The Hokitika Guardian TUESDAY, DEC. 19th, 1922. UNKNOWN TIBET.

Hokitika Guardian, 19 December 1922, Page 2

The Hokitika Guardian TUESDAY, DEC. 19th, 1922. UNKNOWN TIBET.

A story of endurance and adventure, which will take a foremost pine in the annals of scientific exploration, is told by professor J. W. Gregory, F.R.S., who arrived in 'London it few weeks ago from Chinese Tibet, whore, with liis son, Mr C. J. Gregory, 11.5 c., ho has been acting ns leader of the Percy Sladen Trust Expedition to South-West China. The professor and his son were the only whites in the party, the staff and escorts with the expedition being Chinese, Pfofoaspp Gregory. who was looking browsed) find At, .m.vs that he 1«'»9 ill (Affect* Of his mhffi’ tryii\

trip and the hardships which had to ho borne, especially in the faminestrickoii districts, . and through long j oriods of excessive rainfall. One of the greatest difficulties encountered during the expedition, said Prolessor Gregory in an interview, was the excessively heavy rainfall, and the shortage of provisions, which in smile districts resulted from two years of disastrous raiutall. The result was that in the Salween area especially, the people were literally dying of starvation. Professor Gregory says that it was with extreme difficulty and only with tbo assistance of the fathers at the French Mission Station of Pehalo, that they wore able to obtain sufficient food for the return journey. To get clear of this famine-stricken region forced marches had to he made, starting at five a.m., and continuing while the daylight lasted up to six or seven in the evening. The food provided was a coarse barley meal or ground maize and little enough-of that. Such a diet may be uhs'uited to some digestions, and. therefore, far from nourishing, and, the professor remarks on the extraordinary fact that tile Chinese interpreter. who normally exists on ii rice diet found the barley and maize unsatisfying and lacking in nourishment—so much so, indeed, that lie was seriously afraid lie could not continue the trying march on this food. The wet weather raised another serious difficulty in the shape of flooded defiles through the mountain passes and hundreds of miles of slitne and mud through which the expedition had to wallow. At UntZll used to he a prosperous market town, hut the town and country round it had been reduced to misery and want by the repeated raids of the powerful hands of Tibetan brigands who constantly pillage it and are too strong to he repelled by the Chinese forces who are supposed to protect the district. Professor Gregory says that they noticed a marked difference in the manners and demeanour towards them of these Tibetans and. the Chinese. Thy Tibetans are the more sociable, and when any of them were encountered on the road, for instance and given a word of greeting they would answer and chat with the party. The Chinese, on the other hand, would simply stare wondoringiy, giving no response and evidently filled with rather a- suspicion of tlie Europeans. The Eastern Thiehtnns still retain apparently their fanatical objection to strangers, and believe th t. however few they m“y he, (hey are there for no good purpose, and in any case should any accident, cr ill befall a European there must ensue endless inquiries and trouble with the authorities. The Chinese officials were courteous ami friendly throughout, am! in fact the main trouble with them was to get their consent to tile party proceeding into regions which it was thought might be dangerous. There was no lack of such dangers, the robber hands in certain places being notorious lor their activity. One of the mountain passes between the valleys of the Yangtse and (lie Mekong lias an exceptionally evil reputation in this respect and before tlie attempt was made to cross it. the village head man turned out an escort levied from the villagers and armed with a quaint assortment of ancient weapons, hows mil arrows, crossbows and spears, battle-axes and daggers, and one or two muzzle-loading rifles of the most ancient pattern. Although the escort did. not look formidable as a fighting l irees. it was hoped and expected that they might prove more valuable in scouting—a duty of the greatest importance to meet the ordinary tactics of robber hands. These are more dangerous in ambuscade than in open attack, and their common plan is t<> choose a spot in some of the mountain defiles where they can closely hide and where their victims must pass within close range of their crossbow arrows. Those arrows have their tips dipped in poison, so that a first surprise volleyplays havoc with the ambushed party while 'the robbers closely hidden ; n tlie broken rocks mid thick hush, cannot easily ho seen and effectively fired upon. The rains aro a prominent feature of life in the mountain regions, and great pains are taken to propitiate the rain spiiits Professor Gregory says that at Tali-fu they saw an instance of a common custom, and found the north gate of the city tightly closed to keep out of the rain spirits. These spirits are traditionally supposed to come from the north, even in parts where the prevailing wet winds are not northerly. For this reason when there is too'muoh rain the inhabitants close tlie northern gates, and also such doors and windows of their houses* as face north. When, on the contrary, there has not been sufficient rain, all the openings to the north have thrown wide

open, and every aperture facing south is tightly closed. In both cases this nreoaution is assisted bv elaborate and lengthy religious ceremonies to propitiate tlir spirits which rule the rain, as it is believed various spirits rule Practically every aspect of nature. Professor Gregory and his party marched through an interesting district at Niukni, which contains a number of hot springs, the origin of which is of special and peetilar interest to scientists, sinee it is supposed they are not volcanicl, hut ore due rather to earth iWcWiifs Along f.i nit a or flts'Kpt V,

the underlying strata. In some ways the springs resemble those of New Zealand, and consist of holes in the ground from which streams of boiling water are constantly bubbling. There is nilother resemblance to New Zealand in fragments of terraces, with some likeness to tlie famous Pink Terraces of Rotorua, New Zealand, composed of beautifully tinted and coloured layers of stone.