In the forbidden land : $b an account of a journey into Tibet, capture by the Tibetan lamas and soldiers, imprisonment, torture and ultimate releaseLandor, Arnold Henry Savage
History
In the forbidden land : $b an account of a journey into Tibet, capture by the Tibetan lamas and soldiers, imprisonment, torture and ultimate release
Landor, Arnold Henry Savage
Tibet Autonomous Region (China) -- Description and travel
There are two sources of the Kuti Yangti, joining in a large basin; one
comes from two extensive glaciers to the S.W., the other from a glacier
directly under the Lumpiya Pass. The river at the junction of the two
sources is not more than six yards across. Our route gradually ascended,
going N.W. first, then swinging away to N.E. until we attained an
elevation of 17,350 feet on a flat basin covered with deep snow. So far
we had proceeded with no very great trouble or fatigue, but matters
suddenly altered for the worse. Each coolie in the long silent row at the
head of which I marched, sank in the snow up to his knees, often up to
his waist. They formed, undoubtedly, a picturesque sight in this lonely
region, the only bit of life in the picture, the white frozen sheet of
snow throwing into strong contrast their faces wrapped tightly round with
white turbans. Some wore fur caps with ear flaps; all had long sheepskin
coats and high boots of skins; many used snow spectacles; and as this
procession, silent and grave, with loads on their backs, struggled higher
and higher with piteous panting, you speculated apprehensively as to
how many of them would ever return. Moving cautiously to avoid the many
treacherous cracks, I made my way ahead with considerable trouble to a
spot six hundred feet higher, where I halted for a while on a rocky
island fairly clear of snow. As coolie after coolie arrived, breathing
convulsively, he dropped his load and sat quietly by the side of it.
There was not a grumble, not a word of reproach for the hard work they
were made to endure. Sleet was falling, and the wet and cold increased
the discomfort. There was now a very steep pull before us. To the left,
we had a glacier beginning in a precipitous fall of ice, about one
hundred feet in height. Like the Mangshan glacier, it was in horizontal
ribbon-like strata of beautifully clear ice, showing no dirt bands.
Perpendicular stripes of a darker greenish colour could be observed
arising from the unequal degrees of compactness of the ice; the strata
showed almost horizontal, with no curvatures nor depressions in any part
of them. The top, the base and the sides of the glacier were in this case
also buried in deep snow.
The doctor and I went ahead. In our anxiety to reach the summit, unable
to discern the track, now covered by several feet of snow, we mistook our
bearings, and with great fatigue climbed up an extremely steep incline.
Here we were on a patch of the troublesome loose _debris_, on which we
struggled for over half an hour until we reached the top of the range,
18,750 feet, considerably higher than the pass itself. Four men had come
with us, the others, to whom we signalled, bearing more to the west by
another dangerous track skirting the glacier.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account