1936 - 1937 Mission Diary

The official diary of the Gould mission to Lhasa sent by the British government. Read more about the mission diary.

September 27th Sunday.

see photographs below

As far as possible, Sunday is kept as a holiday. Morgan, Chapman, Nepean and Richardson climbed of 17,450 ft. overlooking Drepung monastery. It is a very holy place called Gyenbay Ri. A kind of 'via sacra' marked cut with stones leads along a steep ridge to the summit which is covered with cairns and prayer flags. We were told that the Dalai Lama and every monk must climb this hill on certain occasions. Those who are too old for much effort go up on yaks. Only the Yaks belonging to the Dalai Lama are allowed to graze on so sacred a mountain.

Author: Hugh Richardson [see handwritten annotations in Diary by Hugh Richardson in MS. Or. Richardson 2, Bodleian Libary, Department of Oriental Collections, University of Oxford]

Page Reference: Pt VII p.1