Mountaineers' Work Impeded:
Month of Devil Dance From Ove Owx Consesronsest Techienlu, Aug. 31.
The hills and mountains around (Tathienla were beautifully mantled un their first covering of snow this. morning. The temperature stood lat 62° Fahr, and there was cold wind blowing through the city. We frequently have these falls of snow, leven towards the end of June, and {those who are unfortunately on the
city come in for a bad and danger-Passes approaching and leaving the jous time. The Batang mail courier Iwas caught on the Jedo and was badly attacked by snow-blindness, The poor fellow was unable to carry ithe mail bag or find his way over ithe pass, so had to be helped along.
The two young. fellows, Messrs. kang ition, must be having Burdsall and Emmans, of the Hal
la rough time up amongst the snow. (Their base camp is some 16,000 Tt. above sea-level, and the present early snow on. the frontier must hamper them in their movements land measurements. From their letters they're doing some good work, and plan if possible, to circumambulate the Gong Ga. If accomplished this will be an exceptional feat and bring. to those two young Americans the Iglory of being among the first Europeans to do, so. The whole range, of which the Gong Ga forms la part, lies between the Tung and the Yalong, and is a gigantic mass lof ice and snow, running from north great m Shing and Tibet. of, the Gong Ga. With this fact Tibet (Hsikang) is practically ao Jeomplished. Terris Moore and Jack FYoung, two other members of the expedition, hope to arrive in Jchienlu ina few days, Jack Young was with the Kelly-Roosevelt expedie tion which passed the Gong Ga in 1920. Mr, Stevens, who was also a Jmember of that expedition made some jexcellont drawings of the great snow range of which the Gong Ga forms a part. Major Davis algo saw.
high snow mountain when in this thro present climbers. to eslabii whole row of conjectures, The latest, word from Batang lurider date of August 12 is more cheering. "Our friend the enemy, eft us suddenly last Monday morn ing after a final i
{from the fort, on the hill saw the omen about day-li pat. same peop Tibetans leaving and in an hour were in pretty. bad shape, wi foots and windows and pect of the etiag, gene paving, Deen used they say the Mbotans hed to one keep the pot boiling, although
mostly hot water during the last month. I know they kept the Chie Inese in hot water for fifty six days, The siege lasted that long.
On Friday, before they left, the Tibetans made a supreme effort, which had arrived with an, expert 4 new more powerful cannon gunner. They near} took the fort sand the hospital, hitting the latter building, most of the mes they fred, but the Tibetans did not have nowgh ammunition like the Chie inese. I suppose one of their thres. inch shells costs about, fifty rupee and Atty rupees. woul a lob The two young men have ITibetan servant with, them {of rancid, vile smelling yak butter)! boy Chinese officers admit their uperority, which is a very good camp. testimony.' We hope to leave here they are able to" secure local hel within five days." land with the Ulag system at their Apparently the five buildings re-[command are able fo: keep the campferred to are the hospital, the fire burning and. the pot always orphanage, the school, the: churchy Isteaming-on their dally return from Jand a foreign residence, We would their wild. mountain tramps, The gather from other reports that. the mountaineerg determined, both bein [Mission Compound on Jo-po-ding Is strong, to live as nival practically a total wreck, and ible on native products, but most entirely the work of the jong-abi. is 13,000 feet above Tibetan cannon. Yet a very short Iseaclevel it hi on very me and excellent grass. The reac. stance away stands the "new, ing Lamasery, nine tion from this is that Burdesil has Jjured by shot or shell. Strange! Phe Tamas of, that lamasery were just as keenly opposed to the Tibetan attack asthe Chinese in the city, yet it stood a monument 0 the Mess of Lamaism, climbing. and Oxy flasks are all very good in their lace but the Hsikang Expedition ye discovered something that may be of scientific. value to future mountain climbers, "A. request came for "no more turnips, but send along some carrots." Here again may be another discovery, 'Tachienlu pro-{duces some exceliect' turnips but possibly they will not cook sott at {16,000 feet high. 'That the expedition, is making' good. progress would gather from the different dispatehes:—"No peas or potatoes or eggs needed yet. Sugar disappears fast. "Dick ents enormous quanti ties of pancakes. Fruit of any Kind is always welcome. The apples are excellent. Those cookies were. deli sious—very much so. The mail was most welcome".
'The climbers wore hoping to leave their present base, io over the Tel mei puss to the little village there. From there they were hoping to. get a view of the east face of the Gong Ga. "After a few days work there they hope to return' and. continue the 'Muchi valley, erose a pass and get to the north of the mountain." All this tramping and climb bing Keeps' them in very high altitudes and must be tiring and fatiguing. However one thing. is being determined with considerable accuracy, namely the actual height August is the Devil Dance month along the border, 'The dance de luxe this year was at the Dorjedra; 40 large sums were demanded for roome lon the terraced verandah, The dance this year was held in' the Monkey Month and the Monkey, [Year, both coinciding, "being the month and year in, which the. great founder of © Lamaism was born. Behina Junee was born in India land introduced Buddhism into Tibet; this later became what now mown as Lamaism, and
lof Buddhism. Behma's (the lotus) sametines "arm a corre form Siethay te'on the loch of the 7 Chinese moon and is usually, celebrated by what has now become known as the Devil Dance, The celebration lasts for three days in Tachienlu, oe map isa tine of public holiday
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.