| Show a si 0 te INV ff ML 4 IN A J W I 1 t X A VI f 10 k 41 A X 4 k alil yv A riha nepal porters carry pound loads prepared bythe by the national geographic society washington D a w ru service though isolated in the NEPAL high mountains north of the he border of ilidia and almost untouched by western civilization Is remarkable in a number of ways it can boast of unrivaled natural scenery of the highest and most fascinating mountains of unique architectural monuments of an immense mense army quite out of proportion to the population of an n excellent and nd enlightened system of government which brings peace and prosperity td the little littie kingdom even the cli chosen few who gain access to nepal may not wander at will an interesting way to approach nepal Is through on the frontier of india the most agreeable way of reaching raiful Is by way of patna batna the ancient capital of asoka from here the pious buddhist emperor himself set out in B C on his religious pilgrimage to nepal and other sacred strongholds strong holds of his faith at patna batna you board a paddle boat and cruise five or six miles up the ganges canges the distance varies according to the height of the river and get into a waiting uniting train on the other oilier side next nest morning you wake up in on one side lie the unbroken acm of the bibar bihar rice odds fields yellowing beneath the sun on the other lie more rice fields in the sequestered kin kingdom dom you strain your eyes toward the eastern horizon and dimly perceive a dark green reen belt tills this flat low lying tract of cultivation and jungle lying between the Hl Ill malayan foothills and the border of bihar bahar and stretching miles from cast to west Is known as the taral from april to november this part of the country Is infested with a deadly malarial fever thus the stray visitor to nepal wisely confines ills his visit to the winter beyond the taral again rise huge shadowy forms the himalayas hiding in the morning mist then ensues the inevitable argument with your neighbor as to whether a certain white object Is mount everest or merely a deceitful cloud through the jungles from a little meter gauge train sets oft off across the taral for t the lie first mile the railroad leads through the main street of the city with shop and house fronts on either side then it comes out into the open rice fields and so into the tiger and rhino haunt ed jungles beyond and what jungles I 1 halfway through them your train draws up all passengers get out clamber onto the backs of waiting elephants and pad silently off into the he mysterious depths the jungles of the nepal taral tara are subtropical sub tropical and consist chiefly of sal got trees with long thin black trunks and huge leaves starting very near the base here and there a giant teak with its beautiful crocodile back soars upward stately and erect festoons Fes of creepers hang fiang from tree to tree the most common variety has magnificent velvety leaves large and round like soup plates of palest green ce ladon celadon in the lower re regions alons glons stocky little banana palms flourish and wild ginger with tilt brilliant crimson fruits all this thriving growth Is interrupted in certain places by the passage of wider wi deriver lyer beds these have long been destitute of water and and their barren white sands binds and smooth round pebbles contrast strangely with the luxuriant vegetation on either side A A tiger shoot shfot to in nepal Is conducted on novel lines the tiger Is attracted to i I 1 alfill atilland I 1 and Is then surrounded by a ring bof of elephants slowly the ring closes in until the angry beast well aware of what Is going on charges As the undergrowth Is very thick and by no means me as all the elephants carry armed men lie he hasa has a fair chance of escape on a shoot you may ride some two miles from froin the train to the kill where you join the ring of 00 elephants surrounding it lurking Borne somewhere here within that wide arele Is the tiger the huge animals upon which you sll sit rove stealthily forward you foil 1001 ja l y via S w down the line of 0 the waving trunks and swishing tails there Is not another howdah elephant carrying rifles for a hundred yards perhaps the wily creature sought would break through the intervening unarmed ranks the tiger charges but you have little time to consider tills this possibility from a neighboring clump of banana palms comes a series of snarls and before you quite realize what Is happening a huge buge bristling mass of black and yellow Is hurtling toward you it Is a wonderful thing the charge of an angry tiger the break from cover in a crash of thunder the mighty bounds toward the foe the gleaming teeth the naming flaming eyes and roars of savage hate A companion fires once and the elephants turn with one accord tor for none will face a charge twice and the tiger turns with a bitter bitted snarl which subsides into a last groan of defeat as he rolls over and lies dead at the bottom ot of a little gully there ensues a terrific hullabaloo mahouts remonstrating with their changes for displaying so much cowardice sh ikaris shouting with delight beaters breaking olt off branches to poke the v victim and make certain that not a spark of life remains then some of the men kneel down by the warm body and spread five or six large sal leaves with fresh blood in honor of their goddess kali kail many jungle folk foil feed their children tiger meat to make them brave and strong after two days shooting in the taral you push on to the railway terminus 1 nus 7 aej from here boil you continue the journey toward katmandu the capital of nepal by motor some thirty miles of narrow narron but excellent road lead through wooded foothills to where the ascent of the first mountain pass be begins ins mere here ponies and dandis take the place of cars there are two different types of dandl ilande one Is a wooden chair etith ith leather cushions the other a canvas hammock slung on long poles in which you can lie full length both are carried by teams of six coolies in bright blue cotton uniforms two miles from lies the little mountain village of Isag arhl where travelers customarily spend the night the village Is complete with its garrison of gurella 4 a 4 foretaste of the tremendous military power active within the kingdom over the pass to the valley after rising early at you climb the few remaining feet which lead to the top of the first pass approximately feet high directly below you lies a smiling valley while beyond it a turbulent mountain ocean rises and fulls falls in colossal waves of sunlight and shadow far out to sea the waves are capped by the glistening white horses of the eternal snows then the hie descent begins the path Is no longer smooth it Is exceedingly steep and rough it consists of solid rock and along it surface large loose bo bowl ders at random for the next six miles you ride through flourishing fields of brown headed buckwheat golden mustard and ripening rice the snows are no longer visible and the sun shines brightly overhead near the various villages kindhearted kind hearted women have placed brass vessels full of waterland wat water erand and flow era by them the wiy wayside ilde a th thoughtful ought fut attention for the traveler the path eventually leaves the nelds fields to rise and aind fall over rolling grassy then you come to the foot of the Chandra gIrl pass from below the road before you real resembles enables the sheer wall of a precipice but your ponies make light of it the view train from the top ot of tn thi chun pass Is K so amazing that you cannot afterwards believe it t exists below lies the circular rice clad valley aihley of katmandu bathed in the arango glow of the evening nan bun out of lt it away to the right in a medley of talla miniature lature pagodas palaces ann ana towers Is the magnificent capital city surrounding it in a black and wall are the mighty mountain guarda 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