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TRANS-HIMALAYA
DISCOVERIES AND ADVENTURES
IN TIBET
BY
SVEN HEDIN
WITH 388 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS, WATER-
COLOUR SKETCHES, AND DRAWINGS BY THE AUTHOR
AND 10 MAPS
IN TWO VOLUMES
VOL. I
New York
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1909
All rights reserved
Copyright, 1909,
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.
Set up and electrotyped. Published December, 1909.
Norwood Press
J. S. Cushing Co.—Berwick & Smith Co.
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.
TO
HIS EXCELLENCY
THE EARL OF MINTO
VICEROY OF INDIA
WITH GRATITUDE AND ADMIRATION
FROM THE AUTHOR
PREFACE
In the first place I desire to pay homage to the memory of my patron, King Oskar of Sweden, by a few words of gratitude. The late King showed as warm and intelligent an interest in my plan for a new expedition as he had on former occasions, and assisted in the fulfilment of my project with much increased liberality.
I estimated the cost of the journey at 80,000 kronor (about £4400), and this sum was subscribed within a week by my old friend Emmanuel Nobel, and my patrons, Frederik Löwenadler, Oscar Ekman, Robert Dickson, William Olsson, and Henry Ruffer, banker in London. I cannot adequately express my thanks to these gentlemen. In consequence of the political difficulties I encountered in India, which forced me to make wide detours, the expenses were increased by about 50,000 kronor (£2800), but this sum I was able to draw from my own resources.
As on former occasions, I have this time also to thank Dr. Nils Ekholm for his great kindness in working out the absolute heights. The three lithographic maps have been compiled from my original sheets with painstaking care by Lieutenant C. J. Otto Kjellström, who devoted all his furlough to this troublesome work. The astronomical points, nearly one hundred, have been calculated by the Assistant Roth of the Stockholm Observatory; a few points, which appeared doubtful, were omitted in drawing the route on the map, which is based on points previously determined. The map illustrating my narrative in the Geographical Journal, April 1909, I drew roughly from memory without consulting the original sheets, for I had no time to spare; the errors which naturally crept in have been corrected on the new maps, but I wish to state here the cause of the discrepancy. The final maps, which I hope to publish in a voluminous scientific work, will be distinguished by still greater accuracy and detail.
I claim not the slightest artistic merit for my drawings, and my water-colours are extremely defective both in drawing and colouring. One of the pictures, the lama opening the door of the mausoleum, I left unfinished in my haste; it has been thrown in with the others, with the wall-paintings and shading incomplete. To criticize these slight attempts as works of art would be like wasting gunpowder on dead crows. For the sake of variety several illustrations have been drawn by the British artists De Haenen and T. Macfarlane, but it must not be assumed that these are fanciful productions. Every one of them is based on outline drawings by myself, a number of photographs, and a full description of the scene. De Haenen’s illustrations appeared in the London Graphic, and were ordered when I was still in India. Macfarlane’s drawings were executed this summer, and I was able to inspect his designs and approve of them before they were worked up.
As to the text, I have endeavoured to depict the events of the journey as far as the limited space permitted, but I have also imprudently allowed myself to touch on subjects with which I am not at all familiar—I allude in particular to Lamaism. It has been unfortunate that I had to write the whole book in 107 days, during which many hours were taken up with work connected with the maps and illustrations and by an extensive correspondence with foreign publishers, especially Albert Brockhaus of Leipzig, who never wearied in giving me excellent advice. The whole work has been hurried, and the book from beginning to end is like a vessel which ventures out into the ocean of the world’s tumult and of criticism with many leaks and cracks.
My thanks are also due to my father, who made a clean copy from my illegible manuscript; and to my mother, who has saved me from many mistakes. Dr. Carl Forstrand has revised both the manuscript and the proof-sheets, and has compiled the Swedish index.
The seven and thirty Asiatics who followed me faithfully through Tibet, and contributed in no small degree to the successful issue and results of the expedition, have had the honour of receiving from His Majesty the King of Sweden gold and silver medals bearing the portrait of the King, a crown, and an inscription. I humbly beg His Majesty to accept my warmest and most sincere thanks for his great generosity.
The book is dedicated to Lord Minto, as a slight testimony of my gratitude for all his kindness and hospitality. It had been Lord Minto’s intention to further my plans as Lord Curzon would have done if he had still been Viceroy of India, but political considerations prevented him. When, however, I was actually in Tibet, the Viceroy was free to use his influence with the Tashi Lama, and the consequence was that many doors in the forbidden land, formerly tightly closed, were opened to me.
Dear reminiscences of India hovered about my lonesome years in dreary Tibet like the pleasant rustling of palm leaves. It will suffice to mention men like Lord Kitchener, in whose house I spent a week never to be forgotten; Colonel Dunlop Smith, who took charge of my notes and maps and sent them home, and also forwarded a whole caravan of necessaries to Gartok; Younghusband, Patterson, Ryder, Rawling, and many others. And, lastly, Colonel Longe, Surveyor-General, and Colonel Burrard, of the Survey of India, who, with the greatest kindness, had my 900 map-sheets of Tibet photographed, and stored the negatives among their records in case the originals should be lost, and who, after I had placed my 200 map-sheets of Persia at the disposal of the Indian Government, had them worked up in the North-Western Frontier Drawing Office and combined into a fine map
It is with the greatest pleasure that I avail myself of this opportunity of expressing my sincere gratitude for all the innumerable tokens of sympathy and appreciation which I received in all parts of the United Kingdom, and for all the honours conferred on me by Societies, and the warm welcome I met with from the audiences I had the pleasure of addressing. I shall always cherish a proud and happy remembrance of the two months which it was my good-fortune to spend in the British Isles; and the kindness then showered upon me was the more delightful because it was extended also to two of my sisters, who accompanied me.
Were I to mention all the ladies and gentlemen to whom I am especially indebted, I could fill several pages. But I cannot let this book go forth through the English-speaking world without expressing my sincere gratitude to Lord Curzon for the great and encouraging interest he has always taken in myself and my journeys; to Lord Morley for the brilliant speech he delivered after my first lecture—the most graceful compliment ever paid me, as well as for many other marks of kindness and sympathy shown to me by the Secretary of State for India; to the Swedish Minister in London, Count Herman Wrangel, for all the valuable services he rendered me during and after my journey; to Major Leonard Darwin and the Council and Members of the Royal Geographical Society, to whom I was delighted to return, not as a strange guest, but as an old friend; to the famous and illustrious Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, where I was overwhelmed with exceptional honours and boundless hospitality; to the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, where twice before I had received a warm reception. Well, when I think of those charming days in England and Scotland I am inclined to dwell too long upon them, and I must hasten to a conclusion. But there is one more name, which I have left to the last, because it has been very dear to me for many years, that of Dr. J. Scott Keltie. The general public will never know what it means to be the Secretary and mainspring of the Royal Geographical Society, to work year after year in that important office in Savile Row, to receive explorers from all corners of the world and satisfy all their demands, without ever losing patience or ever hearing a word of thanks. I can conceive from my own experience how much trouble I have caused Dr. Keltie, but yet he has always met me with the same amiability and has always been a constant friend, whether I have been at home or away for years on long journeys.
Dr. M. A. Stein started and returned from his splendid journey in Central Asia at the same times as myself. We crossed different parts of the old continent, but we have several interests in common, and I am glad to congratulate Dr. Stein most heartily on his important discoveries and the brilliant results he has brought back.
It is my intention to collect in a third volume all the material for which there is no room in Trans-Himalaya. For instance, I have been obliged to omit a description of the march northwards from the source of the Indus and of the journey over the Trans-Himalaya to Gartok, as well as of the road from Gartok to Ladak, and the very interesting route from the Nganglaring-tso to Simla. I have also had to postpone the description of several monasteries to a later opportunity. In this future book I will also record my recollections of beautiful, charming Japan, where I gained so many friends, and of Korea, Manchuria, and Port Arthur. The manuscript of this later volume is already finished, and I long for the opportunity of publicly thanking the Japanese, as well as our representative in Japan and China, the Minister Extraordinary, Wallenberg, for all the delightful hospitality and all the honours showered down on me in the Land of the Rising Sun.
Lastly, the appetite of young people for adventures will be satisfied in an especial work.
I am glad to be able to announce at the eleventh hour that the Madrassi Manuel, who in Chapter IX. was reported lost, has at length been found again.
In conclusion, I must say a few words of thanks to my publishers, and first of all to Herre K. O. Bonnier of Stockholm, for his valuable co-operation and the elegant form in which he has produced my book, and then to the firm of F. A. Brockhaus, Leipzig; the “Elsevier” Uitgevers Maatschappij, Amsterdam; Hachette & Cie, Paris; “Kansa,” Suomalainen Kustannus-O-Y, Helsingfors; the Robert Lampel Buchhandlung (F. Wodianer & Söhne) Act.-Ges., Budapest; Macmillan & Co., Ltd., London and New York; J. Otto, Prague; Fratelli Treves, Milan.
SVEN HEDIN.
Stockholm, September, 1909.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I PAGE Simla 1 CHAPTER II Departure from Srinagar 21 CHAPTER III The Road to Leh 35 CHAPTER IV The Last Preparations 46 CHAPTER V The Start for Tibet 60 CHAPTER VI To the Edge of the Tibetan Tableland 72 CHAPTER VII Over the Crest of the Karakorum 84 CHAPTER VIII To Lake Lighten 97 CHAPTER IX On the Lake in a Storm 106 CHAPTER X Death in the Jaws ofILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE1. Lord Minto, Viceroy of India
Frontispiece2. Colonel Sir Francis Younghusband, Commander of the English Expedition to Tibet, Resident in Kashmir
103. Colonel J. R. Dunlop Smith, Private Secretary to the Viceroy
104. Viceregal Lodge in Simla
125. Lady Minto and the Author on the Terrace of the Viceregal Lodge
146. Herbert, Viscount Kitchener of Khartum, Late Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army
187. The Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir
228. Palace of H.H. the Maharaja of Kashmir in Srinagar
269. The Jhelam in Srinagar
2810. The Start from Ganderbal
3011. My Escort
3012. My Three Puppies
3213. Robert, the Eurasian
3214. Ganpat Sing, the Rajput
3215. Manuel, the Cook
3216. In Front of Nedou’s Hotel in Srinagar
3417. Some of our Mules
3418. An Amateur Photographer photographed
3419. The Road to Baltal
3820. Kargil
4021. Chhorten in Lamayuru
4022. Church Music in Lamayuru
4223. Portrait of a Lama
4224. Portrait of a Lama
4225. The Sumto Valley
4426. Bridge of Alchi
4427. Girl in Niemo
4428, 29. Palace of the Kings of Ladak in Leh
4430. Muhamed Isa
4631. Guffaru
5232. The Raja of Stok
5633. Portal of the Palace in Leh
5634. View over the Indus Valley from the Roof of the Palace in Leh
5635. Lama
36. Monuments to Stoliczka and Dalgleish, Leh
5837. Religious Objects from Sanskar
6038. Images of Gods. A miniature Chhorten on the right. Holy Books, Temple Vessels. On either side of the small Altar-table wooden blocks with which the Holy Books are printed
6039. Tikze-gompa, Monastery in Ladak
6240. Masked Lamas in the Court of Ceremonies in Hemis-gompa (Ladak)
6441. Group of Masked Lamas in Hemis-gompa
6442. From Singrul, looking towards the Pass, Chang-la
6643. View from Sultak, August 17, 1906
6644. Drugub
6645. My old friend Hiraman from Ladak
7046. Chiefs of Tankse and Pobrang; Muhamed Isa, the Caravan Leader, in the Background
7047. The Way to the Marsimik-la
7448. Spanglung
7449. Spanglung
7850. Camp near Pamzal
7851. The Chang-chenmo and the Way to Gogra
7852. Muhamed Isa in the River Chang-chenmo near Pamzal
8053. Rabsang, Adul, Tsering, and Muhamed Isa
8254. Our Horses at the Karakorum
8255. In the Snow, N.E. of Chang-lung-yogma
8656. My Tent
8657. Lake Lighten
8658a, 58b. Pantholops Antelope
9059, 60. Ovis Ammon
9061. A Gully at Camp 8 (Aksai-chin)
9462. The hired Ladakis and the Provision Sacks in North-West Chang-tang
9863. Namgyal with a Sack of Yak-dung
9864. Shelter of Provision Sacks
10065. Camp in a narrow Valley, Camp 41
10066. Robert, Muhamed Isa, and two Servants by a Fire
10067. The large piebald Yarkand Horse
68, 69. The Slain Yaks; Tundup Sonam, the Hunter on the left in 68
10470. Rehim Ali, one of my Ladakis on the First Crossing of Tibet
10871. Starting on a Voyage
11072. In Peril on Lake Lighten
11273. The Author and Rehim Ali pull the Boat out of the Waves up on to the Shore
11674. Camp at the Yeshil-kul
11875. The Pul-tso, looking East
11876. Horses and Mules in open Country
11877. Death in the Jaws of Wolves—or Shipwreck
12278. A Dangerous Situation on the Yeshil-kul. In Moonshine
12679. At Deasy’s Camp
13280. Afternoon Tea in the open Air
13281. Melting Snow for Drinking-Water
13282. Preparations for Dinner at Camp 41
15283. The Author, Robert, and Rehim Ali attacked by a wounded Yak
17084. Rehim Ali falls to the Ground and thus rescues us from the furious Yak
17485, 86. The First Tibetans
18087. Smoking Camp-fires in the Heart of Chang-tang
18688. Our Yaks, bought from the First Tibetans
18689. “Where are you going?” they asked me
20090. Near the Dangra-yum-tso
21691, 92, 93. On the Ngangtse-tso
22694. In a Snowstorm on the Ice of the Ngangtse-tso
23495. Hlaje Tsering and his Travelling Companion, a Lama, at my Tent on the Ngangtse-tso
24296. Servants of Hlaje Tsering
25297. Messenger with Letters from Home, and his Travelling Companion
25298. Hlaje Tsering setting out
25299. Three Tibetans saluting
264100. Pass of La-rock. Mani Heap with Fluttering Prayer-Streamers
274101. On the Bank of the Tsangpo (Brahmaputra)
274102. The Tsangpo with Floating Ice
103. The Valley of the Tsangpo above Shigatse
282104. House in the Village of Rungma
286105. Garden of the Tashi Lama in the Village of Tanak
286106. Ferry-Boats
290107. Pilgrims on the Way to Tashi-lunpo
290108. Court of Religious Ceremonies in Tashi-lunpo
296109. Religious Decorations on the Roofs of Tashi-lunpo to exorcise Evil Spirits
296110. The Upper Balcony of the Court of Ceremonies in Tashi-lunpo
300111, 112. The Profanum Vulgus at the New Year Festival in Shigatse
304113. Lama with Shell-Trumpet
306114. Lama with Flute used in Religious Services
306115, 116, 117. Lamas in Dancing Masks
308118. View of Tashi-lunpo
310119. Street in Tashi-lunpo, with Lamas
312120. Street in Tashi-lunpo
314121. The Labrang, the Palace of the Tashi Lama
316122. Interior of the Palace of the Tashi Lama
322123. View of a Part of Tashi-lunpo, with the Façade of a Mausoleum of a Grand Lama
324124. Façade of the Mausoleum of the First Tashi Lama. The Court of Ceremonies in the Foreground
326125, 126. Interiors of two Mausoleums of Grand Lamas in Tashi-lunpo
328127. The Kanjur-lhakang in Tashi-lunpo
330128. Portal of the Mausoleum of the Third Tashi Lama in Tashi-lunpo
332129. The Namgyal-lhakang with the Figure of Tsong Kapa, in Tashi-lunpo Coloured
334130. Reading Lama with Dorche (Thunderbolt) and Drilbu (Prayer-Bell)
336131. Lama with Prayer-Drum
336132. Entrance to the Tomb of the Fifth Tashi Lama in Tashi-lunpo Coloured
338133. Staircase to the Mausoleum of the Fifth Tashi Lama in Tashi-lunpo
340134. Shigatse-dzong (the Fortress)
342135. Shigatse, Capital of the Province of Chang (11,880 feet)
344136. Chinese New Year Festival in my Garden
137. Some of the Members in the Shooting Competition at the New Year Festival
346138. Popular Diversion in Shigatse
348139. Nepalese performing Symbolical Dances at the New Year Festival
350140. Dancing Nepalese at the New Year Festival, Tashi-lunpo
352141. The Kitchen in Tashi-lunpo
354142. Colonnade in Tashi-lunpo
354143. Lamas drinking Tea in the Court of Ceremonies in Tashi-lunpo
358144. Part of Shigatse
362145. The Tashi Lama returning to the Labrang after a Ceremony
362146. The Panchen Rinpoche, or Tashi Lama
366147. Portrait of the Tashi Lama
370148. Lamas with Copper Tea-pots
374149. Female Pilgrim from Nam-tso and Mendicant Lama
374150. The Great Red Gallery of Tashi-lunpo
376151. Chhorten in Tashi-lunpo
378152. Portal in Tashi-lunpo
380153. Group of Lamas in Tashi-lunpo
380154. Lecture in Tashi-lunpo
382155. Female Pilgrims from the Nam-tso
384156. Tibetans in Shigatse
384157, 158, 159. Tibetan Girl and Women in Shigatse
386160. A Chinaman in Shigatse
388161. A Tibetan in Shigatse
388162. A Lama in Tashi-lunpo
388163. Door-keeper in Tsong Kapa’s Temple
388164. Dancing Boys with Drums
390165. Wandering Nun with a Tanka depicting a Religious Legend and singing the Explanation. (In our Garden at Shigatse.)
394166. Gandän-chöding-gompa, a Nunnery in Ye
394167. Duke Kung Gushuk, Brother of the Tashi Lama
398168. The little Brother of the Tashi Lama, the Wife of Kung Gushuk, and her five Servants
402169. The little Brother of His Holiness with a Servant
404170. The Author drawing the Duchess Kung Gushuk
406171. Major W. F. O’Connor, British Trade Agent in Gyangtse, now Consul in Seistan
408172. Captain C. G. Rawling
408173, 174. Tarting-gompa
410175. Linga-gompa
410176. Lung-Ganden-gompa near Tong
410177. Inscription and Figure of Buddha carved in Granite near the Village of Lingö
410178. Tarting-gompa
412179. Sego-chummo Lhakang in Tarting-gompa
412180. Bridge to the Monastery Pinzoling (on the right)
414181. Group of Tibetans in the Village of Tong
418182. Inhabitants of the Village of Govo
418183. Lama in Tong
422184. Old Tibetan
422185. Strolling Musicians
424186. The Handsome Woman, Putön
426187. On the My-chu near Linga
430188. Village and Monastery of Linga
430