NO MAN'S LAND 165 



hard to believe that the setting on end and crumpHng up 

 of the sohd rock, which one sees, as it were, shot up and 

 banged about and fractured and twisted in every con- 

 ceivable mode, could have happened always in a quiet, 

 leisurely way, and without some fearful convulsions, com- 

 pared to which our modem earthquakes are mere faint 

 vibrations. 



This Tibetan region, with its high plateau, the roof of 

 Asia, and its great rivers and deep valleys, all centring 

 in one highest point ; its old-world inhabitants and its 

 forbidden thresholds, has a fascination peculiar to itself. 

 There is a strange fatality against the thorough explora- 

 tion of the sacred city, where reigns in unbroken seclusion 

 the Dalai Lama, the boy incarnate Buddha ; and even the 

 most determined explorers have failed to get to Lhasa. 



The regions to the north and the great central lakes, 

 which have no outlet to the sea and are being absorbed 

 gradually by the sand of the great desert of Gobi, have 

 been explored recently by Dr. Sven Hedin, Captain 

 Wellby, and others, but they have all failed to get to 

 Lhasa. The most recent explorers (1899), Mr. and Mrs. 

 Rijnhart, from Kuku Nor, were stopped at the river 

 Tachu ; and a sad tragedy has been enacted, the lady 

 returning alone, uncertain as to her husband's fate. Yet 

 in 1774 an Englishman — Mr. Bogle — sent by Warren 

 Hastings, was received by the Teshu Lama at Shigatze 

 in the most friendly manner, and established a prosperous 

 commercial intercourse with India. In 181 1 Mr. Manning 

 visited the Dalai Lama at Lhasa, and found him a most 

 peaceable and holy youth, and well disposed towards the 

 British.* 



The natives of Tibet are quiet, good sort of fellows ; 



* The account of Dr. Sven Hedin's most recent approach to Lhasa 

 has still to be driven to the world. 



