ITALIAN IN TIBET

Evening Star, Issue 21631, 29 January 1934, Page 12

ITALIAN IN TIBET

RARE STATUE SECURED RUSE THAT SUCCEEDED. ; ROME, January 15.’ The story of how a mixture of bribery and a knowledge of, Tibetan psychology obtained a rare statue representing Salon, an Indian divinity, is related by an Italian archaeologist,. Signor Tucci, who has returned from a 1,000-mile journey through Tibet. Signor Tucci to have travelled through districts where white men had not previously visited, and .to , have penetrated famous temples and sanctuaries in which Europeans hitherto had not trodden. The explorer first declared that he had dreamed Salon wished to accompany him to Italy, whereupon the local wizard summoned a meeting in the temple to debate the feasibility of the divine journey. Finally one of the advocates of this declared that Signor Tucci was a Buddhist and produced as proof a photograph of his study which resembled a Tibetan temple. Then the. wizard, who had- previously been bribed, opportunely fell into a trance and placed tbe statue on Signor Tucci’s head. In order to win the confidence of the monks, the explorer invariably ate and drank Tibetan food, in spite of its unpalatableness, and when he entered the monastery; he behaved like _ a Lama. Ho prefaced his visit with a letter ‘and gifts of shawls and rupees, the money being'widely appreciated. .Signor Tucci - has visited Tibet four times and knows .thirty dialects, His ‘latest journey- yielded 3,000 manuscripts, 3,000 statues, and hundreds of objects of archseological, historical, and philosophical value.