Blame
|
1 | # Nicholas Roerich. Altai-Himalaya |
||||||
|
2 | |||||||
|
3 | ## VI. Leh–Karakorum–Khotan (1925) |
||||||
|
4 | |||||||
| 5 | --- |
|||||||
|
6 | |||||||
|
7 | |||||||
| 8 | ||||||||
|
9 | <a id="b4p-40-N1"></a><!-- block4placeid:40 --> |
||||||
|
10 | |||||||
|
11 | **September 18, 1925** |
||||||
|
12 | |||||||
|
13 | At last one can finally leave all of Kashmir’s falseness and dirt. One can forget |
||||||
| 14 | half-ruined Srinagar. One can forget the attack made on our caravan by armed bandits. |
|||||||
| 15 | The Moravian mission in Leh has some strange restrictions and informs us of its consent |
|||||||
| 16 | to rent us one of its houses on condition that I sign an agreement to do no “Religious, |
|||||||
| 17 | semi-religious, etc., propaganda.” No one could explain just what meaning the mysterious |
|||||||
| 18 | *semi* and *etc.* had. And who could pledge himself not to exceed the |
|||||||
| 19 | incomprehensible limit of *semi* and *etc.?* We were able to get along |
|||||||
| 20 | without the headquarters of the mission—in the Palace of the Ladaki King. Only in the |
|||||||
|
21 | mountains does one feel safe. Only in the desert passes ignorance does not reach one. |
||||||
| 22 | ||||||||
|
23 | <!-- block4placeid:null --> |
||||||
|
24 | |||||||
|
25 | **September 19, 1925** |
||||||
|
26 | |||||||
|
27 | <p> |
||||||
|
28 | <a id="t4p-565-N1"></a><span text4placeid:565> |
||||||
|
29 | We learned how widespread are the legends about Issa. It is important only to know the |
||||||
| 30 | substance of these legends. The sermons related in them, of unity, of the significance |
|||||||
| 31 | of woman and all the indications about Buddhism, are so remarkably timely for us. Lamas |
|||||||
| 32 | know the significance of these legends. And why do people resent and slander these |
|||||||
| 33 | legends? Every one knows how to slander the so-called “Apocrypha.” For slander does not |
|||||||
| 34 | need a high intelligence. But who can fail to recognize that many of the so-called |
|||||||
| 35 | “Apocrypha” are far more basically true than many official documents? The Kraledvorsky |
|||||||
| 36 | manuscript which was accepted by everyone happened to be a forgery—while many genuine |
|||||||
| 37 | documents do not enter into any one’s consciousness. It is enough to remember the |
|||||||
| 38 | so-called Evangel of the Ebionites. Such authorities as Origen, Jerome and Epiphany |
|||||||
| 39 | speak about the existence of this biography. Irenæus, in the second century, knows of |
|||||||
| 40 | it—and where is it now? It is better, instead of useless discussions, humanly to reflect |
|||||||
| 41 | on the facts and thoughts which are communicated in the legends of Issa, “the best of |
|||||||
| 42 | human sons.” Appreciate how close to contemporary consciousness is the substance of |
|||||||
| 43 | these legends and be astonished how widely all the East knows of them and how persistent |
|||||||
| 44 | is the repetition of them. |
|||||||
|
45 | </span> |
||||||
|
46 | </p> |
||||||
|
47 | |||||||
| 48 | For a long time we loaded the yaks, horses, mules, donkeys, sheep, dogs—a complete |
|||||||
| 49 | biblical procession. The caravaneers are like a case of an ethnographical museum. We |
|||||||
| 50 | passed the pool where, according to tradition, Issa first taught. To the left remain the |
|||||||
| 51 | prehistoric tombs. Behind them, the place where Buddha, the ancient founder of the |
|||||||
| 52 | Order, went northward through Khotan. Farther on, ruins of structures and the garden |
|||||||
| 53 | which speaks so much to us. We passed by stony reliefs of Maitreya, which on the way, |
|||||||
| 54 | convey to distant travelers their parting word of hope for the future. The palace |
|||||||
| 55 | remained behind the rock, with the temple Dukar—the illumined, many-armed Mother of the |
|||||||
| 56 | World. The last sign from Leh was the farewell of the women of Ladak. They went out upon |
|||||||
| 57 | the road carrying the blessed milk of yaks. They sprinkled the milk on the foreheads of |
|||||||
| 58 | the horses and travelers in order to give them the power of yaks, so needed on the steep |
|||||||
| 59 | inclines and upon the slippery ribs of the glaciers. The women bade us farewell. |
|||||||
| 60 | ||||||||
|
61 | <a id="t4p-329-N1"></a><!-- text4placeid:329 --> |
||||||
|
62 | Up to Khardong, the ascent is easy. The hot sun set, and toward evening there sprang up |
||||||
| 63 | a sharp, cold wind. We had to spread our camp on a naked Arctic plain, under the cutting |
|||||||
| 64 | wind. The Kashmiris very slyly would not show the Ladakis many of the things. And at |
|||||||
| 65 | twilight, by reason of the gale, there was an indescribable confusion. |
|||||||
| 66 | ||||||||
|
67 | <a id="t4p-329-N2"></a><!-- text4placeid:329 --> |
||||||
|
68 | And above us stood snow-covered Khardong! It rose unapproachably. |
||||||
| 69 | ||||||||
|
70 | <!-- block4placeid:null --> |
||||||
|
71 | |||||||
|
72 | **September 20, 1925** |
||||||
|
73 | |||||||
|
74 | <p> |
||||||
|
75 | <a id="t4p-41-N1"></a><span text4placeid:41> |
||||||
|
76 | We ascended the pass on yaks at three o’clock in the morning. These heavy, woolly |
||||||
| 77 | animals are truly irreplaceable because of their soft step and steadiness; but, of |
|||||||
| 78 | course, only when they are broken in. |
|||||||
|
79 | </span> |
||||||
|
80 | For a wild yak is entirely untamable. Once, the Tibetans provided unbroken yaks for a |
||||||
| 81 | Chinese regiment and immediately three-quarters of the riders were thrown to the earth. |
|||||||
|
82 | <a id="t4p-41-N2"></a><span text4placeid:41> |
||||||
|
83 | Our ascent was not difficult. The view from Khardong is majestic but the entire |
||||||
| 84 | northern part of Khardong is one steep, powerful glacier. The descent was tiresome and |
|||||||
| 85 | dangerous. We had to walk and creep! |
|||||||
|
86 | </span> |
||||||
|
87 | </p> |
||||||
|
88 | |||||||
|
89 | <p> |
||||||
|
90 | We saw how one loaded yak tripped and was slipping precipitately down the smooth rib of |
||||||
| 91 | the glacier; but at the very edge of the precipice, the yak, straining itself, clutched |
|||||||
| 92 | down with his short strong feet. Many animals and people begin to be attacked by |
|||||||
| 93 | hemorrhages and headaches along ascents higher than sixteen thousand feet; on our way |
|||||||
| 94 | even now frozen blood is seen. Already we pass the skeleton of a horse that had fallen. |
|||||||
| 95 | With us all is well. |
|||||||
|
96 | <a id="t4p-42-N1"></a><span text4placeid:42> |
||||||
|
97 | After the crossing they tell us of an entire caravan that was frozen on Khardong, a |
||||||
| 98 | caravan of Baltis comprising about one hundred horses was found frozen. Some of the |
|||||||
| 99 | men were found frozen holding their hands to their mouths as though screaming. Even |
|||||||
| 100 | now, in the fall, the fingers and toes soon become numb. One has to rub them with |
|||||||
| 101 | snow. It is almost impossible to paint. One can imagine how it is here during the |
|||||||
| 102 | winter. But beautiful is this threatening glacier! Far below is a turquoise lake. They |
|||||||
| 103 | say it is very deep. The entire path is strewn with gigantic boulders. Looking back, |
|||||||
| 104 | it seems as though the pass would be impenetrable. |
|||||||
|
105 | </span> |
||||||
|
106 | </p> |
||||||
|
107 | |||||||
|
108 | <!-- block4placeid:null --> |
||||||
|
109 | |||||||
|
110 | **September 21, 1925** |
||||||
|
111 | |||||||
|
112 | <p> |
||||||
|
113 | <a id="t4p-43-N1"></a><span text4placeid:43> |
||||||
|
114 | After the difficulties of the pass and glacier the road seems easy. After the piercing |
||||||
| 115 | cold—heat and a vivid sun. The sands are hot; the mountains with their snowy rims, |
|||||||
| 116 | recede. Here are the beds of the streams. |
|||||||
|
117 | </span> |
||||||
|
118 | Sometimes a stream disappears into the stony masses and only the rumbling tumult |
||||||
| 119 | indicates the flow of the invisible water. Briar roses and tamarisks are everywhere. And |
|||||||
| 120 | the natives in this valley of the Nubra River are friendly people. The river itself, in |
|||||||
| 121 | flood tide, can become a ponderous torrent. Now in the fall, its current is divided into |
|||||||
| 122 | many channels of unusually beautiful and intricate design. We go beyond the usual |
|||||||
| 123 | encampment. |
|||||||
|
124 | </p> |
||||||
|
125 | |||||||
|
126 | <p> |
||||||
|
127 | <a id="t4p-43-N2"></a><span text4placeid:43> |
||||||
|
128 | We slept overnight in Territ, in a real Tibetan house. In our camp there are three |
||||||
| 129 | parties: Buddhist, Moslem and Chinese. |
|||||||
|
130 | </span> |
||||||
|
131 | They are not without mutual suspicions of one another. They eat separately. Our old |
||||||
| 132 | Lun-po happens to be the son of the Elder in Leh and is a big landowner. He has his |
|||||||
| 133 | estates and houses everywhere, in Leh, in Hemis and in Territ and in different places in |
|||||||
| 134 | Changthang. He told us how many monasteries were destroyed during the periods of past |
|||||||
| 135 | invasions. In one of his own houses here are such ruins, full of chips and statues and |
|||||||
| 136 | the remains of destroyed books. We are sorry that Lun-po came to us only during the last |
|||||||
| 137 | few days. He came, and to the question as to who he was, he proudly lifted his eyes and |
|||||||
| 138 | clearly pronounced “Bhoti,” meaning Buddhist. He also tells us his brother is the |
|||||||
| 139 | treasurer in Hemis and knows how many secreted objects there are not shown to visitors. |
|||||||
| 140 | Lun-po wants to remain with us and to go to different countries. He wants to learn |
|||||||
| 141 | Russian; he begs only one thing: “Do not cut off my braid!” And his braid is really a |
|||||||
| 142 | wonderful one—black and down to his knees. We calmed him. No one will make any attempts |
|||||||
| 143 | against this symbol of his national pride. Apparently he already knows that in China the |
|||||||
| 144 | order has been given to cut the queues and that in Tibet it is forbidden to show the |
|||||||
| 145 | tongue as a sign of devotion and gratitude. And Lun-po, in moments of pleasure, likes to |
|||||||
| 146 | show a broad and healthy tongue. He is a good companion for the heights and glaciers but |
|||||||
| 147 | hardly fits in a house. We are approaching his property and he begs us not to remain in |
|||||||
| 148 | the tents but to stay overnight in his house. With pride he shows us the gates |
|||||||
| 149 | (Chorten)—the walls of which are painted over with a vivid design. There are many fields |
|||||||
| 150 | and fruit trees. We sleep in a frescoed Tibetan room. A vivid cornice. There is a broad |
|||||||
| 151 | window, and a low broad door with a great ring for a lock. The sandy floor is covered |
|||||||
| 152 | with colored felt. In the designs of ornaments the swastika is often repeated. In the |
|||||||
| 153 | middle of the room is a heavy pillar and on a wide pilaster is an image of Chintamani, |
|||||||
| 154 | the Treasure of the World. |
|||||||
|
155 | </p> |
||||||
|
156 | |||||||
| 157 | Every Tibetan estate is strangely reminiscent of the plan of the feudal palaces. The |
|||||||
| 158 | entire building is surrounded by a wall higher than the height of a man. The entrance is |
|||||||
| 159 | through thick gates. Behind the wall is a square of outer yard and here horses are |
|||||||
| 160 | neighing and fires are burning. From the yard you go as into an armor hall. Beyond it is |
|||||||
| 161 | the inner courtyard with many doors into the household living quarters. From there a |
|||||||
| 162 | ladder leads to the second floor, which also has many rooms. A similar ladder leads to a |
|||||||
| 163 | flat roof from which you have a broad vista of the far mountains, of rivers and the |
|||||||
| 164 | entire route. The corner of the roof is occupied by an elaborately designed chamber like |
|||||||
| 165 | a tower. And to the roof of this chamber leads another ladder. Ready for the defense, |
|||||||
| 166 | independently, stand the Tibetan estates. |
|||||||
| 167 | ||||||||
|
168 | <a id="b4p-44-N1"></a><!-- block4placeid:44 --> |
||||||
|
169 | |||||||
|
170 | **September 22, 1925** |
||||||
|
171 | |||||||
|
172 | <p> |
||||||
|
173 | It is a clear morning. On the edges of the road are whole hedges of briar roses. It is |
||||||
| 174 | an easy journey. Ahead of us are golden sands and behind them the blue mountains, all |
|||||||
| 175 | shades with white caps of early snow. It is even hot. |
|||||||
|
176 | <a id="t4p-157-N1"></a><span text4placeid:157> |
||||||
|
177 | A mile from the road is an old monastery—Sandoling. We decide to enter: Perhaps our |
||||||
| 178 | lama might be there? Through village dwellings, through stony streams, through rocky |
|||||||
| 179 | masses, dangerous for the horses’ feet, we ascend. We were not attracted by the lamas |
|||||||
| 180 | in the monastery; but behind them there is something invisible—someone who knows much |
|||||||
| 181 | is leading Sandoling on the path of the future. |
|||||||
|
182 | </span> |
||||||
|
183 | </p> |
||||||
|
184 | |||||||
|
185 | <p> |
||||||
|
186 | <a id="t4p-157-N2"></a><span text4placeid:157> |
||||||
|
187 | At Sandoling is the final outpost of Buddhism before the desert and therefore we |
||||||
| 188 | wanted to know. What signs are in this monastery? There is a new altar of Maitreya |
|||||||
| 189 | with a new image glowing with strong colors. There is an excellent image of Dukar. |
|||||||
|
190 | </span> |
||||||
|
191 | It is pleasant to see the rich collection of banners—these banners were painted in |
||||||
| 192 | Ladak. Among them are some very colorful ones of various fantastic subjects. All are |
|||||||
| 193 | trimmed with vivid silk. There is a good library. The head lama of the monastery is |
|||||||
| 194 | absent. Again we do not find our lama. In the early morning he had left on the road to |
|||||||
| 195 | the frontier. We shall hasten to find him. It is a long village. Another house of our |
|||||||
| 196 | Lun-po is here—but we shall go farther. The banks of the streams and the slopes of the |
|||||||
| 197 | mountain are covered with snow-white soda. The strata of the mountain slopes are blue, |
|||||||
| 198 | crimson and brown, indicating the vast abundance of metals. It somehow seems to us that |
|||||||
| 199 | radium must be here, in these blessed, unexploited regions. |
|||||||
|
200 | </p> |
||||||
|
201 | |||||||
|
202 | <!-- block4placeid:null --> |
||||||
|
203 | |||||||
|
204 | **September 23, 1925** |
||||||
|
205 | |||||||
| 206 | The frontier site—Panimikh. Of course, on maps, the frontier is indicated through |
|||||||
| 207 | Karakorum—but upon the heights no one has established the frontiers—and human kind ends |
|||||||
| 208 | in Panimikh Of course, human endeavor often extends further, also. Beyond Panimikh, as |
|||||||
| 209 | was to be expected for our further passage, the bridge fell to pieces. This mysterious |
|||||||
| 210 | repairing of the roads was encountered by us in other localities. |
|||||||
| 211 | ||||||||
| 212 | We were told that in the village two *Sahibs* from Yarkand were stopping. We had |
|||||||
| 213 | hardly had time to unfold our tents when they approached us; they were two Swedish |
|||||||
| 214 | missionaries, one of them the ailing Germanson. They return to Stockholm. Germanson |
|||||||
| 215 | tells of the difficult places on the road. He speaks about Chinese Turkestan without any |
|||||||
| 216 | special enthusiasm. |
|||||||
| 217 | ||||||||
|
218 | <a id="t4p-331-N1"></a><!-- text4placeid:331 --> |
||||||
|
219 | Opposite Panimikh, behind the river, on the background of a red rock, as though glued, |
||||||
| 220 | is a monastery of the Red Sect. Against the red background of the mountains, one cannot |
|||||||
| 221 | even see the approach to the monastery. It is as though, to save itself from enemies, |
|||||||
| 222 | the monastery had flown up and perched on the unseen ledge. Far to the left flows the |
|||||||
| 223 | Nubra, and our road goes to the right almost touching the row of cliffs. So, toward |
|||||||
| 224 | evening, we are nearing the foot of the pass, Karaul davan. There is a fantasy of |
|||||||
| 225 | mountain masses. We pause at the very beginning of the steep ascent. |
|||||||
| 226 | ||||||||
| 227 | The evening ends with an unexpected encounter with a Moslem. At the frontier of the |
|||||||
| 228 | desert there proceeds a talk about Mohammed, about the domestic life of the Prophet and |
|||||||
| 229 | about his reverence for woman. The talk continues about the movement of the Achmadis, |
|||||||
| 230 | and about legends saying that the tomb of Jesus is in Srinagar and the tomb of Mary in |
|||||||
| 231 | Kashgar. Again about the legends of Issa! Moslems are especially interested in these |
|||||||
| 232 | legends. |
|||||||
| 233 | ||||||||
| 234 | The moon rises in conflict with the bonfires. Finally the lama comes! In order to avoid |
|||||||
| 235 | the bridge he was led somewhere through a torrent. In the mountains, it is so |
|||||||
| 236 | everywhere. Even being familiar with thirty ways, you may not know the thirty-first. The |
|||||||
| 237 | lama will go on the pass by night; they prepare a lantern and an ax for him. |
|||||||
| 238 | ||||||||
|
239 | <!-- block4placeid:null --> |
||||||
|
240 | |||||||
|
241 | **September 24, 1925** |
||||||
| 242 | ||||||||
|
243 | <a id="t4p-45-N1"></a><!-- text4placeid:45 --> |
||||||
|
244 | Karaul davan, although lower than Khardong, seemed more difficult to us. Especially |
||||||
| 245 | severe are the masses of enormous boulders along the descent. What gigantic work was |
|||||||
| 246 | entailed here, to polish and accumulate these heavy bulks! Near Territ was a path of |
|||||||
| 247 | briars. Here the trail of skeletons started. Horses, donkeys, yaks, in all positions, |
|||||||
| 248 | and in all stages of decomposition. It is good that the evil smell is little perceived |
|||||||
| 249 | in this cold air. Many skeletons are congealed as if in a jumping position. It is like |
|||||||
| 250 | the last leap of the Valkyries. Among the boulders, we are squeezed together between the |
|||||||
| 251 | rocks. Omar-Khan’s horse fell. At the fording a sheep was drowned. Is it possible that |
|||||||
| 252 | the great caravan paths of the past eternally came up against these huge masses? |
|||||||
| 253 | ||||||||
|
254 | <p> |
||||||
|
255 | From behind a stone rises a strange figure in a woolly Yarkand cap, a fur kaftan and a |
||||||
| 256 | lantern. This is the lama dressed as a Yarkandi. The moon rose early and the lama |
|||||||
| 257 | crossed the comb of the pass successfully. The same day—an unexpected discovery. It |
|||||||
| 258 | appears that the lama speaks Russian. He even knows many of our friends. All the while |
|||||||
| 259 | no one would have suspected such knowledge. When one spoke Russian in his presence, not |
|||||||
| 260 | a muscle revealed that he understood. And in his answers he never once showed his |
|||||||
| 261 | knowledge of what we said in Russian. Once more it is clear how difficult it is to |
|||||||
| 262 | appraise the measure of knowledge of the lamas. |
|||||||
|
263 | <a id="t4p-332-N1"></a><span text4placeid:332> |
||||||
|
264 | Toward the evening—snow and wind; the servants and caravaneers decide to interrupt the |
||||||
| 265 | march for four hours, although we could still have proceeded boldly for two hours. We |
|||||||
| 266 | gave in unnecessarily—and we came right into a strip of the first snow. We pass the |
|||||||
| 267 | night near the powerful glacier, amidst endless boulders. Two more horses fell. |
|||||||
|
268 | </span> |
||||||
|
269 | </p> |
||||||
|
270 | |||||||
|
271 | <a id="b4p-333-N1"></a><!-- block4placeid:333 --> |
||||||
|
272 | |||||||
|
273 | **September 25, 1925** |
||||||
|
274 | |||||||
| 275 | The approach to Sasser Pass is higher than seventeen thousand feet. There is a complete |
|||||||
| 276 | Arctic stillness. Glaciers and snowpeaks—a most beautiful spot. The billows of the |
|||||||
| 277 | clouds roll by and open up new, endlessly new, combinations of the cosmic structure. |
|||||||
| 278 | There are broad lines; all the ornaments and arabesques are discarded. |
|||||||
| 279 | ||||||||
| 280 | The people become more concentrated. Everywhere are the bodies of animals. There are |
|||||||
| 281 | also human tombs, and our people try to hide it from us. As if this could have any |
|||||||
| 282 | effect on us! Omar-Khan lost two more horses. The *purga* (blizzard) is |
|||||||
| 283 | commencing. Overnight we are thickly covered with snow. The water in the pitchers |
|||||||
| 284 | freezes. It is impossible to paint because the hands become numb so quickly. It is good |
|||||||
| 285 | that in Kashmir we lined our tents with heavy material. Our fur shoes come in handy. |
|||||||
| 286 | ||||||||
| 287 | You, my young friends, I remind you to provide yourselves with clothes for heat and |
|||||||
| 288 | especially for cold. The cold approaches quickly and sharply. Suddenly you cease to feel |
|||||||
| 289 | your extremities. Have always at hand a little medicine chest. The chief considerations |
|||||||
| 290 | are the teeth and the stomach; also prevention against colds. Have bandages for cuts and |
|||||||
| 291 | bruises. All this has already been of use in our caravan. Any kind of wine on the |
|||||||
| 292 | heights is very harmful. Against headaches—pyramidon. One should not eat much. Very |
|||||||
| 293 | useful is Tibetan tea; it is really a hot soup and warms one very well. It is light and |
|||||||
| 294 | nourishing. The soda which is used in the tea keeps the lips from painful chapping. |
|||||||
| 295 | ||||||||
| 296 | Do not overfeed the dogs and horses, otherwise bleeding will begin and you will have to |
|||||||
| 297 | do away with the animal. The whole path is covered with the traces of blood. One must |
|||||||
| 298 | make sure, in advance, that the horses have already been on the heights. Many untried |
|||||||
| 299 | horses perish at once. On such difficult passes all social differences are erased; all |
|||||||
| 300 | remain just people, equally working, equally near to danger. Young friends, you must |
|||||||
| 301 | know all conditions of the caravan life in the desert. Only upon such ways will you |
|||||||
| 302 | learn to fight with the elements, where each uncertain step is already an actual death. |
|||||||
| 303 | There you will forget the number of days and hours. There the stars will shine for you |
|||||||
| 304 | as heavenly runes. The foundation of all teachings is fearlessness. Not in bitter-sweet, |
|||||||
| 305 | summer suburban camps, but on the severe heights, learn keenness of thought and |
|||||||
| 306 | resourcefulness of action. Not only during lectures, in well-heated auditoriums, but |
|||||||
| 307 | upon the cold glaciers, realize the power of the work of matter and you will understand |
|||||||
| 308 | that each end is but the beginning of something still more significant and beautiful. |
|||||||
| 309 | ||||||||
| 310 | Again the piercing gale. The fire becomes dim. The wings of the tent are flapping |
|||||||
| 311 | noisily—they want to fly. |
|||||||
| 312 | ||||||||
|
313 | <!-- block4placeid:null --> |
||||||
|
314 | |||||||
|
315 | **September 26, 1925** |
||||||
|
316 | |||||||
|
317 | <p> |
||||||
|
318 | <a id="t4p-46-N1"></a><span text4placeid:46> |
||||||
|
319 | Sasser davan met us in every way most severely. Before dawn a pricking |
||||||
|
320 | purga |
||||||
|
321 | had commenced. We ascend to Sasser—this gigantic moraine is completely covered with |
||||||
| 322 | frozen snow. We hurry to go farther because it will be still worse. Our entire path is |
|||||||
| 323 | marked with many bodies of animals. The icy trail along the edge sometimes narrows |
|||||||
| 324 | completely, only allowing of a horse-hoof. The horses proceed by themselves. We walked |
|||||||
| 325 | six hours through the glaciers. Gegen had an attack of bleeding; he fell from his |
|||||||
| 326 | horse. Especially dangerous is the ascent on the arched surface of the cap of the |
|||||||
| 327 | glacier. Sabsa, George’s horse, is slipping terribly on the greenish ice. Amidst the |
|||||||
| 328 | glaciers, for a moment, the sun flashes—all the white kingdom dazzles with an |
|||||||
| 329 | unendurable glow. Straight before us appears a wondrous little black lake between |
|||||||
| 330 | white shores; and again everything is covered by the opaque |
|||||||
|
331 | purga. |
||||||
|
332 | Beyond the glaciers we proceed along an Arctic ridge. |
||||||
|
333 | </span> |
||||||
|
334 | Finally, to our astonishment, we see grazing camels. They travel as far as the northern |
||||||
| 335 | foot of Sasser, and there take over the loads which were transported by horses and yaks |
|||||||
| 336 | through the Sasser. Some of our Ladakis going through the passes for the first time, |
|||||||
| 337 | never have seen camels and timidly they go around these long-bodied curiosities. The |
|||||||
| 338 | horses are snorting. My hostler, Gurban, looks back, and shaking his fist, threateningly |
|||||||
| 339 | repeats: “Sasseri! Sasseri!” |
|||||||
|
340 | </p> |
||||||
|
341 | |||||||
|
342 | <p> |
||||||
|
343 | <a id="t4p-158-N1"></a><span text4placeid:158> |
||||||
|
344 | We pass by Sasser Sarai—a ruined stony square. We stopped in the beautiful valley |
||||||
| 345 | beside the current of the river Shayok. On the right side of the stream passes the |
|||||||
| 346 | winter road to Turkestan. By this road one avoids the passes, but one has to cross the |
|||||||
| 347 | river very often, and in some places even to go with the stream. In September the |
|||||||
| 348 | river reaches the height of one’s shoulders, and is dangerous for horses and men. In |
|||||||
| 349 | addition, the road takes almost a week longer. We shall go the shorter way. |
|||||||
|
350 | </span> |
||||||
|
351 | Unexpectedly, we come into a narrow crevice between two purple rocks. It is astonishing |
||||||
| 352 | to what extent all signs of a road often disappear. One has to pass these places more |
|||||||
| 353 | than once in order to remember all the contours and windings of the road—the unseen one. |
|||||||
|
354 | </p> |
||||||
|
355 | |||||||
| 356 | The colors are beautiful. Behind us are the white giants. And it is strange to realize |
|||||||
| 357 | that we have just descended from them. To the left—many sharply outlined snow-peaks and |
|||||||
| 358 | yellow slopes. Straight ahead of us—the light gray bed of Shayok, with some reddish and |
|||||||
| 359 | bronze-green little islands. Beyond them are purple and velvety brown rocks. To the |
|||||||
| 360 | right flows the river and clouds of snowy dust whirl about. The sky is not at rest. |
|||||||
| 361 | Milky white clouds, like heavy threads, are creeping behind Sasser. Had we hurried ahead |
|||||||
| 362 | one day toward Sasser we would have avoided these snowy persecutions. The September |
|||||||
| 363 | monsoon of Kashmir creeps along and pursues us over the mountains, changing from a |
|||||||
| 364 | pouring rain into a severe |
|||||||
| 365 | *purga.* |
|||||||
| 366 | The restlessness of Nature is reflected in the animals. The horses are kicking; the dogs |
|||||||
| 367 | are snarling. |
|||||||
| 368 | ||||||||
|
369 | <a id="b4p-334-N1"></a><!-- block4placeid:334 --> |
||||||
|
370 | |||||||
|
371 | **September 27, 1925** |
||||||
|
372 | |||||||
| 373 | At dawn, everything is again frozen. Everything is covered with a deep snow. The horses |
|||||||
| 374 | are shivering. Now they will have to ford Shayok. Like black silhouettes, the riders are |
|||||||
| 375 | hurrying upon the light shore. They have succeeded in finding a fording place, where the |
|||||||
| 376 | water reaches up only to the stomach of the horse. |
|||||||
| 377 | ||||||||
| 378 | After the broad valley we dived down at once into a narrow canyon. It was formed in an |
|||||||
| 379 | unusually fantastic way. In the blue stream, the ice of the night was cracking. The red |
|||||||
| 380 | walls were full of white cracks—like pages of runes. Again, unexpected ascents and turns |
|||||||
| 381 | in narrow passes. We emerged upon a broad valley surrounded by vari-colored mountains. |
|||||||
| 382 | The varied shining layers in the mountain slopes reflect some inner treasures. On the |
|||||||
| 383 | slopes two lonely figures are moving—every new being astonishes one in this silence. Are |
|||||||
| 384 | these not treasure seekers? No, they are people from some caravan sent for roots and |
|||||||
| 385 | twigs of withered bush, for their fire. After this, all possibility of obtaining fuel is |
|||||||
| 386 | gone and one must make provision for several days. |
|||||||
| 387 | ||||||||
| 388 | Among the mountains are small, muddy lakes. On the mossy shores quick little wood-snipes |
|||||||
| 389 | are scurrying. The altitude of sixteen thousand feet does not frighten them. Ravens are |
|||||||
| 390 | cawing. There are very few eagles. On account of the lack of fuel we also stopped |
|||||||
| 391 | unusually early—by two o’clock. The people went with sacks to gather the roots of |
|||||||
| 392 | bushes. As on the frescoes of Gozzoli, the groups of faceted purple mountains appear, |
|||||||
| 393 | cut by warm brown hillocks. Light yellow swamp grass covers the deep valley. The black |
|||||||
| 394 | horses stand out with unusual sharpness against the light yellow background. They seem |
|||||||
| 395 | immeasurably big. Here in the spaces of Asia originated the tales of the Giant |
|||||||
| 396 | *Bogatyrs.* Either it is the height or the purity of the air which makes all |
|||||||
| 397 | proportions bigger, and the rider, who appears from behind a hill, looks like a giant. |
|||||||
| 398 | The middle-sized Kirghiz dog takes on the proportions of a bear. The scale of |
|||||||
| 399 | measurements is great here. |
|||||||
| 400 | ||||||||
| 401 | Mighty must be the streams in the mountains to leave such broad river beds filled with |
|||||||
| 402 | these eroded pebbles. Reflected in the beauty of the Grand Canyon you feel some tragic |
|||||||
| 403 | catastrophe. Near Karakorum you feel the long incomprehensible labor as of giants—is it |
|||||||
| 404 | not here that structures of the future were prepared? |
|||||||
| 405 | ||||||||
| 406 | What a wind! The skin is chapped as though cut. |
|||||||
| 407 | ||||||||
| 408 | It is very difficult with the languages—in the caravan one hears six languages |
|||||||
| 409 | absolutely unrelated to each other. |
|||||||
| 410 | ||||||||
| 411 | The provision of hay has disappeared. It is clear that the hostlers have fed their |
|||||||
| 412 | horses with the hay. Nazar-bey screamed something for a long time. Finally, we |
|||||||
| 413 | understood that our cook ate up the hay. The cook was deeply offended. |
|||||||
| 414 | ||||||||
| 415 | The lama is informing us about various significant things. Much of this news is known to |
|||||||
| 416 | us—but it is instructive to see how, in various countries, the very same conditions are |
|||||||
| 417 | being reflected. Different countries are as under glasses of different colors. Again we |
|||||||
| 418 | are astonished at the knowledge of the organization of lamas. The whole of Asia is |
|||||||
| 419 | pierced as with roots by this wandering organization. |
|||||||
| 420 | ||||||||
| 421 | It is astonishing how quickly the news spreads without any mail communications. And |
|||||||
| 422 | then, these caravan fires, like glow-worms, attract unexpected listeners. Quicker than |
|||||||
| 423 | by couriers, flies the winged news to the bazaars. And they whisper beside the long |
|||||||
| 424 | pipe. . . . Understand! |
|||||||
| 425 | ||||||||
|
426 | <a id="b4p-335-N1"></a><!-- block4placeid:335 --> |
||||||
|
427 | |||||||
|
428 | **September 28, 1925** |
||||||
|
429 | |||||||
| 430 | It is a cold night. Everything is firmly frozen. The entire day was woven out of |
|||||||
| 431 | beautiful yellow and red tones. First we proceeded upon the steep, crumbling slopes of |
|||||||
| 432 | the red gorge. We passed the old stony rampart—the remains of military fortresses or |
|||||||
| 433 | frontier posts. Below were the iridescent, yellow, green and ultramarine little streams. |
|||||||
| 434 | Afterwards, we crossed to the broad old river bed—the hillside Debsang. For six hours we |
|||||||
| 435 | went along all sorts of solemn sand formations. They are like pyramids of giants; like |
|||||||
| 436 | cities with cragged walls; like solitary watch-towers; like gates to some forbidden |
|||||||
| 437 | countries; like monuments of battles, long-silenced. It is a full variety, never |
|||||||
| 438 | repeated, colored with infinite feeling. I would like to stop here for a week. But the |
|||||||
| 439 | caravaneers are looking at the sky where the icy Kashmiri dragon already shows its |
|||||||
| 440 | stormy wings. |
|||||||
| 441 | ||||||||
| 442 | E.I.has been on horseback all the ten days. She does not like small decisions. She had |
|||||||
| 443 | never been horseback riding and here she suddenly went on horseback through Karakorum. |
|||||||
| 444 | And always she is valiant and the first one ready. Even her knee injured in Kashmir has |
|||||||
| 445 | somehow ceased to trouble her. It is simply astonishing! |
|||||||
| 446 | ||||||||
| 447 | In the evening we reached Debsang davan. It became still colder. It would be better if |
|||||||
| 448 | Debsang were called Ulan Korum, meaning the Red Throne. At the entrance protrudes a |
|||||||
| 449 | powerful rock like a red cap. |
|||||||
| 450 | ||||||||
| 451 | Be cautious with the mountain streams. They rejoice one with their crystal purity but in |
|||||||
| 452 | the water behind a turn there may be a dead horse or a camel with a bloody jaw. |
|||||||
| 453 | ||||||||
|
454 | <!-- block4placeid:null --> |
||||||
|
455 | |||||||
|
456 | **September 29, 1925** |
||||||
| 457 | ||||||||
|
458 | <a id="t4p-159-N1"></a><!-- text4placeid:159 --> |
||||||
|
459 | We passed Debsang. We went out upon the roof of the world. It is impossible to call it |
||||||
| 460 | otherwise. All the peaks have disappeared. Before us there are seeming covers as of some |
|||||||
| 461 | powerful inner domes. Looking at these sandy domes it is impossible to imagine one’s |
|||||||
| 462 | self at an altitude of eighteen thousand feet. Limitless spaces. To the left, far off, |
|||||||
| 463 | is Godwin’s White Peak. To the right on the horizon are the masses of Kunlun. All is so |
|||||||
| 464 | variegated and glorious and sweeping. The blue sky merges on pure cobalt and the |
|||||||
| 465 | grassless cupolas are domes of a golden hue. And the far-off peaks are silhouetted like |
|||||||
| 466 | pure white cones. The file of the caravan does not disturb the silence of the highest |
|||||||
| 467 | road of the world. |
|||||||
| 468 | ||||||||
| 469 | The hostler asks: “Why it is that here, at such a height is such an even surface? What |
|||||||
| 470 | is there inside?” |
|||||||
| 471 | ||||||||
| 472 | We read a Latin inscription upon a stone, concerning the camping of the Fillippi |
|||||||
| 473 | Expedition here. The men think that a hundred cases of the expedition were buried in |
|||||||
| 474 | this place. |
|||||||
| 475 | ||||||||
|
476 | <a id="t4p-336-N1"></a><!-- text4placeid:336 --> |
||||||
|
477 | There is a sharp wind blowing. We are hurrying toward Karakorum. We reach it but the |
||||||
| 478 | crossing has to be left until tomorrow morning. Karakorum means Black Throne. Its black |
|||||||
| 479 | cap had been seen for several miles, but when we reached it, it was already too dark to |
|||||||
| 480 | sketch or to take photographs. In the evening we decided to go to Suget davan and Sanju |
|||||||
| 481 | davan instead of Karghalik. It is true that Sanju is also higher than eighteen thousand |
|||||||
| 482 | feet and is considered difficult, depending upon the amount of snow, but this way we |
|||||||
| 483 | save six days. Besides, on the way to Karghalik there is much water, and some of the men |
|||||||
| 484 | complain that several times a day they have to go waist-deep in water, and in October |
|||||||
| 485 | this is dangerous. |
|||||||
| 486 | ||||||||
|
487 | <!-- block4placeid:null --> |
||||||
|
488 | |||||||
|
489 | **September 30, 1925** |
||||||
| 490 | ||||||||
|
491 | <a id="t4p-47-N1"></a><!-- text4placeid:47 --> |
||||||
|
492 | Karakorum. Again everything is frozen. The morning begins with a stinging blizzard. |
||||||
| 493 | Everything is covered with mist. One cannot sketch nor photograph. Vaguely the black cap |
|||||||
| 494 | of Karakorum at times gleams through. |
|||||||
| 495 | ||||||||
|
496 | <a id="t4p-47-N2"></a><!-- text4placeid:47 --> |
||||||
|
497 | All that we now see has nothing in common with what we saw yesterday. Thus we proceed |
||||||
| 498 | under the sharp wind from seven o’clock to two in this rarefied air. The pass itself is |
|||||||
| 499 | broad but not difficult except for those on foot. One has the strange sensation of |
|||||||
| 500 | feeling breathless even at the slightest movement. Upon the crest of the pass is a small |
|||||||
| 501 | pyramid of stones—those who pass, in spite of their breathlessness, do not forget to set |
|||||||
| 502 | a landmark to commemorate the conquest. |
|||||||
| 503 | ||||||||
|
504 | <a id="t4p-47-N3"></a><!-- text4placeid:47 --> |
||||||
|
505 | The descent is not steep, but the wind becomes stronger. It is necessary to cover the |
||||||
| 506 | face with something, and one remembers the usefulness of Tibetan silk masks for |
|||||||
| 507 | traveling. During the day the snow slows down and beautiful white panoramas appear—whole |
|||||||
| 508 | masses of snowy cupolas and cones. There are even no birds. |
|||||||
| 509 | ||||||||
|
510 | <a id="t4p-197-N1"></a><!-- text4placeid:197 --> |
||||||
|
511 | At six o’clock we pause on a broad river bed. Around us in the deep silence is a whole |
||||||
| 512 | amphitheater of snowy summits. The delicacy of the pearly tones is a sight never seen |
|||||||
| 513 | before. There is a full moon—and the silence of cold, pure, undefiled nature. We cross |
|||||||
| 514 | the highest road of the world, eighteen thousand six hundred feet. We cross the frontier |
|||||||
| 515 | of China. Our Chinese meditatively utters: “Chinese soil!” and for some reason shakes |
|||||||
| 516 | his head. |
|||||||
| 517 | ||||||||
|
518 | <!-- block4placeid:null --> |
||||||
|
519 | |||||||
| 520 | **October 1, 1925** [Aktag](/#m=9/35.97365/78.02845&l=Gs&p=198/o) |
|||||||
|
521 | |||||||
| 522 | We reached the division of the road to Kokyar or Sanju. Opposite Baksun Bulak is a |
|||||||
| 523 | wondrous white mountain—so fine, so untouched and delicate in its profiles. The bright |
|||||||
| 524 | sun reminded me of the frozen Fjords of Norway or the blue fairy-tale of Ladoga in |
|||||||
| 525 | winter. But here it is all more broad and more powerful. Before us, in the distance, are |
|||||||
| 526 | mountains etched with white outlines, as upon the old Chinese landscapes. Near the road |
|||||||
| 527 | grazed two Tibetan antelopes—one raised its head and gazed long at the caravan. The |
|||||||
| 528 | Buddhists did not shoot them: “We have enough food with us.” Someone else will betray |
|||||||
| 529 | the confidence of these slender creatures. Right at the road lies a donkey with a |
|||||||
| 530 | fragrant load of cinnamon. Where is his owner? The people explain that this tired little |
|||||||
| 531 | donkey has been left to rest until the next caravan. There are no wild beasts here. And |
|||||||
| 532 | no traveler will break this special ethic of the caravan. We also saw loads left by some |
|||||||
| 533 | people on Sasser. They remained untouched. |
|||||||
| 534 | ||||||||
|
535 | <!-- block4placeid:null --> |
||||||
|
536 | |||||||
|
537 | **October 2, 1925** |
||||||
|
538 | |||||||
|
539 | <p> |
||||||
|
540 | <a id="t4p-198-N1"></a><span text4placeid:198> |
||||||
|
541 | In the frosty sun of the morning, before our camp, the snowy Mount Patos was clearly |
||||||
| 542 | outlined. Thus, the Mahatma Ak-Dorje, passing from Tibet, named this highest summit of |
|||||||
| 543 | the Ridge (Patos phonetically, but Aktag in the local dialect). |
|||||||
|
544 | </span> |
||||||
|
545 | The mount stands above the division of road to Karghalik-Yarkand and Karakash-Khotan. |
||||||
| 546 | The path Karghalik-Yarkand is lower—there are only two passes, not very high, but |
|||||||
| 547 | therefore having many rivers. The Karakash-Khotan path is higher and more mountainous. |
|||||||
| 548 | The passes are higher but on the other hand shorter. |
|||||||
|
549 | </p> |
||||||
|
550 | |||||||
| 551 | The mount towers like a cone between the two wings of the white ridge. The lama, upon |
|||||||
| 552 | hearing about it, whispers: “The great teacher was not against true Buddhism. He said |
|||||||
| 553 | ‘The true Buddhism is a good teaching.’ ” |
|||||||
| 554 | ||||||||
|
555 | <a id="t4p-49-N1"></a><!-- text4placeid:49 --> |
||||||
|
556 | The day started peacefully. We continued from seven o’clock on, up the gradual incline |
||||||
| 557 | of Suget davan. The ascent is almost imperceptible and it is not startling to see so |
|||||||
| 558 | many skeletons. The peace of Nature forces you to forget the altitude. Near the road |
|||||||
| 559 | lies a woolly little dog just as though alive. By three o’clock imperceptibly, we |
|||||||
| 560 | reached the Pass itself. It is well always to ask about the northern side of the Pass; |
|||||||
| 561 | this side is always severe. And so it was here. The straight and easy way was suddenly |
|||||||
| 562 | carved out into a powerful, jagged ascent. In the distance were spread the white purple |
|||||||
| 563 | mountains covered by a somewhat mournful design. A blizzard commenced; and into the bare |
|||||||
| 564 | spots of the snowy dust, pitilessly resounded the almost bluish-black sky. The path was |
|||||||
| 565 | completely covered. |
|||||||
| 566 | ||||||||
| 567 | Four caravans had assembled, comprising up to four hundred horses. The loaded, |
|||||||
| 568 | experienced mules were first sent ahead; we followed them. The entire descent was |
|||||||
| 569 | covered with the black zigzags of the silhouettes of horses. The air vibrated with the |
|||||||
| 570 | shouts of “Hosh! Hosh!” And everything crept down, stumbling, gliding and shoving. It |
|||||||
| 571 | was dangerous. The people were astonished at the early snow. We reached the |
|||||||
| 572 | stopping-point only at nine o’clock in the evening, by moonlight. The Turks quarreled |
|||||||
| 573 | with the Buddhists. Nazar-bey wanted to lead us somewhere far off. The Chinese rushed at |
|||||||
| 574 | him with a whip. The human quarrels affected the animals. The horses began to snort. The |
|||||||
| 575 | affair ended with a fight of the dogs—wild Tumbal hurt Amdong very seriously. |
|||||||
| 576 | ||||||||
|
577 | <a id="t4p-337-N1"></a><!-- text4placeid:337 --> |
||||||
|
578 | E.I.goes on horseback for more than thirteen hours without dismounting. It shows that |
||||||
| 579 | the usual so-called fatigue may be conquered by something else, more powerful. |
|||||||
| 580 | ||||||||
|
581 | <a id="b4p-199-N1"></a><!-- block4placeid:199 --> |
||||||
|
582 | |||||||
|
583 | **October 3, 1925** |
||||||
|
584 | |||||||
| 585 | Again, the piles of stones; red and yellow bushes appear, very beautiful against the |
|||||||
| 586 | warm white haze of the sands. A meager willow appears beside the stream. Partridges and |
|||||||
| 587 | hares are seen. But as a whole, surprisingly few animals. We passed by some old walls |
|||||||
| 588 | transformed into heaps of stone. The people are anxious to reach the Chinese post, Kurul |
|||||||
| 589 | or Karaul-Surget. Gradually we descend. Already some kind of flat walls are seen. |
|||||||
| 590 | Somebody runs out from behind the gates—then scurries to hide. Some one comes out to |
|||||||
| 591 | meet us. |
|||||||
| 592 | ||||||||
| 593 | Amidst the wide hot plain, surrounded by snow mountains, stands the clay square, Kurul. |
|||||||
| 594 | In the distance, enticingly glimmers Kunlun. In the fortress are twenty-five soldiers, |
|||||||
| 595 | Sarts and Kirghiz and one Chinese officer with a secretary and translator. We saw no |
|||||||
| 596 | arms. Only in the narrow room of the officer hung a big single-barreled gun with a cock, |
|||||||
| 597 | like a duck’s head. With this instrument one cannot shoot very much. |
|||||||
| 598 | ||||||||
| 599 | If Shin-lo, this Chinese frontier officer here, would only know how touched we were by |
|||||||
| 600 | his hearty reception! Isolated in these far-off mountains, deprived of every means of |
|||||||
| 601 | communication, this officer by his help and kindness reminded us of those traits of the |
|||||||
| 602 | better China. It was so important to us—because we go to China with sincere friendship |
|||||||
| 603 | and an open heart! And we met and said farewell to Shin-lo most heartily. Out of |
|||||||
| 604 | friendship we even unfolded our tents on the dusty yard of the fort. The people wanted |
|||||||
| 605 | to remain here at least one more day, because the desert has already begun. They |
|||||||
| 606 | rejoice. But we regret something unrepeatable. Crystals of the summits, will the lace of |
|||||||
| 607 | the desert sands replace you? Other caravans arrive. They talk around the camp-fire. |
|||||||
| 608 | Conversation, smiles, pipes and rest. They whisper: “In Bhutan, they await the coming |
|||||||
| 609 | soon of Shambhala.”—“First was India, then China, afterward Russia and now will be |
|||||||
| 610 | Shambhala.” . . . |
|||||||
| 611 | ||||||||
| 612 | “In the Temple under the image of Buddha is an underground boiling lake. Once a year |
|||||||
| 613 | they descend and throw into the lake precious stones.” . . . |
|||||||
| 614 | ||||||||
| 615 | Thus a whole saga of beauty is being discussed. Camp-fires! Fire-flies of the desert! |
|||||||
| 616 | You stand like banners of the people’s decisions. |
|||||||
| 617 | ||||||||
|
618 | <a id="b4p-200-N1"></a><!-- block4placeid:200 --> |
||||||
|
619 | |||||||
|
620 | **October 4, 1925** |
||||||
|
621 | |||||||
| 622 | We had not passed a mile from Kurul when we reached the current of the river, Karakash |
|||||||
| 623 | daria, which means Black Nefrite. Along the streams of Karakash were found certain kinds |
|||||||
| 624 | of jade which gave to Khotan its past glory. One of the western gates of the Great Wall |
|||||||
| 625 | of China was even called the Jade Gate because through it used to be brought these |
|||||||
| 626 | beloved stones. Now in these places they do not even remember about the quarrying of |
|||||||
| 627 | jade. The color of Karakash daria, so bluish-green, itself recalls the best kinds of |
|||||||
| 628 | jade. It is a quick river, a joyous river, a noisy river. And this is the native |
|||||||
| 629 | country, not only of jade but also of gold. For several days Karakash daria becomes our |
|||||||
| 630 | guide. We pass several *Mazars*—venerated Moslem graves. One would think that |
|||||||
| 631 | their semispherical roofs, with a tower in the middle, were nothing else than the forms |
|||||||
| 632 | of an ancient Buddhist *Chorten.* When we approached the tomb of a saint, the |
|||||||
| 633 | Kirghiz guide jumped down from his horse and with a beautiful gesture offered his |
|||||||
| 634 | worship. It was difficult to expect from this clumsy body so beautiful a movement. |
|||||||
| 635 | ||||||||
| 636 | Fort Shahidula is abandoned—it is the usual lonely clay square. Besides, in these |
|||||||
| 637 | places, cannons have never yet made their appearance and have not threatened the clay |
|||||||
| 638 | walls. |
|||||||
| 639 | ||||||||
| 640 | It becomes hot. The altitude is not more than twelve thousand feet and above eighteen |
|||||||
| 641 | thousand it affects the breathing. We receive word that the yaks are ready for the |
|||||||
| 642 | passage of Sanju davan. Toward evening the *shamal* sprang up—the northeastern |
|||||||
| 643 | gale. For the first time we were in the midst of a real sand *purga.* The red |
|||||||
| 644 | mountains were hidden; the sky became gray. As high, thick pillars, the sand rose and |
|||||||
| 645 | moved slowly in a spiral, penetrating everything it encountered. The tents try to fly |
|||||||
| 646 | into midair. The horses slink down and turn their backs to the winds. All colorings |
|||||||
| 647 | disappear and only Karakash hastens on—as emerald as before. |
|||||||
| 648 | ||||||||
|
649 | <a id="b4p-201-N1"></a><!-- block4placeid:201 --> |
||||||
|
650 | |||||||
|
651 | **October 5, 1925** |
||||||
|
652 | |||||||
| 653 | We proceeded through the entire day, along the Karakash. It is difficult to remember how |
|||||||
| 654 | many times we forded the river. In some places it reached up to the horse’s belly, in |
|||||||
| 655 | other places it was lower than the knees. On one rocky edge the entire trail was washed |
|||||||
| 656 | away. We had to hurry and cross along separate boulders in the tumult of the current. |
|||||||
| 657 | Again came a severe stony road. Two horses of Nazar-bey broke their legs. Everywhere, |
|||||||
| 658 | the *shamal* of yesterday left its traces. Mountains are covered with a gray |
|||||||
| 659 | haze. All day, a cloud of all-penetrating dust hangs in the air. One’s eyes smart. The |
|||||||
| 660 | whole coloring is changed. The sky has become purple. Only the joyous river glimmers as |
|||||||
| 661 | before with its greenish sparks. The first little encampments of the mountain Kirghiz |
|||||||
| 662 | appeared—*yurtas* covered the felts, or stony squares leaning against the rock. |
|||||||
| 663 | Small fields begin. Here are small Kirghiz women in high white head-dresses and red |
|||||||
| 664 | kaftans, some with peaked little Kirghiz caps. If only the photographs are successful! A |
|||||||
| 665 | picturesque group is set against the purple background of the sandy soft tones of the |
|||||||
| 666 | mountains. On a tiny gray donkey, is a woman in a bright red kaftan and a high |
|||||||
| 667 | head-dress. In her arms is a child in a light gray cover. Beside her is a man in a green |
|||||||
| 668 | kaftan with a red-peaked hat. Above them the dim purple sky. Who would wish to paint the |
|||||||
| 669 | Flight to Egypt? |
|||||||
| 670 | ||||||||
| 671 | Very steep lie the trails above the turbulent river. The camping site is in a sandy |
|||||||
| 672 | valley, in the middle of which is a dusty caravanserai. We have not the energy to stop |
|||||||
| 673 | in this yard permeated with dust. On the neighboring slopes it is also difficult to |
|||||||
| 674 | camp. There is either solid rock only, or soft shifting sands and neither of the two |
|||||||
| 675 | holds the pegs of the tents. With difficulty we find a spot. Gradually we discover the |
|||||||
| 676 | damage in the luggage. Here is a lock torn away; there a *yakhtan* has been |
|||||||
| 677 | soaked when the horse fell into the river. |
|||||||
| 678 | ||||||||
| 679 | Again, the camp-fires. Again there gather some sort of unknown woolly people. We must |
|||||||
| 680 | say, however, that none among these clumsy strangers did us harm. The notorious thievery |
|||||||
| 681 | of the Kirghiz did not touch us. |
|||||||
| 682 | ||||||||
| 683 | Again, some of the whispers of the camp-fires: “Burkhan Bullat (meaning the Sword of |
|||||||
| 684 | Buddha) appears at certain dates and then nothing will withstand it.”—“Ulan Tserik |
|||||||
| 685 | became terribly strong.”—“Everything that the enemies do will turn against |
|||||||
| 686 | themselves.”—“More than a hundred years ago two scientist Brahmins went to Shambhala and |
|||||||
| 687 | set out toward the north.”—“The Blessed Buddha was in Khotan and from there decided to |
|||||||
| 688 | go northwards.”—“In one of the best monasteries of China the doctor of metaphysics is a |
|||||||
| 689 | Buriat.”—“In the big Monastery the head Abbot is a Kalmuck.”—“On the picture of Buddha |
|||||||
| 690 | the Conqueror the fire of justice flashes from the sword of the Blessed One.”—“The |
|||||||
| 691 | Prophet said that Damascus would be destroyed before the new era.” Thus the pilgrims are |
|||||||
| 692 | whispering on the way of Gaya, Sarnath or to Mecca. We meet long files of gray-bearded |
|||||||
| 693 | *Akhuns* and veiled female figures on the road. They are hastening before the |
|||||||
| 694 | approaching winter. They are a speedy mail. |
|||||||
| 695 | ||||||||
| 696 | The day ended with a *shamal.* Gigantic clouds of dust like an invisible |
|||||||
| 697 | transmigration of the peoples. One must know also this threatening image of Asia. Where |
|||||||
| 698 | else are there such extremities of heat and frost? Where else are the winds so |
|||||||
| 699 | unbearable after midday? Where are the rivers so treacherous when they overflow during |
|||||||
| 700 | the floods and where are the sands so pitiless? And where else is the gold not removed |
|||||||
| 701 | from the banks? Where else are so many skulls gleaming white under the sun? The broad |
|||||||
| 702 | hand of Asia! |
|||||||
| 703 | ||||||||
|
704 | <a id="b4p-203-N1"></a><!-- block4placeid:203 --> |
||||||
|
705 | |||||||
|
706 | **October 6, 1925** |
||||||
|
707 | |||||||
| 708 | Again we make our way along the Karakash. We come to a great old Kirghiz cemetery, |
|||||||
| 709 | *mazars* with the semispherical vaulted roofs. Low tombs surrounded with staffs |
|||||||
| 710 | and with horse-tails hanging on the ends. Unquestionably these *mazars* are very |
|||||||
| 711 | often old Buddhist Chortens. Beyond the *mazar,* we leave the stream of Karakash |
|||||||
| 712 | and begin noticeably to ascend the mountain against the current of a mountain stream. |
|||||||
| 713 | The gorge gradually narrows here. At the left in the yellow sandstone mountain we notice |
|||||||
| 714 | caves several stories high. They are like the caves of Tun-huang. The natives and |
|||||||
| 715 | caravaneers say that they are old Kirghiz houses, but of course, we recognize here the |
|||||||
| 716 | remains of a vanishing Buddhism. The approaches to many of these caves have been worn |
|||||||
| 717 | away by the elements. High above, like aeries, remain the isolated entrances. It is |
|||||||
| 718 | characteristic that these caves are hidden not far from Sanju Pass as if they protected |
|||||||
| 719 | themselves by these mountains, from the waves of Islam. The hostler, Gurban, a Moslem, |
|||||||
| 720 | knows of other similar caves in these regions but is somehow apparently scornful of |
|||||||
| 721 | them. The caves nevertheless are very imposing. |
|||||||
| 722 | ||||||||
| 723 | An immeasurable antiquity emanates from these mountains. The sandy haze elevates them |
|||||||
| 724 | seemingly into the skies. And the mountains, instead of signifying limits and obstacles, |
|||||||
| 725 | tempt us once again upward. We reach the very bottom of Sanju. We had heard that there |
|||||||
| 726 | was no snow on the Pass but we had hardly received this information when the Kashmiri |
|||||||
| 727 | dragon overtook us and everything began to be covered with snow. It is a piercing storm. |
|||||||
| 728 | We are huddled together, awaiting the belated tents. The caravan arrives in the dark. |
|||||||
| 729 | From the Pass, a black avalanche of yaks is rushing on, and while running, almost |
|||||||
| 730 | tramples down the camp. Noise and rumble. Snow and cold. But the camp, crouched in the |
|||||||
| 731 | gorge, looks unusually picturesque. Something, as of the paintings of old Bosch or |
|||||||
| 732 | Pieter Brueghel. The fire-light shines on the bronze faces. Through the dark one sees |
|||||||
| 733 | the horns of the black, invisible yaks. The wings of the tents flutter like birds. On |
|||||||
| 734 | the rocks is the gigantic shadow of Omarkhan. Again there are whispers of the desert: |
|||||||
| 735 | “Near the holy mountain Sabur is seen an unknown ancient city. There are many houses and |
|||||||
| 736 | Chortens.” Tomorrow we must arise with the stars. It is a long way—and at day-break snow |
|||||||
| 737 | and wind will start up again to assail us. |
|||||||
| 738 | ||||||||
|
739 | <!-- block4placeid:null --> |
||||||
|
740 | |||||||
|
741 | **October 7, 1925** |
||||||
|
742 | |||||||
|
743 | <p> |
||||||
|
744 | <a id="t4p-50-N1"></a><span text4placeid:50> |
||||||
|
745 | Nevertheless, the dragon overtook us during the night. Every thing is covered with |
||||||
| 746 | snow and frozen. We try out the yaks. We hurry on. The seventh pass is Sanju. It is |
|||||||
| 747 | the steepest one—eighteen thousand three hundred feet. But it is not long. How |
|||||||
| 748 | clingingly the yaks proceed! We are again astonished at them. The saddle strap around |
|||||||
| 749 | the chest of my yak gives away with a snap. We must bind it with cords because on the |
|||||||
| 750 | steep descents one strap will not hold. Only the very summit of Sanju is dangerous. |
|||||||
| 751 | There the yak must skillfully jump across the crevice between two upper crags of a |
|||||||
| 752 | bare rock. There you must resign yourself to the surefootedness of the yak. Gegen |
|||||||
| 753 | falls down from his yak, but happily only bruises his leg. It might be worse. Of |
|||||||
| 754 | course on the northern side is a great amount of snow. We must hasten; and slipping on |
|||||||
| 755 | the sharp zigzags, we descend steeply. |
|||||||
|
756 | </span> |
||||||
|
757 | It is best not to take mountain sticks with sharp points—those with flat metallic points |
||||||
| 758 | are better. In the silvery fog, the snow mountains completely merge. It is a pity to bid |
|||||||
| 759 | farewell to the heights, where, although it is cold, it is crystally pure and |
|||||||
| 760 | reverberating! There the word, desert, itself sounds like a challenge to all cities |
|||||||
| 761 | already transformed into ruins, or not yet thus fallen. |
|||||||
|
762 | </p> |
||||||
|
763 | |||||||
| 764 | Why does it seem so sad to depart further from Kunlun, from the most ancient ridge? |
|||||||
| 765 | ||||||||
| 766 | The encampments of Mountain Kirghiz start again. The women and children are clean—one |
|||||||
| 767 | does not see the dreadful disfiguring skin diseases. |
|||||||
| 768 | ||||||||
|
769 | <p> |
||||||
|
770 | Down below in the sandy inclines are some dark hollows—caves. From these caves woolly |
||||||
| 771 | yaks creep out and transport you into prehistoric times; then, also, the same thing |
|||||||
| 772 | happened. In the middle of the hillside, yellow worn-away hillocks are amassed. From |
|||||||
| 773 | them protrude stone blocks of most fantastic forms. Rhinoceroses, tigers, dogs and some |
|||||||
| 774 | sort of enthroned skeletons—it is all the work of water which has long since flowed |
|||||||
| 775 | away. The hillside is fenced by the warm purple mountains. One does not see snow in the |
|||||||
| 776 | direction of the desert. |
|||||||
|
777 | <a id="t4p-204-N1"></a><span text4placeid:204> |
||||||
|
778 | We stopped near an |
||||||
|
779 | aul |
||||||
|
780 | comprising nine |
||||||
|
781 | yurtas. |
||||||
|
782 | Within, it is clean. They bring out melons, watermelons and peaches which they get |
||||||
| 783 | from the Sanju Bazaar or the Guma Bazaar. The mountains are alive with ringing echoes, |
|||||||
| 784 | barking and neighing thunder out like trumpets in the mountain gorges. The Kirghiz |
|||||||
| 785 | women show their embroideries but they will not sell; each works for herself. |
|||||||
|
786 | </span> |
||||||
|
787 | </p> |
||||||
|
788 | |||||||
|
789 | <a id="b4p-338-N1"></a><!-- block4placeid:338 --> |
||||||
|
790 | |||||||
|
791 | **October 8, 1925** |
||||||
|
792 | |||||||
| 793 | It is a short tranquil passage. We stopped ten miles from the Sanju oasis. Isolated |
|||||||
| 794 | *yurtas* of Kirghiz are scattered about. Often there is one boy driving a whole |
|||||||
| 795 | caravan of camels. |
|||||||
| 796 | ||||||||
| 797 | Each day patients come to us with stomach trouble or colds. Once more we feel what the |
|||||||
| 798 | great sands of the desert mean—all-penetrating, searing, impeding the breathing. What |
|||||||
| 799 | regret; the mountains become visibly lower. The altitude of the path is not more than |
|||||||
| 800 | seven thousand feet, while the southern part of the desert is not lower than four |
|||||||
| 801 | thousand feet. It becomes warmer and warmer. A series of paintings, “Maitreya,” is |
|||||||
| 802 | conceived. Again there are camp-fires. |
|||||||
| 803 | ||||||||
| 804 | “Rinpoche says that now the way is only through Shambhala—everybody knows that”—“Many |
|||||||
| 805 | prophecies are buried everywhere”—“Three campaigns of the Mongols”—“In the desert behind |
|||||||
| 806 | Keriya a subterranean river flowed above the ground”—“And when they dynamited the rock |
|||||||
| 807 | it was all not of precious stones”—“And there, where one cannot pass, one can go by |
|||||||
| 808 | underground passages.” … |
|||||||
| 809 | ||||||||
| 810 | Much is related and the matters of every day are interwoven with something great and |
|||||||
| 811 | already predestined. Much is being spoken about underground passages. But it is natural. |
|||||||
| 812 | From many castles, which are glued to the rocks, long underground passages were |
|||||||
| 813 | constructed to the water, and through these, donkeys used to carry the water. Gradually |
|||||||
| 814 | before us, rises a new picture of significant lives. |
|||||||
| 815 | ||||||||
|
816 | <a id="b4p-205-N1"></a><!-- block4placeid:205 --> |
||||||
|
817 | |||||||
|
818 | **October 9, 1925** |
||||||
|
819 | |||||||
| 820 | Sanju—an oasis. We said farewell to the mountains. Of course, we shall return to them. |
|||||||
| 821 | Of course, other mountains are probably not worse than these—but it is sad to descend |
|||||||
| 822 | from them. The desert cannot bestow on us what the heights have whispered. As a |
|||||||
| 823 | farewell—the mountain bestowed on us something unusual. On the border of the oasis, just |
|||||||
| 824 | on the very last rock which we could still touch, appeared the same designs that we saw |
|||||||
| 825 | in Dardistan on the way back to Ladak. In the books about Ladak, these are called Dard |
|||||||
| 826 | designs, although apparently they bring us back to the Neoliths. And here, in Chinese |
|||||||
| 827 | Turkestan, on the shiny brown masses of rock, are again, as light silhouettes, the same |
|||||||
| 828 | archers, the same mountain sheep with huge twisted horns and the same ritual dances, |
|||||||
| 829 | rounds and processions of people. These are verily messengers of the transmigrations of |
|||||||
| 830 | the people. And there is some special meaning in this, that these designs were left on |
|||||||
| 831 | the border of the mountain kingdom. Farewell, mountains! |
|||||||
| 832 | ||||||||
| 833 | Groves of poplars and apricot trees appear, and beyond them spreads the kingdom of the |
|||||||
| 834 | sand. It reminds us of Egypt along the Nile, or of Arabia. |
|||||||
| 835 | ||||||||
| 836 | It is time for breakfast and we want to stop; but some riders are galloping toward us |
|||||||
| 837 | and beckon us to come farther. A *dastarkhan* from the Kirghiz Elders is already |
|||||||
| 838 | prepared. On bright patterned felts, heaps of melons, watermelons, pears, eggs, roast |
|||||||
| 839 | chicken are picturesquely spread, and in the center, is half of a baked mutton. Here are |
|||||||
| 840 | round yellow cookies, with holes, looking as if they might have been torn out of a |
|||||||
| 841 | painting by Peter Aerdsen. It reminded us of dear Kluchino, Novgorod, of our excavations |
|||||||
| 842 | of the Stone Age and of hospitable Efim. And here are the same kaftans, and beards, and |
|||||||
| 843 | colored girdles and small caps bordered with wolf fur or beaver. As a matter of fact, |
|||||||
| 844 | many of these bearded men know single Russian words and are very pleased if they possess |
|||||||
| 845 | some small Russian objects. They know almost nothing of America. It would be good to |
|||||||
| 846 | distribute among these people books in Turki about America. Thought should be given to |
|||||||
| 847 | this. |
|||||||
| 848 | ||||||||
| 849 | For the first time we saw Chinese soldiers, in uniforms of the imperial times with red |
|||||||
| 850 | inscriptions on the entire back and chest. Very ragged soldiers they were. The Kirghiz |
|||||||
| 851 | recruits were minus uniforms altogether. Can such an army act at all? |
|||||||
| 852 | ||||||||
| 853 | One will ask, where then are the dangers? Where then are the alluring attacks? Because |
|||||||
| 854 | in the cemetery in Leh there are several monuments over the graves of murdered |
|||||||
| 855 | travelers. True, but all these people were killed by the Kashmiris and Afghans. No one |
|||||||
| 856 | was killed by a Ladaki-Buddhist. And then there is a special delight in the |
|||||||
| 857 | consciousness that in the most distant unpeopled place you are safer and less molested |
|||||||
| 858 | than in the streets of Western cities. A London policeman at the entrance of the East |
|||||||
| 859 | End inquires if you are armed and prepared for danger. A night walk in the suburbs of |
|||||||
| 860 | Montparnasse or Montmartre in Paris, or in Hoboken, near New York, is far more full of |
|||||||
| 861 | danger than the paths of Himalaya and Karakorum. And the tornadoes of Texas and |
|||||||
| 862 | Arizona—are they not equal to a gale on the heights? And, besides, these dangers of |
|||||||
| 863 | nature are essentially so joyous, so greatly awaken the vigor and purify the |
|||||||
| 864 | consciousness. There exist collectors of caustic exclamations of danger, but the most |
|||||||
| 865 | unsafe bamboo or rope bridge evokes in you a stubborn resourcefulness. What a pity, to |
|||||||
| 866 | descend out of the unpeopled spaces to the whirl of the human crowd. |
|||||||
| 867 | ||||||||
| 868 | One stop beyond Sanju are said to be Buddhist antiquities. |
|||||||
| 869 | ||||||||
|
870 | <a id="b4p-206-N1"></a><!-- block4placeid:206 --> |
||||||
|
871 | |||||||
|
872 | **October 10, 1925** |
||||||
|
873 | |||||||
| 874 | We emerged into a completely different country. Here Ladaki heroism is no more. No more |
|||||||
| 875 | are there the garlands of clear singing of the Ladakis. It is strange that only among |
|||||||
| 876 | Ladakis, did we find strong and agreeable voices. No more are there the castles on the |
|||||||
| 877 | waterless, courageous peaks. No more the *suburgans* and *kurgans* of |
|||||||
| 878 | fearlessness. The mountains have disappeared into a gray mist. How now to live, and |
|||||||
| 879 | whither to direct the eye? Here are peaceful, agricultural, ignorant Sarts, a forgotten |
|||||||
| 880 | oasis. Here are peaceful, agricultural slow Turki, who have forgotten completely that |
|||||||
| 881 | they took part in the marches of Jenghis Khan and Tamerlane. It is hot. In Sanju bazaar, |
|||||||
| 882 | it is sandy. From behind the clay walls and fruit-trees are a multitude of faces peeping |
|||||||
| 883 | out, full of fear and hiding—a whole crowd. The colorings remind one of the |
|||||||
| 884 | Nijni-Novgorod Fair. They offer us fruit and roasted mutton. Finally they bring us a |
|||||||
| 885 | gift of a Kirghiz dog. |
|||||||
| 886 | ||||||||
| 887 | Bells ring out and into the Maidan a Chinese official comes riding—again a very kind and |
|||||||
| 888 | obliging one. He is astonished that he did not receive a letter about us from the Am-ban |
|||||||
| 889 | of Yarkand but he explains that the Republic in China has discarded special |
|||||||
| 890 | notifications if there is a Chinese passport. And we possess a long passport under the |
|||||||
| 891 | name of Loluchi—which means Roerich. Are the Chinese officials of higher ranks so |
|||||||
| 892 | obliging? We hope that China will fulfill our expectations. When we received the |
|||||||
| 893 | passport they assured us of the help of all governors, of the deputation from the |
|||||||
| 894 | University of Peking. The Chinese official speaks about the passage of the Roosevelts, |
|||||||
| 895 | who turned toward Yarkand. He tells us of the ruins of the imperial palace twelve days |
|||||||
| 896 | from Khotan, which until the present day still yields antiquities. We understand it must |
|||||||
| 897 | be Aksu. Soon we start out on an old Silk Road. Here is the first place where |
|||||||
| 898 | antiquities can be found, because these places, as well as Khotan, are mentioned in the |
|||||||
| 899 | literature of three or four centuries before our present era. On the islands of the |
|||||||
| 900 | deserts, in the oases, were the strongholds of the last multitudes before the |
|||||||
| 901 | transmigration into unknown lands. Clouds stand erect on the horizon, but these are not |
|||||||
| 902 | the usual clouds—these are the plaits of whirling sands. Probably somewhere there is as |
|||||||
| 903 | a strong *buran.* |
|||||||
| 904 | ||||||||
|
905 | <a id="b4p-207-N1"></a><!-- block4placeid:207 --> |
||||||
|
906 | |||||||
|
907 | **October 11, 1925** |
||||||
|
908 | |||||||
| 909 | Accompanied by the chirping of birds, amid the bleating of the herds, beside the joyous |
|||||||
| 910 | gurgling of the *ariks,* we left Sanju. Soon we turned away from the oasis and |
|||||||
| 911 | ascended along the sandy incline of a river bed and found ourselves in the real desert. |
|||||||
| 912 | The hills reclined in weak, uncertain silhouettes. The air vibrated on the horizon as |
|||||||
| 913 | though interweaving some new formations. The full design of the sand spread out—this is |
|||||||
| 914 | the veritable *Unencompassable,* over which passed the great hordes. Jenghis and |
|||||||
| 915 | Tamerlane passed just here and, as upon the waves of the seas there does not remain the |
|||||||
| 916 | trace of a boat, so on the sands remains no vestige of those movements. |
|||||||
| 917 | ||||||||
| 918 | Here rises the whole tenderness, the whole mercilessness of the desert. And the Kirghiz |
|||||||
| 919 | point to the hazy pink northeast—there is the great Takla Makan! There are buried |
|||||||
| 920 | cities. There is Kucha—the capital of the former Tokhars. Their manuscripts are known to |
|||||||
| 921 | us—but does one know how to pronounce these signs? By analogies one can read the |
|||||||
| 922 | letters, but the phonetic indications of the sound has disappeared. Farther on, upon the |
|||||||
| 923 | inclines of the mountains, is Karashahr—an ancient place. There, long before it was |
|||||||
| 924 | covered, according to the evidence of Chinese historians, the chalice of Buddha was |
|||||||
| 925 | brought to Karashahr from Peshawar. And still farther, are the foothills of the heavenly |
|||||||
| 926 | mountains where dwell the semi-dependent Kalmucks who remember their history, their |
|||||||
| 927 | mountains and the pastures and sacred mounts. And still further lies the great Altai, |
|||||||
| 928 | which the Blessed Buddha reached. |
|||||||
| 929 | ||||||||
| 930 | The shield of the sand quivers. The eradicable signs are ebbed away. We inquire about |
|||||||
| 931 | antiquities. Much has already been carried away from the desert—but still more remains |
|||||||
| 932 | hidden beneath the sands. One can find them only gropingly. And now after a strong |
|||||||
| 933 | *buran,* from these depths emerge new stupas, new temples and walls of unknown |
|||||||
| 934 | habitations. By the few signs, would you say where the most important things are buried? |
|||||||
| 935 | The inhabitants themselves in speaking are indifferent to the discoveries. |
|||||||
| 936 | ||||||||
| 937 | In the distance you see from afar the herds of wild kulans. From a distance, |
|||||||
| 938 | silhouetted, a rider approaches. From far he looks at us, stops, dismounts and spreads |
|||||||
| 939 | out something white. We approach and see a white felt on which are laid two melons and |
|||||||
| 940 | two pomegranates. This is a *dastarkhan* from an unknown traveler, met upon the |
|||||||
| 941 | way. An unknown friendly hand to a guest. This is a veritable enchanted tablecloth, |
|||||||
| 942 | blanching amidst the immeasurable sands. A greeting from the unknown—to the unknown. |
|||||||
| 943 | ||||||||
| 944 | We reached Sanju, an inhabited dusty farming site. There is a labyrinth of clay walls; |
|||||||
| 945 | already upon the children, one sees tetter, a thing which we did not see in the |
|||||||
| 946 | mountains. We could not find any antiquities. People tell us that two Chinese officials |
|||||||
| 947 | came and took with them all the Buddhist antiques, which the inhabitants had |
|||||||
| 948 | accumulated. If this be true—it means that imperial China begins to understand the |
|||||||
| 949 | significance of the study of the old monuments. One must see if this story is altogether |
|||||||
| 950 | true—or whether these officials did not take away these things simply for their own |
|||||||
| 951 | benefit. |
|||||||
| 952 | ||||||||
|
953 | <a id="b4p-51-N1"></a><!-- block4placeid:51 --> |
||||||
|
954 | |||||||
|
955 | **October 12, 1925** |
||||||
|
956 | |||||||
| 957 | From Sanju to Pialma we proceed along the same Silk Road—and “silky” it is not only |
|||||||
| 958 | because the silk caravans passed there, but the road itself is silk and iridescent with |
|||||||
| 959 | all the combinations of sand; a milky desert with the finest designs of sand waves. The |
|||||||
| 960 | wind whirls the pearly dust and beneath your eyes new lacy meshes are created upon the |
|||||||
| 961 | surface of the ground. Old mile-posts are standing erect—the greater number of them |
|||||||
| 962 | half-destroyed. Behind us little bells are ringing. On a big gray horse the son of the |
|||||||
| 963 | neighboring Amban overtakes us. He is going on a leave of absence to Tun-huang—before |
|||||||
| 964 | him he has a journey of two months. He is curious—but very uncouth. He gives us some |
|||||||
| 965 | information concerning Khotan, speaks about the antiquities of Tun-huang. In Pialma |
|||||||
| 966 | there are also antiquities from Takla Makan. |
|||||||
| 967 | ||||||||
| 968 | It is a long passage. We proceed quickly from seven to halfpast four—but the people say |
|||||||
| 969 | that tomorrow’s road will be still longer. We make our stop in a fruit orchard—it is |
|||||||
| 970 | infinitely better than in Sanju where the camels, donkeys, horses, roosters and dogs |
|||||||
| 971 | ceaselessly thundered their choruses through the entire night. |
|||||||
| 972 | ||||||||
|
973 | <a id="b4p-52-N1"></a><!-- block4placeid:52 --> |
||||||
|
974 | |||||||
|
975 | **October 13, 1925** |
||||||
|
976 | |||||||
| 977 | From Pialma to Zawa is about thirty-eight miles. We left before dawn under the sign of |
|||||||
| 978 | Orion. For the first time during the journey, we saw the beloved constellation. Again |
|||||||
| 979 | the desert. Toward ten o’clock it is hot, reddened and searing. The stirrup burns the |
|||||||
| 980 | foot through the boot. What must it be like in summer? It is not without cause that |
|||||||
| 981 | during the summer they travel by night marches. |
|||||||
| 982 | ||||||||
| 983 | At the right, one sees the blue inclines of Kunlun—they remind us of Santa Fe. On the |
|||||||
| 984 | left, the pink sands of Takla Makan—I recall the desert of Arizona. |
|||||||
| 985 | ||||||||
| 986 | The son of the Amban is singing Chinese *namthars*—sayings about Chinese giants. |
|||||||
| 987 | Unexpectedly sharp, with nasal inhalations, with shouts and the beating of some sort of |
|||||||
| 988 | inexplicable rhythms and final cadenzas. It is difficult to associate this with the epos |
|||||||
| 989 | of giants. |
|||||||
| 990 | ||||||||
| 991 | Under the necks of the horses the small straps of bells are ringing. Red tassels wave |
|||||||
| 992 | beneath the reins. So, did the great hordes thunder here. |
|||||||
| 993 | ||||||||
| 994 | Three doves flew with us for a long time. Where could they come from in this desert? |
|||||||
| 995 | They were messengers; they brought us to a remarkable place, an old worshiped |
|||||||
| 996 | *mazar* and mosque. There in the midst of the desert live thousands of doves |
|||||||
| 997 | protected by legend. Every traveler throws them a bit of corn. This benevolent spot is |
|||||||
| 998 | much worshiped. The sight of these countless flocks of doves breathes forth a strange |
|||||||
| 999 | surprise to you. It is an unexpected San Marco. These doves are wayside messengers |
|||||||
| 1000 | pointing out the way to the travelers of the desert. It is said “one Chinaman killed and |
|||||||
| 1001 | ate such a dove and died immediately.” |
|||||||
| 1002 | ||||||||
| 1003 | The day ends with the golden grassy steppe with *barkhans* which resemble |
|||||||
| 1004 | *kurgans.* This is the beginning of the Khotan oasis and reminds us of Southern |
|||||||
| 1005 | Ukraine. In the evening there is sadness—Amdong has perished. The Lhasan mountain dog |
|||||||
| 1006 | could not withstand the desert heat. What a pity! Amdong reminded us so much of a |
|||||||
| 1007 | Finnish dog; he was so woolly and quick. Now there remains only black Tumbal—a ferocious |
|||||||
| 1008 | one frightening the population. In order not to lose this guardian also we shall carry |
|||||||
| 1009 | him in a palanquin tomorrow. |
|||||||
| 1010 | ||||||||
|
1011 | <!-- block4placeid:null --> |
||||||
|
1012 | |||||||
|
1013 | **October 14, 1925** |
||||||
|
1014 | |||||||
|
1015 | <p> |
||||||
|
1016 | <a id="t4p-53-N1"></a><span text4placeid:53> |
||||||
|
1017 | From Zawa we go to Khotan. The entire path is along an oasis. An unbroken line of |
||||||
| 1018 | villages, small bazaars and gardens. They are harvesting the corn and barley. Again |
|||||||
| 1019 | donkeys and horses are performing all kinds of domestic work. Again the women have |
|||||||
| 1020 | covered faces. They have small boyars’ hats and white veils as on the Byzantine |
|||||||
| 1021 | miniatures. Gradually, unnoticeably, we are entering the bazaars of Khotan itself. |
|||||||
| 1022 | There remains little of the ancient city. |
|||||||
|
1023 | </span> |
||||||
|
1024 | Khotan was known for its jade, its rugs and its song. From all this naught is left. The |
||||||
| 1025 | carpets are modernized; imitations of jade are common; of the songs there are only the |
|||||||
| 1026 | simple Moslem songs accompanied by a very long two-stringed “guitar.” There now remain |
|||||||
| 1027 | the industries connected with silk, cotton, maize and dried fruits. There is still an |
|||||||
| 1028 | unattractive narrow bazaar and dusty alleys between the clay structures. |
|||||||
|
1029 | </p> |
||||||
|
1030 | |||||||
| 1031 | Ancient Khotan was ten miles away from here, where the village of Yotkan is now. As |
|||||||
| 1032 | often happens, the most interesting sites are those covered with mosques and |
|||||||
| 1033 | *mazars.* |
|||||||
| 1034 | The flow of antiquity from Yotkan has almost ceased. |
|||||||
| 1035 | ||||||||
|
1036 | <p> |
||||||
|
1037 | <a id="t4p-53-N2"></a><span text4placeid:53> |
||||||
|
1038 | We stop temporarily in the dusty garden square in the center of the city. We are |
||||||
| 1039 | trying to fight for a house in the suburbs. It is not easy to obtain, because |
|||||||
| 1040 | apparently it conflicts with some one’s interest not comprehensible to us. |
|||||||
|
1041 | </span> |
||||||
|
1042 | In the beginning the Chinese officials are decent. The honorary sentinels comprise a |
||||||
| 1043 | guard of soldiers and beks. But they inquire if we will live here for a long time. |
|||||||
| 1044 | Visits to the Taotai, Amban and Military Governor. Everywhere we have tea in little |
|||||||
| 1045 | saucers with not elaborate sweets. Without delay come the return visits. The Military |
|||||||
| 1046 | Governor has a green coach lined with purple. The Taotai has a two-horsed carriage and |
|||||||
| 1047 | each horse has a separate wooden arch above it. The bridles are all Russian. |
|||||||
|
1048 | </p> |
||||||
|
1049 | |||||||
| 1050 | Then comes a luncheon at the Taotai—it lasts from two to six. More than forty courses. |
|||||||
| 1051 | The victrola jangles out Chinese legends and songs. Of course the rhythms are very |
|||||||
| 1052 | complicated and the variety of instruments can hardly be reproduced by the noisy |
|||||||
| 1053 | records. At the end of the luncheon the old official of the |
|||||||
| 1054 | *yamen* |
|||||||
| 1055 | becomes drunk and wailingly grumbles something, probably funny. |
|||||||
| 1056 | ||||||||
| 1057 | A native merchant suggests: “Instead of hiring help, buy a dozen girls. The price of a |
|||||||
| 1058 | good girl is thirty rupees.” But we do not intend to buy girls although we are listening |
|||||||
| 1059 | to it seriously because we are accustomed not to be astonished at anything; however, it |
|||||||
| 1060 | is permissible to be astonished at the sale of human beings. |
|||||||
| 1061 | ||||||||
| 1062 | It begins! Kerim Bek who was stationed with us happens to be a blackguard. The stupidly |
|||||||
| 1063 | smiling Amban says: “In the house you can paint but |
|||||||
| 1064 | *outside* |
|||||||
| 1065 | not.” We inquire the reasons. He smiles again still more stupidly and says the same |
|||||||
| 1066 | thing. We ask him to confirm this notification in writing. But he absolutely refuses. We |
|||||||
| 1067 | point out that it is precisely with the purpose of artistic work that the expedition has |
|||||||
| 1068 | been sent and that it is included in our passport. The Amban smiles thrice stupidly and |
|||||||
| 1069 | repeats his unaccountable prohibition. |
|||||||
| 1070 | ||||||||
| 1071 | The most vivid spot of our entrance into Khotan was the arrival of Tumbal in the |
|||||||
| 1072 | palanquin. The Ladakis brought in his woolly majesty to the bazaar with loud songs. The |
|||||||
| 1073 | black creature scowled and sat very important. The crowd rushed to the palanquin but |
|||||||
| 1074 | immediately flew away from it along the entire bazaar howling: “A bear!” All the |
|||||||
| 1075 | officials coming to see us considered it their duty to inquire about the fearful beast |
|||||||
| 1076 | and the Military Governor, wanting to look at our Tibetan animal, for safety’s sake took |
|||||||
| 1077 | George by the hand. Wonderful guards are these Tibetan wolfhounds! |
|||||||
| 1078 | ||||||||
|
1079 | <!-- block4placeid:null --> |
||||||
|
1080 | |||||||
|
1081 | **October 24, 1925** |
||||||
|
1082 | |||||||
| 1083 | We return home in the evening from the Taotai. The raven horses of “the honorary escort” |
|||||||
| 1084 | become startled and frighten our horses. By moonlight, the towers of the Confucian |
|||||||
| 1085 | temple with their gongs silently stand. The gongs have been silent all the time. |
|||||||
| 1086 | ||||||||
| 1087 | The road lies northward. Straight ahead, low over the horizon, brightly lies the Great |
|||||||
| 1088 | Bear. . . . |
|||||||
