Travels In Tibet.

Manawatu Herald, 3 February 1903, Page 2

Travels In Tibet.

In an interview describing hie adventures during three years in innermost Asia, Dr Even Hedin, the famous Swedish explorer, whe arrived in England recently, gave some remarkable details of a terrible journey in high altitudes. -The hardest part of the expedition,” he declared, “was my experience in Tibet. During my second journey from Charklik to Ladakh, which lasted eight months, I lost nearly the whole of my caravan owing to the enormous altitudes at which we were travelling. Some vague idea of this may be gathered when I tell you that even in higher than the summit of Mount Blanc The mere act of breathing was most difficult, and on this one * trip four of my companions died simply for this reason—they could not breathe. When we came to our evening camping ground two of these devoted fellows were found stark dead on their camels. The others died gradually from their feet upwards, retaining their senses to the end, the brain being the last to be attacked. The experience was weird and awful, and certainly the worst I have ever had. Even to nnbutten one’s coat meant acute; pain and tension to an over wrought heart, which literally was at the point of breaking. The poor animals too, suffered much. Out of 45. hqrses I lost 44, and 30 out of 39 camels left their bones in these terrible altitudes.” Dr Sven Hedin says he considers it impossible for any European to enter Lhaip, He made tWQ At*

tempts, and got within one day’s marehnf the mysterious city, but on each occasion was captured by an armed force and forbidden on pain of death to advance further. On the site of the ancient lake of Lob Nor the explorer found ruined temples and houses with high towers. There were remains of wide streets, and ruins which showed that some of the temples must have been very fine structures. Among tho ruins were a number of mauuscz-ipts written in ordinary Chinese, IGOO years eld.