EXPEDITION--Joseph F. Rock in China, 1926-30- -MOUNTAINS OF MYSTERY

Expedition Zum Amnye Machhen in Südwest-China Im Jahre 1926: Im Spiegel Von ... Pub 2003, Wiesbaden.


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(text translated from German using online OCR)--


The Amnye MakeRock Icam 1926, on ether research trip for the Arnold Arboretum of the Harvard University, into the Nthe of a little known mountain mass in South West China, the Amnye Machhen; it seemed to him to be higher than other Himalayan summits, and he suspected an interesting flora. Stephan B. Sutton, Joseph Rock 's biographer, gave a brief account of his journey to Amnye Machhen (134-139): 7 "Rock laused his financial dilemma by placing a check for a few thousand dollars on his private account Security for a loan to the youngster Yang (of Chonili ...). Although [General] Ma Chi-fu had originally promised him safe escort into the mountains, set rock to the Tibetans and world to the Muslims at a distance. Since the arrival of the Kuo-min-chun he could not be sure that Ma would get his offer, and he did not want to travel all the way to Sining for nothing. In addition, his journey would be a good stack dumb of the wild and rough Ngolok tribe controlled area whose HaB would make a Moslem escort on Ma Chi's people rather a burden than a help. Bandits were Rocks headquarters. (It must be assumed that every Tibetan, at least in this part of the world, was at least a rumor in his life, he wrote to Sargent, director of the Arnold Arboretum and sponsor of the expedition, and said that even the Lamas were not disinclined to cut one's throat, though they were horrified at the totting of a dog, or perhaps even from vermin.) He had no interest in entering into any dangers. Therefore, he won twenty mounted and armed Tibetans to take him to Ragya; he would
Joseph F. Rock (1884-1962) 11Chinese occasional half-hearted proposals to their territory, but they have always hurriedly hurried. Ma Chi-fu only managed to recruit Steuem by sending numerous armed troops who did their job and then retreated quickly. Rock told the story of Chinese handlers who had ventured one week before his arrival to the Ngolok area. They had thrown a thief, and the tribe at night had robbed their camp of Iberia and their yaks. Stan had killed the Chinese, who had sent three horses, 50 taels of silver, and one rifle as a peace offer in their panic, demanded the Ngoloks 4,000 taels of blood money, making it clear that the handlers were willing to pay. The latter fled to Sining and asked General Ma for help. Wisdom, Rock remarked, was therefore of the utmost importance. While waiting for the answer from the three Ngolok chiefs, he withdrew from the Balkan-like policy and went to explore the gorges of the Yellow Plateau, "absolute terra incognita," he remarked in a characteristic manner. It was impossible, however, to descend the steep walls as far as the stream, so he looked down desperately and took pictures. It was during one of these trips, on the 30th of May, that he had a first clear slit on the Amne Machin. Standing on a tall PaB, White really enjoyed himself for the first time in months. "I paid nine peaks, one a huge pyramid of at least 28,000 feet Hobe; he may be a holierdean of some other Himalayan summit, including Everest. It is an enormous mountain massif that surpasses everything, and we had a hundred miles of air line. "Nothing could stop him now. But Rock's plan went wrong. The Bride of the Living Buddha of Labrang did not produce the desired results. Only one of the Ngolok chiefs was satisfied at all, and he was probably the least useful of alien. Stan to secure safe passage through, rock naked the Ngoloks on his intentions. Meanwhile, one of the tribes had killed a smaller Living Buddha from Ragya near the Amn Machin, and the Lamas from Ragya prepared a curse expedition to the mountains to revenge his death. The administrator of the Lamakloster net rock, to join the group, and desperately agreed, assuming that he would receive an armed escort of 30 or 40 Tibes and some Yaks. Since neither people nor yaks could be procured quickly, and the llamas were eager to get on with their faces, Rock stopped. His efforts to be an alternative during the next weeks were in vain, as no one in Ragya was willing to offer the Ngoloks together. The unwelcome delay forced Rock to watch Ragya and the naked existence of his residents closely. (Ad the hill behind the monastery, he later wrote for the National Geo

12 Introductionthese Witten are so low that a man can not stand erect; but these ascetic beings spend their miter here. Others live in Hahlen in the nearby rock walls. Prayer, meditation and abstinence are their lot. You are really abstinent! In winter they live on barley flour; in the summer, their main food seems to consist of boiled nettles.) However, the foreign exchanged. The monkish inhabitants of Ragya did not limit their wranches to the otherworldly. A chattering old waterbearer confirmed what rock always bane: <The living Buddha, he said, was a political or diplomatic system and always worked for the benefit of the wealthy and influential. The Buddha was very rich; likewise his administrator; and when a Reincamation entered, it seemed to him that this miracle always happened as the Supreme Buddha had wished. When, for example, the daughter of a mighty head-stone died, she was soon reborn in a little boy, a nephew of the Buddha's governor-a business, and a political affair, which was pleasant to all concerned. When one of the smaller Buddhas of [Ragya] died, Cr was also happily, comfortably, and quickly reincarnated, dismal in the person of the brother of the administrator! I Wheat, and asked the water-bearer how it came, that none of his children was the rebirth of a different Buddha. With a wink of his eye he noticed that the reason was that the sum of his secular grater was only in two goats. Although such insights distracted him and water on his literary meals, she did not bring Rock closer to his real goal. In his desperation he finally took refuge in extortion. He put it through, that a lamarat was called. <kb said that if they did not bring me Amne Machin, as I said before, I would go to Sining and ask General Ma for a Muslim congregation, go with them to Ragya, and the soldiers would force them to lead the Tibetans and beaters. ) The list worked, and two days saver rock was on the road. The horses swarmed through the Yellow River at Ragya, while the men squatted on inflated goat bellows. Not a single Ngolok appeared between Ragya and the Amn Machin, and so Rock was at rest doing his work. Botanically, the mountain range was a failure. Rock, always in a raw upper 15,000 feet, collected seeds from a series of herbaceous alpine plants, but the slopes were bar of the trees and shrubs he sought. It was also clear from a close examination that the main summit was significantly lower than Mt. Everest. When he saw him out of the valley, Rock could not make a precise measurement and tapped his hall at about 28,000 feet. In fact, he is 23490 Fu8. Rock came to this figure with the help of his aneroid barometer and his inspiration-amateur methods, which later set him embarrassed

Joseph F. Rock (1884-1962) 13FltShe in National Geographic, which caused him to stir the curiosity of a generation of mountaineers. The weather was good and the view was excellent, so Rock made spectacular photos; he made a detailed sketch of the mountain range. After doing what he could, there was no reason to walk around and hurt the invisible Ngoloks. Within a week he returned to Ragya zunick. No one was going to meet his travel group. His most exciting encounter, indeed, was with two Tibetan women who surrounded the sacred mountains with their bodies, constantly burying themselves - a process that they optimistically estimated for two months. Although he had not found any higher Everest, Rock was quite satisfied with himself and the originality of his company. He was only concerned that the meager botanical yield would be affected by Sargent. The latter, however, had grown philosophical, replied: 'Do not forget that it is equally important to find out that in a country no plants grow like what grows, and from this greatness I regard the Tibet journey as Edolg Ragya to Labrang end was more dangerous than the journey through the Ngolok area, as the caravan was in the middle of a fight between two nomad voters. Rock made it possible to negotiate and pay his way to safety, and he did well Labrang, three months ahead of the planned seven, and on 9 August he was back in Choni, Hirsty Yang rode to welcome him and tell him the last bad news.In the following, the sources for this presentation are published, Rock's diary describing the journey of the expedition, and Rock's correspondence with Charles Sargent, his client. Both reports complement each other and reflect different aspects. It is particularly delightful to lay Rocks' splendid book on the Amnye Machhen. 9 Don has given rock, besides geographic and historical reports from Chinese sources, photographs, and Karen, also an objective, scientific account of the same voyage. Thus, the present material provides us with the opportunity to analyze the various aspects and editorial stages of this travel report. This is not, of course, made in the present edition, but with the help of the material. For a wider audience, Rock has also delivered a richly illustrated article, Mr National Geographic.10

14 Introduction
Rock was a good enabler, and so the representations are anything but dry; in the difficulty of the journey, one sometimes wonders what reality, and what Rock's projections and opinions were. Rock's writings of names have been retained, though they are by no means uniform; the register tried to link these different forms. Thanks to the Arnold Arboretum for the provision of the Bride and the Botanical Garden in Edinburgh for the copy of the diary.

A SUIVRE--