The Expedition

Diary Entry:

We are now three days away from the last village – the one Doherty was forced to retire at.  One of the native porters remained with him.  Lao claims his sickness is due to the thinning air and that, upon returning to the lower altitudes, he will make a full recovery.

I, myself, am finding the journey more difficult.  Despite Wherry’s best intentions, there are large blisters on both of my feet (the good doctor believes I will lose several nails over the coming weeks) and the headaches and general breathlessness that accompany the so-called mountain sickness are becoming painfully pronounced.  Wherry has lost all appetite and is struggling to eat, despite Lao’s strict instructions to.  Each night our Tibetan friend has fed us bowls of rolled barley strings called noodles, or tsampa in his own tongue, along with strips of dried yak or goat.

Lao is, unsurprisingly, utterly unaffected by our climb, although he does assure me that it is possible for his people to be affected by the mountain sickness, albeit rarely.

We have retired to a small series of caves known to Lao.  The weather has become increasingly brutal and he suggests we overnight here and continue on to the temple in the morning, when the tempest outside subsides.  Despite our exhaustion, sleep is becoming more and more elusive in these high altitudes, something else Lao attributes to Doherty’s sickness.  He advises us to rest as much as possible, and thus I shall use the time to fill in some gaps in my narrative.  One of the natives is returning to Doherty in the morning, and I shall entrust my notes from the past few days to him.



In earlier diary entries, I described our voyage from London Airdocks and our Great Flight over the continent, touching down in all the usual places – Paris, Turin, Rome and into Greece and Turkey.  Flying over the vast desert wastes of Iran and across Pakistan into the high humidity of Jaipur, where we touched down before our final leg to Lucknow.  Note, add in description of Lucknow-Kathmandu train journey.  Readers will want to know more.  Discuss with Ed. – inc. meeting Lao at the opening of Bristol Hippodrome?  Probably not, the Grand Opening will no-longer be on dits & by the time we return, it will be considered out dated information.  Perhaps mention it in final closing of article series.

Now I feel I must reveal a little more about the curious little man who is leading our expedition.  Lao is perhaps five feet and only a few inches – a little man indeed!  He will not reveal his age, but I guess him to be not less than sixty note, can I find out Lao’s age?  Keep questioning!  but displays remarkable prowess, something he ascribes to a strict and complicated routine of movements made every dawn and dust – one linked to his spiritual life.  Wherry, ever the skeptical and worldly doctor, insists that the physical exercises keep the monk supple and well-jointed, like a ‘well-oiled machine.’  I still find it hard to accept Wherry’s utter disbelief in the Otherworldly, given his presence on this expedition.  He argues – at great length! – that science and mysticism form an unhappy marriage, and that, in this Modern Age, the so-called para-normal should be rejected by all Men of Knowledge.  Note – consider for a future article Science Verses Spirit.  Can I get an interview with Conan-Doyle? 

Lao remains convicted that that the newly exiled Dalai Lama, the leader of Lao’s Eastern faith - a man who could perhaps be compared to the Catholic pope in Rome; certainly Lao speaks of him with the same fervency as seen by Continentals – will one day return through this tiny Himalayan country of Nepal and into Tibet.  How Wherry reconciles such zealous belief with his own skepticism, I know not.  The good doctor predicts the Dalai Lama will remain in India and, as such, the Buddhist faith will eventually peter out.  Tantum tempus narrabo – only time will tell – if the thirteenth holder of this esteemed title will return to Lao’s homeland.

Lao, with his parchment-yellow skin and curious slanting eyes, speaks against the matter with all the authority of an Old Testament prophet.  I for one cannot wait until we reach the temple and see firsthand the wonders of Lao and his brotherhood.  Many of the lamas have of course fled, but enough remain in these isolated temples and monasteries for us to visit.

It is getting late, and I have not written the half of what I intended.  However, Lao is insistent that we retire for the night.  Breathing has become very much laboured and even the normally pleasurable task of jotting down my thoughts from the day are arduous.





Note to Doherty:

Trust you are improving.  Lao assures us you will have recovered enough to continue your descent by now.  Please ensure these notes get telegraphed back to the office.  Once you are able, I implore you, resume your photographic studies of the Natives and Their Lives.  Wherry has forgone his botanical sketches – you are not the only one to suffer with this accursed mountain sickness!

I suggest you return to Kathmandu and thence the civilised world once you are strong enough to travel.  Wherry and I are likely to be 'some time' at the temple.  The newspaper will cover the cost of both your train and airship - you will be required to make your own arrangements once you reach England. 

My fondest regards to Mrs. Doherty.  I have enclosed another letter to my Wife. 

Yours,

T. T. 





Editor’s Note:  It is with great sadness that we publish these extracts from the late Mr. Turner’s diary.  Mr. Theophilus Turner, along with Dr. Gregory Wherry  - late of Wells – and Mr. Sidney Doherty – of the city of Swanswea – attended an expedition earlier in this year into the Himalayan Mountains.  This final extract from our Esteemed Correspondent’s diary in the last known communication with the expedition before it vanished.  Later correspondence with Mr. Doherty – who, we are pleased confirm, has made a full recovery! – suggests the expedition did in fact leave the caves, but that Turner, Wherry and the monk Lao never arrived at the temple.

This newspaper offers its sad condolences to the families of both Mr. Turner and Dr. Wherry.





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