LIFE IN TIBET

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 53, Issue 208, 15 June 1933, Page 8

LIFE IN TIBET

NEW ZEALANDER'S EXPERIENCES

LECTURE BY PROFESSOR WALL. A very interesting and instructive lecture on his travels in Kashmir and Tibet last year was given in Ashburton last evening by Professor Arnold Wall, of Christchurch. The lecture was given under the aupsices of the Ashburton Chamber of Commerce, and there was a good attendance. The president of the Chamber (Mr M. Bruce) presided and introduced the lecturer, to whom he extended thanks for having come to Ashburton. Professor Wall explained first the history of Tibet, which was very short. It was a country, he said, which would never be subject to invasion, as it was not worth invading. It was not governed by rulers as was Kashmir, which had taken over control of the country in 1820. The speaker explained the journey he made from Kashmir to Tibet's capital, over a 210 mile road that appeared never to have had a penny spent on it, though hundreds of thousands of people travelled over it each year. Travellers had to carry most of their supplies with them on ponies, and they were well catered for at all the villages on the route. There were 16 rest houses, where a rental of Is 6d a day was charged. On the way to the capital of Tibet the traveller passed through a desert where the rainfall totalled one inch a year, yet there was never a famine there. By means of irrigation and utilising every drop of water that came off the hills, crops and trees were grown that kept the people alive. The speaker thought the people there were better off than those* of other countries. The wind never blew in the mornings, and the winter temperature fell to zero, while water could be boiled in the sun in the summer. The people were very self-centred, living on only what they made themselves, mostly primitive, and importing nothing. They produced a wonderful quality of wool that should give them some money, but none of- tho people seemed to have any money, though their wool brought 4s 6d a lb. This wool was made into the famous Kashmir shawls. Life was in a very primitive state in this country, Professor Wall continued. There were no trees, and all vegetable refuse was used, with dried ccwdung, as fuel. The willow was the only thing approaching a tree that could be grown. The speaker went on to describe the life of these extraordinary people, and said that their religion was a mechanical thing, based on superstition. The speaker gave some very enhghtening instances of his experiences m the strange land he visited, and he introduced some excellent humour into his discourse. Later, he showed a large number of slides of places he had'visited, and they were greatly appreciated. He stressed the irrigation projects. While he explained the photographs thrown on the screen, the lecturer gave a further interesting insight into the life of the people among whom lie had sojourned. At the close of the address, Processor I Wall was voted the hearty thanks of ! the audience.