An Explorer's Adventures in Tibet

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Transcriber's note:

Minor punctuation errors have been corrected without notice. An obvious printer error has been corrected, and it is listed at the end. All other inconsistencies are as in the original. The author's spelling has been maintained.

AN EXPLORER'S ADVENTURES IN TIBET

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

[Illustration: THE AUTHOR, FEBRUARY, 1897]

[Illustration: THE AUTHOR, OCTOBER, 1897]

AN EXPLORER'S ADVENTURES IN TIBET

by

A. HENRY SAVAGE LANDOR

Author of "In the Forbidden Land" "The Gems of the East" etc. etc.

With Illustrations by the Author

Harper & Brothers Publishers New York and London MCMX

Copyright, 1910, by Harper & Brothers All rights reserved

Published April, 1910.

Printed in the United States of America

CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE

PREFACE vii

I. A FORBIDDEN COUNTRY 1

II. AN UNKNOWN PASS 10

III. A NARROW ESCAPE 20

IV. WATCHED BY SPIES 29

V. WARNED BACK BY SOLDIERS 37

VI. ENCOUNTER WITH A HIGH TIBETAN OFFICIAL 47

VII. AN EXCITING NIGHT JOURNEY 58

VIII. HUNGRY FUGITIVES 67

IX. AN ATTEMPT AT MUTINY 79

X. AMONG ENEMIES AND ROBBERS 90

XI. IN STRANGE COMPANY 102

XII. AMONG THE LAMAS 113

XIII. LIFE IN THE MONASTERIES 126

XIV. ANOTHER DISASTER 136

XV. FOLLOWED BY TIBETAN SOLDIERS 150

XVI. FIRST WHITE MAN IN THE SACRED PROVINCE 163

XVII. DISASTER AT THE RIVER 176

XVIII. CAPTURED 191

XIX. THREATS OF DEATH 203

XX. A TERRIBLE RIDE 210

XXI. THE EXECUTIONER 220

XXII. A CHARMED LIFE 233

XXIII. LED TO THE FRONTIER 245

XXIV. WITH FRIENDS AT LAST 257

APPENDIX 267

ILLUSTRATIONS

THE AUTHOR Frontispiece

INVOLUNTARY TOBOGGANING Facing p. 10

AT NIGHT I LED MY MEN UP THE MOUNTAIN IN A FIERCE SNOW-STORM " 64

BEHIND OUR BULWARKS " 76

THE BANDITS LAID DOWN THEIR ARMS " 102

A NATURAL CASTLE " 136

CAMP WITH GIGANTIC INSCRIPTIONS " 142

TORRENTIAL RAIN " 150

TIBETAN WOMEN AND CHILDREN " 174

PURCHASING PONIES " 192

I WAS A PRISONER " 194

DRAGGED INTO THE SETTLEMENT " 196

CHANDEN SING BEING FLOGGED " 202

THE RIDE ON A SPIKED SADDLE " 218

WE ATTACKED OUR GUARD WITH STONES " 254

CLIFF HABITATIONS " 262

PREFACE

This book deals chiefly with the author's adventures during a journey taken in Tibet in 1897, when that country, owing to religious fanaticism, was closed to strangers. For the scientific results of the expedition, for the detailed description of the customs, manners, etc., of the people, the larger work, entitled In the Forbidden Land (Harper & Brothers, publishers), by the same author, should be consulted.

During that journey of exploration the author made many important geographical discoveries, among which may be mentioned:

(a) The discovery of the two principal sources of the Great Brahmaputra River, one of the four largest rivers in the world.

(b) The ascertaining that a high range of mountains existed north of the Himahlyas, but with no such great elevations as the highest of the Himahlyan range.

(c) The settlement of the geographical controversy regarding the supposed connection between the Sacred (Mansarowar) and the Devil's (Rakastal) lakes.

(d) The discovery of the real sources of the Sutlej River.