There is a Yeti in the back of everyone’s mind; only the blessed are not haunted by it. ~ old sherpa saying

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Book Find: Exploring the Himalaya


Neat find: Exploring the Himalaya by William O. Douglas. I found this book in the discard pile at work. 1958, Landmark, hardcover. Pretty good shape; has the typical school stamps all over it.

Naturally, the first thing I did was to look up Yeti in the index. There isn't a listing for Yeti, but there is for Abominable Snowman.
...the people of Sikkim believe there is such an animal. When I was in Sikkim, I visited with the Maharaja - ...a devout Buddhist. He told me that he believes the abominable snow man exists - that one night at Gangtok he looked out the window and saw one racing across his lawn.

Here's a reference to Yeti, with descriptions:
Many hillmen believe that any abominable snow man will kill them. the hillmen call it the yeti. It is supposed to be of either the bear or ape family - grayish with a pointed head and about four or five feet tall. Tenzing, the famous Sherpa, told me that he believes the yeti exists and that it is an ape.

And of other expeditions:
Britishers have photographed an apelike footrpint with five toes made by some unknown animal in the high snow. ...Japanese expideitons to the Himalya have brought confirmatory evidence that the yeti actually exists.

What that "confimatory evidence" is isn't stated.
There's also a reference to a female being; possibly a yeti or yeti type creature, or something different:
There are also legends about a mysterious snow woman. She is said to have only one leg and she always carries a pipe between her lips. She frequents the high snow fields and whistles at passers-by. Her whistle is thought to entice men ontlt he glaciers, where she devours some and makes love to others.

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