PERILOUS JOURNEY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12663, 17 September 1904, Page 2 (Supplement)

PERILOUS JOURNEY.

LAMA'S HOLY WAR AGAINST BRITAIN.

Two British correspondents from the Far East, Mr. A. G. Hales, of the Daily News, and Mr. Kingswell, of the Gape Times, have reached St. Petersburg after a most adventurous and interesting journey homeward from the Far East. Mi*. Hales was refused a permit to accompany the Japanese troops to the front, and surreptitiously visited Corea, subsequently making Ms way to TientsinThere he and his companion, Mr, Kingswell, received permission from General Kuropatkin to travel where they pleased in Manchuria, Mongolia, Siberia, and Russia. Thereupon they decided to cross the , Gobi Desert via Kalgan Udi and Kiakhta. to Verchni Udinsk. \

Mr. Kings well, in an interview, said:; — " The Gobi route was chosen because we had heard from an Australian and also from Chinese sources that a movement was on foot in Mongolia to raise an array to help the Tibetans against the British at Urga, which is the second stronghold of Buddhism in the world and the seat' of the living Buddha,: A great meeting was being prepared for August 2, and tens of thousands of lamas and disciples were already arriving. Almost »Bvery third man in that country is a lama. • Priests and apostles are now being sent to India and China, and even to Japan, to preach a holy war against Great Britain." The lamas, who are nominally bound to celibacy, are magnificent men physically, and wear gorgeous "dresses'. Mr. Hales and I called on the living Buddha, who is a young man of 30, and ranks second only to the Grand Lama at Lhassa. He sent a reply to the effect that he refused: to see any Englishman, and declaring that the English had no right in his dominions. We sent him presents, but his servitors threw them over the wall and let loose against us all the dogs of the place, including a. wolfhound which we were afterwards told was a present from the Tsar. "After- passing the Great Wall we were offered an escort of soldiers by the Tao-Tai of an armed town. This we refused, as I had frequently travelled in China. But one day, about: noon, suspicious character began to assemble around our halting-place. Both Mr. Hales and I grew anxious. Our only weapons were Hales' Winchester repeater and his Colt revolver, and my Mauser pistol. We retired to a mud-walled compound, where we were soon attacked. We ad already sent to the Tao-Tai for help, and his troops arrived in the nick of time. They made eight prisoners, who were beheaded, and the heads were given to the dogs.. '..'.■ " From Kiakhta we travelled five days in a canoe on the River Selinga to a steamer station at Verchni Udinsk. Wo joined the Trans-Siberian Railway, and proceeded thence to Lake Baikal. Since the beginning of hostilities I estimate 310,000 troops have crossed the lake; but, probably, half have been detained to guard the lines of communication."