The Fourth and Fifth Challenge Gates.
Leaving the village and walking about a mile, I climbed up step by step
alongside a broad river among the south-western mountains. There were
no tall trees, only here and there some small dwarf specimens and wheat
growing in poor soil. Going on about a mile farther there is a castle
which is the largest and last one of the three. The number of soldiers
stationed in this castle is two hundred; whereas in Pimbithang and
Choeten Karpo the number is respectively one hundred and two hundred,
altogether making five hundred in number. It is said that about fifty
soldiers are sometimes sent to Pimbithang. In this soldier’s town,
as in the case of Choeten Karpo and Pimbithang, many of the men are
engaged in various trades. Passing through the town, there is a very
large gate by the side of which two soldiers were watching. I showed
the note to them, and after fixing a seal on it, they readily allowed
me to pass through. Walking a little further from the gate I saw the
fifth guard-house where lay the greatest danger to my undertaking.
The reason why it was specially dangerous to me was the number of
people who knew me. Of course there was no man who would act as my
enemy, but as most of the Tibetans are shrewd money-savers, it was not
certain that those who knew me would not tell my nationality to the
Tibetan officials and thereby make a little money. There had been two
English people there; one of whom was Miss Taylor, a missionary, who,
as I said before, tried to get into Tibet from China. Proceeding as
far as Nakchukha from which the distance to Lhasa is ten days’ journey
by horse, and fifteen or twenty days’ journey by walking, she was not
allowed to go any further. Every one can go to Nakchukha, which forms
the boundary between China and Tibet, but it is hard to step into
the Dalai Lama’s dominion. Miss Taylor returned with the object of
converting the Tibetan people, and now lives at the town of Nyatong,
which by some is called Yatung.
As it is the boundary between British India and Tibet, there are many
Tibetans and British officials there. Among those I knew very well were
the Englishmen and their Secretaries hired by the Chinese Government
to examine both import and export goods; besides there are three or
four Tibetans from Darjeeling. If I had been detected by these men,
there was no way of escape for me; but committing myself to the will of
Buḍḍha, I proceeded rapidly onwards with firm steps. There were about
ten houses; the large and elegant ones were occupied by officials,
missionaries, or Chinese.
Opposite the house of the missionary stands the mansion of a man known
by the official name Chyi Kyab (Superior), his personal name being
Sardar Dargye. Sardar means coolie-leader, Dargye his personal name.
In Darjeeling there are ḍanḍiwala or mountain palanquin carriers,
so-called from the rudest and simplest form of palanquin used in
mountain travel, which consists essentially of a basket carried by
means of a pole. This man was originally the chief of these coolies,
and the custom of this rascal was to deceive and threaten men and
extort money by violence. As I heard that all in Darjeeling had
suffered from his cruel treatment and reproached him vigorously, he
must be a very bad man. Now I had to meet this man.
This upstart, who had been a coolie chief, being in Tibet appointed
to high rank by the Dalai Lama, is invested with such great power
and influence that he wears a hat adorned with coral beads. Like
all upstarts, his speech is more arrogant than that of a Minister
President in Lhasa, and it was thought almost certain that if I
should call at his mansion to see him, I should be driven out from his
gate. Just in front of his house stood an elegant and well arranged
house containing various chambers of convenient sizes, inhabited by
Europeans. In it many servants were busily engaged in working here and
there. Notwithstanding there were some among them who knew me, I passed
by without seeing them. We went to Dargye’s mansion, but we were not
allowed to go in. However one man came out, and looked at me awhile.
“Who is he?” asked the man from my servant in a whisper.
No sooner did the servant utter the words: “He is the physician of
Sera,” than “Oh!” said the man, “is he the famous physician of Sera?
Some say he is coming to this place.”
“There is an urgent call for my master,” said the servant, “we can’t
lose even a day’s time. At Phari Castle we received our passport on the
day of our arrival; give us the note as quickly as possible.”
As I was thinking that the servant for the most part had done well, the
man said “Step this way,” and happily we were received.
The supervisor has two wives: one he married when he was coolie-chief,
and the other after appointment as a supervisor.
Telling him the various circumstances of my journey, I requested him to
give me a note allowing me to pass out of the guard-house.
“Tell me the whole truth of your business,” said the supervisor gravely.
“I must go to Calcutta on secret business,” said I sternly, “concerning
the inner chamber of the Dalai Lama’s palace. It is so urgent that
if possible I wish to return within twenty days; but if you compel
me to spend more time on the way, you must give me a certificate
verifying my excuse to show when I return to Lhasa.”
“It is my duty,” persisted he, “I must hear the nature of the secret
business.”
“Have you the right to hear,” said I gravely and with dignity, “the
secret of the Prime Minister? Furthermore, have you the right to hear
the secret which no one knows but the Dalai Lama? If you compel me
positively, I shall tell you the secret of my business; but you must
give me a certificate signed and sealed with the chief’s stamp, and
assume the responsibility for my having told the secret. If you do so
and keep all men at a distance, I shall lay open before you the whole
of the Dalai Lama’s secret.”
“If it be so,” said he, giving me a note addressed to
Tomo-Rinchen-gang, “I shall not ask to hear it. As it is a service of
such great importance that it is impossible to detain you even a day,
I shall arrange to get the passport as quickly as possible. I shall
write a note which you may send by your servant to Tomo-Rinchen-gang.
You will receive two copies of the note, which again must be taken to
the Chinese military officer at Pimbithang to get a copy of the note
there. By showing the one received from Pimbithang, you may pass this
guard-house without any trouble.”
[Illustration: PASSPORT IN TIBETAN FOR THE AUTHOR’S RETURN TO TIBET IN
THE FUTURE.]
As I previously said, one of the two copies of notes obtained from
Tomo-Rinchen-gang is written in Chinese, and the other in Tibetan.
The one written in Chinese is to be taken to Pimbithang, the third
guard-house, and handed in as a certificate to the Chinese military
officer there; while the other one, as shown in the picture, written
in Tibetan letters, is my return certificate which, when I re-enter,
must be handed to the supervisor of the fifth guard-house, serving as a
testimonial for the purpose of receiving a new passport there. But as I
went out of Tibet and have not yet returned, this return certificate
remains in my hands as a memento.
To get a note from the supervisor Dargye was not an easy task. This man
has a bad reputation as a taker of bribes. His personal appearance is
disgusting. When I told him that I had secret business from the Dalai
Lama, he instantly prostrated himself and bowed low again and again. I
was surprised at his entire change of manner; but as I believe that,
in every country, those who are haughty to their inferiors are also
servile to their superiors and are usually hateful knaves, my feeling
was only deepened by the sudden change.