Page:Narratives of the mission of George Bogle to Tibet.djvu/61

lvi ability, who enjoyed usually long lives. Kang-hi reigned from 1662 to. 1723, and had the wisdom to admit Catholic priests into China, and to utilize their scientific knowledge. Kien-lung, who ruled over the Chinese empire from 1736 to 1796, was also a prince of great capacity; and the ascendencyof China over Tibet was fully established during these reigns. Yet it was from the side not of China, but of India that Europeans first penetrated into Tibet, in the guise of missionaries. The Jesuit, Antonio Andrada, in 1624, set out from Agra to scale the appalling mountains, the snowy pinnacles of which were visible from the plains of India. He climbed the terrific passes to the source of the Ganges, and eventually, after fearful sufferings, reached the shores of the sacred lake of Mansarowar, the source of the Sutlej. Thence the undaunted missionary found his way over the lofty passes to Rudok, and eventually, by way of Tangut, to China, He was the first European to enter Tibet after Friar Odoric of Pordenone, in 1325, just three centuries earlier.

The next journey, that of Fathers Grueber and Dorville, was still more remarkable, for these enterprising missionaries succeeded in passing from China, through Lhasa, into India. John Grueber, was born at Lintz, in Austria, in 1620, and becoming a Jesuit, was sent from Rome to Macao in 1657, proceeding thence to Peking. He was ordered to return to Europe, to receive instructions from the general of the order at Rome, but the ports were closed by a Dutch fleet. He therefore resolved to attempt the journey by land. Setting out, with Father Dorville as a companion, in June, 1661, he travelled by way of Sining, crossed the Tangut desert, and reached Lhasa in six months from Peking. There he remained two months, and in his letters he describes the worship of the Dalai Lama, and