Part 11 (1/2)
I thus foundTibetan independence by avoiding embroilment in the rivalries of the Great Powers I made a decision early on to educate my son in such a way that he would be aware of these problee In this way, I would leave Tibet with a leader who could act wisely during the great storulf even Tibet
The first great crisis of , and I was already eighty-one The Russian agent, Dorjiloff, whoratiated hient of I an aroup of aristocratic Tibetans They wished to form an alliance with the japanese to reee areas that had been incorporated into eastern China Considering the political and military power of Tibet at that time, the latter was a silly fantasy, but it so entranced the ruling nobles in Lhasa that I had difficulty at ti them in I had placed trusted associates in positions of authority within the ar, whoularise the border with the Chinese But rude, pompous, and unaware of the consequences of their actions, some of the leaders of the Tibetan arroup of British ed in this I later learned by Dorjiloff and Ya, and it not only raised a British protest but brought about a crisis of authority within the Tibetan governe or permission I had them immediately arrested and executed for insubordination To counter Yaht in honour to the Potala, where he was installed as a suprereat risk, for it meant inordinate Russian influence, but it also ents could watch hinore the British protest until I had successfully dealt with these two agents I surmised that, despite the seriousness hich the raid on its lish Parliaovernment would not invade or attack us until the situation had reached a e
In this ry, but they temporised and decided to send aWith his arrival, the situation becaerous When Dorjiloff and Yamamoto learned that the British had sent a diploreatly disappointed, for they had hoped for a ure his body, and announce that Tibet was now in open defiance of the British Government This would result al of their plot, I had Manning brought to a secret location, where he was put under heavy guard The house that he was placed in ned by Pasang, my foster son, and his wife, the princess Pe's whereabouts
Yaents learned where Manning was Still, his guard was so strong that he was in little danger until events took a disastrous turn Not long after the news that Pasang, the husband of the princess Pe confessed to the princess Pee Soeneral outcry Dorjiloff and Yamaent in Lhasa and to athered around the Jor-Khang to protest the union of a Tibetan wo that neither Manning nor anything concerning hi in a cell in the Potala, where I made sure that he ell cared for He was kept there for several an to fade In the meanti about him I ordered that no reply be made to any British demands Suddenly, however, there appeared in Lhasa another diploian explorer and naturalist by the naerson, another with a secret mission I refused to see him formally, but learned that he had co It was also clear that this mission would be the last before the British sent a military expedition I now had two British diplomats to protect from Dorjiloff and Yamamoto
I decided to act in a hich was filled with danger and risk but if successful, one that could protect Tibet and ent Under no circu Indeed, I realised that he et him out of Tibet alive, however, I had to convince Dorjiloff and Yamamoto that he was dead I issued a secret communique, but one that purposely reached their ears thehad been tried and sentenced to die by a Tibetan tribunal and that in accordance with Tibetan law he had been sent to the Garden of Punishment There he would remain until dead They were informed that they would be allowed to identify his body if they so chose
I had Manning immediately transported to the Garden and put in the torturous baination I had no intention of having him die, however, and after several days, when I was told byto suffer unbearably, I had hiht and Sackville-Grimes, a notorious criminal of London who had found his way to Lhasa, put in his place Griht, was near death, and bore an uncanny rese In my desire to make sure that Dorjiloff and Yamamoto were convinced of the identity of the deadto my father, William Moorcroft, that bore the initials WM on its buttons I had Sackville-Gri was spirited away to a secret location kept by ood friend, the Newar merchant, Gorashar
But ht that Sackville-Grient of Dorjiloff, had been sent to verify Manning's death, but had been overpowered and taken prisoner by Sigerson Sigerson had returned to the house of the princess Peood hope of deceiving Yamamoto and Dorjiloff with the dead Sackville-Grierson had been fooled, and I had no idea if he would make his discovery public I decided to act quickly Dorjiloff, Yaerson must leave Tibet at once I issued immediate orders for their arrests Dorjiloff was found in his cell in the Potala and was subdued only with a great struggle Yamamoto, however, had already been turned over to the Chinese aerson had disappeared froerson, but he was nowhere to be found I decided to direct the search ht This Scandinavian emissary had acted with remarkable resourcefulness, and I realised then that this was no ordinary agent, and no ordinary naturalist, as he claihtfall that I received a e from Gorashar, the Newar erson'” will coold knife” I was astounded at the note, for it reatest trust
I then ordered the search to be abandoned, the guard to the Potala to be relaxed, and that a tall stranger should be allowed to pass I sat on the floor atI dozed and it ht when he walked in We stared at each other for what seeerson's face, his gaunt figure, his acquiline nose, and his penetrating eyes He looked alraph or read a description of hiet the words that he uttered to me: ”Well, Moorcroft” It was the first tilish naerson then identified hilish detective Sherlock Holmes, and I remember little of the conversation that ensued, except that out of it ca friendshi+p and a useful alliance
The conversation was violently interrupted, however Dorjiloff had escaped his guard, and burst into un at us
”Neither of you move,” he hissed ”I heard your little conversation before I entered What a great piece of fortune! To reent Moorcroft but also the counterfeit diplomat Holmes!”
He took ai with the speed and grace of a great cat, fairly flew through air, knocking Dorjiloff to the ground, the pistol flying across the rooold knife at Dorjiloff's throat, but Dorjiloff's forreat, and Holmes found himself overpowered Dorjiloff seized the knife and was about to plunge it into Hol hi the knife from his hand
”A very close call, le at the Reichenbach Falls It is enough tohis breath, ”except that by persevering one has the opportunity to rid the world of a few of its devils”
”He is the second man I have killed in my life, and I am not pleased at my action,” I said ”But such is uard Dorjiloff's body was removed Later that day, Dorjiloff's re to the vultures at the Place of Silence, and the Russian government was notified of his death and funeral That very day, Willia, the envoy to Lhasa, was escorted to the Indian border, whence he continued his journey to Delhi and then to England He carried with hi in detail the events of the last several years and a declaration of hope for a period of tranquil relations with the British Empire He was followed shortly thereafter by the princess Peether for England
Sherlock Hol which tiuise of the Scandinavian naturalist that he had assumed at the outset, carried out a variety of studies He and I met often but secretly, and we became close friends At the end of this period, he left with Gorashar for Katland He carries with hi upon his wish, ht of day in some distant moment in the indeterminate future
Holmes had sat at his desk immersed in hile I read the account contained in the Moorcroft docu, said, with an affectionate smile, ”Oh, by the way, Watson, the knife is now yours”
THE GIANT RAT OF SUMATRA
IN READING OVER THE MANY ACCOUNTS THAT I HAVE placed before the public concerning the exploits of es contain many references to cases as yet unpublished For reasons of discretion, almost all of these tales will forever remain untold Only one of theo, with Holmes's express permission, to publish at the appropriate moment
Another of these cases, I now find, fits the present annals so very well that its publication in them is almost necessary if Holmes's experiences in the Orient are to be coes in the Dutch Indies The reader may remember that I have alluded to it once before in the introductory words to the strange case of the Sussex Vas and the giant rat of Sumatra, a tale for which Holmes then believed that the world was not yet prepared No case undertaken by him before or since shows so clearly the dreadful effects of the contact of pri this adventure, I have chosen to let Holmes speak for himself The account is written in his oords, the land Addressed tosoapore before he boarded a shi+p destined for the Levant The prose is in Hol, I placed it in the tin box that holds soCross Although Hol doubt as to whether it should appear now, he reluctantly agreed that its inclusion in the present collection was most appropriate, indeed necessary, if his Oriental adventures were to be complete The e
My dear Watson, I have decided to record for you, and perhaps someday for the public for whom you have chronicled a number of my cases, an account of events that took place shortly before I arrived here in Singapore The heat here is intolerable, and I can write only in the early hours of theof 1893, I travelled south in Bengal to Chittagong, where I had booked a passage to the Dutch Indies on a shi+p called the Matilda Briggs I had chosen it because of the rather circuitous route it was scheduled to take to its ultimate destination, naong, the shi+p was to enter the Bay of Bengal, calling at the Anda the southern coast of Burapore before reaching the island of Java The trip was to last at least three weeks and perhaps longer, for such freightersto no fixed schedule and often stop in remote and unexpected places This suited me well, for I was in need of a period of calm after my exploits in the Indian Subcontinent
The shi+p bore the Ao, carried a dozen passengers I was happy to learn as soon as we eure in the events that follow, the reers were of no interest to me Six of them consisted of an American missionary, a Mr Blackton, and his faed Dutch couple and their crippled daughter returning to Batavia after a trip to Holland; the reers I shall describe presently Had I looked for intelligent stiht only the calm of the sea to soothe my nerves and lie, I had again changed my identity This was merely an added precaution, since it was not unlikely that some of my cleverer enemies, notably the criht try to follow me I travelled as William Redfern, a person with no visible means of support, but one who professsed an aeneral and of the Dutch Indies in particular In order not to cause undue couests, but otherwise took my meals in my quarters, which were on the upper deck The meals beloere of tolerably short duration and, except for the occasional raucous behaviour of soh The captain was a large Swede, whose overwhel interest was first the sea, and secondly the food that was served
It was towards the end of as an uneventful voyage that I caers, Baron Maupertuis, of the Netherlands-Sumatra Company, and his wife, who, as I was to learn very quickly, was of English blood It was not long into our first conversation that I realised that she was Ellen, nee Hodgson, the sister of the sahost I may one day relate to you The Maupertuises were a witty, diploh I ordinarily tire of such company, I found their presence a relief from what had by then becoe I had ventured ashore on several occasions, however, particularly at Pagan, to satisfy icalup my notes about them You may note here the work ”Ruins of Old Burraph that was published on my return, which was entirely the result of this journey
Baron Maupertuis was descended from an old Dutch family of Utrecht and had been in the service of his country for ned as Resident to the court of the Maharajah of Jogyakarta, and it was there that he and his ere to reside
On the last day of the voyage, they extracted a promise from me that I would visit and spend a few days with thee had taken far longer than I had expected I was frankly bored now by the sea, aching for a fresh place for the eye and a new proble on to Jogyakarta, and I staying on in this large city to see what I could of it in the short ti Oriental metropolis, hot and filled with smoke like much of the East, but without that sense of mystery that I found in Calcutta Islam had cleansed this once Hindu Buddhist island of much of its earlier beliefs and with it hout Asia, the Moslem armies and converts had defaced or destroyed much of what had lain in their path After a week of desultory wandering, I decided to leave, the high point ofbeen the apprehension of a rather silly pickpocket who, thinking to rob my purse, nearly received a broken wrist
I was rested fro, despite the oppressive heat So far,else, however, I wanted to visit the ancient monuments of Java before I moved on It was then that I sent word to Baron Maupertuis that I should be arriving in a few days in Jogyakarta and that I hoped that his invitation was still open I received a reply the sauest as long as I should like I sent a ith an iyakarta by train and was met at the railway station by the Baron's servants Soon after, I was ensconced in his palatial abode The Residence is a large Dutch bungalow surrounded by wide gardens in the A distance of the kraton, or palace of the Maharajah, a large compound that dominated the city and stood at its very centre
It was on one evening of yakarta The Maupertuises gave a lavish dinner party, to which the Maharajah himself paid a short visit He was by now a very old ht, and his regal air coe and feeble manner Much of the merchant coe fortunes in these tropical islands Their round faces and stomachs toldof the glitter
Maupertuis rabbed me by the sleeve and pulled me across the rooentleentlee, of who ical re to me, ”is Professor Van Ruisdael of Leiden”
Van Ruisdael greeted ht nod He did not rise, I think not out of any innate rudeness but rather because his bulk made it difficult for him to move out of his chair He was an enormous man even seated, one who projected iy His face was round, his head bald with a fringe of long, dark brown hair, and he had s eyes He an to talk
Van Ruisdael until then I had known only by naists of Europe and was by training a paleontologist, one who had ard to early overnical explorations of the East Indies, and had been in Java for over three years
”I gather that you are an archaeologist,” he began, with a slight tone of condescension His English was not quite perfect, but in the feords he uttered he co self-confidence
”Not by training, only by continuing interest,” I answered in Dutch, a language which I had spoken since childhood My answer, in his native language, delighted hilishman who speaks perfect Dutch, a rare pleasure indeed!”
He seeenuinely pleased, and our conversation continued that evening in both languages We discussed the ancient ruins of India and the rest of Asia, couests
Van Ruisdael had just finished the initial clearing of the faun the preliation of a series of Hindoo teyakarta But at a certain moment, his voice took on a more serious tone and he said: ”But the monuments have not s, what lies behind thes, and without hesitation he answered: ”These monuments, all of the historic period, all very recent fro history, all lifeless stone even though some of the processes about which we know very little They are of greater interest to the historian than they are to ins and man's early society, in the earliest creatures man knew and domesticated, and his relationshi+p to theins of ist interested in early an to work on the Hindoo teued with their portrayal of animals and other fantastic creatures Have you ever looked at Hindoo sculpture not from the point of view of fantasy but froical aspects?”
I said that I had not really ever considered the question, that I assuination of the Hindoo had conceived these creations for didactic purposes, but that the world often turned out to be stranger than we first conceived it to be
Van Ruisdael looked at est tiun to lead s differently I believe now that these may be more than e have believed theiant apes andon birds, on rodents, on bulls, four-armed deities, what indeed does all this represent?”
”Surely,” I said, ”you do not believe that these are ihed and said, ”In inary either I believe, however, that they ious life, the memory of ancient life forms used in early prehistoric ritual and sacrifices, perhaps now lost to us In some cases, however, I am not sure what to believe”
His face beca in one of his coat pockets, from which he took a small circular silver box He handed it to me and asked me to open it and examine the object which it contained In it I found a s, that I inised as a tooth
”An incisor,” I said, ”probably of rodens communis or rattus alexandrinus, the common field rat”
”Yes, indeed,” said he ”Now look at this” He then pulled a larger box froain, I found a whitish object, this ti, in forer It was embedded in a black rock and had been partially fossilised
”Extraordinary,” I said, ”in form aler It is the tooth of a rodent, or a rodent-like creature, but one of enor quite like it The collections of Europe contain nothing remotely coy You are correct It is a rare find, from Sumatra in fact, where the species flourished o but is now extinct It is the tooth of a giant rat, an anierous and efficent creature, I ine what havoc could be wreaked by such an animal One need only think of the speed of the coreat size to it There are feho could have recognised precisely what this is, and I compliment you Perhaps you would like to visit my laboratory at some point and see some of ”
”Indeed, I should like to very much,” I replied ”Doch dieser Schwelle Zauber zu zerspalten, Bedarf ich eines Rattenzahns,” said I, quoting old Goethe
Van Ruisdael sic door, I need a rat's tooth' So said Mephistopheles Let us see what h, then”