NEWS ITEMS.

Colonist, Volume LI, Issue 12502, 1 April 1909, Page 1

NEWS ITEMS.

"I disguised 'myself by coloring my face and hands every day with Indian ink, burnt my European clothes, and hid my maps, which cover 1,100 sheets, in bags of rice," says Do Sven Hedin, in his lecture on his Thibet experiences. "I never experienced a day's illness, and with tlio exception of a : little champagne which I drank at Shigatze I never tasted alcohol and took no medicine. I smoked however whenever I had the opportunity. I lost about 170 ponies and mules owing to the terrible cold. Possibly my worst experience was when travelling to the east of the Karakorum Pass. Here the roads were strewn with carcasses of ponies and sheep. Every da> my animals died, and for six weeks I experienced , continuous snow and wind, and my thermometer registered 72deg of frost (Fahrenheit)." In this region the explorer found bales of silk and other articles lying about that had been discarded by their owners.