for its impracticable
character. Captain Deasy was a cavalry officer of the British
Army who combined in his own person many of the
most essential qualifications of a good explorer. Ani
mated by the true spirit of adventure, possessed of
great determination, excellent physique, and a thor-

268 TIBET
ough appreciation of scientific methods of working, he
has always, whether traversing Tibetan wilds or mak
ing motor records in more civilised countries, been
completely successful in carrying through the pro
gramme laid out for accomplishment. He was in the
northwest of Tibet and on the plateau of Aksai Chin
in the summer of 1896 (finding the Lanak La at 18,000
feet free from snow in June), accompanied by Mr.
Arnold Pike. On this occasion he succeeded in sur
veying about 24,000 miles of Tibetan territory, and
in connecting his work by triangulation with the Indian
surveys. Captain Deasy attached a native surveyor to
his party as topographer. The general characteristics
of this northwestern corner of Tibet are those of dreary
desolate plains intersected with ranges of hills which,
without rising much above the plains, are of great abso
lute altitude. The country is by no means entirely
destitute of either grass or water, but long weary days
were passed without finding either. Nomads were fre
quently met with, and they were invariably useless as
guides. Great obstruction was caused by the Rudok
officials. In spite of the physical difficulties encoun
tered, — intense cold, want of water, terrific wind, and
general desolation, — the country would not have
been impracticable for travelling but for the obstruc-
tiveness of the people encountered. They were all
instructed from Lhasa, and it was impossible to obtain
either guides or information. Nevertheless, a very
remarkably accurate addition was made to our know
ledge of Chang topography, although Deasy's caravan

TIBET 269
of sixty-six mules and ponies was reduced to six ere
he returned to Leh at the close of the year.
Once again, early in 1898, Captain Deasy attacked
the Tibetan Chang, but on this occasion he worked
southwards from Yarkand, which place he reached on
January 20. Official obstruction on the north is just
as great as it is on the west, and Deasy found that in
spite of Chinese passports and proper credentials, he
was unable to pass Polu on the Kiria River, leading
from the plains of Turkestan to the Tibetan plateau.
The Polu route is perhaps the most direct and the best
available — if, indeed, it has not been finally destroyed
under official orders from Lhasa. Deasy made use of
a route further to the east, which he found to be fairly
easy, and struck the plateau at the head of the Kiria
south of Polu. We owe to him a survey of the sources
of this river as well as those of the Khotan, both im
portant lines of connection with the northern plains.
Once again he traversed this wild northwestern region
between the Kiria sources and Rudok, and made a most
excellent map of it. It is a district of mountain ridges
enclosing salt lakes with no central line of drainage.
It appears to be the confused and wrinkled surface of
a vast upheaval disturbed by the superincumbent
weight of long ages of ice cap, with the lake remnants
of its departed snows and ice-fields now gradually
desiccating and disappearing. Deasy's map of the
district lying southeast of the Aksai Chin is a very
remarkable illustration of the general conformation
of the Chang. All northern Tibet is much the same, —

270 TIBET
a broad, soft, alluvial wilderness of hill and valley
relieved by the drab green of the stunted burtsa scrub,
with gravel plains interspersed ; an occasional spread of
good grazing (and the grass, like that of the Pamirs, is
of excellent quality when it does occur), and starred all
over its surface with the blue mirrors of innumerable
salt lakes, each lake being a space of water surrounded
by an intensely saline border of soft mud. Vast herds
of wild antelope, kyang, and yak (with camels farther
east) roam through these plains, and their droppings
are the salvation of travellers in the matter of fuel.
Deasy finally returned to Leh by the route he had
previously followed; but before bidding adieu to the
wild scenery of the northern borderlands, he made a
most successful exploration of the upper Yarkand
River, and linked in his surveys with those of the
Pamirs, executed during the Russo-Afghan boundary
settlement in those altitudes. Here he was assisted by
Ram Singh, who had proved his quality as an explor
atory surveyor with Bower previously.
Dr. Stein's work in the north of Tibet is compara
tively recent. His original quest was the discovery of
certain ancient town sites which have long been buried
in the sands of the Takla Makan desert north of Tibet;
but incidentally he has given us most valuable addi
tional topographical information about the Kuen Lun
mountains, carrying out a systematic survey of a por
tion of that range to the east of Deasy's work, and
basing his maps (with the assistance of a native sur
veyor) on a scientific series of initial observations.

TIBET 271
These two British explorers have done a great deal
to clear away some of the mists which overhung those
far northern mountains. The physical conformation
of them is accurately denned in so many parts that we
can well conjecture what the structure of the whole
may be. The magnificent work of Dr. Sven Hedin
yet still more recently will add further detail when
published in extenso; so that we now have a very
fair idea of the nature of the flanking wall of the
Tibetan highland which faces the northern plains even
as the Himalayas face India on the south.
It is clear that the Kuen Lun may be crossed at fre
quent points in its length. The narrow valleys leading
up from the Turkestan lowlands appear to slope up
wards with comparatively gentle grades to the crest;
and the latter presents depressions in its long, sinuous
line, involving far less of precipitous ascent through
rugged defiles than is common on the Indian frontier,
or the Himalayan backbone. Sven Hedin's researches,
together with those of Bonvalot and Littledale (who
have both crossed the Kuen Lun from north to south),
have confirmed our impressions of the general geo
graphical character of the borderland to the northeast
of Tibet, as now represented in our maps. The main
water-parting, or divide, of the Kuen Lun extends
east and west, closely hugging the parallel of 360 north
latitude from east longitude 780, through 20 degrees,
till it merges into the long ridge and valley system of
the Chinese borderland. But it does not face the Gobi
depression (or Chinese Turkestan) farther than about

272 TIBET
84 ° east longitude, where a broad plateau of some
what less elevation than the Chang opens out north
ward of it, gradually widening towards the east; and
this plateau is itself bounded by mountain ranges
(Altyn Tagh, Nan Shan, etc.), which face the Gobi
depression, hedging in the gigantic upland between
themselves and the extension of the Kuen Lun. In
this lower steppe are the wind-swept basins of the
Achik Kul, Prjevalski's " valley of the winds," the vast
desert of Tsaidam, and other subordinate lake basins,
amongst which we may reckon the Koko Nor
depression. This is not recognised as a political part of Tibet,
but it would be difficult to assign it to any other gov
ernment. It is a land which owns no law, and is the
home of the Golok (or Kolo) robber bands. Besides
Prjevalski and Rockhill (to whom we have already
referred), as authorities of this singularly unattractive
corner of the elevated world, we have the records of
Sven Hedin, and further evidence from Littledale and
Bonvalot. Sven Hedin has crossed the mountain
regions between the Chinese Turkestan depression and
the elevated Chang Tang oftener than any other trav
eller of whom we have record, and he has illustrated
the conformation of the eastern extension of the Kuen
Lun with much accuracy of detail. In one of his
earlier wanderings in the northern Tibetan border
land, he crossed the Kuen Lun divide south of the
Tsaidam steppes, and once again south of Cherchen
at the eastern end of the Takla Makan desert of

TIBET 273
Chinese Turkestan, his intermediate route being ap
proximately parallel to the great divide and south of it.
Between the meridians of 86° and 92 ° east longitude
he proves the Kuen Lun to be a continuous range of
high, rugged, and snow-clad mountains, to which he
gives the name of Akka Tagh, dividing the great
plateau of Tibet from the subordinate table-land on
the north whence flow the infant sources of the Cher
chen River northwards, and wherein lie the lake
depressions of Achik Kul and Aiag Kum Kul. The
ranges which again divide this plateau land from the
Turkestan lowlands (the Altyn Tagh, Chimin Tagh,
etc.,) lie in a broad system of approximately parallel
ridges, forming a wrinkled and folding edge to the
uplands. They broaden eastwards to a total width
which nearly equals that of the Himalayas, but west
wards, at the head of the Kiria River, the width of
the Kuen Lun is not much more than fifty miles.
The transverse routes and passes are hardly Hima
layan in character on the east. The valleys are less
steep, and the general altitude of the main water-
parting is considerably lower. It is the desolation
and the cold, with the terrific force of the wind currents
bearing icy blasts from the west, that prove the great
est obstacle to exploration. The storms which sweep
across these northern steppes recur with almost diurnal
frequency at certain seasons of the year. The buran
of the highlands is not less to be dreaded than the
black storms of the Turkestan lowlands.
A very remarkable journey across the northern
18

274 TIBET
Chang Tang from west to east was made by Captain
Wellby and Lieutenant Malcolm in 1896. They
crossed the Lanak La, working eastwards from Leh,
in the month of May, and, in spite of the initial diffi
culties and obstructions of the Rudok officials, they
continued their journey (keeping approximately be
tween 35" and 36 ° of north latitude, till they finally
emerged from Tibet at the Koko Nor and the Chinese
frontier town of Sining. This is the only record we
have of a direct east and west route through what has
generally been reckoned the worst part of the Chang
Tang. A native surveyor accompanied them, so that
we have a certain amount of topographical detail of
their route. It was an almost desperate adventure.
Their guides deserted them at the outset; the district
they traversed was barren, grassless, and waterless.
Salt lakes innumerable were found, but very little fresh
water. Nearly every day for two months water had
to be found by digging at the end of the day's march.
By the end of June only sixteen out of thirty-nine of
their transport animals were left, and they had to
march on foot. It is a little remarkable that they
should complain of the great heat by day, but the
summer mid-day heat is referred to by many travel
lers in Tibet. With the thermometer reading 1050
Fahrenheit in the sun by day, there were sometimes
180 or 200 of frost at night. On the 2d of August
all their men deserted except their body servants, tak
ing with them the last twenty pounds of flour. The
deserters, however, turned up again at the end of two

Dr. Sven Hedin

Colonel Bower

TIBET 275
days' march. They were too faint-hearted or too
ignorant to find their way to Lhasa. Only a few,
however, were re-engaged. There was not food for
more. With the exception of three mules, all their
animals died (poisoned by some noxious weed) and
the travellers were reduced to feeding on wild onions.
Game became scarce in September, and the rain and
snow season set in. Finally they struck an encamp
ment of Chinese merchants on the road between Koko
Nor and Lhasa, where it crosses the upper Yangtse,
and with them they turned northwards into the Mon
gol country. It was a most extraordinary feat to per
form in the way of exploration. Captain Wellby
subsequently distinguished himself in exploration in
northern Africa, and finally met a soldier's death on
the veldt of the south during the Boer war.
The geographical results of this expedition were
chiefly confirmation of previous accounts of the utterly
sterile and barren nature of northern Tibet. Wellby's
route, however, illustrates the prevailing characteristic
of long and comparatively low folds and anticlinals
(striking transversely to the meridian) as the prevail
ing orographical feature. He was considerably south
of Sven Hedin's route, and must have been well within
sight of the latter's Mount Oscar, which is no doubt
a peak on a lateral extension westward of the Koko
Shili range.
No geographical evidence which has ever been
adduced is more conclusive as regards the physical
characteristics of northern Tibet than that of the gal-

276 TIBET
lant Wellby. Sun-baked and storm-swept, frozen and
roasted by turns, we have all the usual climatic condi
tions of Asiatic plateau land from the Pamirs to
Baluchistan; whilst the general distribution of the
wide treeless plains, and the monotony of an endless
ridge and furrow system leaves little to describe and
is almost a weariness to the imagination.
We will now take a cursory glance at the results
of four exploratory expeditions, all of which had one
great objective before them, viz., the holy Buddhist
city of Lhasa. Bower, Littledale, Sven Hedin, and
Bonvalot (in addition to Rockhill, to whom we have
already referred) all started on the same quest, all
arrived within a short measurable distance of their
goal, and were all beaten finally, not by the physical
difficulties of the desolate regions which they trav
ersed, but by the pig-headed obstinacy of the Tibetan
official. Captain Bower, like Deasy and Wellby, was
a cavalry officer. He was attached to an Indian regi
ment when he first formulated his programme for
reaching Lhasa from Leh. Possessed of great deter
mination and magnificent physique, he had further
the advantages of a most unusual experience in the
rough travelling of the northern hinterland of India.
It was Bower who ran to earth the murderer of
Dalgleish. It was Bower who first astonished the
world of Oriental scholars with the birch-bark manu
script dug out of the Turkestan desert near Kashgar,
which proved to be one of the most ancient manu
scripts in the world, and has set scientists exploring

TIBET 277
and working in the same direction ever since. He
took with him a companion (Dr. Thorold) and a
native surveyor — the same Ram Singh who subse
quently did good service with Deasy, but who was
then in his infancy as a trained topographer. Never
theless he did promising work even in those early
days. The party left Leh in 1891, crossed the Lanak
La on July 3, and succeeded in avoiding the Rudok
officials. Keeping east, they crossed another pass
(Mangtza, 18,020 feet), which presented little diffi
culty, and continued at a high altitude (Bower reck
oned this to be the highest part of the Chang) till
they reached the Horpa Cho, which lake is probably
the highest in the world (17,900 feet). From there
for many weeks Bower maintained a southeasterly
trek through the Khampa country, inhabited by the
Tibetan Dokpa, or nomads.
Bower was well to the north of the route which had
been followed between Leh and Lhasa by the pundit
Nain Sing in 1874 (to which I have made no reference,
since it was subsequently traversed by Littledale), as
it was his intention to explore the northern regions,
rather than the lake district which borders the Brahma
putra basin. Like other travellers he found lakes
innumerable, but almost invariably salt, and obviously
desiccating and contracting. Fresh water was scarce,
but the party never failed to find it on the surface as
they proceeded (without guides and with recurrent
arguments with the Dokpas) to make their way Lhasa-
wards. There is a refreshing contrast in Bower's nar-

278 TIBET
rative to the monotonous tale of wild, barren sterility
which Wellby relates. Wild animals existed in in
credible numbers. The indigo-blue lakes were often
fringed with grass. Wild-fowl, gulls, bar-headed
geese, and brahmini ducks (sheldrake) were abun
dant wherever a fresh-water affluent occurred, and
wild yak, Tibetan antelope, kyang, and gazelle were
always in sight during that part of their march which
centred in Aru Cho. For weeks they passed through
a country where the valleys were " wide and open,"
the hills " rounded," with snow peaks showing beyond
them to the south. It was by no means a deserted or
naturally an inhospitable country until they ap
proached the enormous lake which figures on our map
as Zilling ( ? Sining) tso. Constant collisions occurred
wth the nomads en route, but on no occasion was it
necessary to resort to actual physical force. We have,
on the whole, a not unpleasing vision of these Hor
uplands presented to us by Bower. He tells his story
with soldierly brevity, but it is not difficult to dis
tinguish, between the record of long weary and thirsty
marches, a country which presents a favourable con
trast to the blank sterility of the more northern plains.
It is obviously greener, with more frequent grass
oases, more of the interest of human occupation, more
of a sportsman's country, and, in spite of its great
altitude, a country which in summer must be attrac
tive. The deep-blue lakes set like jewels in the de
pressions of nature's swelling downs and rounded hills,
the far-away lines of snow-capped mountains, and the

TIBET 279
constant presence of the black tents of the Dokpa
herdsmen, their yaks and sheep scattered over the
plains, must be a very close repetition of the northern
Kashmir and Pamir scenery farther west, from which
Tibet can hardly be dissociated geographically. South
of the Zilling tso, and northwest of the Great Tengri
Nor Lake, Bower's journey Lhasa-wards came to an
end. There he was met by the usual array of Tibetan
officials swelling with enormous dignity, and the usual
request that he would retrace his steps and return the
way he came. This may be regarded as the normal
request of Tibetan officialdom whether addressed to
a solitary traveller or to a responsible agent fully ac
credited by the government of India, and it is not
confined to Lhasa officialdom. The same request was
made to Bower that was made to Hue and Rockhill
at Chiamdo farther east, when making his way via
Ta-chien-lu to China. It is made everywhere, regard
less of the geographical position of the place where it is
advanced relatively to the starting-point of the trav
eller. However, Bower was not the sort of explorer
to be easily stopped. He turned north, rapidly reach
ing more sterile and inhospitable regions, and then
made his way eastwards to Chiamdo and Ta-chien-lu
by a route which was new at the time, but which from
Amdo eastwards closely coincides with that of Rock
hill subsequently. He was the first of modern English
explorers to illustrate this part of Tibet, and to him
we still owe all that is known of the geography of the
central Chang north of Nain Sing's mapping.

280 TIBET
Littledale and Bonvalot are two other distinguished
explorers who from the north have made gallant at
tempts to reach Lhasa, and who have indeed succeeded
in penetrating farther south than any other traveller.
Both of them reached the Tengri Nor, and Littledale
must have been well within sight of the hills which
immediately enclose the sacred city. Littledale crossed
the Altyn Tagh, and the northern mountains by the
opening of the Cherchen River. Bonvalot traversed
the same mountain band farther east, from a point
east of the Lob Nor lake system in Chinese Turkestan,
and made tracks southward which cannot be very far
removed from those of Sven Hedin during his last
great journey. But there has always been a little
difficulty about placing Bonvalot's route in its right
position. He was not alone (for he was accompanied
by that distinguished Anglophobe, Prince Henri d'Or-
leans, one of the most enterprising of Eastern explor
ers), yet there was not the accuracy of observation
which is necessary to secure really valuable geo
graphical results in these days, such, for instance, as
distinguishes the topographical work of Bonvalot's ill-
starred compatriot Dutreuil de Rhins, or the splendid
achievements of Sven Hedin. However, Bonvalot has
added valuable descriptive accounts of the northern
Chang to those of Littledale and Sven Hedin. It will
be enough, however, if we refer in short detail to the
descriptions of Littledale, and (subsequently) of Sven
Hedin, to prove, if proof be needed, the absolute waste
and sterility of those bleak, wind-swept highlands

TIBET 281
which separate all of Tibet that is useful to us from
the great plains of Chinese Turkestan.
In one particular Littledale's records differ in a most
surprising way from those of other Tibetan travellers.
He took his wife with him on his journeyings, and his
wife was more or less of an invalid. The pure, fresh
air of the Tibetan highlands restored her to health.
It is worth recording, therefore, that an English lady
approached Lhasa more nearly than any other Euro
pean (saving her husband) from the days of Hue to
those of Younghusband. In the year 1893 Littledale
had made a most useful reconnaissance, and a route
survey between the Chinese frontier town of Saitu
(or Sachu) on the east of the Lob Nor region and the
Koko Nor, as a link in a journey which extended from
Constantinople to Pekin. So he was well acquainted
with the general features of the northern edge of Tibet,
and quite au fait with Central Asian methods of travel.
In the spring of 1895 he found himself once again in
the same neighbourhood (rather more to the west)
with his wife and Mr. Fletcher (a noted Oxford ath
lete), and on the 15th of May the party crossed the
Akka Tagh, after surviving a bitter experience of
incessant mountain climbing as they twisted their way
through the narrow passes and over the ridges of the
Altyn Tagh and the Tokus Davan. This part of their
journey was distinctly the most difficult, and involved
the greatest hardships. They were faced perpetually
by transverse ridges which had to be surmounted at
an enormous altitude, and in face of blinding snow.

282 TIBET
They did not even know when they had reached the
Akka Tagh. The unutterably barren desolation of this
country is its prominent characteristic. Baggage ani
mals began rapidly to succumb before the Tibetan
Chang was reached. Even south of the Akka Tagh
there is the same monotonous tale of the perpetual
crossing of comparatively low ridges, which proved
to be more than the weakened animals could surmount.
It is the frightful scarcity of water and grass in these
salt-impregnated regions which invariably proves the
greatest difficulty. The repetition of the ridge and
furrow conformation of Tibet in this region which is
evidenced by the repetition of low passes, seems to
point to a surface orography in that part of the Chang
differing from that of the western regions (Aksai
Chin) surveyed by Deasy. The successive folds appear
to be in approximate parallelism to the main chains
of the Akka Tagh and Altyn Tagh. This is indeed
precisely what we should expect to find. Littledale's
observations on the class of country here encountered
are most interesting. The pass of the Akka Tagh was
steep and long, and then " we found ourselves at last
on the Tibetan plateau, having lakes and low moun
tains to the south as far as could be seen, and to the
north the high ranges of the Akka Tagh, with fine
glaciers and snow-fields." Some of the Akka Tagh
peaks hereabouts were estimated to be 25,000 feet
high. " This great upshoot of the earth's surface,
which from its elevation and size deserves, in its cen
tral part, far more than the Pamirs, the name ' Roof

TIBET 283
of the world,' may be considered to commence in the
west with the Pamirs, where, however, its physical
character differs in some parts from the central or
Tibetan portion, which again bears little resemblance
to its eastern continuation on the confines of China.
On the Pamirs we find a high mountainous country
where the rivers are fairly large and rapid, the valleys
are precipitous ; in other parts where the streams are
unimportant, the country is more undulating in char
acter, and the lakes are, with some notable exceptions,
fresh. The Tibetan plateau proper, which probably
has an average of quite 2,000 feet in excess of the
Pamirs, has, in its northern parts especially, a very
small rainfall; and in the absence of rivers the drain
age of the country finds its way into one or other of
the innumerable lakes, which, having no outlet, are
salt. Except in the volcanic country, the valleys are
broad and open."
This, then, explains the general character of the
northern Chang, which gradually improves southward
till it reaches a point where the southwest monsoon is
felt, and where the greater rainfall induces more grass
and a warmer climate. Between 360 50' and 33° 50'
north latitude the path of these adventurers ran
through a volcanic country, numerous undoubted vol
canoes being visible, but in spite of the constant suc
cession of short ridges which they encountered " we
never saw one single continuous mountain range till
we came south of the Tengri Nor." After leaving
Cherchen in April, it was not till June that men were

284 TIBET
met with, when they struck the first Tibetan encamp
ment of nomad herdsmen. With infinite precaution
and trouble they succeeded in evading detection for
many days. They passed the Zilling tso (Garing tso
of Bower) on the east, and, hitting off a line of excel
lent grass country, they gradually restored the condi
tion of the exhausted remnants of their transport.
Nearing the Tengri Nor, they finally collided with the
Tibetans, and their onward movements subsequently
were impeded by every device known to Tibetan
obstructiveness. Entreaties and threats on the part of
the Lhasa officials were of no avail. The party held
on at great risk to themselves till they reached the
magnificent range of Ninchen Tangla, south of Tengri
Nor — "a succession of snow-clad peaks and glaciers
partially hidden in clouds and vapour, which added
to their size and grandeur, while above all towered
the great peak of Charemani, 24,150 feet" (probably
identical with the Chimuran of the " lama " survey
map of 1733). It seems possible that the determina
tion to proceed which was shown by these travellers
would after all have ended in Lhasa but for the
alarming illness of Mrs. Littledale. They were per
force obliged to make their way back to the British
frontier as rapidly as possible. They were probably
within fifty miles of the holy city when they turned.
The route over the central Chang to Ladak was prac
tically the same as that traversed earlier by our old
friend Nain Sing, south of Bower's route, and prob
ably near the northern rim of the Brahmaputra basin.

TIBET 285
The notable feature about it is that there is not a
pass nor a water-parting of any significance to be
crossed. It is a route which follows the general strike
of the folds and ridges on the surface of the plateau
which on either side of it extend in lines approximately
parallel to the course of the Brahmaputra. The fact
that no large rivers are crossed seems certainly to
indicate that it is here, or near here, a little to the
south, that the northern water-shed of India is to be
found. From some of the innumerable lakes (the
desiccating remains of ancient snow-fields which bor
der it on the south) it is probable that those big
affluents of the Brahmaputra noted by Nain Sing must
take their rise; but intermediate to this long line of
route through the central Chang and that of the
Brahmaputra River no traveller has yet contributed
the necessary topography to enable us to decide with
certainty. We can only conjecture that the basin of
the great river extending from its banks to the main
water divide (wherever it may be) is warmer, more
favourable to pasturage, more thickly populated by
Dokpa herdsmen than any of the districts farther
north. From Sven Hedin we get further glimpses of
this central plateau region which are of the very great
est interest. Sven Hedin, in his last great journey in
1890, crossed the Altyn Tagh on his way from Lob
Nor southwards to Tibet in July, near the meridian
of 900 east, which cannot be far from the point where
Bonvalot crossed previously. A notable feature in
this remarkable journey was the employment of camels

286 TIBET
for transport — a sufficient indication of the differ
ence in the nature of the mountain barriers of the
north from those of the Himalayas. He crossed a
subsidiary range called the Akato Tagh, to the north
west of the Gass Lake, by " an easy double pass,"
and he describes the southern flank of this range as a
repetition, in point of orographical relief, of the north
ern flank of the Altyn Tagh, pointing to the inference
that it is the southern edge of a width of plateau
between these two bounding ranges, and he thus dis
poses of that connecting range running northeastwards
from the eastern end of the Chaman Tagh of Walker's
map (the Illvo Tjimen of Sven Hedin), which is
obviously conjectural, and out of line with the true
topographical configuration of this borderland. No
great difficulty beset him so far. The pest of flies
and mosquitoes, which are in this part of Asia a ter
rible drawback to the comfort of travelling, and the
cutting force of the driving whirlwinds of drift-sand
were the special plagues of the season. Gravelly for
mations alternated with " Kavir " — deposits of argil
laceous mud — which must be a very fair equivalent
for the " Kavir " of Persia. Near Lake Gass (8,900
feet), where there is tamarisk jungle and water, Sven
Hedin established a sort of depot for his subsequent
operations, and from that centre conducted his explora
tions in Tibet.
Leaving Temerlik and the salt lake of Gaz Kul, and
striking southeast, he passed from the zone of vegeta
tion over hard, barren, gravelly ground with patches

TIBET 287
of reeds and rushes near the fresh-water pools. Ap
proaching the Tjimen Tagh (the Tsaidam range of
Walker's map) they passed through a " transverse
breach in the northern face of that range, deeply
trenched between gravel and shingle terraces twenty-
five feet high." Later they encountered granite.
Slowly making their way upward over the broad flanks
of the Tjimen Tagh (" Chimen " in the letterpress and
" Tjimen " in his map), Sven Hedin encountered snow
in July when camped near the summit, and a tempera
ture of 23 ° Fahrenheit at night. The Chimen (Tsai
dam of Walker) differs from the northern parallel
ranges of the Altyn Tagh system in its conditions of
climate and conformation. It is Alpine in character,
moist, and full of vegetation (instead of being bare
and barren), with rounded, weather-beaten features.
Two other parallel ranges (the Ara Tagh and the
Kalta-alagan), with broad latitudinal valleys interven
ing, were crossed before Sven Hedin reached the
basin of the Ajig Kum Kul. These valleys (Kayir)
are but successive steps on the staircase which leads
to the Tibetan plateau. North of Chimen Tagh the
plain level is less than 10,000 feet above sea. The
Kayir is 13,700 feet, the pass over the Ara Tagh
being only 14,350 feet. Another high valley separates
the Ara Tagh from the Kalta Alagan which rises to
15,700 feet. Stretches of sand characterised the plain
at the southern foot of the Kalta Alagan, at an alti
tude of 12,000 feet, and here were kulans (wild asses),
marmots, and hares. Gnats again abounded, and the

288 TIBET
temperature rose to 68° Fahrenheit. Far off in the
southeast were gigantic mountain masses covered with
snow — evidently the peaks of the Arka (Akka) Tagh,
or Kuen Lun. Leaving the Ajig Kum Kul lake sys
tem on the west, Sven Hedin trekked due south over
the intervening plateau wilderness to the Arka Tagh,
meeting with granite ridges and secondary passes en
route with varying vicissitudes of rain, snow, and sun
shine. Here they met the orongo antelope, and on
the night of the 2d of August the thermometer fell
to 22° Fahrenheit.
Like Littledale, Sven Hedin found it a weary pro
cess of ascent and descent to reach the true backbone
of the Arka Tagh. He finally crossed it almost on the
90° east longitude meridian by a flattened saddle with
a slow gradual ascent strewn with black, slaty debris
leading to the summit at 17,000 feet. In his map he
gives the name Koko Shili to this part of the Arka
Tagh; Walker places the Koko Shili far to the south.
Sven Hedin was now on the same part of the Tibetan
plateau that he had previously visited, but he did not
penetrate on this occasion much farther south. There
is nothing very attractive about this part of Tibet, but
the spirit of the explorer was within him : " Although
we led the lives of dogs in this country, which was as
desolate as the moon is supposed to be, yet we reaped
more than an equivalent reward in the discoveries and
observations which we made from day to day. It was
a delicious feeling to know that we were the first
human beings to tread these mountains, where there

TIBET 289
existed no path, where there never had been a path,
and where there was not a footprint visible except
those made by the hoof of yak, antelope, or kulan.
It was a no-man's land ; rivers, lakes, and mountains
were all nameless ; their shores, banks, and snow-fields
had never been seen by any traveller's eye but mine;
they were mine own kingdom for a day."
Quagmires and swamps at 15,000 feet of elevation —
the action of melting snow on spongy soil — were the
leading features of the next step in the journey. " One
gigantic morass of yellow, plastic mud." " Truly, an
accursed land." " It was like the muddy bottom of a
lake just after the water had been drained out of it."
Farther south matters improved, and by the 2 2d
of August they had reached a group of lakes about
the parallel of 34° north latitude, which Sven Hedin
proceeded to explore. " The bottom of the lake was
covered throughout with a layer of salt from % to 1 J4
inches thick." The salt rested on a layer of red mud.
The maximum depth was 7^ feet. Here in this wild,
barren lake region many interesting observations
were made; but the eternal solitudes and vast steppes
surrounding it would have been deadly in their weird
monotony but for the ever-changing vicissitudes of
storm and sunshine. " What a wonderful, what an
utterly God-forsaken, region this was! The ground
seemed to be thin as the air ; the very mountains them
selves soft as pumice stones. Everything was in a
state of disintegration in some places; although the
ground did bear, it nevertheless quaked under the
"9

290 TIBET
horses' feet, and undulated before them as though it
were an india-rubber sheet."
From this region of lakes and morass which have all
the characteristics of a land which has only recently
emerged from under an ice cap, Sven Hedin turned
northward and retraced his way with many vicissi
tudes and the loss of one of his party to Temerlik, by
a route which lay about two degrees west of the one
he had taken on their southern journey. Arriving late
in October, he immediately laid his plans for further
explorations, which resulted in his magnificent success
as the exponent of the ancient topography of the Lob
Nor region, and of the physical and social conditions
of life that must have existed during mediaeval ages
in the desert regions adjoining.
It was not till April, 1901, that he found himself at
Charklik facing the Altyn Tagh again, with arrange
ments complete for a more southern extension of his
previous reconnaissance in the hope of reaching Lhasa.
He assumed the disguise of a lama for the purpose,
and he took with his company a Tibetan lama of the
" red " sect. Following up the Charklik River into
the gorges of the mountains, by an exceedingly rough
and difficult way, Sven Hedin crossed the Altyn Tagh
in May, and reached the western end of the Ajig Kum
Kul about the beginning of June. The water-parting
of the Altyn Tagh at the head of the Charklik was
13,380 feet, and the pass was " quite easy and gentle."
At the Kum Kul Sven Hedin was joined by his camel
caravan, which had not followed the trail through the

TIBET 291
gorges of the Charklik. From the lake he struck
southward, making fresh tracks as far as possible,
eastward of his own return route of the previous year,
and of the routes of Littledale and Dutreuil de Rhins,
and westward of that of Bonvalot. Then follows the
old record of wading through the muddy flats of the
Kum basin, and the frightful toil of pushing through
the swampy glens and valleys leading up to the crests
of the transverse ridges, a conformation which is in
many respects remarkably similar to that of the salt
" shor " by-paths in the glens of the Turkestan Choi.
We need not follow Sven Hedin in detail through the
weary wilderness which lay south of the Arka Tagh
till he reached the Zilling tso, which the reader will
recollect was the terminus of Bower's route Lhasa-
wards. The character of it may well be gathered from
what we have already written. Gradually improving
southwards, where the widely scattered tents of the
nomads become more frequent, it is never in this part
of the Chang absolutely destitute of sustenance.
" Generally speaking, the region was perfectly barren,
except for a few small patches of hard, sharp, yellow
blades, one or two inches high. This was called grass.
I would not advise any one who was wearing summer
clothing to fling himself down on grass of that descrip
tion for a siesta, for it was as hard as whalebone, and
pierced like a needle through even thick clothes."
Even at midsummer the low hills about the Arka Tagh
are sheeted with ice. The general level of the plateau
is between 16,000 and 18,000 feet.

292 TIBET
Long before Sven Hedin (who had assumed the
role and the dress of a Mongolian pilgrim) reached the
Zilling tso, news of his coming reached Lhasa. He
was given away probably by the Mongolian pilgrims
who left Charklik a little later than himself, or by the
first yak hunters he encountered south of the Arka
Tagh. It does not matter which. Southeast of the
great lake and about half way between that lake and
the Tengri Nor he was brought to a stand by the
armed opposition of a Tibetan crowd, and a final inter
view with Kamba Bombo the governor of Nagchu
decided his fate. He was sent back under an escort
to the Kashmir frontier at Ladak, over what was
practically the same route as that of Littledale and
Nain Sing. The Nagchu governor was a man of
about forty, small and pale, and his dress was tasteful
and elegant. After removing a red Spanish cloak,
he " stood forth, arrayed in a suit of yellow silk, with
wide arms, and a little, blue Chinese skull cap. His
feet were encased in Mongolian boots of green velvet.
In a word, he was magnificent." He was decided,
however, and he made "it abundantly clear that there
was nothing for it but to return. His Tibetan escort
were almost equally magnificent with himself. " They
carried their swords in handsome silver-mounted scab
bards decorated with corals and turquoises; silver
' gavos ' or cases for ' burkhans,' that is, little images
of Buddha ; bracelets and rosaries ; and in the long
plaits of their hair various parti-coloured ornaments,
— in a word, they were decked out in the hand-

TIBET 293
somest finery they possessed. The more distinguished
among them wore big hats with plumes in them;
others had scarves round their heads, while the rank
and file were bareheaded." The Kamba Bombo in
sisted on it that Sven Hedin was an Englishman from
India. This was the great offence, and back to India
he must go. No " sahib " will ever reach Lhasa but
with an armed escort.
Sven Hedin's return across the central Chang gave
us little that was actually geographically new, and he
was too well looked after by his Tibetan escort to
move far afield from the direct route. Is not the
story of it written in one of the most delightful books
of modern travel? To him we owe a most valuable
record of careful observations in the wild highlands
of northern Tibet, and his records alone would be suffi
cient, without the confirmation of other explorers, to
convince us that there is no royal road from the north
to Lhasa, west of Hue's route from Koko Nor. Nor
can even that be considered as a route to be reckoned
with for aggressive demonstrations towards India. It
is a pilgrim route, and a commercial route, but prac
ticable for no travellers unless they be Chinese or Japs.
As a practicable military road, or even as a road for
useful commercial purposes, it is absurd to talk of
any approach to Lhasa which crosses the Kuen Lun
from Chinese Turkestan to the west of it.

CHAPTER XIII
Recent Expedition to Tibet — The Reconnaissance of the Upper
Brahmaputra by Ryder, and the Exploration of a Part of
Western Tibet by Pawling
THE record of the Tibetan expedition to Lhasa
under Colonel Younghusband, which practi
cally commenced in the autumn of 1903 and lasted
more than a year, can hardly be included in a work
which deals with the adventures and vicissitudes of
exploration. Volumes have been written about it, and
some of the charming and instructive chapters which
have illustrated Lhasa have made that sacred city
almost as familiar to the public as any continental
town. But such works are intended to appeal to the
popular imagination, and deal more with the outward
and passing presentation of their subject than with
historical detail or social institutions. It is very satis
factory to find that on the whole the impressions pro
duced by previous explorers have been confirmed by
these later experiences. The way to Lhasa from
Darjiling is but a short way and touches but a small
fraction of the vast regions of Tibet. Explorers'
work, whether as studies on topography, history, or
social economics, has been amplified and corrected in
many details over this restricted area by the observers

Major C. H. D. Ryder, D. S. O., R. E

TIBET 295
and writers of the expedition ; and we have learnt that,
on the whole, our previous map knowledge was fairly
accurate, and previous records and descriptions of the
city of mystery were reasonably truthful — facts which
are most gratifying to those who have spent months
of official labour in sifting and sorting the mass of
uncertain material which has come to hand from
native sources. Inasmuch as these earlier records con
tain much information, patiently acquired from local
authorities, which is wanting in the later journalistic
accounts of Lhasa and its surroundings, we need not
apologise for continuing the story of exploration
rather as told by the original explorer than by the
latter-day journalist. We now have a scientifically
constructed map of the city of Lhasa, but so far as
this book is concerned it is useful only as an illustra
tion of the success which attended earlier efforts made
under most difficult circumstances. The Tibetan ex
pedition indeed furnishes a striking commentary on
the work of long years of native exploration, and, on
the whole, our explorers come splendidly out of the
ordeal of comparison. If, however, we have gained
little that can be called absolutely new geographical
information, we can point at least to one feature of
that now historic mission which redeems it from the
charge of being a geographical disappointment.
The reconnaissance carried out by Captains Rawling
and Ryder from Gyangtse to Simla via Gartok was of
the nature of scientific exploration, such as is new to
Tibet, and such as we may yet hope to see extended

296 TIBET
farther and farther from the edge of the Indian border
land into the cold wilderness of the north. It was a
grand opportunity for unravelling certain geograph
ical problems on scientific principles which could
hardly be solved by the restricted methods of the
weary single-handed native explorer making his cold
and cheerless way from point to point of the Tibetan
hinterland, always in uncertainty and often in danger.
If Captain Ryder had proved nothing more than that
there are no higher peaks than Mt. Everest to the
north of Nepal, that alone would have been well
worth the journey; but he has gone far towards
answering several questions which arise when the
northern water-parting — the great divide — between
India and central Tibet is under discussion. It seems
unlikely that he has established the position of that
dividing line between the central lake region and the
Brahmaputra basin, one of the most important geo
graphical features in Asia, and he has certainly set
at rest the controversy as to the connection of the twin
lakes of Manasarawar, proving that the connection
existed even as Strachey maintained, and that these
lakes are no longer the source of the Sutlej River.
This expedition (which included Captain Wood and
Lieutenant Bailey) was sufficiently strong to make a
complete examination of all those alternative routes
following the Brahmaputra valley from its source to
Shigatze which constitute a link in the Janglam or
great trade route from Leh to China. Starting from
Shigatze on the 7th of September, the party reached

The Gorges of the Brahmaputra above Lhatse (Rawling)

TIBET 297
Gartok on the Indus (now established by treaty as an
open trade mart for India) on the 9th of December.
" We were unanimous in looking on it as one of the
most dreary inhabited places we had struck on our
journey — a long broad plain, absolutely bare, with a
dozen wretched hovels in the middle, constitutes at
this time of the year what is in summer the chief
trading centre of western Tibet; but in summer
traders are said to collect in large numbers, living in
tents." Crossing the Ayi La (18,700 feet), the party
dropped into the Sutlej valley at Totling and thence
took the Shipki trade route to Simla, surmounting a
series of passes (of which the Shipki La is the chief)
as they followed the Sutlej valley traversing the
mighty axis of the central Himalayan ranges. They
reached Simla on January 11. It was a notable
achievement successfully carried through in the depth
of winter.
To one of the party, Captain Rawling, must be
credited a most valuable geographical reconnaissance
of a considerable area of the central lake region of
Tibet, forming a useful extension of Captain Deasy's
surveys in the western regions of the plateau. Cap
tain Rawling, with another officer of his regiment,
Lieutenant Hargreaves, reached the Tibetan plateau in
the summer of 1903, and together they explored and
mapped the highlands at an average elevation of over
sixteen thousand feet above sea level as far east as
the eighty-fourth meridian, working on strictly scien
tific principles with theodolite and plane. table, and

298 TIBET
making full use of the data furnished by Deasy's work,
as well as of the provisions which that officer had
thoughtfully left behind him for the benefit of future
explorers. It was a very notable performance. Cap
tain Rawling's excellent map illustrates a country of
vast elevation, seamed as to its surface with an irreg
ular formation of comparatively low ridges (some
2,000 to 3,000 feet above the valleys) enclosing nar
row spaces forming a confused system of self-contained
drainage areas. One of the most remarkable features
in this vast scene of dreary desolation was the exten
sive area of gold mines which they encountered.
There was abundant evidence of a gold-mining in
dustry still in existence which must have employed
large numbers of people; the shallow pits stretched
for miles, and the " water runs and dams were clear
and sharp."
Indeed at every step almost of this eventful journey
the explorer acquired fresh evidence of the extraor
dinary richness of the alluvial soil of the plateau
in gold and borax. Nor was the country that
they traversed during the summer months absolutely
devoid of charm. Rich soil and abundant grass were
frequently a feature which gladdened their eyes;
game was extraordinarily abundant, and the scenery
possessed the varied features of wide-spread lake and
overshadowing mountain peak, an association which
always lends beauty to a landscape. The lakes were
obviously diminishing in volume, and in one case at
least there seemed to be evidence that a lake once salt

Lhasa. Plan of the City

TIBET 299
had gradually become sweet. Few more valuable
records of Tibetan exploration exist than this of Cap
tain Rawling. To him and to Deasy, Stein, and
Ryder is due the credit of having introduced scientific
methods of exploration into Tibet. It is for future
explorers to follow their system, which includes a
frame-work of points fixed by triangulation — and the
spread of topography based thereon by the employ
ment of trained native topographers of the Indian
Survey.

CHAPTER XIV
The Approaches to Lhasa — The Dalai Lama and High State
Officials — Feasts and Customs — Temples and Palaces —
Folk Lore — A Tibetan Story
NOW that our mission to Tibet has returned to
the Indian border we know (if we did not
know before) how very little there is in Lhasa to jus
tify that mystic fascination which has somehow or
other exercised so powerful an influence on European
minds. The veil has been torn aside and the naked
city has been revealed in all its weird barbarity. It is
in truth a scattered, unkempt, and ill regulated town,
full of impurities, infested with savage dogs, obscene
pigs, and night prowlers, revelling in many most un
holy institutions. But there is a singularity about its
barbarous ways; a quaint inconsequence in many of
its most sacred functions (bringing them perilously
close to the realm of pantomime) which exhibit Lhasa
as a most extraordinary feature in the study of Asiatic
developments, — one quite apart from anything that
we can recognise elsewhere. The policy of the Tibetan
hierarchy is inscrutable. Beyond a pigheaded determin
ation to ignore the inevitable, and to admit no English
man within the walls of the sacred city, it is difficult
to discern any settled plan of political action. From

TIBET 301
Lhasa itself we get no sign, and with the departure
of the mission the gates of Lhasa are closed again as
fast as ever. No voice will reach us across the Hima
layan wall. We shall hardly know how the disturbed
relations between Tibet and China will readjust them
selves; nor can we tell whether the mild influence
which we have left behind us will really out-balance
the more dominant overshadowing of Russia or not.
In short, we have left no representative in Lhasa, and
no information which we can obtain through local
channels will be in any way trustworthy.
But for the purpose of framing an idea of its appear
ance as a city and of its functions as the centre of a
vast religious institution we have plenty of material.
Approaching Lhasa from the west over the wide
gravelly plains which border the Kyichu, the first view
of the town seems to be striking enough. Chandra
Das describes his sensations when the city first greeted
his eyes. He had passed Cheri (the great slaughter
house beyond the city-walls) and the wooded hill where
on stands the Debung monastery with its 7700 priests,
and he had left behind him a " dark red temple of
Chinese design with gilt spire which is known as
Nachung-chos-Kyong," when at a turn of the road
" the whole city stood displayed before us at the end
of an avenue of gnarled trees, the rays of the setting
sun falling on its gilded domes. It was a superb
sight the like of which I have never seen. On our left
was Potala with its lofty buildings and gilt roof;
before us, surrounded by a green meadow, lay the town

302 TIBET
with its tower-like whitewashed houses and Chinese
buildings with roofs of blue glazed tiles. Long fes
toons of inscribed and painted rags hung from one
building to another waving in the breeze." Beyond
Daru (at the foot of the Debung monastery hill) the
road had run for a while " through a marsh overgrown
with rank grass, numerous ditches drained the water
into the river, and at the northeast end of the marsh
we could distinguish the famous monastery of Sera.
Beyond a high sand embankment on our left was the
park and palace of Norbu linga, and the beautiful
grove of Kemai tsal, in the midst of which stands the
palace of Lhalu, the father of the last Dalai lama."
A reference to the plan of Lhasa which was made
by the explorer Krishna (on which Colonel Waddell
has introduced further information derived from native
sources) will show the general disposition of the city
and its surroundings. The potala, or hill, on which
stands the Dalai Lama's palace is a very remarkable
feature when viewed from the west against the back
ground of grey distant hills, with irregular masses
of whitewashed Tibetan buildings clustering around its
foot. The main body of the city, however, is at some
distance east of the palace. A very effective photo
graph of the Potala was obtained by a member of
one of the late Nepalese missions to Pekin passing
through Lhasa, and it illustrates the curious lines of
Tibeto-Chinese architecture very clearly.
The explorers Nain Sing and Ugyen were obliged
both of them to exercise considerable caution in ap-

TIBET 303
preaching Lhasa, and neither of them seems to have
been much fascinated by his first acquaintance with the
town. " The city of Lhasa is circular," says Nain
Sing, " with a circumference of two and a half miles.
In the centre of the city stands a very large temple
called by various names." This is the Jo (or Jovo)
Khang of the map, the true " Lhasa, or place of the
Gods." " The idols in it are richly inlaid with gold
and precious stones. This temple is surrounded by
bazaars and shops." " At the northern end of the city
are two monasteries called Muru and Ramoche; at
the northwest corner the Chumuling monastery; at
the west end the Tankyaling monastery; the monas
tery called Kontyaling is about one mile west of the
city." Nain Sing observes that several of these mon
asteries are likewise residences of Tibetan govern
ment officials.1
Nain Sing paid the usual homage to the Dalai
Lama, then (1865) a "handsome boy of about thir
teen years of age," whom he designates Gewaring
boche (Great lama of Tibet), who was attended by the
Raja Gyalbo Khuro-Gyago, the prime minister, who is,
in effect, the real governor of Lhasa. According to
this authority the government of Lhasa is conducted
by the Raja, or Gyalpo, with the assistance of four
ministers ; the resident Chinese Amban having " the
power of reporting against either the raja or the four
1 It is impossible to reconcile the different forms of spelling place
names adopted by native explorers, so they are given as they occur in
their reports.

304 TIBET
ministers to the Emperor of China, and if necessary
he can have them removed from office." Such au
thority, if it remains valid, certainly gives China an
effective control over Lhasa. The process of selecting
the infant who represents the reincarnation of a de
ceased Dalai Lama is said by Nain Sing to be kept a
secret from the people of Lhasa, but his account does
not differ materially from that which other writers
narrate. Until i860 (according to Chandra Das) the
rightful reincarnation of the defunct lama was deter
mined by the use of the " golden jar," in which were
placed the names of infants born about the time
(within a month, according to Nain Sing) of the
death of the Dalai Lama, and the choice of his successor
determined by lot. It was only after reaching years
of discretion that the ceremony took place of selecting
the property of the late Lama from amongst an as
sortment of articles of all descriptions placed before
him. But in 1875 (according to Rockhill and Ugyen)
a new method was introduced after consulting the
Nachung chos gyong oracle. The discovery of the rein
carnation was to be entrusted to a monk of the purest
morals ; and only the oracle could discover such a monk.
After a monk of sufficient saintliness had been discov
ered by the oracle, he was instructed to seek for the rein
carnation near Khong-po, a little to the east of Lhasa.
A vision and a voice directed him to the lake of Chos-
khor, and on the crystal surface of that lake he saw the
future grand lama seated as a babe on his mother's
lap. On his way back from the lake to Khong-po

TIBET 305
he encountered " in the house of a respectable and
wealthy family " the realisation of his vision. The
infant whom he recognised as having been thus re
vealed in the lake was taken to Lhasa and there he is
now installed as the " Lord of speech, the mighty ocean
of wisdom," — the Dalai Lama. This newer system
seems to have been due to some misgivings on the
part of the priestly hierarchy at Lhasa as to the senti
ments entertained by a late Dalai lama towards his ad
visory council. It was feared that his spirit might
influence the drawing of the lot which was to indicate
his successor, and that the selection might prove un-
propitious. Whether the new system of selection is
to remain a permanent institution and to be regarded
hereafter as constitutional remains to be seen.
So much has been written about Lhasa that it will
perhaps be better to adhere to the general description
of the place which is given by the later explorer
Ugyen, and which generally confirms the records of
the earlier explorer Nain Sing. Ugyen, it will be re
membered, accompanied Chandra Das on his expedi
tion, but he also visited Lhasa on his own account
subsequently, and has added many unpublished details
to those which have been previously collected and col
lated. His description at least possesses the merit of
absolute originality. After his explorations of the
Bhutan borderland (when he returned by the Yalung
valley to that of the Tsanpo), Ugyen passed much
of his time in visiting monasteries and in squaring
matters with his conscience for acting as a British ex-

306 TIBET
plorer in the land of the lamas. He finally crossed the
Tsanpo (Brahmaputra) near the mouth of the Theb
valley and visited the monastery at Dorjethag. At
this point the river is about 800 yards wide and " very
full of fish." From Dorjethag there is a road north
ward leading to Lhasa over the Tungo la, and this
road the lama (forgetful of the promises made when
a prisoner at Lhas Kang Jong) determined to fol
low. The road was good enough as far as Phurin;
then open gravel plains covered with thorny bush
supervened. He crossed the Tungo la at 16,330 feet,
where was a flatfish open grass plain at the summit;
beyond the plain was a secondary pass, from which the
city of Lhasa can be seen " as in a looking-glass."
The descent on the northern side was steep for some
distance, after which the grade becomes easy. Ugyen
crossed the Kyichu on the 9th of October (1883)
where the river is 500 yards broad, by a ferry under
the guidance of boatmen who were so drunk as nearly
to upset the boat. From the north bank he made his
way through marshy ground till he reached the outer
circular road of the city. It was here that it was so
necessary to move circumspectly on account of the
gangs of savage corpse-eating dogs which infest the
purlieus of Lhasa. After a chequered night's experi
ence he found refuge, and an old friend, in the
Daphung monastery. In his search for lodgings he
encountered a Chinese sergeant, who suspected him
and gave information which led to his property being
searched. However his Mongolian friend the Dingpon

Tibetan Natives. (Littledale)

TIBET 307
stood by him, and finally introduced him to the
Nepalese agent in Lhasa, who received him with
courtesy and attention, but greeted him with the signi
ficant query "How do you do?" in English ! However,
Ugyen established his position in Lhasa, and com
menced a systematic survey of the town " under cover
of an umbrella." We may as well add that the re
sults were not so successful as those of Krishna, whose
map we give. It is well to note that in all these pro
ceedings (as in subsequent preparations of his re
ports) Ugyen was much assisted by his wife. Ugyen
confirms the accuracy of Chandra Das' statements
about the formation of the Tibetan government. He
states that the Desi Gyalpo, the regent or King of
Tibet, who ranks as second only to the Dalai Lama at
Lhasa, may be elected from amongst the grand lamas
of one of the four great " lings " or monasteries, i. e.,
Tsechok ling, Chenmoi ling, Kundul ling, and Tengal
ling. These spiritual chiefs (for the institution of
Desi as the secular ruler of Tibet apparently lapsed
as long ago as the year 1680, when the Mongolians
retired from interference with the government) are
all incarnations of one or other of the previous rulers
of Tibetan history, and are apparently embodiments
of both secular and religious wisdom. The regent in
Ugyen's time was from Kundul ling, and is described
as "young, pious, and generous-minded," and as be
ing " kind to the people." His periodic tours in the
country were always notable for the evidences of his
popularity which they led to. A previous regent (of

308 TIBET
whom the grand lama of Chen-moi ling was an incar
nation) was a poor settler in Tibet who became a monk
on the Sera monastery by the lucky accident of a
dream which led him on the right way to promotion.
This is the regent to whom the Tibetans still ascribe
the regeneration of Lhasa morals by processes which
one cannot describe. According to Ugyen every part
of a Tibetan woman's dress, her striped petticoat, her
headdress, even the discolouration of her face, is a
significant reminder of the pains and penalties attending
any lapse from the path of virtue. He says that the
Chinese Amban is under the authority of the Regent,
and that under the Amban are four Shapchi; under
them again are seventy-three Tsidungs, and several
Kahdungs (secretaries) who work in court under the
Shapchi lama. Chandra Das gives a somewhat dif
ferent account of the administrative staff. He places
the council of five Kahlons next to the Regent assisted
by one Kahdung only and one ' Tsipon.' The Jong-
pons, or district officers, and Depons, or military
chiefs, rank next; whilst seventy-three pundits are re
tained at the principal monastery of the Dalai lama to
pray for the prosperity of the kingdom and the long
life of the Gyalpo. No state undertakings can be initi
ated without consulting the Nechung-Chos-Kyong —
the great oracle of Mongolian origin — all of whose
utterances are inspired.
On the second day of the first month of each year
this oracle prophesies the events of the year to come.
His consulting fee is about five rupees, and as private

TIBET 309
adviser as well as public functionary his time is well
occupied. Much superstitious reverence surrounds
him; no one is permitted to look on him as he ap
proaches Lhasa, and the atmosphere of mysticism in
which he is enveloped is strictly maintained by the
authority of the State, which surrounds him with a
staff of seventy lamas and burns incense before him.
Ugyen adds some interesting details regarding the
Molan holiday at the commencement of the New Year
to those which had previously been given by Nain
Sing; but there are certain rather confusing discre
pancies as regards the exact dates of the various func
tions. According to Ugyen the Nachung-chos-Kyong
is the only oracle consulted at this feast, the second
oracle (Kasmasha-chos-Kyong) mentioned by Chandra
Das not being then permitted to inspire men. During
the continuance of the feast the chief magisterial power
is assumed by a lama of the Dapung monastery, the
only monastery which can be called upon to produce
this temporary representative of the law. This lama
is called Shalngo by Ugyen (and Jalno by Nain Sing),
and he purchases his privileges for six weeks, dating
from the third day of the first month (Nain Sing).
During this period he rules all Lhasa at his own dis
cretion, appropriating all fines, and making the best
he can of his bargains with government. The Dalai
Lama and the Regent only are beyond his control.
The Nachung-cho-Kyong oracle issues decrees which
are read out to the public by assembled monks per
haps as often as 10,000 times in succession. The

jio TIBET
object of the repetition is indicated by the fact that
the monks receive a reward for their exertions at the
rate of eight annas per volume. Both authorities
agree that the ground procession and display of idols
before the Machindranath temple takes place on the
15th day of the New Year. On the 29th day of the
first month a strange ceremony takes place, for an
analogy to which one must turn to Jewish history. On
that day a man is selected who is called the Logon
gyalpo (or carrier of one year's ill luck) who becomes
a sort of scapegoat for the sins of the people, and is
hunted through the streets and market-place of Lhasa
into the desert country towards the Samye monastery.
For a week previously he perambulates Lhasa as a
sort of clown with his face painted half black and
half white, and is permitted extraordinary license.
He helps himself to what he wants at purely nominal
prices, and as he wanders through the streets he shakes
a black yak's tail over the heads of the people, thus
transferring from them to himself the full measure of
their ill luck. Nain Sing says that this ceremony takes
place at the end of the second month, and further
states that the Jalno's authority, after lapsing for
twenty-four days at the end of the first twenty-three
days of anarchy (for that is what his rule represents),
is then resumed for ten days more, and that this cere
mony ends it. Ugyen also maintains that the expul
sion of the Logon scapegoat from the city concludes
these strange proceedings, but makes the Jalno's au
thority last for one and a half months. It is tolerably

TIBET 311
clear that for at least six weeks Lhasa is very much
in the hands of the mob. Previously to his expulsion
from the town the Logon plays an apparent game of
chance by throwing dice with the Jalno (according to
Nain Sing) . Officially it is an open question which of
the two is to undergo exile. Practically the matter is
settled by the fact (according to Ugyen) that the
Jalno's dice carry nothing but sixes on all their faces,
whilst the Logon is supplied with ordinary cubes.
Anyhow the Logon invariably loses on the throw, after
a pompous official announcement that if he wins he
and the Jalno will change places. Ugyen maintains
that the Jalno does not appear in this ceremony and
that the game is played between the Logon and the
Grand Lama of the Chang-chup-ling. It is not a
matter of much consequence. The Logon remains the
scapegoat. Then he receives certain presents from the
government — a white horse, a white dog, a white
bird, with other smaller gifts of provisions and offer
ings from the people. Finally he is hunted out of the
town amidst the yells of the mob towards the Samye
monastery, where he may (if he survives his treatment
at the hands of the people) be accommodated in the
Lhakang, or dead house. He is privileged to remain
in this sanctuary for seven days. He then retreats
for another week to Chethang. Again he moves on to
Lhoka, where he remains for five or six months. He
lives as an outcast and outlaw, but he is privileged to
commit any crime. He may murder or rob without
punishment. I believe that, as a matter of fact, the

312 TIBET
wretched scapegoat seldom survives long enough to
exercise his privileges. Amongst all the weird cus
toms of Lhasa — devil dances, incantations, and the
general atmosphere of religious pantomime — this
appears to be the most strange. It would be interest
ing to trace its derivation.
Every temple, every building of note in Lhasa has
been described by Indian explorers, but there is a
monotony in the repetition of temple properties and
the magnificence of idols and their decorations which
is hardly worth imitating. The customs and fashions
of the people (which are far more interesting) are
only alluded to casually, even in the pages of Chandra
Das' narrative; for the native mind always experi
ences some difficulty in realising that that which is
familiar to itself is precisely that which requires most
careful illustration for the enlightenment of the Euro
pean public. We really know very little either of
Tibetan ethnography or of those social surroundings
of the various communities which are the distinctive
characteristic of the various nationalities represented
amongst the people of the great plateau land. Methods
of disposing of the dead (probably from the repulsive
prominence which is given to them) are, however,
generally referred to. There are two burial-places in
Lhasa. The larger of the two is to the northeast of
the town called Raga and the other is near a temple
within the walls of Lhasa. Dead bodies are laid on a
large flat stone, on which places for the limbs have
been roughly hollowed out, with their faces to the sky

TIBET 313
and their limbs stretched out. " A smoke is then sent
to the sky" (Ugyen), and two vultures appear. If
these vultures in their flight wheel to the right, then
the soul is happy " in heaven," otherwise the vultures
either turn to the left or disappear altogether. The
body is finally torn to pieces and devoured by these
birds. This is the only ceremony alluded to by Ugyen.
But it is not the only method of disposing of the dead.
The bodies are cut to pieces by the " ragyabas," or
scavengers (who form a sort of guild in Lhasa into
which is received any outcast or criminal who cannot
be otherwise disposed of), and is then distributed
amongst the city dogs. Burial is also resorted to
under certain circumstances. The " ragyabas " are a
specially offensive class of the lowest type of Tibetan
humanity, who enjoy privileges of their own, one of
which appears to be insulting all whom they meet who
do not respond to their demand for alms. They are
not allowed to build houses or to live otherwise than
in huts constituted of mud and the horns of animals.
These " ragyaba " huts appear to form a prominent
feature in the entourage of Lhasa. All writers refer
to them, and to the crowd of mangy savage dogs
which feed on the dismembered corpses of defunct
Tibetans. The great temple of Ramoche, erected by a princess
of the house of Tai tsung and wife of the Tibetan
King Srong-btsan gambo, is described by Chandra
Das as a flat-roofed edifice, three storeys high, by no
means fulfilling the expectations he had formed of it?

314 TIBET
magnificence from all that he had heard about the
famous shrine. " Heaps of relics " and " a few holy
images " shut in behind an iron lattice were all that
the temple contained of special interest, and a small
gilt dome built in Chinese style was the only expres
sion of the form of architecture which generally leads
to such magnificent effects. The ideal splendour of
the temples and monasteries of Tibet is no doubt much
exaggerated by Buddhist pilgrims, owing to the reli
gious impressions produced in their minds as they
wander on pilgrimages from one temple to another,
amidst scenes of unusual sterility and wildness. The
devotee gradually forgets what he has seen elsewhere,
whilst he is ever endeavouring to realise the impres
sions acquired in his infancy of the glories of his
ancient faith. But it is not quite the same thing with
the sceptical Bengali, who measures the magnificence
of these outward and visible signs of a faith which
does not appeal to him from a standard which is more
nearly European.
Our special pilgrim, Ugyen, visited all the holy
places in Lhasa, but he was in constant peril of detec
tion and did not move about freely. Chandra Das
was able to devote much more leisure and more careful
attention on the details of the principal points of inter
est, and is consequently a better authority even than
the Buddhist lama. The Jo Kang, however, the great
central temple or cathedral, which forms such a promi
nent feature in the view of the city as seen from the
neighbourhood of the Potala, did certainly appeal to

TIBET 315
Chandra Das. He calls it magnificent; and it is not
difficult to conceive that with its dominance over the
surrounding town, the height of its massive walls and
the constant shimmer and movement of the banners
with which it is encompassed make it impressive.
" In front of it is a tall flag-pole, at the base of which
hang two yak-tails, some inscriptions, and a number
of yaks' and sheep's horns. In the propylon of the
chief temple, the heavy wooden pillars of which are
three to four feet in circumference, and about twelve
feet high, upwards of a hundred monks were making
prostrations before the image of the Lord (Jovo) on
a throne facing the west, when Chandra Das was
there. This famous image of the Buddha, known as
Jovo rinpoche is said to have been made in Magadha
during the lifetime of the great teacher. Visvakarma
is supposed to have made it under the guidance of the
god Indra, of an alloy of the five precious substances,
god, silver, zinc, iron, and copper, and the " five pre
cious celestial substances," probably diamonds, rubies.
lapis-lazuli, emeralds, and " indranila." When the
Princess Konjo, a relative of the Emperor Taitsung,
was given in marriage to the King of Tibet, she
brought this image with her. " Tlie image is life size
and exquisitely modelled, and represents a handsome
young prince. The crown on its head is said to be
the gift of Tsong Khapa, the great reformer." " On
the four sides of it were gilt pillars with dragons
turned round them, supporting a canopy. On one side
of the image of Buddha is that of Matreya, and on

316 TIBET
the other that of Dipin Kara Buddha. Behind this
again is the image of the Buddha Gang Chang Wogyal,
and to the right and left of the latter those of the chief
disciples of the Buddha." Then follows an enumera
tion of other statues, a catalogue of relics, and a tale
of quaint legends connected with them. There can
be no doubt that the Jovo Kang is the central reli
gious institution of Lhasa, and that, as such, it
occupies the place which the temple of Solomon held
at Jerusalem in the veneration of the ancient Jews.
Of the Potala (the palace of the Dalai Lama) Chandra
Das also gives us the best description of any native
visitor from India. The Nepalese photograph well
illustrates the nature of the approach to the residence
of the Dalai Lama which cost Chandra Das such an
effort to surmount. " Arrived at the eastern entrance
of the Potala," says Chandra Das, " we dismounted
and walked through a long hall, on either side of
which were rows of prayer-wheels which every
passer-by put in motion. Then ascending three long
flights of stone steps we left our ponies in care of a
by-stander, — for no one may ride further, — and
proceeded towards the palace, under the guidance of
a young monk. We had to climb up five ladders
before we reached the ground floor of the Phodang
marpo, or the red palace, thus called from the exterior
walls being of a dark red colour. Then we had half
a dozen more ladders to climb up, and we found our
selves at the top of Potala (there are nine storeys to
this building) , where we saw a number of monks await-

TIBET 317
ing an audience. The view from here was beautiful
beyond compare, — the broad valley of the Kyi-chu,
in the centre of which stands the great city, surrounded
by green groves ; the gilt spires of Jo Kang and other
temples of Lhasa, and farther away the great monas
teries of Sera and Dabung, beyond which rose the
dark blue mountains." " Walking very softly, we
came to the middle of the reception hall, the roof of
which is supported by three rows of pillars, four in
each row, and where light is admitted by a sky-light.
The furniture was that generally seen in lamaserais,
but the hangings were of the richest brocades and
cloth of gold; the church utensils were of gold; and
the frescoes on the walls of exquisite fineness. Behind
the throne were beautiful tapestries and satin hang
ings forming a great canopy. The floor was beauti
fully smooth and glossy, but the doors and windows,
which were painted red, were of the rough description
common throughout the country. An attendant ap
proached, who took our presentation ' Khatag,' " and
" we then took our seats on rugs, of which there were
eight rows ; ours were in the third, and about ten feet
from the Grand Lama's throne. The Grand Lama
is a child of eight (1882), with bright and fair com
plexion and rosy cheeks. His eyes are large and
penetrating, the shape of his face remarkably Aryan,
though somewhat marred by the obliquity of his eyes.
The thinness of his person was probably due to the
fatigue of the court ceremonies and to the religious
duties and ascetic observances of his estate. A yellow

318 TIBET
mitre covered his head and its pendent lappets hid his
ears; a yellow mantle draped his person, and he sat
cross-legged with joined palms. The throne on which
he sat was supported by carved lions, and covered with
silk scarves. It was about four feet high, six feet long,
and four feet broad. The state officers moved about
with becoming gravity ; there was the Kuchar Khanpo,
with a bowl of holy water, coloured yellow with
saffron; the censer carrier, with the golden censer
with three chains; the Solpon Chenpo, with a golden
teapot ; and other household officials. Two gold lamps
made in the shape of flower vases burnt on either
side the throne." We cannot, however, follow further
the graphic narrative of Chandra Das, as our business
is rather with the processes of Tibetan exploration
than with the incidents of Lhasa.
Ugyen, whilst hiding from the too inquisitive regard
of old acquaintances at Darjiling, collected some very
curious old-world legends and folk-lore which might
well be worth scholarly investigation. It is impossible
to do more here than reproduce one of these tales
shortly as a sample of their nature. The story is
apropos of the introduction of music (symbolised by
the harp, or guitar, or some instrument of a similar
nature) into Tibet from China by a Chinese princess
named Gyara.
" Once upon a time," says the story, the King of
Tibet was warned by his oracle that unless he married
a Chinese princess the Buddhist religion would decline.
He finally (after much difficulty) selected one Lompo-

TIBET 319
gara as his ambassador on the delicate mission of secur
ing the hand of the Emperor of China's only daughter.
But Lompogara on his arrival in China (after adven
tures too numerous to recount) found three or four
competitors in the field, amongst whom were the King
of Persia and the King of India. Miraculous feats of
strength and of arms were set by the emperor to the
representatives of these different suitors to perform;
in all of which Lompogara was triumphantly suc
cessful through the strength granted him by his
Tibetan gods. Amongst other marvellous perform
ances he claimed the princess by his success in
recognising her amidst two thousand of the most
beautiful girls in China. Advised by an old woman
with whom he lodged, he boldly selected the ugliest.
Now this is a distinct departure from the ordinary
course of Eastern story and indicates originality. Such
details of the story as those which represent the prin
cess as consulting her own looking-glass in order to
obtain a vision of the bridegroom have a more familiar
ring. The glass first told a flattering tale, but when it
finally presented her suitor as an ugly old man she broke
it to pieces. Mention is made too of a book which was
once the great Chinese oracle, called Kabtsi thamo.
" All that we do or say is found out in that book. In
that book even the lice that are on the body of a man "
(surely this is quite Tibetan!) "and the leaves and
fruits of trees are also found out in that book," says the
lama in his quaint English. But the book could not tell
the king by what magic art Lompogara had divined

32o TIBET
the identity of the princess. He accordingly threw
it into the fire. Throughout these Tibetan tales there
is a curious contempt expressed (or at least intimated)
for household oracles. At the end of the story the
princess (who had throughout been in communication
with her lover by means of a carrier pigeon) stole
the household gods, — the image of Sakya Muni and
the image of Jitsun Dolma Sungjin, — and went off
to Tibet; not with the ambassador who had been sent
to claim her, but with his assistant. Lompogara was
detained for two years in China by the orders of the
Chinese emperor, for the purpose of raising up de
scendants as acute as himself. At last he escaped by
means of a subtle device and returned to Tibet. Here
he found the princess still waiting for the king (who
was more interested in a new Nepalese wife than in
any Chinese princess), and it was during this period
of waiting and of lamentation that she introduced the
harp. By means of her skill as a musician she finally
gained the king's attentions. Thus all ends happily,
except that the Nepalese wife subsequently disputed the
maternity of the child that was born to Gyara, and the
king as arbitrator was unable to decide. He left
the question to the boy himself to settle, but although
the boy gave a strictly impartial decision (for he said
that he belonged to both), he had one eye knocked out
by the enraged Nepalese woman who claimed entire
possession of him, and thus satisfactorily proved that
she was not his mother. Students of eastern legends
and tales will at once recognise several points of

TIBET 321
departure in this from the usual sequence of events as
recorded in similar literature of the nearer East. The
origin is probably Chinese, and much more ancient
than that of the "thousand and one nights," or any
similar collection of fables. The ugliness of the
heroine is in itself an original feature; such a sequel
as the domestic quarrel with which the story termi
nates is a marked departure from the ordinary con
struction of Turkish or Arabic tales.

21

CHAPTER XV
General Summary — Significance and Value of Approach to
Lhasa from the Northeast — Russia's Position relatively to
Tibet and India — The Value of Eastern and Southeastern
Tibet — The Promise of Gold — Necessity of Opening up the
Valley of the Brahmaputra
THE gradual progress of Tibetan exploration
(more especially the researches of the Indian
native surveyors) have revealed to us the value of Tibet
as regards its political and commercial relationship to
India. Politically, this huge mass of elevated hinter
land is as much of a guardian buffer to the northern
approaches to India as ever it was. No means have
been discovered by which the barren, dry, and storm-
swept wastes of the northern Chang can be bridged
so as to evolve a practicable highroad across them.
Their stony desolation, amidst which water is scarcely
to be found, and fuel only to be obtained by grace of
good luck and much searching, presents a barrier of
at least five hundred miles between the inhabited de
pression of Chinese Turkestan and that of the upper
Brahmaputra — five hundred miles of sterility at an
elevation where many men would find it impossible to
live. Too much stress should not be laid on the
obstacle presented by intersecting ridges and ranges,

TIBET 323
which are not relatively high and which have never
proved to be insuperable obstacles to advance, although
the whole surface of the Chang is seamed with them.
It is the absence of good water and shelter which
places the possibility of crossing these wastes with
any great company of people beyond the category of
human possibility. It has always been so. No Mon
golian or Chinese host has ever swept southwards
across the Kuen Lun into the comparatively rich and
fertile valleys of the Brahmaputra basin by any line
of route west of that meridional water-parting from
which the Chinese rivers spring.
Similarly from the west. No explorer has yet dis
covered a route to Lhasa which could by any stretch
of imagination be called practicable for military pur
poses. We know much about the Janglam, the com
mercial road between Leh and Lhasa, and we know
that of two military expeditions which have attempted
to follow this road, neither could record any substan
tial success, although neither met with any substantial
opposition. But when we examine the value of Tibet
as a buffer from aggression from the northeast and
east, we are faced with other possibilities. From the
days of Hue to those of Rockhill and De Rhins and
Krishna, travellers have made their way with no diffi
culties greater than those which beset ordinary travel
in out-of-the-way places between China and that land
of no-man's occupation which lies west of the Koko
Nor. The Koko Nor region is indeed but an outlying
province of the Chinese Empire, with which intercom-

324 TIBET
munication is habitually maintained. From the Koko
Nor region southward it is true that we have still the
width of the Chang to cross ere we reach the Brahma
putra — wider and yet more elevated here than it is
further west, for we are touching that central divide
where the small sources of all the great rivers flowing
east are found. Hue's account of his journey is enough
to prove that in winter, at any rate, the difficulties of
this route must be most formidable. But in spite of
such difficulties, it is a well-trodden route on which
the feet of thousands of pilgrims press annually, and
by which much Chinese trade finds its way to Lhasa.
Not only in small companies of two and three do the
Mongolians of the northern steppes make their way to
Lhasa by this road, they come and go in great com
panies, and it cannot be set aside as a highway to be
ignored, either from the political or commercial point of
view, whatever may be its value for military purposes.
From the east again we know that Tibet has been
invaded and conquered, and that armies have passed
and repassed by a regularly maintained line of route
which forms the recognised highway between Lhasa
and Pekin. The southern approaches are in our own
hands. It is only to the east and northeast that we
have to look for any possible scheme of expansion or
advance, such as might peril our position in India as
the dominant power in this Indian hinterland — the
upper Brahmaputra valley. On the direct east lies
China. To the northeast is China again, and a wild,
irregular border country over which China possesses

TIBET 325
little control, and in which she has no interest. It is
only China with whom we have to deal on the east,
and in spite of the marvellous record of Chinese inva
sion over the passes that lie between Ta-chien-lu and
the Brahmaputra valley, we need have little fear of
a repetition of such performances, or of serious diffi
culty in checking them should it be necessary. It is
by this route that China still maintains her political
influence in Tibet — an influence which, whether great
or small, we have always recognised and with which
we have no wish to interfere. But on the northeast
the political position is not so easy to define. Just as
Leh, the capital of Ladak, is the base for all commer
cial movement from the West, so is Sining fu, flanking
the Koko Nor depression, a similar base for north
eastern advance. The occupation of this region would
undoubtedly lead to the command of political influ
ence in Lhasa, and might even dominate commercial
relations with Tibet. It must be remembered that the
direct line of communication between Manchuria and
the Koko Nor is as much Mongolian as Chinese, and
that it is always open. The process of expansion from
Manchuria to the Koko Nor region would be simple
and rapid. At Urga in northern Mongolia (well
within the pale of Russian influence) there dwells
the third greatest Buddhist pontiff in the world, rank
ing only after the Dalai lama and the lama of the
Tashilumpo in the Buddhist hierarchy. This great
prelate is known as Bogdo, and, although he does not
appear to be strictly orthodox, he is, nevertheless, the

326 TIBET
representative of the Buddhist Church to many mil
lions of Buddhists who dwell around him. Russia is
already a great Buddhist power in Asia; and she is
geographically nearer to the centre and fountain of the
faith which so strongly influences nearly a third of
the world's inhabitants than we are in either Burma
or Ceylon. Russia in Manchuria would be but the
prelude to Russia on the borders of Tibet, holding
in her hands those pilgrim avenues to Lhasa which
start from the Koko Nor. With Russia firmly estab
lished in Manchuria, can we doubt that in a very few
years' time we should have all the pastoral waste
around Koko Nor (now recognised as no-man's land)
permanently occupied?
But Russia, overlooking the northeastern frontier
of Tibet, would be almost as far removed from the
possibility of active aggression against India as ever.
She would no more dream of crossing eastern Tibet
than she would of crossing the Chang from the north
with any aggressive scheme against the Indian fron
tier; but she would occupy a very central position
indeed in the Buddhist world; she would enormously
increase the weight of her political influence in Asia, and
she would obviously dominate the Tibetan trade which
trends vastly more Chinawards than towards India.
The importance of Tibet as a factor in the great
world of commerce is perhaps hardly to be estimated
at its exact worth. We can only hazard a guess at it.
Our explorers have sufficiently proved that the com
mercial wealth of the country centres itself in the

TIBET 327
southern and eastern valleys, and the recent expedi
tion has confirmed their views. In the south we have
a small amount of gold, borax, salt, and goat's hair
(or pushm) in the upper Indus valley and Nari-
Khorsum, which finds its way to Leh, or over the
Kumaon passes. From the markets of the Brahma
putra valley (Shigatze, Gyangtse, and Lhasa) an insig
nificant trade dribbles to Bengal by the Sikkim and
Assam routes, which includes silver, musk, wool,
horses (or ponies), yaks' tails, etc., in return for piece
goods; but taking it for all in all, our trade with
Tibet is ridiculously small, and would probably be
fairly represented by an estimate of £150,000 per
annum. Doubtless it could be increased. Wool, for
instance, is capable of large development in Tibet, and
it is possible (but not probable) . that the opposition
of the Chinese officials to the introduction of Indian
tea might be overcome; in which case an immense
field would at once be opened up to India. At present,
however, it is idle to hope for such a radical change
in the conservative tastes of the Tibetan people as an
appreciation of Indian tea. They like it in bricks,
coarse and strong, big-leaved and black, and the
Chinese mode of preparation is hardly suitable to the
more refined qualities of the Indian growth.
Trade with China, however, — with the provinces
of Kansu, Sechuan, and Yunnan, — is on quite another
footing. The chief trade depots, or central marts,
between China and Tibet are Sining fu, east of Koko
Nor, and Ta-chien-lu, on the eastern frontier. The

328 TIBET
former is the commercial entrepot for Mongolian
trade, and the latter for Sechuan. The position of
these towns has already been discussed. Other im
portant trade centres are Li Kiang in the south, on
the right bank of the Yang tsi River, and Tali-fu,
which distribute Tibetan trade in Yunnan. There
are, in fact, innumerable trade marts of more or less
significance which deal direct with those valleys of
eastern Tibet which (we once again point out) include
by far the wealthiest districts of the country. It is
in those eastern valleys, of which we know so little,
that the centres of Tibetan art and manufacture, as
well as the richest agricultural districts, are to be
found. Darge and Chiamdo, Zayul and Poyul, with
their thousand hidden valleys, are all districts where
a comparatively thriving population develops the in
digenous produce of the country in peace and content
ment. The value of the Tibetan trade with China is
not to be estimated by the light of any available statis
tics — but it cannot be less than several millions. If
the enterprises of commerce admit of strategical com
binations, then we can clearly indicate Jyekundo on
the Dichu River (the upper Yang tsi) as the strategic
centre for the dominance of this trade — and Jye
kundo is the next step southward from Sining fu and
the Koko Nor. These few brief considerations of the
geographical distribution of Tibetan trade will be
enough to indicate that the channels of Tibetan com
merce are far more eastward and northward than
southward towards India. In a word, Manchuria

TIBET 329
(especially Manchuria with a well established Koko
Nor connection) might very well rule the best of the
Tibetan market if in the hands of competent and
enterprising European management.
So far we have looked at Tibetan trade from
the ordinary standpoint of commercial exchange; but
there is just one consideration which affects Tibet,
placing that country apart from the usual category
of the world's consumers, or distributors of ordinary
trade commodities. Tibet is rich in gold — and it is
impossible to suppose that the exceptional position
which the great highland country occupies in that
respect is altogether absent from the minds of those
who would grasp at political influence at Lhasa. Tibet
is not only rich in the ordinary acceptance of the term ;
she must be enormously rich — possibly richer than
any country in the world. For thousands of years
has gold been washed out of her surface soil by the
very crudest of all crude processes and distributed
abroad. Some has gone to India via Kashmir or
Kumaon, some northward to Kashgar; but most of
it undoubtedly has gone to fill the treasuries of Pekin.
From every river which has its source in the Tibetan
plateau, gold is washed. Every traveller who records his
experiences in that country speaks of gold workings,
and refers to the vast extent of the abandoned mines —
mines which on the Chang Tang appear to be shallow
and superficial, from which probably not even one-half
of the gold upturned has ever been extracted.
The pundit Nain Sing gives a detailed account of

330 TIBET
the gold-mining processes which were in full force at
Jhalung, about two hundred miles from the Ladak fron
tier, twenty-five years ago. He reported that the mines
there were seldom more than trenches from twenty-
five to thirty feet deep, the gold being roughly washed
out of the alluvial soil which was workable with spades.
Littledale tells of the remains of many such superficial
mines which he found abandoned on the road between
Lhasa and Ladak. Rawling found mines extending
over many miles of country, which appear to be still
worked. Gold is said to be found in quantities near
the Manasarawar Lake. Prjevalski records that in
the north of Tibet gold is very plentiful, and that the
Tungut diggers went no deeper than two or three feet ;
"nevertheless they shewed us whole handfuls of gold,
in lumps as big as peas, and twice or thrice as big."
Mr. W. Mesny (R. G. S. Proceedings, Vol. VII. p.
545), however, questions the accuracy of Prjevalski's
deductions from what he saw, and maintains that gold
in the Koko Nor region is almost invariably found
under a pebble bed of twenty feet in thickness, resting
in nuggets (varying in size from a turnip seed to a pea)
on a bed of hard rock; and that the diggers seen by
Prjevalski must have been washing in the old bed of
a lake or river. Rockhill refers to the celebrated
" Gork " mines south of this region ; and there is
abundant evidence of the existence of free gold in all
the upper valleys of the Chinese rivers within the
limits of eastern Tibet and on the borders of the Kam
province. Bower notes the extreme cheapness of gold

TIBET 33*
at Litang, near Batang; and, finally there is the cer
tainty that whatever gold may have been extracted
from Tibetan soil by such crude processes as explorers
have witnessed, there must be at least as much left
behind. There can be no doubt that Tibet is a great
natural treasure-house of gold ; but its mineral wealth
is by no means confined to gold. Silver, copper, lead,
iron, and mercury are all found (and worked) in
southeastern Tibet. Agate, borax, and salt are also
amongst its products. Musk, of course, is a prominent
feature in Tibetan trade, and there are vast possibil
ities in the forests of timber which exist in south
eastern and eastern Tibet. Thus we see that there is
quite enough of material value in Tibet to make it
an objective to commercial enterprise.
Tibet possesses great natural resources, and these
resources are chiefly developed in the south, in the
basins of the Indus and Brahmaputra, and in the east,
in the valleys of the great Chinese rivers which rise
in the plateau and flow southeastward, skirting India.
The entrance to these valleys is in the hands of any
strong power settled in the northeastern corner of
Tibet, the Koko Nor region, and it is this rather than
the doubtful advantage of the pilgrim route to Lhasa
which makes the Koko Nor and the adjoining Chinese
frontier town of Sining fu significant, if not important.
But Russia is no longer the dominating power in
Manchuria. The Japanese have decided that, and the
way from Manchuria to Tibet is no longer open to her.
It is from the direction of Urga, if from anywhere,

332 TIBET
that the shadow now falls. We may reasonably hope,
however, that for many a long year to come the shadow
will be removed. The true geographical hinterland of
India beyond the Himalayan snows, the valleys of the
Indus and Brahmaputra (our own rivers) are quite
near to us, quite reachable, if we choose to make them
so, and one of the first and most effective methods of
asserting our determination to safeguard the glacis
of India's northern barrier of defence is to open up the
nearest and readiest approaches across or through the
main ramparts.
The road to southern Tibet tapping the most useful
commercial avenues is that which has been adopted
by our mission under Colonel Younghusband — the
route which passes up the valley of Chumbi to Phari,
and thence to Gyangtse by the Tang la pass. This we
may fairly hope will never be closed again. It is the
highroad connecting Darjiling and Bengal with Lhasa.
But this is not the only important route into Tibet, —
not even the most important if we regard it from the
purely commercial point of view.
What we want is an open road through country
more promising than Chumbi, encountering no formi
dable passes, no high altitudes, until the end debouches
on to the Tibetan plateau; one which rises by gentle
grades over comparatively easy slopes. There is only
one such road rendered possible by geographical con
figuration, and that is the road which follows the
course of the Brahmaputra from the valley of Assam
to the Kyichu and Lhasa. The routes through Bhu-

TIBET 333
tan either by Baxa to Phari, or further east by Tawang
more directly to Lhasa, do not realise these conditions,
nor do they affect our prospects of direct commerce
with the rich districts of Tibet which lie to the south
east at comparatively low altitudes. The one great
natural highway into Tibet is indicated by the valley
of the Brahmaputra, which may possibly not only
lead by easy grades to the plateau, but directly taps
such wealthy valleys as may exist in Zayul and Poyul
(about which we know little geographically, but have
heard much) and points the straightest way to Eastern
Tibet. It is impossible on such evidence as we possess
to decide on the precise characteristics of this mist-
enveloped valley, but probably they do not differ
largely from those of other transverse Himalayan
valleys through which pass the waters of the Asiatic
highlands to the plains of India. The most difficult
and most steeply enclosed portion of the valley will
probably be found near our frontier, where the strike
or axis of the outer edges of the mountain system are
transverse to the course of the river. Beyond this
outer barrier the main valley will be found to widen
for long stretches, the flanking mountains being with
drawn to a distance, and only touching the actual
banks of the stream with the foot of their spurs.
These are fairly well described by an explorer who
found it necessary from time to time to leave the river
and cross these spurs by narrow paths. Approaching
the great bend the valley obviously closes to something
in the nature of a gorge, and the stupendous falls near

334 TIBET
Samding can only be outflanked by a turning road
involving a considerable detour. Westward of the
bend to Lhasa the nature of the valley is sufficiently
well known and has been sufficiently described. There
is nothing so far which can be reckoned as a formi
dable obstacle to the engineering of a road unless it be
the falls near Samding. On the whole (regarded as
a Himalayan road), it would probably prove an easier
problem to deal with than is usual in the category of
mountain road-making; but a further and more
detailed exploration of the valley is urgently required.
Nor can we pass over the importance of a thoroughly
accurate route survey of the connecting link between
Sadya, in Assam, and Ta-chien-lu, the Chinese frontier
town on the Tibetan border which dominates the
road to the rich province of Sechuan and the Yangtsi
valley. Assam is parted from China by about 500
miles of hill country on this line of connection, the
direct distance being considered less. Batang in Tibet
may be placed at 300 miles from Sadya. From the
explorations of Needham and Krishna we know some
thing of the nature of this 300 miles of intervening
hills. From a dozen different sources we know all
about the route between Batang and Ta-chien-lu ; and it
is obvious that the chief difficulties of the route are con
centrated in the latter section, which is already the great
recognised trade route between Lhasa and Pekin ; and
has been so since the Mahommedan rebellion discounted
the value of the route via Koko Nor and Sining.
I am no commercial prophet, but it appears to me

TIBET 335
that it would surely open up a splendid vista of future
trade activity to India if one at least of her present
great commercial highways (the river Brahmaputra)
were extended into the heart of the richest corner of
Tibet on one side, and to the borders of one of the
richest provinces of China on the other. We may set
aside our nervousness about Russia here; no military
opening could be afforded by the development of such
routes as these, excepting to Chinese enterprise; and
marvellous as have been the feats of the Chinese in
former years, such performances are not likely to be
repeated. The extension of Russian influence from
a Manchurian base through Mongolia to Tibet, and
along the borderland of western China, has been
checked by Japan for a time, but we must expect that
the pressure induced by the laws of national expansion
will still remain, and we must look for a revival of that
commercial rivalry in these regions of the far East
as soon as Russia can regain her position in Asiatic
prestige and influence.
What is it that bars the way to the establishment
of a line of commercial traffic both along the Brahma
putra and northeastwards to China? Nothing but our
own official indisposition to advance one single step
beyond our Indian frontier that can be by any possi
bility avoided. In order to break through the obstinate
determination of the frontier people immediately ad
joining our own border, which prevents a stranger
(whether native or European) from setting foot in
their hills, and impels them to retain in their own

336 TIBET
hands the monopoly of the route between their trade
marts (close to our frontier) and India, we should
probably require a small expedition. These tribes who
bar the way are neither Tibetan nor Assamese; their
origin and ethnographical extraction is conjectural,
and they are in social ethics, in manners and customs,
amongst the most irreclaimable savages in the world.
We have no influence with Abors or Mishmis ; Tibetan
priesthood does not touch them, or affect them in any
way. The Christian missionary cannot reach them.
They are but half-clothed aborigines of those jungles
which they infest, and which they are determined to
keep to themselves. Above all, they are profoundly
impressed with the notion that we are afraid of them.
Just as the Tibetans laughed aloud at the idea that
they could not overwhelm or expel the British mission
(even after the affair at Guru) if they chose, so do
these savages dance their war dances on their own wild
hills and proclaim to the mountains that we dare not
cross their frontier. Such action on their part is, of
itself, no reason for our interference, but there may be
other reasons of which they know nothing which may
finally make it imperative that we should move freely
through their country, whilst still leaving them as inde
pendent as are the Afridis or Swatis who dwell on
either side our road to the Khaibar and Chitral. Pos
sibly it will not be long before such action is recognised
as essential to the progress of Indian trade.

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Grueber and Dorville.
Tronnier, R. Die Durchquerung Tibets Seitens der Jesuiten, Johannes
Grueber und Albert de Dorville im Jahr 1661. Zeitschrift Gesell-
schaft fiir Erdkunde, Berlin, 1904.
Voyage a la Chine des Peres Grueber et d'Orville (in Thevenot's
Voyages, Part IV).
Kircher, Athanasius.
China, Monumentis qua Sacris qua Profanis, necnon variis. Naturae
et Artis Spectaculis. Illustrata. Antwerp, 1667.
Della Penna di Billi.
A Short Account of the Great Kingdom of Tibet in 1729 A. D. Jour
nal Buddhist Text and Anthropological Society, V (1897).
Desideri, Ippolito. Puini, Carlo.
II Tibet (Geografia, Storia, Religione, Costumi) secondo la relazione
de Viaggio del P. Ippolito Desideri. (Memorie Societa Geogr.
Italiana, 1904, pp. Ixiv and 402.)
Turner, Samuel.
Account of an Interview with Teshoo Lama, at the Monastery of Ter-
paling, 1783. Asiatic Researches, Calcutta, Vol. I, 1788.
Moorcroft, William.
A Journey to Lake Manasarovara in Un-des, a Province of Little Tibet.
Asiatic Researches, Calcutta, Vol. XII. Map.
Strachey, Lieut. -Gen. Sir Richard.
Narrative of a Journey to the Lakes Rakas-tal and Manasarawar, in
Western Tibet, undertaken in September, 1848. (Geographical
Journal, 15, 1900.) Map and illustrations.
Strachey, Capt. H.
Narrative of a journey to the Lakes Cho-Lagan or Rakas Tal, and
Cho-Mapan or Manasarowar, and the Valley of Pruang in Tibet,
in 1846. Map.
Physical Geography of Western Tibet. (From the Journal of the Royal
Geographical Society, Vol. 28. 1853.) Map.

338 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF TIBET
Hue, E. R.
Recollections of a Journey through Tartary, Tibet, and China during
1844-46. 2 vols. 1852.
Prjevalski, Gen. N. M.
Mongolia, the Tangut Country, and the Solitudes of Northern Tibet
Translated by E. Delmar Morgan, with Introduction and Notes by
Col. Henry Yule. 2 vols. London, 1876.
Markham, Sir C. R.
Narratives of the Mission of George Bogle to Tibet, and of the Jour
ney o£ Thomas Manning to Lhasa. (Second Edition.) Map and
plates. 1879.
Montgomerie, Capt. T. G.
Report of a Route-Survey made by Pundit from Nepal to Lhasa, and
thence through the Upper Valley of the Brahmaputra to its Source.
(Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, Vol. 38. 1868.) Map.
Report of the Trans-Himalayan Explorations during 1867. (Journal
of the Royal Geographical Society, Vol. 39. 1869.)
Narrative of an Exploration of the Namcho, or Tengri Nur Lake, in
Great Tibet, made by a Native Explorer, during 1871-72. (Jour
nal of the Royal Geographical Society, Vol. 45. 1875.) Map.
Journey to Shigatze in Tibet and return by Dingri-Maidan into Ne-
paul in 1871, by the Native Explorer No. 9. (Journal of the
Royal Geographical Society, Vol. 45. 1875.) Map.
Extracts from an Explorer's Narrative of his Journey from Pitoragarh,
in Kumaon, via Jumla to Tadum and back, along the Kali Gandak
to British Territory. (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society,
Vol.45. 1875.)
Report on the Trans-Himalayan Explorations in Connection with the
Great Trigonometrical Survey of India during 1871. Folio.
Map. Dehra Dun, 1872.
Hennessy, J. B. N.
Report on the Explorations in Great Tibet and Mongolia, made by
A.-K., in 1879-62, in connection with the Trigonometrical Branch,
Survey of India. Plan. Folio. Dehra Dun, 1884.
Walker, Gen. J. T.
Four Years' Journeyings through Great Tibet, by one of the Trans-
Himalayan Explorers (A. K.) of the Survey of India. (Proceed
ings of the Royal Geographical Society, Vol. 7. 1885.) Map.
Exploration of the Great Sanpo River of Tibet during 1877, in connec
tion with the operations of the Survey of India. (Proceedings of
the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 1879.) Map.
Desgodins, C. H.
Le Thibet d'apres la Correspondance des Missionaires. (Second Edi
tion.) Map. Paris, 1885.
Report on Explorations in Nepal and Thibet by Explorer M.-H.
(Season 1885-86.) Map. Folio. Dehra Dun, 1887.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF TIBET 339
Chandra Das, Sarat.
Narrativeofa Journey to Lhasa in 188I-82. Map. Folio. Calcutta,
1885.
Journey to Lhasa and Central Tibet. Edited by the Hon. W. W.
Rockhill. Maps and illustrations. 1902. New edition. 1904.
Report on the Explorations of Lama Serap Gyatsho, 1856-68; Ex
plorer K.-P., 1880-84; Lama U. G., 1883 ; Explorer R.N., 1885-
86; Explorer P. A., 18S5-86; in Sikkim, Bhutan, and Tibet.
Maps. Folio. Dehra Dun, 1889.
Prjevalski, Gen. N. M.
Fourth Journey to Central Asia, 1883-85. (In Russian.) St. Peters
burg, 1888.
Morgan, E. Delmar. Prjevalski's Journeys and Discoveries in Cen
tral Asia. (Proceedings R. G. S. April, 1887.)
Roborovski, V.
Progress of the Russian Expedition to Central Asia under Colonel
Pievtsoff. (Proceedings R. G. S. N.S. Vols. XII, XIII. 1890-91.)
Bonvalot, G.
De Paris au Tonkin a travers le Tibet inconnu. Map and illustrations.
Paris, 1892.
Bower, Capt. H.
Diary of a Journey across Tibet. Maps and illustrations. Calcutta,
1893.
(Pievtsof.) Morgan, E. Delmar.
The Pievtsof Expedition and M. Bogdanovitch's Surveys. (R. G. S.
Journal, II. 1893.)
Rockhill, W. W.
The Land of the Lanas : Notes of a Journey through China, Mon
golia, and Tibet. Maps and illustrations. 1891.
Diary of a Journey through Mongolia and Tibet in 1891 and 1892.
Map and illustrations. Washington, 1894.
Littledale, St. George R.
A Journey across Tibet, from North to South, and West to Ladak.
(R. G. S. Journal, vol. 7. 1896.) Maps.
The Central Asian Expedition of Captain Roborovski and Lieutenant
Kozloff. (R. G. S. Journal. August, 1896.)
Dutreuil, de Rhins, J.-L.
Mission Scientifique dans la Haute Asie, 1890-95. 3 vols. Maps
and plates. Paris, 1897-98.
Wellby, Capt. M. C.
Through Unknown Tibet. Maps and illustrations. 1898.
Deasy, Capt. H. H. P.
In Tibet and Chinese Turkestan. Map and illustrations. 1901.

34°

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF TIBET

Beligatti, Cassiano.
Relazione Inedita di un Viaggio al Tibet. (A. Magnaghi.) (Revista
Geografica Italiana. VIII, 1901. IX, 1902.)
Rijnhart, Susie Carson.
With the Tibetans in Tent and Temple. Narrative of Four Years'
Residence on the Tibetan Border, and of a Journey into the Far
Interior. Illustrations. Edinburgh and London, 1901.
Kozloff, Capt. P. K.
The Russian Tibet Expedition, 1899-1901. (R. G. S. XIX.) Map
and illustrations. 1902.
Sandberg, Graham.
An Itinerary of the Route from Sikkim to Lhasa, together with a Plan
of the Capital of Tibet and a New Map of the Route from Yamdok
Lake to Lhasa. Calcutta. 1901.
The Exploration of Tibet. Its History and Particulars from 1623 to
1904. Map and plan. Calcutta, 1904.
Tsybikoff, G. T.
Lhasa and Central Tibet. (Translated from the Russian.) (Smith
sonian Report, 1903.)
Grenard, F.
Tibet : The Country and its Inhabitants. Translated by A. Teixeira
de Mattos. London, 1904.
Hedin, Sven.
Through Asia. 2 vols. Maps and illustrations. 1898.
Central Asia and Tibet; towards the Holy City of Lassa. 2 vols.
Maps and illustrations. 1903.
Stein, M. Aurel.
Sand-buried Ruins of Khotan. Personal Narrative of a Journey of
Archaeological and Geographical Exploration in Chinese Turkes
tan. London, 1903.
Launay, Adrien.
Societe des Missions, fitrangeres. Histoire de la Mission du Tibet.
2 vols. Lille and Paris (1903).
Grenard, F.
Tibet : The Country and its Inhabitants. Map. 1904.
Waddell, L. A.
The Buddhism of Tibet or Lamaism. Illustrations. 1895.
Waddell, Lieut-Col. L. A.
Lhasa and its Mysteries, with a Record of the Expedition of 1903-1904.
Maps and illustrations. 1905.
Younghusband, Sir F.
The Geographical Results of the Tibet Mission. Geographical Jour
nal. Vol. XXV. Map and illustrations. 1905.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF TIBET 341
Rawling, Capt. C. G.
The Great Plateau, being an account of Exploration in Central
Tibet, 1903, and of the Gartok Expedition, 1904-1905. London,
1905.
Crosby, O. T.
Tibet and Turkestan, a Journey through old Lands and a Study of
New Conditions. London and New York, 1905.
Ryder, Major C. H. D.
Exploration and Survey with the Tibet Frontier Commission, and
from Gyangtse to Simla via Gartok. Geographical Journal, XXVI.
Map, plan, and illustrations. 1905.
Candler, E.
The Unveiling of Lhasa. London, 1905.
Landon, Percival.
Lhasa : An Account of the Country and People of Central Tibet, and
the Progress of the Mission sent there by the English Govern
ment in the Year 1903-1904. London, 1905.

INDEX

Abors, 10, 215, 218, 336
Achik Kul, 272, 273
Afghanistan (see also Russo-Af-
ghan),34, 88, 145, 148
Afridis, 336
Agate, 331
Agra, 71, 73, 74
Aiaz (Ajig) Kum Kul, 273, 287,
288, 290
Akato Tagh Mountains, 286
Akka Tagh Mountains, 273, 281,
282, 288, 291, 292
Aksai (Aksan) Chin, 62, 268, 269,
282
Alachiago, 195
Alaknanda River, 21, 262
Alan-to, 195
Alechan (Alashan), 146, 175
Alexander the Great, 199
Almora Pass, 123, 124
Almorah, 263
Alps, 195
Altan Khan, 69
Altyn Tagh Mountains, 7, 163, 170,
272, 273, 280, 281, 282, 285, 286,
287, 290
Ambans, 55, 56, 58, 83, 105, 185,
3°3. 3°8
Amdo, 53, 15T, 156, 279
Amdo Tso Lake, 182
Ammu Chu River, 23, 24, 91
Amritsar, 264
Andes Mountains, 195
Andrada, Antonio de, 70
Antelope, 94, 173, 270, 278, 289
Antelope (Orongo), 288
Arabia, 258
Ara Tagh Mountains, 287

Archa La (see Chor Koa La)
Arka Tagh (see Akka Tagh)
Art (Tibetan), 153
Aru Tso Lake, 243
Arun River, 89
Aryans, 4
Asia Minor, 75
Askabrak, 66
Assam, 9, 30, 42, 207, 210, 211 213-
216, 219, 222 etseq., 332, 334
Assam (Upper), 12
Atdra, 193
Austen, Godwin, 238
" Avatar, " 57
Ayi La Pass, 297 B
Baber (or Babar), Emperor, 61, 254
Baber, E. Colborne, 28
Badakshan, 4
Badrinath, 21, 238
Baian Gol (see Puhain)
Baian Kara Ulla (Bayen Kharat)
Mountains, 40, 164, 171, 181
Baikul Lake, 138
Bailey, Lieutenant 296
Baltistan, 6i, 63
Baluchistan, 33, 88, 95, 276
Bamtso, 247
Banares (see Benares)
Barantola, 37 (see Lhasa)
Barilang, 196
Barmang, 64, 67
Baroghel Pass, 4
Basevie, 224
Batang, 9, 29, 30, 39, 170, 187-189,
202, 207, 210, 213, 331, 334
Batavia, 88
Baxa, 333

344

INDEX

Bayen Kharat (see Baian Kara
Ulla)
Beligatti (La Macerata) Cassiano,
80-85
Benares, 74, 153
Bengal, 93, 247, 332
Bengal, Bay of, 237
Bepung, 222
Berliner Zeitschrift, Der, 71
Bhotias, 263
Bhutan, 15, 44, 91, no, 214, 215,
218, 226, 253, 305, 332
Bhutanese, 193
" Bhutia," 139
Billi di (see Penna Della)
Binbo Lamas, 185
Binbo religion, 177, 185, 186
Birch bark M.S., 276
Bisaharis, 267
" Black Buran," the, 133
Black-hat dance, 250
Boats, 115, 1 16
Bod-land, 45
Bod-pa nomads, 36
Bod-yul, 37, 105
Bogda Sodnam Gyamtso Khutuk-
tu, 69
Bogdo, the, 325
Bogle, George, 90, 91, 92-100, 105,
no, 112, 122, 249
Bogola Pass, 239
Bokhara, 75
Bolivia, 236
Bolor, 61, 64
Bon religion, 202
Bongthol, 246
Bonvalot Mountain, 13, 31, 130,
158, 183, 200, 201, 202, 271, 276,
280, 285, 291
Borax, 21, 26, 245, 263, 264, 331
Bourhan Bota (see Burkhan
Buddha)
Bower, Captain, 26, 188, 245, 265,
270, 276-279, 284, 291, 330.
Brahmaputra River, 9, io, 35, 36,
40, 41, 47, 64, 65, 66, 168, 181,
187, 207, 213-219, 222, 223, 226,

228, 230, 232, 233, 235, 236, 245,
246, 264, 265, 267, 284, 285, 296,
306, 322, 324, 325, 331, 332, 333,
335
Brahmaputra, Lohit, River, 30
Bridges, 197, 220, 236, 239, 255
Brigands, 137, 161, 165, 229, 272
Britain, British, 102, 109, in, 126,
137. 147, I92. 207> 210, 265, 293
Buddha, 28
Buddha Gang Chang Wogyal, 316
"Buddha Vivant," 147
Buddhism, 4, 18, 50, 51, 69, 118,
121, 258,314,315,325
Buhain Gol (see Puhain)
Bundo, 205
Bm6, 186
Burial places, 312, 313
Bur Kapa, 63
Burkhan Buddha (Bourkhan Bota)
Mountains, 162, 163, 171, 179,
180
Burma, 8, 9, 42, 166, 208, 326
Burton, Sir Richard, 174
Byans (Mangohang) Pass, 21
Buxa, 91, no

Calcutta, 101
Calo Chu (Kalwa Tso) River,
94
Camels, 285
Canton, no, 126, 169
Capuchins, 55, 75, 76, 78, 79, 80, 83,
84, 86, 105
Carey, 31, 180
Cathay, 5, 70
Ceylon, 326
Chagatai, 60
Chajoling Monastery, 57
Chaklik, 146
Chaksan Chori, 115
Chamen Tagh (see Chimen
Tagh)
Chamorang La, 240
Champa people, 64

INDEX

345

Chandra Das, 23, 50, 119, 227, 246,
247, 250, 261, 301, 304, 305, 307,
309, 312, 313, 315, 316, 317,
3i3
Chandra Das and Ugyen in 1881,
249, 250
Chang (see Chang Tang)
Chang-chup-ling, Grand Lama of,
.3"
Chang La Pass, 17, 18
Chang Tang (Chang), the, 5, 36,
39. 44. 1 3-. 20I> 224, 242, 245,
266, 267, 26S, 269, 272, 274, 277,
279, 282-285, 291, 293> 322, 324,
326, 329
Changlam (see Junglam)
Changra (see Dudukpai )
Chanzu Gusho, 101
" Chara Muren River,'' 137
Charemani Mountains, 284
Charklik, 292
Charta Tsanpo River, 234, 235
Chenmoi ling Monastery, 307, 308
Chenrezi Mountain, 254
Cherchen, 201, 272, 273, 280, 282
Cheri, 301
Chetang, 214, 215, 217, 256, 311
Chiamdo, 39, 42, 58, 183, 184, 187,
188, 197, 198, 212, 279, 328
Chimen (Chaman) Tagh (or Illvo
Chimen), 273, 286, 287
China, Chinese, 4, 9, 43, 50, 52, 55,
56, 58, 69, 75, 78, 83, 88, 104
et seq., 128, 137, 151, 156, 175,
183, 187, 188, 191, 194, 199, 200,
201, 208, 217, 242, 258, 266,
275. 293, 301, 304, 306, 318,
321-328, 335
China, Emperor of, 77
" China Illustrata," 71
China, routes to, 174, 198, 222,
232, 233
Chinchu River, 91
Chitral, 4, 61, 336
Chomoling Monastery, 57
Chor Koa La (Archa La), 194
Choskhor Lake, 304

Christianity, 127, 134; in Japan,
128
Christian relics, 127; ritual, 127
Chuga (see Shuga)
Chumbi, 24, 92, 96, 113, 259, 260,
332
Chumulari, 92
Chung, Province of, 242
Churchill, 93
Chusul, 230, 235
Clement, Pope, 79
Climate, 42, 46, 47, 184, 283
Cookery, 184
Copper, 331
Coros, Kosmo de, 50
Costume, 186, 292, 308
D
Daba, 123
Daipang Monastery, 118
Dalai Lama, 50, 54 et seq., 83, 84,
87, 97, 207, 249, 302-305, 307-
3°9. 325
Dalgleish, Mr., 31, 276
" Damgiri," 63, 66
Dangla (see Tang la)
Dansa Til, 257
D'Anville's Atlas, 86, 87
Daphung (Dabung, Dapung) Mon
astery, 306, 309, 317
Darchan (see Manasarawar)
Darchendo (see Ta-Chien-lu)
Darge, 42, 188, 189, 207, 212, 328
Darjiling, 23, 257, 260, 294, 318,
332
Darma (Langpya La) Pass, 20
Daru, 302
Dchak La, 196
Deasy, Capt. H. H. P., 13, 31,
245, 265, 267-270, 277, 282, 297-
299
Deasy's expeditions, 268-270
Deasy's maps, 269
Deb Rajah, 109
Deba Lama, 57, 184
Debung Monastery, 301, 302

346

INDEX

Deer, 173
Deforestation, 131
Delhi, 88
Demchok, 38
Demijong (see Sikkim)
Demon Lake (see Duma Tso)
Desherigpag, 97
Desi Gyalpo, 307
Desideri Ippolito, 76, 79, 80
Devil worship (see Shamanism)
Dharma Rajah, 109
Dibang, 30
Di Chu (Mur ussu) River, 9, 29,
40, 73, 164, 165, 166, 171, 172,
182, 188, 189, 203, 207, 328
Dihang, 12, 210
Dihong River, 214
Dinapur, 74, 93
" Dingpon," the, 306
Dingri, 56, 81
Dipon Kara Buddha, 316
Dogra, 62
Dogs, 3, 122, 241, 251, 255, 258,
3°6, 3'3
Dokpa, 253, 277, 279, 285
Dokthol, 45
Dolan (Dolon or Tolon) Nor, 131,
138
Dominicans, 128
Donkia (Donkhya La) Pass, 24,
247
Dorje Pagmo, the, 83, 115
Dorjethag Monastery, 306
D' Orleans, Prince Henri, 200,
280
Dorville, Albert de, 71, 72, 74
" Drogugne," 76
Dsam balairi Mountain, 254
Dudukpai (Changra), 96
Dug La Pass, 259
Duma (Dumo) Tso Lake (Demon
Lake), 114,251, 252
Dumbure" (Dungbure) Mountains,
171, 172, 180
Dyag, 58
Dza chu River, 203, 206
Dzanag-lung-mung Pass, 202

Dzara, 113
Dzechu River, 203

East India Company, 119, 120
Egrigaia, 175
Europe, routes to, 71, 72, 75
Everest, Mount, 11, 296
Exploration of Tibet, the, 75

Fa Hian, 51
Fano, Father Dominico de, 76
Fauna, 173
"Feast of Flowers," 149, 150, 155
Ferries, 116
Fletcher, Mr. W. A. L., 281
Flora, 173
France, French, 147, 151
Freshfield, Dr., 23, 227
Freyre, Manoel, 79

G. M. N., 246
Gabet Mountain, 72, 73, 128, 130,
131, 157, 163, 166, 169
Galdan, 57
Gandhara, 4
Ganges River, 235, 236, 237
Gangra, 18
Gangri Mountains, 12
Garing Tso (see Zilling Tso)
Gartoi Mountains, 254
Gartok (Guga), 38, 66, 67, 123,
232, 238, 264, 265, 295.
Gartok, Nain Sing at, 238
Garwhal, 263
Gaz (Gass) Lake, 286
Gazelle, 278
Genghis Khan, 53
Ghalaring Cho River, 245
Ghilzai povindah, 212
Giama-Nu-Chu River, 41, 46, 166,
172, 184, 187, 195, 196, 197, 212,
213

INDEX

347

Giambo, 222
Gilgit, 4,61
Glaciers, 12, 34, 233
Gnathong, 24
Goats, 186, 264
Gobi, 3
Gogra River (see Karnali)
Gold, gold-field, 21, 26, 178, 240,
245, 263, 264, 298, 329, 330,
33i
Gold-mining, 2, 3
Golo, Golok (see Kolo)
Gork gold-fields, 178
Grand Lamas (see also Kunbum,
Chang-chup-ling, Galdan), 57,
120, 317, 318
"Great Vehicle," the, 51
Greenland, 34
Grenard, M. Ferdinand, 200-205
Greshub Rimboche, 100
Grueber, Johannes, 55, 71-75
Guga (see Gartok)
Gugtila Pass, 239
Gur Khan, Emperor, 127
Gurkhas, 67, 104, 106-108, 226
Gurla Mandhata Mountain, 263
Gyala Sindong, 217. 218
Gyalpos (Nomokhan) (see also
Desi Gyalpo Logon Gyalpo), 58,
77. 83, 105, 303, 307-309
Gyangtse, 24, 25, 39, 47, 73, 79. 8l>
82, 92, 96, 112, 200, 235, 236, 247,
248, 259, 295, 327, 332
Gyangtse, temple at, 248, 259
Gyara, Princess, 318-321
H
Hamilton, Dr., 91, 100
Hardwar, 235, 244
Hares, 287
Hargreaves, Lieutenant, 297
Harman, Captain R. E. 216, 221,
222, 224
Hastings, Warren, 90, 99, 100, 101,
102, 109
He Chung, 129

Hermits, 158
Herodotus, 1, 2, 3, 243
Himalayas, the, 3, 9, 10, n, 21.
25,74,91, 123, 177, 193,211,213,
218, 219, 223, 228
Hindu Kush River, 4, 38
" Hindu Rai," 67
Hindus, 152
Hindustan, 239
Hoang Ho (Yellow River) River,
8, 31, 40, 69, 73, 138, 139, 145,
146, 164, 175, 176, 178, 179, 190,
207
Hodgson, Mr. Brian, 108
Home Lamas, 141
Hooker, 25
Hor, 278
Hor dokpa, 253
Horpa herdsmen, 260
Horpa Cho Lake, 177
Ho shili Mountains, 179
Hsining (see Sining fu)
Hue, Abbe, 54, 72, 73,88, 126, 128-
169, 171-176, 179-182, 184, 189,
191-198,279,281,293,323
Hue's Narrative, 129-169
Hundes (Nari Khorsun), 21, 123,
124, 237, 246, 262, 263
Hunias, 263
Huns, 51
Hunter, W. W., 12
Hunza, 61
Hyder Hearsey, 238

Iguazu Falls, 219
Hi, 146
Illvo Chimen, (see Chimen Tagh)
India, Indian Government, 5, 72,
74. 90. 1QS. "8, 'S3. T99, 210,
219, 244, 322, 329, 331, 333
India, routes to, 215, 260
Indian Survey, 2, 38, 45, 56, 216,
223, 247, 260, 269, 299, 322
Indus River, 10, 11, 12, 16, 36, 62,
64, 123, 227, 228, 232, 233, 237,

34§

INDEX

239. 24s. 264, 265, 297, 331,
332
Irawadi River, 9, 35, 42
Iron, 331
Iskardoh, gorges of, 13
Islam (see Mahommedanism)
Ispahan, 87 J
Jalngo Lama (see Shalngo)
Janglache, 39, 229, 233, 235
Janglam (see Junglam)
Jang Toi, 117
Japan, Japanese, 128, 293, 331
Jayade (see Jyade)
Jelep La Pass, 24
Jerusalem, 316
Jesuits, 70, 71, 72, 77, 78, 80, 86,
128, 174, 177
Jews, 310
Jhalung, 330
" Jibu," 263
Jimgar Mongols (see Mongols)
Jitsun Dolma Sungjin, 320
Jo (Jovo) Khang, 303, 314-317
Jong-Ka-Jong Pass, 23
Jongs, 217
Jovo rinpoche, 315
Junglam (Janglam, Changlam), 39,
189-192, 198, 229, 237, 296
Jyade, Province of, 183, 185, 189
Jyekundo, 189, 203, 208, 212, 328
K
K. P. (see Kinthup)
Kabtsi thamo, 319
Kabul, Kohistan of, 5
Kahdung, 308
Kahlons, 308
Kailas, sacred mountain of, 12, 21,
38, 123, 237, 263
Kalgan, 175
Kalimpong, 24
Kalmuks (see also Kolo), 160
Kalon, the, 83
Kalta Alagan Mountains, 287

Kalwa Shar, 94
Kalwa tso (see Calo Chu)
Kam, Province of, 330
Kamba Bombo, the, 293
Kamba Jong, 24
Kamba la (see Kangra)
Kambar Mountains, 73
Kanchinjunga Mountains, n
Kang-he, Emperor, 86
Kangra (Kamba) la Pass, 23, 83
Kanmur (Khangur), 95
Kansu, Province of, 8, 145, 146,
148, 208, 327
Karachi, 5
Kara Khitai, the, 127
Karakoran (Karakurum, Muztagh)
Mountains, 12, 62, 170
Kargan Tibetans, 176
Karnali (Cogra) River, 12, 21, 262,
264
Kashgar, 4, 13, 62, 124, 130, 244,
276, 329
Kashmasha cho Kyang, 309
Kashmir, 6, 26, 43, 60, 61 et seq.,
79. J93. 257. 266, 267, 292, 329
"Katesi," 120
Kavir, 286
Kayir, 287
Keria River, (see Kiria)
Kha Chung na Temple, 256
Khaibar, 336
Kham, Province of, 39, 45, 53,
58
Khambabarche, 230, 235
Khamba jong, 247
Khamba La, 115
Khampa Cduntry, the, 277
Khangur (see Kanmur)
Khardam (Khardum), 64, 65
Kharo La (Kharola) Mountains,
113, 114, 229, 259
" Khatag," 317
Khatmandu, 22, 74-78, 81, 86, 106-
108, 228, 232
Khong-po, 304
Khorsum, 45
Khotan, 62, 130, 146

INDEX

349

Khotan River, 269
Kia King, Emperor, 128
" Kiang Tang Chu " River, 197
Kibitkas, 132
Kinghan Mountains, 131, 132, 137
Kinthup (K. P.), 216-223
Kir Song de Tsan, King, 52
Kircher, Athanasius, 71, 73
Kirghiz, 140
Kiria (Keria) River, 36, 267, 269
Kiria-Polu route, 62, 267, 269
Kirong, 23, 106, 228
Koko Kutul Pass, 179
Koko Nor Lake, 40, 43, 68, 72,
129, 130, 138, 144, 146, 149, 155,
160-162, 170, 171, 175, 196, 179,
206, 208, 209, 267, 272-275, 293,
323-328, 33°. 33'. 334
Koko Shili Mountains, 180, 275,
288
Koko Shili River, 171
Kolo (Golo, Golok), 160, 182, 272
Kolo Kalmuks, 160, 165, 272
Kondoling Monastery, 57
Kongbu Valley, 222
Konjo, Princess, 315
Kontyaling Monastery, 303
Korea, 148
Koslov, 207
Krishna (K. P.), 211, 212, 215, 223,
225, 246, 247, 257, 307, 323, 334
Krishna's Plan of Lhasa, 211
Kuch Behar, 123
Kuen Lun, 7, 33, 35, 36, 72
Kuen Lun Mountains, 179, 180,
226, 270, 273, 288, 293, 323
Kuen Lun River, 267, 271, 272
Kuku Khoto, 138
Kulams (wild asses), 287, 289
Kulha Kangri Mountains, 252, 254
Kulhas Clam Mountains, 254
Kuluk Khan, 128
Kumaon, 238, 263, 329
Kunbum (Lasar) Monastery, 149,
154. 157. 176, 184
Kunbum, Grand Lama of, 154
Kundul ling Monastery, 307

Kushluk Khan, 127
Kuti Pass, 23, 74, 81, 89, 106
Kweisha, 175
Kyang, 270, 278
Kyichu River, 36, 47, 115, 117, 169.
192, 230, 232, 236, 301, 306, 317,
33*

Labrang Monastery, 51, 84
Labug Compa, 205
Ladak (Little Tibet), 6, 15, 16, 43,
45, 46, 60 et seq., 78, 124, 227, 229,
230, 234, 237, 263, 284, 292, 325,
33°
Lama Guru, 57
Lamaism, Lamas (see also Dalai
Lamas, Deba Lama, Home
Lama, Oui, Lama of, Panchen
Lama, Shalngo Lama, Shapchi
Lama, Teshu Lamas, Vaga
bond Lamas), 53, 98, 103, 120,
141-144,308,311,317
Lamas as doctors, 134, 159
Lamb, Charles, no
Lanak La Pass, 267, 268, 277
Lanchan, 175
Langpya La (see Darma)
Lang-tsi-Koung, 195
Langur Mountains, 73
Lanuk, (see Luk Luik)
Lasar (see Kunbum)
Lathor Kar Mountain, 254
Lead, 331
Leh (Maryul), 16, 17, 43, 62, 63 et
seq., 79, 245, 266, 276, 296, 323,
325
Lha (Lhas) Khang jong Monas
tery, 254, 255, 306
Lhakang, the, 311
Lhalu, 302
Lha ri (Tola la) Mountain, 194
Lhasa (Barantola), 13, 23, 24, 31,
39, 44, 47. 5'. 53 ** "<?¦> 6* et
seq., 68-74, 79. 81, 83, 84, 88, 104,
106, 108, 112-115, 119-122, 123,

35°

INDEX

125, 130, 140, 155 et seq., 161, 168
et seq., 173 et seq., 180, 181, 184,
189, 191, 198, 200, 206 et seq.,
222, 226, 242, 245, 268, 275, 276,
292-295, 300-321, 323-327, 332
Lhasa, described by Nain Sing
(q. v.), 230 ; Krishna's Plan of,
211 ; Ughen at, 258
Lhasa Highlands, 219
Lhobrak, 253, 255
Lhoka, 311
Liao Ho River, 137
Liao Tung Gulf, 137
Licorne (unicorn), 193, 194
Likeche Monastery, 65
Li Kiang, 328
Litang, 39, 331
Litang Uplands, 188
Littledale, 13, 158, 183, 202, 245,
265, 271, 276, 277, 280-284, 288,
29', 292, 33°
Littledale, Mrs., 281, 284
Lob Nor Lake, 146, 252, 280, 281
290
Logon Gyalpos, 310-312
Lohit Brahmaputra River (see
Brahmaputra)
Lolos, 28
Lompogara, 318, 319
Lonchen Mountain, 254
Lop Nor Lake, 155
Loumma Ri Mountains, 193
Lov Nor, 285
Luk Luik (Lanuk), 65
Lung Mung River, 203
M
Macao, 72
Macerata, 82
Macerata, da (see Beligatti)
Machindranath Temple, 310
Magadha, 253, 315
Magnaghi, Signor, 82
Mahommedanism, Mahommedans
44, 60, 62, 256
Majin, 246

Makras, 75
Malcolm, Lieutenant, 274
Mana Pass, 20, 21, 238
Manasarawar Lakes (Darchan),
13, 21, 38, 65, 223, 228, 233, 237,
238, 262, 263, 296, 330
Manchu Dynasty, 72, 128
Manchuria, 44, 68, 72, 129, 130,
169, 209, 325, 326, 328, 331, 335
Manda la lay, 253
Mangohang (see Byans)
Manning, Thomas, no, in, 112
118-123, 125, 126
Maps (see D'Anville, Indian Sur
vey, Moorcroft, Rawling, Walker,
Deasy, Ugyen)
Marco Polo, 70, 176
Marco Polo Mountains, 171
Mariam La Pass, 39, 79, 233, 236
Markham, Sir Clements, 74, 89, 91,
92, 101, 108, III
Marmots, 287
Marpung, 221, 222
Maryul (see Leh)
Masson, 120
Matreya, 315
Mekong (see also Nam Chu
River), 166, 184, 189, 198, 203,
206, 212, 213
Menda Mountain, 252
" Mendongs," 256
Mercury, 331
Mesny, Mr. W., 330
Midwang (see Miwang)
Milam Pass, 20, 21, 262
Min River, 27, 28
Miners, 240
Ming Dynasty, 69, 128
Miri Padam, 215, 218, 222, 223
Mirza Haidar, 60 et seq., 199,
2S4
Mishmi Hills, 212
Mishmis, 10, 336
Missionaries, 74 et seq., 336
Miwang (Midwang), King, 55, 77,
85
Molan, the, 309

INDEX

35*

Molesworth, Captain, 11 1
Molihari, 74
Monas Valley, 209
Mongolia, Mongols, 4, 5, 26, 35,
5°. S2. 54. 57. 69, 108, 128, 130,
132, 138, 144, 160, 164, 169, 178,
199, 207, 211, 223, 253, 254, 258,
260, 292, 306, 323 et seq.
Mongols, Jimgar, 175
Mont Blanc, 107, 198
"Montde PieteV' 144
Montecchio, Felice da, 80
Mon tec or vino, John of, 128
Montgomerie, Captain, 224, 230,
235, 236, 265
Moorcroft, 123, 124, 238
Moorcroft's map, 124
Morgan, Delmar, 172
Moulam, the, 84
Muni Monastery, 303
Mur Ussu River (see Di Chu River)
Musk, 331
Mussalmans, 62, 63
Muztagh (see Karakoram) N
Nachung (Nechung) chos-Kyong,
301, 304, 308, 309
Nadir Shah, 88
Nagartse, 83
Nagartse jong, 259
Nagchu, 292
Nag-Chu River, 40
Nagchuka, 184, 188
Naichi Gol, 180
Naiman, clan of, 127, 129
Naini TaL 19
Nain Sing, pundit, 215, 228-241,
244-247, 249. 277, 279. 284, 285,
292, 302-305, 309, 310, 329
Nain Sing's measurements, 235
"Naktsang," 182
Nalendra Monastery, 253
Nam-chu (upper Mekong) River,
41, 184, 189
Namgyal Mountain, 254

Namling, 97
Namru, 184
Namru Tibetans, 182
Nankin, 169
Nan Shan River, 170
Nan Shan Mountains, 7, 170, 176,
272
Napoleon, 195
Na Ptchu, 167, 168
Nari Khorsun, Khursan (see Hun
des)
Narkanda, 19, 20
Nat chu, 173
Native explorers, 125, 126, 224-
227, 261
Navigation in high altitudes, 236
Nayakot, 106
Needham, Mr., 211, 215, 216, 334
Negroes, 152
Nemorhcedus Bubalina, 1 93
Nepalese, 22, 23, 44, 45, 56, 67, 73,
74, 76, 78, 80, 81, 86, 104, 105,
108, 109, 228, 296, 307, 320
Nestorians, 76, 127, 128
Nethang, 117
New Year's festival, 121
Ney Elias, 60, 65, 67
Ngaramba, 82
Ngaritatsang, 257
Ngenda-Tchai, 197
Ninchen Tangla Mountains, 284
Ninghia, 145
Ning-hsia-fu, 175
Niti (Shangki) Pass, 19, 123, 262
No-La Pass, 22, 23
Nomokhan (see Gyalpos)
Nomokhan Gol, 171
Nub Gang La Pass, 196
Nyang Chu River, 95, 96
Nyi Chu River, 118

Odoric of Pordenona, 70
Officials, Tibetan, 183, 184, 201,
255, 284
Ohlet, 222

3S*

INDEX

Omi Mountain, 28
Oracles, 301, 308, 309, 319, 320
Ordos Tribes, 175
Oring Nor Lake, 40
Oui, Lama of, 155
" Oulah," 193
" Ouniot," 131
Oxus River, 4, 140

Pacific Ocean, 181
" Pacification des Royaumes," 191
Padna Sambhava Hermitage, 251
Painon, 97
Palka Lake (see Yamdok tso)
Palkhor Choide Monastery, 96
Pamirs, the, 4, 70, 127, 140, 177,
270, 276, 282, 283
Pampou, 168
Panaka (Panakasum), 178
Panchen Lama, 249
Panchen Rimpoche (see Grand
Lama), 57
Pangong Lake, 18, 43, 238, 245,
264, 266
Parana River, 219
Parchu River, 91
Pari (Phari), 25, 91, 96, 332
Parijong, no, in
Paris, 151
Paro, no
Paro Pendo, 109
Patan, 74, 86
Patna, 74, 76, 81
Pekin, 63, 72, 74, 88, 100, 108, 126,
138, 146, 169, 174, 175, 243, 244,
324. 329
Pekin, Tibetan mission to, 161
Pema Koi Chung (Koichung,
Koichen, or Koi Ching), 218,
220, 222
Pemberton's mission, 109
Penna, della, Orazio di Billi, 75-
78, 80, 85, 86
Penchen Chu Won Monastery,
116
Porboyre, 126

Persia, Persians, 75, 88, 140, 145,
199
Peru, 236
Peshawar, 51, 153
Petkoi Mountains, 35
Phari (see Pari)
Phodang Marpo, the, 316
Pbo Mo Chang Tang Tso Lake,
252, 259
Pike, Mr. Arnold, 268
Pilgrims, 149, 150, 151, 180, 292, 314
Polu (see also Kiria-Polu), 267, 269
Pongong la Pass, 248
Port Arthur, 137
Potala, the, 57, 87, 118, 122, 169,
301, 302, 314, 316, 317
Potala, the, described by Chandra
Das (q. v.), 316, 317
Poyul, 41, 43, 46
Prayer-wheels, 231, 232
Prester John, 127
Prinsep, 50
Prithi Navayan, 105
Prjevalski, 13, 26, 31, 158, 159, 161,
170, 172, 173, 176, 180, 206, 246,
272, 33°
Puhain (Buhain, Baian) Gol River,
166, 171, 178, 179
" Pulo," 186
Punaka, 91
" Pushm," 263, 264
Putney, 97

Raga, 312
Ragyabas, 313
Raka Tsanpo River, 234
Rakhas Tal (Ravana-hrada), 13,
20
Ralung Sampa, 113
Ralung Thil Monastery, 1 13
Ramoche Monastery, 303, 313
Ram Sing, 270, 277
Ravana-hrada (see Rakhas Tal)
Rawling, Captain, 245, 265, 295,
297-299. 33°
Rawling's map, 298

INDEX

353

Rawlinson, Sir H., 3
Red-caps, 54, 113, 290
Religion, Tibetan (see also Bud
dhism), 231
" Revista Geografica Italiana," 81
Rhins, Dutreuil de, 200-206
Rhys Davids, Professor, 51, 53
Rijnhart, 206
Rima, 30, 211, 213, 215, 225
Rimpoche Monastery, 51
Riwoche, 187
Roborovski, 31
Rockhill, 31, 130, 158, 172, 174-
189, 202, 203, 210, 212, 246, 272,
276, 279, 304, 323, 330
Roman Catholics (see also Jesuits),
75. 76, 82
Rome, 71, 75, 80
"Rong," 37
Rong-cham chen Monastery, 250
Rong-chu River, 250
Rong-wa Tibetans, 177
Rudok, 18, 70, 245, 264, 266-269,
274
Russia, Russians, 14, 56, 126, 138,
140, 147, 206, 207-210, 216, 301,
326, 331. 335
Russia, routes to, 170
Russo- Afghan boundary, 270
Ryder, Major, 48, 232,265, 296, 299

Sachu (see Saitu)
Sadiya, Sadya, 211, 334
Said Khan, Sultan, 61, 62, 63
Saitu (Sachu or Sha-chan), 170
Sakti, 18
Sakya Jong Monastery, 53, 81
Sakya Kongma, 58
Sakya Muni, 258, 320
Salar Turkmans (see Turkmans)
Salt, 264, 331
Salt Lakes, 274, 277, 289
Salwin River, 9, 29, 46, 166, 172,
184, 186, 187, 196-198, 212, 213
Samding Monastery, 83, 214, 251,
333. 334,

Samye Monastery, 52, 214, 217,
257,3"
San Anatolia, Gioachino da, 77,
78, 8i, 84
Sanchi, 153
Sandberg, Rev. Graham, 75, 80,
96, 117
Sand Fo, General, 108
Sang chu River, 172
Sangri Kha ma Monastery, 257
San Martin, 195
"Sarais," 133, 146, 147
Sarda River, 262
Schlagentweit, 50
Scorpion Lake (see Yamdok tso)
Sechu (see Zechu)
Sechuan, 206, 209, 210, 327, 334
Sera Monastery, 308, 317
Shalngo (Jalngo) Lama, 309-311
Shamanism (devil worship), 185
Shan chu Pelling Lake, 94
Shangki Pass (see Niti)
Shapchi Lama, 308
Sheep, 21, 173, 186, 263
Shenrab, 177
Shensi, 175
Shetoi, 113
Shigatze, 24, 39, 47, 56, 66, 73, 79,
101, 229, 234, 236, 248-250, 296,
327 o *
Shipki Pass, 13, 19, 20, 238, 262,
297
Shobando, 196, 211, 213
Shuga (Chuga) Pass, 163, 171, 180,
181
Shyok Valley, 18
Siam, 203, 208
Si fan nomads, 152, 157
Sifan Mountains, 8
Si Hai (see Sing Hai)
Sikhs, 26, 105
Sikkim (Demijong), 15, 23, 44, 93,
109, no
Siliguri, 23, 24
Silver, 331
Simla, 186, 262, 295, 297
Sind Valley, 63, 75

354

INDEX

Sindi Chogyul Falls, 217
Sing Hai (Si Hai) Lake, 156
Sining (Hsining) fu,43, 72, 73, 138,
139. M5. 148, 175. J76, 202, 204,
207, 274, 325, 327, 328, 331, 334
Sining tso (see Zilling tso)
Sipan Country, the, 208
Sipi, 186
Sitan, 151
Siva's Paradise, 12
Si Wang, 128
Skyths, 4, 51
Smyrna, 75
Sog dokpa, 253
Solomon, 316
Solpon (Sopon) Chumbo, 99, 101,
3i8
Srong tsan (btsan) gumpo, King,
5°, 5', 55- 3'3
Stein, 7, 31, 265, 267, 270, 299
Strachey Brothers, 224
Strachey, Richard, 238, 296
Subansiri River, 35
Sudak Mingmar, 241
Suget Pass, 63
Suk-chu River, 196
Suspension bridges, 116
Sutlej River, n, 14, 19-21,65,70,
123, 211, 237-239, 262, 296, 297
Sven Hedin, Dr., 7, 13, 16, 18, 26,
31, 40, 130, 132, 155, 158, 159,
180, 183, 265-267, 271, 272, 275;
276, 280, 285-293
Sven Hedin's 1890 expedition.
285-291
Sven Hedin's Records, 293
Swatis, 336
Swiss, 177

Ta-chien-lu (Darchendo), 27, 28,
39. 43. 44. 58, 104, 139, l7°, 177,
183, 188, 189, 191, 198, 206, 207,
212, 279, 325, 327, 334
Tadi, 106, 107
Tadum (Tadam, Tradum), 38, 65,
228, 232

Tadum Monastery, 234
Tagh-tu-ka, 250
Taitsung, Emperor, 313, 315
Takla Makan Desert, 270
Takpo, 76
Tali-fu, 328
Tamjin Khamba, 234
Tamshul, River, 254, 255
Tangialing Monastery, 57
Tang la (Dangla) Pass, 25, 91, 95>
165, 166, 172, 180, 181, 182, 183,
185, 190, 200, 247
Tang Lung, 249
Tanksi Monastery, 18
Tanner, Colonel, 224, 247
Tantra system, the, 51, 53
" Tarikh-i-Rashidi," the, 60
Tartars, 54, 127, 129, 134, 137, 140,
144, 150, 154, 164
Tashigang, 79
Tashigompa Monastery, 203
Tashilumpo, 55, 58, ioi, 106, 249,
250, 325
Tashilumpo Monastery, 229
Taurus, Mount, 4
Tawang, 214, 215, 333
Taylor, Miss, 189
" Tchanak Kampo," the, 161
Tchogorton, 157, 158, 159, 160
" Tchutgour," 134
Tea, 27, 139, 264, 327
Temerlik, 286, 290
Tengal ling Monastery, 307
Tengri Maidan, 106
Tengri Nor Lake, 167, 188, 201
Terpaling, 101
Teshu Lama, 97, 98, 101, 106
Teuna (see Tunno)
Thames River, 97
Tha sing Monastery, 295
Theb, 306
Thi Chu, 118
Thoding Monastery, 52
Thok Jalung (Jaling) mines, 66,
240-245
Thom Bundo, 204, 205
Three Days' Desert, 178

INDEX

355

Tibet, approaches to, 13-16, 27,
31. 129
Tibet, Central, 245, 246
Tibet, Little (see Ladak)
Tibet, Southern, 224
Tibet, Southwestern, 237
Tibetan cooking, 93
Tibetan soldiery, in
Tibetan women, 122, 319
Tibetans, origin of, 35, 49, 50
Tigu Tso Lake, 255, 256
Tila Pass, 213
Ti-mu-fu, the, 120
Tista, River, 23, 219
Titicaca, Lake, 236
Toilung, 118
Tokai Mountains, 179
Tokus Davan Mountains, 281
Tola la (see Lha ri)
Tolon Nor (see Dolan)
Tonjuk jong, 220
Tong tso Pama ling, 253
Tongso Penlo, 109
Tonkyaling Monastery, 303
" Torma" (Turma), the, 82, 254
Totling, 20, 21, 238, 239
Toulain, Col. R., 162
Trade, Traders, 25, 26, 96, 138, 174,
187, 263, 326-329, 335
Trade routes, 19, 39, 43, 146, 187,
188, 253, 324
Tradum (see Tadum)
Transoxiana, 60
Trebek, 124
Trees, 177, 188
Tronnier, Herr R„ 71, 73
Trotter, 224
Tsahan Orsu River, 179
Tsaidam, 35, 68, 72, 146, 162, 171,
'73. I79. 180, 206, 267, 272
Tsang, Province of, 45, 53, 58
Tsanpo (Tsampo) (see also Yero
Tsanpo and Charta Tsanpo), 97,
114, 115, 168, 214, 216, 305,
306
Tsanpu Shigatze River, 94
Tsechok Ling Monastery, 307

Tsidungs, 308
" Tsipon," 308
Tso Lagang, 262
Tso Lanark Lake, 65
Tso Mabang, 262
Tsong Khapo (Kapa), 53, 315
Tuna (see Tunno)
Tung River, 28, 29
Tungo la Pass, 306
Tunno (Teuna, Tuna), 93
Turkestan, 124, 143, 269, 271, 273-
276
Turkestan (Chinese), 4, 13, 14, 31,
36, 44, 127, 130, 170, 175, 201,
267, 271, 272, 280, 281, 293, 322
Turkestan Choi, the, 291
Turkmans, 140, 176
Turner, Capt. Samuel, 94, 100,
101, 102, 105, no, 112, 236
U
U, Province of, 38, 53, 58, 253
Ugyen (U. G), 246-261, 302-311,
3X3. 314, 3'8, 319
Ugyen's maps of Lhasa, 259
Unicorns (see Licorne)
Urga, 57, 69, 207, 325, 331
Utsang, Province of, 45, 65

"Vagabond" Lamas, 142, 143
Van de Putte, Samuel, 87, 88, 120,
125, 126
Vatican, the, 78
Victoria Falls, 219
Visvakarma, 315
Vitelleschi, Mutio, 70
W
Waddell, Col. R., 23, 54, 211, 302
Wa-ho Plateau, 196, 197
Wahon La Pass, 179
Wakjir Pass, 4
Walker, General, 38, l64, 198, 224
286, 287

356

INDEX

Walker's map, 286, 288
Wa-Ssu-Kou, 29
Waterloo, in
Wayen River (see Puhain Gol)
Wellby, Captain, 164, 207, 265,
267, 274, 276
Wild asses (see Kulan)
Wildfowl, 94, 278
Womathong, 113
Wood, Captain, 296
Woodthorpe, General, 221, 224

Xenophon, 199

Yak, 94, 113, 115, 165, 173, 186,
196, 270, 278, 289
Yalung, 305
Yalung River, 27
Yamdok tso (Scorpion Lake, or
Palka), 114, 229, 230, 250, 259

Yamdok tso, Ugyen's description,
250, 252
Yang tsi Kiang River, 9, 27, 29,
40, 164, 171, 172, 181, 190, 202,
203, 208, 210, 275, 328, 334
Yeh La, 252
Yellow-caps, 54
Yellow River (see Hoang Ho)
Yero Tsanpo, 22, 33, 39, 73, 83,
95
Younghusband, Col. Sir F., 24,
45. 48, 91, 92, 104, 281, 294
Yunnan, Province of, 9, 27, 327

Zambesi River, 219
Zayul, 30, 41, 43, 46, 210, 213, 215,
328, 333
Zechu (Sechu) River, 186, 188
Zilling tso (Sining tso or Garing
tso), 278, 279, 284, 291, 292
Zoji La Pass, 15, 63

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