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| THE AUTHOR | Frontispiece | |
| INVOLUNTARY TOBOGGANING | Facing p. | 10 |
| AT NIGHT I LED MY MEN UP THE MOUNTAIN IN A FIERCE SNOW-STORM | " | 64 |
| BEHIND OUR BULWARKS | " | 76 |
| THE BANDITS LAID DOWN THEIR ARMS | " | 102 |
| A NATURAL CASTLE | " | 136 |
| CAMP WITH GIGANTIC INSCRIPTIONS | " | 142 |
| TORRENTIAL RAIN | " | 150 |
| TIBETAN WOMEN AND CHILDREN | " | 174 |
| PURCHASING PONIES | " | 192 |
| I WAS A PRISONER | " | 194 |
| DRAGGED INTO THE SETTLEMENT | " | 196 |
| CHANDEN SING BEING FLOGGED | " | 202 |
| THE RIDE ON A SPIKED SADDLE | " | 218 |
| WE ATTACKED OUR GUARD WITH STONES | " | 254 |
| CLIFF HABITATIONS | " | 262 |
PREFACE
This book deals chiefly with the author's adventures during a journey taken in Tibet in 1897, when that country, owing to religious fanaticism, was closed to strangers. For the scientific results of the expedition, for the detailed description of the customs, manners, etc., of the people, the larger work, entitled In the Forbidden Land (Harper & Brothers, publishers), by the same author, should be consulted.
During that journey of exploration the author made many important geographical discoveries, among which may be mentioned:
(a) The discovery of the two principal sources of the Great Brahmaputra River, one of the four largest rivers in the world.
(b) The ascertaining that a high range of mountains existed north of the Himahlyas, but with no such great elevations as the highest of the Himahlyan range.
(c) The settlement of the geographical controversy regarding the supposed connection between the Sacred (Mansarowar) and the Devil's (Rakastal) lakes.
(d) The discovery of the real sources of the Sutlej River.
In writing geographical names the author has given the names their true sounds as locally pronounced, and has made no exception even for the poetic word "Himahlya" (the abode of snow), which in English is usually misspelt and distorted into the meaningless Himalaya.
All bearings of the compass given in this book are magnetic. Temperature observations were registered with Fahrenheit thermometers.
A. H. S. L.
AN EXPLORER'S ADVENTURES
IN TIBET
AN EXPLORER'S
ADVENTURES IN TIBET
CHAPTER I
A FORBIDDEN COUNTRY
Tibet was a forbidden land. That is why I went there.
This strange country, cold and barren, lies on a high tableland in the heart of Asia. The average height of this desolate tableland—some 15,000 feet above sea-level—is higher than the highest mountains of Europe. People are right when they call it the "roof of the world." Nothing, or next to nothing, grows on that high plateau, except poor shrubs and grass in the lower valleys. The natives live on food imported from neighboring countries. They obtain this by giving in exchange wool, borax, iron, and gold.
High mountain ranges bound the Tibetan plateau on all sides. The highest is the Himahlya range to the south, the loftiest mountain range on earth. From the south it is only possible to enter Tibet with an expedition in summer, when the mountain passes are not entirely blocked by snow.
At the time of my visit the law of Tibet was that no stranger should be allowed to enter the country. The Tibetan frontier was closely guarded by soldiers.
A few expeditions had travelled in the northern part of Tibet, as the country was there practically uninhabited. They had met with no one to oppose their march save, perhaps, a few miserable nomads. No one, since Tibet became a forbidden country to strangers, had been able to penetrate in the Province of Lhassa—the only province of Tibet with a comparatively thick population. It was this province, the most forbidden of all that forbidden land, that I intended to explore and survey. I succeeded in my object, although I came very near paying with my life for my wish to be of use to science and my fellow-creatures.
With the best equipment that money could buy for scientific work, I started for the Tibetan frontier in 1897. From Bombay, in India, I travelled north to the end of the railway, at Kathgodam, and then by carts and horses to Naini Tal. At this little hill-station on the lower Himahlyas, in the north-west Province of India, I prepared my expedition, resolved to force my way in the Unknown Land.
Naini Tal is 6407 feet above the level of the sea. From this