A BIRD OF EVEREST

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 184, 2 May 1933, Page 9

A BIRD OF EVEREST

Strange Belief in Tibet REASON FOR EXPEDITION (Reuter— Special to “The Dominion.’ ) London, March 23. The real reason that a group of Englishmen, led by Mr. Hugh buttledge, have gone out to climb Mount Everest is to capture a golden cock which has its nest on tlie summit or the mountain. This is the confirmed belief of the ecclesiastical circles ot Southern Tibet. “It would be strange if these people who are going to climb Everest had no other motive than merely to get to the top We in Tibet can hardly accept that,” declared the Abbot Tempe-tse-Riug. of the Tang-tra Monastery. “It is commonly reported that the Scr-ki-Chapo, the golden cock, has its home on the summit. M.y people tire saying that when this knowledge came to the ears of the English they sent a partv to catch it. It is well known that'the English catch birds as well as shoot them. . “There are also two white lions living somewhere near the mountain, said the abbot. “They roam about and are very dangerous. They have neverbeen seen, but their roaring is beard at times, ami it sounds like the beating of a great gong. “It is reported, too, that a race of wild men, covered with hair, live in the pine forests in that part of Tibet. Many men are hairy, but. these are identified as wild by their feet, which are turned backward.” The abbot remarked that it is believed in Tibet that the expedition will die in the snow.