The Gates of India: Being an Historical NarrativeHoldich, Thomas Hungerford, Sir
History
The Gates of India: Being an Historical Narrative
Holdich, Thomas Hungerford, Sir
Afghanistan -- Description and travel; Balochistan (Pakistan) -- Description and travel
A previous story of Moorcroft is highly interesting. An early Tibetan
explorer (the celebrated Abbé Huc) told a tale of a certain Englishman
named Moorcroft, who was reported to have lived in Lhasa for twelve
years previous to the year 1838 and who was supposed to have been
assassinated on his way back to India _via_ Ladak. The story was
circumstantial and attracted considerable attention. We know now from
a memorandum of Dr. Lord written in May 1838, that in the early spring
of that year when he and Lieut. Wood visited Mazar-i-Sharif they
discovered that the German companion of Moorcroft (Trebeck) had died
in that city, leaving amongst many loose records a slip of paper, with
the date September 6, 1825, thereon, noting the fact that "Mr. M."
(Moorcroft) "died on August 27th." Dr. Lord's investigations led him
to the conclusion that Moorcroft died at Andkhui, a victim "not more
to the baneful effects of the climate than to the web of treachery and
intrigue with which he found himself surrounded and his return cut
off." Trebeck, who seems to have been held in great estimation by the
Afghans, died soon after; neither traveller leaving any substantial
account of his adventures. Moorcroft's books (thirty volumes) were
recovered, and the list of them would surprise any modern traveller
who believes in a light and handy equipment. Dr. Lord's inquiries, in
my opinion, effectually dispose of the venerable Abbé's story of
Moorcroft's residence at Lhasa; although, of course, the record of his
visit to Western Tibet and the Manasarawar Lakes earlier in the
century must have been well enough known; and the Tibetans may
possibly have believed in a reincarnation of their one and only
European visitor in their own capital.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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