To Lhasa in Disguise: A Secret Exhibition Through Mysterious Tibet

By: William Montgomery McGovern

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Synopsis: This is a record of adventures, and of achievements in the face of supposedly insuperable obstacles, which is thrilling by reason of the size and color and significance of the events.Tibet and especially Lhasa, its capital city, is guarded from outsiders by fanatic natives, and the country is further guarded by the giant mountain ranges that hem it in. No white man before Dr. McGovern ever got through the ice-bound Himalaya passes in the winter, and no white man before him ever contrived to live in Lhasa long enough to photograph and study the Tibetans at close range.A party made up to go to Tibet, of which Dr. McGovern was one, was met in the mountains and told to go back. All the rest of the party turned in their tracks and dropped down into India. Dr. McGovern, accompanied only by his servant Satan, continued in disguise into Tibet, arriving ultimately after a series of almost incredible hardships in Lhasa itself. He interviewed the Dalai Lama and other officials and functionaries, studied the people and took innumerable photographs.Dr. McGovern, who by the way was related on his mother’s side to both Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, was an Oxford man, a distinguished Orientalist, a lecturer of the Royal Asiatic Society, and the author of several books dealing with the Far East. He was especially equipped to capitalize in interest and information for his readers the amazing experiences through which he passed.