Lhasa and Its Mysteries : with a Record of the Expedition of 1903-1904

dPornsU 5Ilntucrattg ffithcarg 3tt}ara, Kfw ^orh CHARLES WILLIAM WASON COLLECTION CHINA AND THE CHINESE THE GIFT OF CHARLES WILLIAM WASON CLASS OF 1876 1918 Cornell University Library DS 785.W11 Lhasa and its mysteries :with a record o 3 1924 023 498 813 The original of tliis book is in tlie Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924023498813 Upy^y/Ux^<^€^-t>L. LHASA AND ITS MYSTERIES LHASA AND ITS MYSTERIES WITH A RECORD OF THE EXPEDITION OF 1903-1904 BY L. AUSTINE WADDELL LL.D., C.B., C.I.E., F.L.S., F.A.I. LIEUT. -COLONEL, INDIAN MEDICAL SERVICE AUTHOR OF "the buddhism OF Tibet" "among the Himalayas" etc WITH 155 ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS THIRD AND CHEAPER EDITION NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO. 1906 W(i Originally putUsheA iy Mr. John Murray . March igoj Second Edition April igo^ First published by Methuen &= Co. March iqob Third and Cheaper Edition .... May igo6 YlBr'OS PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION The favourable reception accorded this work by the general reader and the Press is gratifyingly evinced by the fact that two editions have been practically exhausted within a few months of its first appearance, notwithstanding the high price which the unusual profusion of its illustrations had entailed. It is with pleasure, therefore, that I find the publishers, in response to a demand for a less costly edition, are now able to issue the book in its present form at a very much cheaper rate, yet nevertheless containing all the original letterpress and nearly all the numerous original illustrations—most of the latter being of permanent historical importance, and unique, in that they are reproduced from my own photographs, taken by myself at critical moments during the progress of the famous "Mission," and are not to be found elsewhere. The Natural History notes on the newly explored country recorded in the Appendices have been expanded in this edition to include an interesting list of the numerous wild flowers collected by me around Lhasa. Politically, it is a striking sign of the tremendous upheaval made in Tibet by our Mission, that over a year after the withdrawal of our troops from that country, the Grand Lama of Tashilhumpo, one of the "Living Buddhas," and the recognised successor of the fugitive Dalai Lama of Lhasa, should have broken through all the traditional isolation of centuries, and, for the first time in the history of Tibet, has crossed the Himalayas, braving the long journey of many weeks over dangerous passes, to offer homage at Calcutta to the son of the Emperor of India. L. A. W. London, January 1906. PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION The following pages give an account, inadequate no doubt, yet I would fain hope, so far as it goes, intelligible and authentic, of Central Tibet, its capital, its Grand Lama hierarchy, and its dreamy hermit people, as they appear to one who has had exceptional advantages for making their acquaintance. It is now nearly a quarter of a century since I paid my first visit to the mystic land beyond the Himalayas. Soon therfeafter, on my return from the war in Burmah (1885-86), where I had had an opportunity of examining the primitive Buddhism of King Thebaw's late subjects, I was stationed for some years at Darjeeling on the borders of the Forbidden Land, where there was a floating colony of several thousand Tibetans, Lamas and laity, fresh from the sacred city, and in daily communication with it. The curiosity naturally aroused by the sight of these strange people, with their picturesque caravans and encampments, was farther stimu- lated by echoes of the theosophist belief that somewhere beyond the mighty Kanchenjunga there would be found a key which should unlock the mysteries of the old world that was lost by the sinking of the Atlantis continent in the Western Ocean, about the time when Tibet was being upheaved by the still rising Himalayas. Here more obviously and indisputably must lie the key to many unsolved problems in the ethnology, natural history, and geography of the "Roof of the World." At Darjeeling also I made the acquaintance of several of the Survey spies, those brave PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION vii men who, carrying their lives in their hands, are engaged in what Kipling calls "The Great Game," the exploration of the most savage and least known parts of the Trans- Hirnalayan valleys, and I heard from their lips the stirring narratives of their adventures. To turn these hitherto neglected opportunities to best account, 1 set about learning the Tibetan language and collecting information wherever available. Awaking from my first surprise at finding how little is certainly known as to the religion of the country, and how unlike it is to the Buddhism of Burmah, from which I had freshly come, I undertook a comparison of the Tibetan beliefs and rites with those which pass under the Buddhist name in other lands, devoting much of my holiday leave to the prosecution of the enquiry in Ceylon, China, and Japan ; whilst, with a view to acquire information of a more secular character, I tramped many hundreds of miles along the mountain tracks of the Tibetan frontier, at various points from Garhwal and Nepal in the west, to Assam in the east, where the valley of Central Tibet ends in that of the Brahmaputra River, often at great altitudes, sometimes sleeping in caves to evade the frontier guards, and on several occasions penetrating some days' journey into the territory of the Lhasa Government, eliciting information about the tribes, ^ topography, and natural history ^ of those regions. Although my attempt to reach the mystic citadel in disguise in 1892 failed, yet during these years of preparation I had accumulated such accurate pictures of the land that my ultimate entry into its capital, when it came, seemed but the realisation of a vivid and long- cherished dream. The reader will, I trust, excuse these personal references, which are made in no boastful way, but merely to explain ^ Tribes of the Brahmaputra Valley. Calcutta, 1900. ^ My large collection of the birds of the South-Western Tibet border- land is now in the Hunterian Museum, Glasgow University, and is analysed by me in the Gazeteer of Sikhim, pp. 198-234. Calcutta, 1894. viii PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION the somewhat peculiar position in which I found myself as a member of the advance column of the recent historic expedition to Lhasa. The circumstances enumerated opened to me an intercourse with the Lamas, native chiefs, and people met with on the journey, which would have been impossible to one not similarly prepared beforehand, and put into my hands a means of interpreting much symbolism, custom, and myth which would have been quite incom- prehensible to the uninitiated. Amongst the wealth of photographs of this book, all taken by myself, with one or two exceptions, are some unique ones, direct from Nature, by the "colour-process," which give vivid and truthful pictures of the marvellous colouring of the originals. The clever sketches by Mr Rybot, a member of the Expedition, after the style of the Bayeux tapestries, will be appreciated. An unusually full Index has been added for convenience of reference. I take this opportunity of expressing my great indebted- ness to my friend Dr Islay Burns Muirhead, and to Mr John Murray, for much-valued assistance in revising the proofs. L. A. W. London, 9/^ February 1905. — CONTENTS CHAPTER I Lhasa the Forbidden . PAGES The Inaccessibility of Lhasa—Attempts by Modern Travellers — Surveyed by Trained Native Spies — Indian Survey Spies — Lamas Torture Harbourers of Spies — Early Roman Missionaries in Lhasa — Manning's Visit to Lhasa—Warren Hastings' Mission to Tibet— Moorcroft's Alleged Stay in Lhasa—Hue's Visit—Origin of China's Suzerainty—Absolute Exclusion of Foreigners . 1-21 CHAPTER II The Grand Lama and his Evolution as the Priest-God of Lhasa Legendary Origin of the Tibetans—Buddhism and Priest- Kings—The First Pope - King of Tibet—Invention of his Divine Origin—His Mystic Spell—Secondary Grand Lama at Tashilhumpo—Civil War brings in China Intriguing Ambans — Policy of Assassination — The present Dalai Lama ..... 22-30 CHAPTER III How the British Mission came to be sent Great Northern Desert Plateau—First Relations with Tibet Annexation of Sikhim—Tibetan Invasion of Sikhim The Prime Minister of Tibet—Letters refused by Dalai Lama—Lama's Intrigues with Russia— Siberian Priest Dorjieff — British Mission organised under Colonel Younghusband— Its Armed Escort . 40-57 — CONTENTS CHAPTER IV Forward 1 The Peaceful Mission becomes an Armed Force PAGES Military Escort under General Macdonald— Its Difficulties of Transporting Stores across Himalayas—The Start Off —Up the Tista Gorge— The Tista Valley—Kalimpong and Rangpo — Building Roads across Mountains — Climbing the Himalayas — Kanchenjanga and Everest Peaks—Tibetan Portrait of Everest—Arrival at Gnatong s^-77 CHAPTER V Invasion of the Chumei Valley across the Jelep Pass and Occupation of Phari Fort Crossing the Jelep Pass—Trade-Mart of Yatung— In the Chumbi Valley—Sacred Monuments, Chortens, etc. Prayer-Flags and their Legends—Chumbi Palace and Village—Advance to Phari—Lingmo Alpine Meadow Frozen Camp at Dotak—Chinese at Phari—-The Cold at Phari—The Dirt of Phari—Indispensability of Yaks —More Transport Difficulties—Proposed Chumbi Valley Railway . .78-108 CHAPTER VI Advance to Tuna on the Tibetan Plateau, across THE Formidable Tang Pass The Column for Tuna—Nepalese Yaks as Baggage Animals — Obstructive Tibetans at Phari—Tibetans Prepare for War—Temples and the Founder of Lamaism—Across the Himalayas— Chumolhari Snows—The Tableland of Tibet—Wild Asses and Great Plain—Mirage— InstaUing Mission at Tuna—Hot Springs ...

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