Vol. XXV, No. 4 WASHINGTON 



April, 1914 



T5BE 



©(SISAFHIE© 

 MsAM. 



0 



CASTLES IN THE AIR 

 Experiences and Journeys in Unknown Bhutan 



By John Claude White, C. I. E. 



Late Political Officer in Charge oe Sikkim, Bhutan, and Such Parts of 

 Tibet as Feel Within the Sphere of British Influence. 

 Author of "Sikkim and Bhutan" 



With Photographs by the Author 



IT HAS been my good fortune to have 

 had exceptional facilities for explor- 

 ing the hitherto very little known, 

 but most interesting, native state of Bhu- 

 tan, which lies in the heart of the Hima- 

 laya Mountains, on their southern slopes, 

 about 250 miles northeast of Calcutta 

 (for map see page 457). 



Though naturally an unruly and turbu- 

 lent country, there had been no raids into 

 British territory for many years, owing 

 to the good government and strength of 

 character of the present ruler, now Ma- 

 haraja Sir Ugyen Wang-chuk, K. C. S. I., 

 K. C. I. E. By correspondence I had 

 kept up the friendly intercourse begun 

 by my predecessor and friend, the late 



*The first of my journeys into Bhutan was 

 toward the end of 1905, when I made my way 

 down the Am-mo-chu Valley from Chumbi to 

 the plains of India. In the following spring 

 I was sent by the government of India to pre- 

 sent the insignia of a Knight Commander of 

 the Indian Empire to the Tongsa Penlop, and 

 to do this I traveled from my headquarters, 

 the residency at Gangtok, in Sikkim, crossing 

 the Natu-la Pass to Chumbi via Hah, Paro, 

 Tashi-cho-jong to Poonakha, and on to Tongsa 

 and Byagha, and on my return journey from 

 Tashi-cho-jong northward up the valley of the 

 Tchin-chu into Tibet. 



On another occasion I marched along the 

 boundary between British India and Bhutan 

 and from Dorunga across the Dangna-chu to 

 Kanga and up the Kuru River. In the same 

 year I also traveled from Dewangiri through 



Mr. A. W. Paul, and on meeting Sir 

 Ugyen for the first time in the Chumbi 

 Valley, at time of the Lhasa Expedition, 

 our acquaintance ripened into firm friend- 

 ship on both sides. 



He extended to me a most pressing in- 

 vitation to visit his country, and when I 

 was able to do so, a little later on, he 

 gave me every possible assistance, and 

 consequently during the several journeys 

 I made there I was enabled to see every- 

 thing of interest and to gather informa- 

 tion otherwise impossible to procure. Sir 

 Ugyen, his council, the Deb Raja, and all 

 the lamas (monks ) combined to make my 

 visits both most interesting and enjoyable 

 and treated me royally throughout." 



Chungkar, Tashi-gong, Tashiyangtsi, across 

 the Dong-la to Lhuntsi; Pangkha, Singhi-jong, 

 and across the Bad-la into Tibet. 



In 1907 a formal intimation was conveyed 

 to the government of India that Sir Ugyen 

 Wang-chuk, K. C. I. E., the Tongsa Penlop, 

 was about to be installed as gyalpo (king), or 

 Maharaja of Bhutan, and this was accom- 

 panied by a pressing invitation that I should 

 personally be present, and to my great grati- 

 fication I was deputed head of a mission rep- 

 resenting the government of India at the cere- 

 mony. The mission traveled through Phari, 

 in the Chumbi Valley, across the Temo-la to 

 Paro, and by my old route to Poonakha, and 

 then leaving my escort and companions I re- 

 turned by a new and unknown route via Bite 

 Jong and Dungna-Jong to Jaigoan, in the 

 plains of India (see map, page 457). 



