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ON leaving London, I intended to proceed via Germany to Russia, traverse Russian Turkestan, Bokhara and Chinese Turkestan, and from there enter Tibet.
In the Forbidden Land is an 1898 travel narrative by the British explorer and painter A. Henry Savage Landor, recounting his 1897 attempt to travel into Tibet, then closed to Europeans.
Inside the book
- Free nowno account · 2 chapters
- —Introduction16 min
- 1From London to Naini Tal3 min
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- 2Loads—A set of useful pack-saddle cases—Provisions a...13 min
- 3Pithoragarh—Fakir women—A well-ventilated abode—Asko...9 min
- 4The Raots—A slippery journey—Superstitious notions—A...15 min
- 5A pilgrim from Mansarowar Lake—The spirits of the mo...14 min
- 6Highways and trade routes—The Darma route—The Dholi...9 min
- 7The word Bhot and its meaning—Tibetan influence—Tibe...9 min
- 8Prayer by wind-power—Photography under difficulties—...10 min
- 9Discouraging reports—A steep ascent—How I came to de...7 min
- 10The Nerpani, or "waterless track"—Exaggerated accoun...8 min
- 11A series of misfortunes—Tibetan atrocities on Britis...9 min
- 12Tibetan threats—My birthday—Ravenous dogs—A big dinn...7 min
- 13Shoka hospitality—How I obtained much information—On...9 min
- 14A palaver—To see is to believe—Dangers and perils on...6 min
- 15An earthquake—Curious notions of the natives—A Shoka...10 min
- 16The Rambang—Shoka music—Love-songs—Doleful singing—A...7 min
- 17Funeral Rites12 min
- 18Touching Shoka farewell—Feelings curiously expressed...8 min
- 19A dangerous track—Perilous passage—A curious bridge...6 min
- 20Dr. Wilson joins my expedition for a few marches—Wha...4 min
- 21The Kuti Castle—Under way—Our first disaster—A cheer...14 min
- 22Want of fuel—Cooking under difficulty—Mansing lost a...9 min
- 23The scouts return—A small exploring party—The Mangsh...6 min
- 24Snow and troublesome debris—The doctor's sufferings—...13 min
- 25The sources of the Kuti River—The Lumpiya glacier—Th...8 min
- 26Mysterious footprints—Brigand or spy?—Passes and tra...6 min
- 27Lama Chokden—A Tibetan guard—The sacred Kelas—Revere...6 min
- 28An extensive valley—Kiang, or wild horse—Their stran...11 min
- 29Arrival of a high official—The Barca Tarjum—A tediou...11 min
- 30Spying our movements—Disguised sepoys—A gloomy look-...8 min
- 31An attempt that failed—A resolution—A smart Shoka la...7 min
- 32"Devil's Camp"—A fierce snowstorm—Abandoning our ten...7 min
- 33S.E. wind—Hungry and half frozen—Lakes at 18,960 fee...8 min
- 34Dacoits—No nonsense allowed—A much-frequented region...10 min
- 35All that remained of my men's provisions—The plan to...7 min
- 36"Terror Camp"—Two more messengers leave camp—A tribe...11 min
- 37A Tibetan guard's encampment—Nattoo volunteers to be...7 min
- 38Night marching—The Lafan and Mafan Lakes—Tize, the s...9 min
- 39Spied and followed by robbers—Jogpas' hospitality—Ha...4 min
- 40More robbers—The friends of Tibetan authorities—A sn...6 min
- 41Tibetan coats, hats, and boots—Why a Tibetan prefers...10 min
- 42A Daku's strange ideas—The ridge between the two lak...6 min
- 43The Langa Tsangpo—A terrific storm—Drenched to the s...5 min
- 44The interior of a serai—Vermin—Fish, local jewellery...4 min
- 45Friendly Lamas—Chanden Sing and Mansing purified—Man...4 min
- 46Entering the Lamasery—The Lama's dwelling—Novices—We...8 min
- 47The Jong Pen's statements regarding me—Sects of Lama...12 min
- 48Illnesses and remedies—Curious theories about fever—...16 min
- 49A Tibetan medicine-man—Lumbago, and a startling cure...6 min
- 50Tucker village—Chokdens—Houses—Flying prayers—Soldie...5 min
- 51The start with a further reduced party—A reconnaissa...7 min
- 52What the men were like—Their timidity—Leather work—M...5 min
- 53Rain in torrents—A miserable night—A gorge—A giganti...4 min
- 54My time fully occupied—Our own yak drivers—A heavy b...4 min
- 55An interview—Peace or war?—Gifts and the scarf of fr...5 min
- 56Rain in torrents—A swampy plain—The sun at last—Our...5 min
- 57Travelling Tibetans—Over a high pass—A friendly meet...5 min
- 58A sleepless night—Watching our enemy—A picturesque s...5 min
- 59In pleasant company—Unpopularity of the Lamas—Soldie...5 min
- 60The Maium Pass—Into the Yutzang province—Its capital...5 min
- 61Expecting trouble—Along the Brahmaputra—A thundersto...4 min
- 62Leaving the course of the river—A pass—An arid plain...4 min
- 63A commotion—An invitation declined—The tents—Delicac...6 min
- 64Refusal to sell food—Women—Their looks and character...5 min
- 65Polyandry—Marriage ceremonies—Jealousy—Divorce—Ident...10 min
- 66Tibetan funerals—Disposal of their dead—By cremation...4 min
- 67Another commotion—Two hundred soldiers—A stampede—Ea...4 min
- 68Washing-day—A long march—Kiang and antelope—Benighte...6 min
- 69The alarm given—Our bad manners—A peaceful settlemen...4 min
- 70Another Tibetan encampment—Uncontrollable animals—A...5 min
- 71Hungry and worn—A sense of humour—Two buckets of mil...3 min
- 72Eighty black tents—Starved—Kindly natives—Presents—A...3 min
- 73Strange noises—Ando the traitor—Purchasing provision...4 min
- 74Chanden Sing's plucky resistance—Mansing secured—A s...5 min
- 75A warning to my men—Calm and coolness—The Pombo's te...3 min
- 76Led before the tribunal—The Pombo—Classical Tibetan...3 min
- 77My note-books and maps—What the Lamas wanted me to s...3 min
- 78A high military officer—A likely friend—A soldier an...4 min
- 79Sarcasm appreciated—Kindness—A change for the worse—...4 min
- 80The Rupun as a friend—Treated with respect and defer...4 min
- 81A bearer of bad news—Marched off to the mud-house—Ma...5 min
- 82A pitiful scene—A struggle to get to Chanden Sing—Br...4 min
- 83At an unpleasant pace—Drawing near the cavalcade—A p...5 min
- 84Intense pain—Hustled to the execution-ground—Stretch...4 min
- 85Bleeding all over—Insulted and spat upon--"Kill him!...6 min
- 86Mansing arrives—A pretence of killing him—Our execut...4 min
- 87Happiness checked—Stretched on the rack—Mansing shar...5 min
- 88Mansing partially untied after twelve hours on the r...4 min
- 89An unknown article in Tibet—My sponge bewitched—A La...4 min
- 90A consultation—Untied from the rack—The most terribl...4 min
- 91A great relief—The Pombo's attentions—A weird hypnot...3 min
- 92Compliments exchanged—A poisoned drink proffered—In...4 min
- 93Our lives to be spared—An unpleasant march—Chanden S...4 min
- 94South of the outward journey—Severity of our guard—V...3 min
- 95Easier times—Large encampments—Suffocating a goat—A...4 min
- 96Towards Mansarowar—Mansing's vision—Bathing in Mansa...3 min
- 97Suna—Wilson and the Political Peshkar across the fro...6 min
- 98A Commotion—The arrival of an army—Elected General-i...4 min
- 99Free at last—Among friends—Forgetting our past troub...7 min
- 101Chapter 100, part 143 min
- 102Chapter 100, part 246 min
The opening
From London to Naini Tal
From London To Naini Tal
ON leaving London, I intended to proceed via Germany to Russia, traverse Russian Turkestan, Bokhara and Chinese Turkestan, and from there enter Tibet. The Russian Government had readily granted me a special permission to take free of duty through their territory my firearms, ammunition, provisions, photographic cameras, surveying and other scientific instruments, and moreover informed me, through H.E. Sir Nicholas O'Conor, then our Ambassador in St. Petersburg, that I should be privileged to travel on the military railway through Turkestan, as far as the terminus at Samarakand. I feel under a great obligation to the Russian Embassy in London for the extreme courtesy shown me, and I desire to acknowledge this at the outset, especially because that route might very likely have saved me much of the suffering and disappointment I was subjected to through going by way of India.
I was provided with introductions and credentials from the Marquis of Salisbury, the British Museum of Natural History, etc., I was carrying scientific instruments for the Royal Geographical Society, and I had a British and two Chinese passports.
Having forwarded all my explosives by an ammunition vessel to Russia (the German railways absolutely refusing to carry cartridges), I heard to my dismay, only a few days previous to leaving London, that the steamer had stranded just before reaching her port of destination, and that grave doubts were entertained as to the possibility of saving even a portion of her cargo. This was at the time of the outbreak of the Turco-Greek War, and the Russians were reported to be mobilising their troops along the Afghan frontier. I did not wish to delay my journey, and although my preparations were complete for going through Russia, I nevertheless decided to abandon that plan and go to India, with a view to penetrating over the Himahlya into Tibet. I sailed for India on March 19, on the P. and O. ss. Peninsular, and reached Bombay three weeks later.
It was my first visit to India, and my first impression was certainly not a good one. The heat was intense, and signs of the plague were discernible everywhere. The streets were deserted and the hotels bad and dirty for want of servants, who had abandoned the town in fear of the scourge.
Accompanied by a Parsee friend, I went to several of the districts of Bombay chiefly affected by the disease, but I noticed, wherever I went, little else than a strong odour of disinfectants. It is true there were few houses in those parts which had not ten, twenty, and even more circular red marks, denoting as many deaths, and on one door, which I photographed, I counted no less than forty-nine circles. But I was unable to gauge personally with any sort of accuracy the nature or extent of the disease, beyond seeing in the hospitals a few violent cases of bubonic attacks.
On the day following my arrival in Bombay, I proceeded by rail to Bareilly, which was reached in three days, and from there one more night brought me to Kathgodam, the terminus of the railway line. Travelling partly by Tonga (a two-wheeled vehicle drawn by two horses) and partly on horseback, I found myself at last at Naini Tal, a hill station in the lower Himahlyas and the summer seat of the Government of the North-West Provinces and Oudh, from whence I wrote to the Lieutenant-Governor, informing him of my intention to proceed to Tibet. I also called on the Deputy-Commissioner and made him fully acquainted with my plans. Neither one nor the other of these gentlemen raised the slightest objection to my intended journey into the sacred Land of the Lamas.
About the author
Arnold Henry Savage Landor
1865 Florence – 1924 Florence · English author, painter, traveler
Arnold Henry Savage Landor was an English painter, explorer, writer, and anthropologist.
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