"FORBIDDEN CITY."

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 4, 6 January 1938, Page 15

"FORBIDDEN CITY."

EXCITED CROWDS.

WHITE WOMAN VISITOR.

tremendous curiosity.

(Special.— By Air Mall.)

LONDON, December 17,

The embarrassments of being one of the first white women ever seen in Lhasa, the "Forbidden City," were described by Mr. Suydam Cutting, the American explorer, who has just arrived in London from Tibet with Mrs. Cutting, the curiosit 7 aroused was

, my wife was actually the fourth white woman to visit Lhasa," wei " Her Pred^^eom were 3ftna. the authority 0 n Oriental religions, and the wives of two British political agents. "Whenever W wife appeared in the streets excited crowds would gather v ?ht€ S r fc gesture was greeted with a chorus of comment." a-rf r ." and M ". started out from Sikkim at the end of August. Thev travelled with a caravan of half a dozen men, with horses and ponies, the perroutl changed several times en

No Shooting. When the border was reached they were accompanied by a "head man" bearing special Tibetan passports, who arranged accommodation for them each

"We spent the nights in Tibetan houses, said Mr. Cutting. "The hospitality was warm, and the people very pleasant, but the rooms wire not exactly clean. We did no shooting of n"*i u'- ni ! ° n ,- t^ le tnp ' as St is against the Buddhist religion to take life." Th ® 325-mile journey took about a Ttfc " nd Mrs " Cutt ing wore golf j leather wind-breakers. High altitudes were reached by the partv on the wind-swept Tibetan plateau i", W ,\r Stl T k - all kind * of weather," added Mr. Cutting. "Rain, cold, warm— then cold again." Government Welcome.

Outside Lhasa we were ceremoniously greeted by a Government A.D C who conducted us.into the city and installed us m the house set apart for our use. 1

"During our fortnight's stay we had banquets with members of the nobility. f'l.fna f 'I, ? °° d . and much . resembles Chinese food at its best. Tibetan beer frnm r T ' , va ' yin? § Teatl y in Potency, from about § per cent;of alcohol to a very high percentage. However, the .'. I nS aro not a inking people" When a reporter asked Mr. Cutting his impression of Tibetan dancing, he replied Very religious and dull." Sir. Suydam Cutting is a New Yorker who has visited Tibet before alone. His recent journey was undertaken on behalf of the American Museum of Natural Gardens Brooklyn Botanical

riWf • ™, h ,! um gifts for Tibetan dignitaries, including metal boxes of Old TW i gn ' em bossed with erests. These proved very popular.