Page:Narratives of the Mission of George Bogle to Tibet (1879).djvu/59

lviii very communicative; had not the gift of narration; but the essential portion of what has been preserved of his account of the journey will be found in the Appendix at the end of this volume. The only genuine sketch of the palace of Potala is, I believe, that given in the 'China Illustrata' of Kircher, from Father Grueber.

Grueber was followed by two other Jesuits, named Desideri and Freyre. Hippolito Desideri was born at Pistoia in 1684, became a Jesuit, and was sent to Goa in 1712. In 1714 he went by way of Surat to Delhi, where he was joined by Father Manoel Freyre as a companion. Crossing the Pir Panjal Range the two Jesuits came to Kashmir on the 10th of May, and travelled thence by Leh and over the Mariam-la pass to Lhasa, the journey occupying them from August, 1715, to March, 1716. Desideri remained at Lhasa until 1729, when he was recalled by the Pope, and not allowed to return, owing to complaints against him from the Capuchin friars, who had found their way into Tibet. We have one letter of Desideri, which descibes his journey through Ladak and as far as the Mariam-la pass, but there the narrative breaks off abruptly. A translation of this letter, from the 'Lettres Edifiantes,' will be found