ON THE " ROOF OF THE WORLD."

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 9646, 22 January 1903, Page 3

ON THE " ROOF OF THE WORLD."

♦ WEIRD EXPERIENCES OF SVEN HEDIN IN THIBET. REMARKABLE STORY. Dr. Sven .Hedin, the celebrated Swedish explorer, has arrived in England after accomplishing what may justly be described as the most remarkable land journey of modern times. His travels in Central Asia occupied three years and three days, and for two and a-half years he was entirely cut off from all communication with the outer world. During this period the explorer traversed at least 6000 miles of absolutely unknown, lands. During his expedition Dr. Sven Hedin made two attempts to reach Lhassa, disguised as a Mongolian pilgrim, and succeeded in getting within one day's journey of that mysterious centre, when he was turned back. Dr. Hedin, in an interview, said : — "The hardest part of the expedition was my experiences in Thibet. During my second journey from Charklik to Ladokli, which lasted eight months, I lost nearly the whole of my caravan, owing to the enormous altitudes at which we were travelling. Some vague idea of this may be gathered when 1 tell you that even in the valleys we were higher than the summit of Mont Blanc. "The mere act of breathing was most difficult, and on this one trip four of my- companions died simply for this reason—they could not breathe. When we came to our eventing camping-ground two of these devoted followers were found stark dead on their camels. The others died gradually from their feet upwards, retaining their senses to the end, the brain being the last to be attacked. "The experience was weird and awful, and certainly the worst I have ever had. I wns not affected to the same degree, but I was quite unable to march, and had to remain immovable in. the saddle the whole day. Even, to unbutton one's coat meiunt acute pain and tension to an overwrought heart, which literally was at the point of breaking. The poor animals, too, suffered much. Out of 45 horses I lost 44, and, 30 out of 39 camels left their bones in' these terrible altitudes. "My only safety lay in the fact that I never left the saddle for a single moment from morning till we pitched camp in the evening. Had I done so my heart, too, would probably have given wa.y. During I his one Thibetan, journey of 1000 miles icy gales blew 1 in our faces the (whole way." ATTEMPTS TO REACH THE MYSTERIOUS CITY. "In the summer I made two attempts A to reach Lhassa. Leaving the bulk of my caravan behind, on the first occasion I started off with only two companions, four horses and five mules. We did not deceive ourselves as to the risk we ran if we were caught. One of my companions had been in Lhassa, and from him I learned something of the place, and he — in fact, all of us — had quite made up our minds that discovery meant death. The city itself, -which is not very extensive, and consists mostly of temples would at that period of the year be verv full, owing to the pilgrim caravans which go there during the summer. The Dalai Lama, I was informed, was a. man of grejit stature. 27 years of age, who never leaves his house, where lie is continually engaged in his devotions. "We disguised ourselves as Mongolian nilgrims, and our 'get-up' was perfect. but in this mysterious land it seems that everything is* known. We journeyed along quietly, little thinking that the isolated shepherds and yak hunters we passed were watching us keenly, and that they had sent off mounted messengers to Lliassa reporting that three strangers had left a big caravan and were travelling towards the place. But on we went; no one molested us, and as we neared our destination we continually passed collections of black tents. whos? inhabitants w»re suspicious but kind. So we got to "within one day's ride of Lhnssa, when one dark niirht we were suddenly surrounded by Thibetans, all armed to the teeth, who told us flint if we attempted to move we should be killed. ''We were kept prisoners while they sent for the Governor of Naktchu to com? down and deal with us. At the end of five days the Thibetan Oovrnor arrived. accompanied by 67 high dignitaries all on. horseback and chid in th° very richest g.innen.ts. Thev, too, insisted that I ■was an Englishman, and <told me that the Dala,i L'ima himself had sent a message that I was 'to be well treated and supplied free of all cost with anything 1 wanted, but that if I made the slightest show of resuming mv journey towards Lhaswi. I was to be killed. Then th^y r(>--I.."a.sed us. pscorti.ng us to the frontier of Ni'ktchu with five officers and 20 soldiers. " T found them verv ignorant, knowing liothiN"? "f the outside «-orld, but from whit 7 caw and he-nrd I am convinced that, tib'eir object in keeping up the idea of the. suiicfify and isolation of Lhassa is based on' political and not on religious grounds. "Notwithstanding this experience, I soon made a second • attempt— this time with the whole of my caravan. I travelled from a- different, direction, but three days from Lliassa I was stopped by a body of 500 cavalry, well mined with ■rifles, ' swords, pikes and lances. This time I. did not look for any mercy, but ovrain my treatment left nothing to be desired. ' One of the officers told me that lie had a. letter from the Dalai Lama to the effect that the troops would lose their heads if I went on. This force followed us for ten' days to see that I did not make a third attempt. I am ouite sure that it is impossible for a European, to penetrate to Lhassa, even in disguise. Now, of course, the vigilance of the officials will be much greater than before." Dr. Sven Hedin also had some weird ■experiences in the vicinity of the Dead Sea., which he discovered in Eastern Thi-"be-t. "This was," he said, "of emmnous extent, hut not verv deep. I navigated its •waters in. my little collapsible boat through some* terrible gales, in some of ■which we almost lost our lives. It contains an incredible quantity of salt, of which the bottom is an. unbroken: crust. Our boat, oars, dresses, everything, were vis •white as snow, and the water when dropped on. the ground formed into -white globules. All around was a howling wilderness. "During this part of my journey another of my attendants died— an. Afghan — .whom, poor fellow, we found dead on his camel, having met his end in the same mysterious manner as some of my other companions."