This remarkable book contains a highly exciting account of the travel and adventure in the mysterious land of the Lamas by Miss Annie R. Taylor, a frail little woman missionary of England. She had been fired with the noble missionary’s zeal of spreading the message of Christ to the dogma-ridden-land of Lamas, Born in England, she was just 36 when she made her famous journey to Tibet. The author has divided his work in two parts. The First part describes, the strange land of Tibet and its mysterious people with their mysterious customs and mode of life. It is based partly on the Diary left by Miss Taylor and partly on the accounts left by twenty two European travelers who preceded Miss Taylor to Tibet and also the Indian explorer, Rai Bahadur Baboo Sarat chandra Das, Bengalee who visited Lhasa in 1882 and talked to the then Dalai Lama. Second part of the book reproduces the edited text of Miss Taylor’s diary. In October 1884, Miss Taylor sailed for China where she spent three years. From her childhood, the mysterious land of Tibet had exercised a strange fascination over her mind. She was determined to use the opportunity of her presence in china to attend the great Tibetan fair which is held near Si-ning at the famous Kumum Monastery where she found herself in July 1887. Twenty years earlier in 1867 this monestery was sacked during the Mohammedan rebellion. Before this sacrilege it used to contain 400 lamas and was a much more inspiring center of pilgrimage. She was however, firmly determined to travel in Tibet. She had with her Pontso, a 19 year old Lhasa youth who initially came to her for treatment and afterwards became her servant. She learnt Tibetan language in Sikkim. In March 1891 she came to Calcutta and then took a ship for China. She and her servant were for a year in the open city of Tauchau and then tramped through Tibet. For twenty nights she slept in the open. A cave would have been a luxury. For months she could not change her clothes. Of the three Chinese, who accompanied her, one turned back, another died on the road and the third tried to take her life and was the root cause of her misfortunate. Only her servant, Pontso followed her through her dreadful adventures to the end. Miss Taylor was twice under fire. A party of brigands made their matchlocks wabble but they could do little damage. The second time a force of 200 bandits surrounded the feeble party. The story reaches its climax at the trial scene located at a distance of three days’ journey from Lhasa. For 15 days after her arrest, she stood at by fighting for her life and the lives of the two Tibetans. Their fate hung on the judgement of these tea-drinking chiefs. The back of their tent was crowded with soldiers and servants. Although she failed to get permission to go to Lhasa, she wrung from the chiefs as compensation for their refusal, a tent, horses and provisions sufficient for the return journey to Cina. Then she toiled back and arrived at Tachien-lu on 13 April 1893. The author describes very interesting history of Tibet and the strange customs and mysterious life of its people. The Dalai Lama sits on a throne 6 feet heigh. They head of the De-Pung Monastery rules Tibet for a month in the spring. The cathedral is a blaze of colour and light during this period. At night 10,000 lamps illumine the building. The holy city of Lhasa is more than a home of metaphysical mysteries and the mummery of idol-worship, it is a secret chamber of crime; its rocks and its roads, its silken flags and its scented altars are all stained with blood. Te transition from demonolatory to Buddism was effected by one man whose name is said to be as much honoured in Tibet as that of Buddha himself. He is the celebrated Indian Pandit Padmas Sambhava. He is the celebrated Indian Pandit Padmas Sambhava. He erected the first Monastery in Tibet at Sam-Yas about 30 miles from Lhasa. The came the great reformer Pandit Atisa of Bengal in AD 1038. He wrote many books and founded the established Church some three and a half centuries after Guru Padma Sambhava. There are many other highly interesting details about Tibetan people. This volume is a magnificent addition to the meager literature on the mysterious land of the lamas written nearly hundred years ago. The illustrative drawings and photographs enhance it s utility.
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