Notable Achievement In Field of Exploration

Manawatu Times, Volume 60, Issue 31, 6 February 1935, Page 2

Notable Achievement In Field of Exploration

Miss Freya Stark has made history for womon by being the first woman to be awarded the Burton Memorial Medal, states a London writer. This award is made trionnially by the Royal Asiatic Society for the most outstanding achievement in the field of exploration and travel in Asia. Miss Stark, who is a daughter of Mr. Robert Stark, a London sculptor, had the medal conferred on her in recognition of her journeys of exploration in Persia. Last year she was awarded the Back Grant by the Royal Geographical Society for her pioneer visit to Persia, during which she discovered a stronghold of the ancient secret society of the assassins—a fanatical branch of the Moslem sect of the Ismailis.

At the meeting of the Asiatic Society in London, Miss Stark spoke modestly of her. travels.

"I always travel alone,” she said, "and I am never frightened. In Persia, when wo wore crossing bandit-guarded passes, I used to walk on ahead of my miserable guide, because even a bandit would stop to ask questions before shooting when he saw a European woman strolling on alone, hatless.”