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Monk Penetrates Unknown Tibet
Wrestles Lama for Safe
Passage
EV. JULES DETRY, six-foot
R almoner of the famous Great
St. Bernard Hospice in Switzerland,
has given die first showing
of the film of a 2000-mile journey
he made through Tibet before the
Royal Geographical Society, London.
The Canon—he is an expert
boxer, skier, tennis player, cyclist
and rifle shot—is adept at jujitsu,
holds a pilot's license and
went to the Far East in 1946 to
learn Chinese and Tibetan.
In October that year he began
his perilous trek through the
mountainous Tibet , country forbidden
to foreigners. His equipment
consisted of his moviecamera
and a pair of field-glasses.
The purpose of his journey, Fr.
Detry explained to an audience of
1000, was to help forward the
work of the St. Bernard Fathers,
who, since 1934, have maintained
a tiny hospice :'n the Tibetan
mountains, around which a small
Christian colony has grown.
When Fr. Detry began his
journey, the priest in charge of
this mission, Fr. Tornay, had been
driven away. (Later, in August,
1949, he was murdered on his
way to Lhasa.)
"It was necessary," Fr. Detry
explained, "to show the Tibetan
lamas (priests) that the Order of
St. Bernard was not intimidated
by their action. Yerkalo, where
Fr. Tornay worked, is the only
mission station belonging to a
foreign country in the Tibetan territory.
ONLY 342 CHRISTIANS
"In the district there were only
342 Christians left. They endured
manv hardships and were
constantly under pressure by the
lamas to change their religion.
"I wanted to try to fmd th:'s
small community and to help them
as best I could—and one of the
best ways was to isee the lamas
and show them that the Order
was not afraid of them. I became
friends with them and they became
more tolerant afterwards."
The priest related how, during
his journey he wore out his boots
and for two days walked in soft
slippers. He suffered frostbite
and was once nearly drowned
while swimming in a river. Once
he made a long detour to search
for a crashed American airplane.
He found the wreckage eventually,
but there were no survivors—and
no sign of any bodies.
A lama, at whose home he was
a guest, invited him to wresde.
"He was a great strong man," said
Fr. Detry, 'ljut I had some knowledge
of ju-jitsu, and after he had
picked himself up from the floor,
very surprised, he accepted me as
his equal. We had some more
tea.
"Later I showed him how to
box, going through all the motions
of shadow-boxing, much to his
amusement. I felt a little foolish
myself."
In another lamasery he was held
prisoner in a small room, but made
friends with his captors by presenting
their chief with his fieldglasses.
FILMED IN LAMA'S ROBES
On another occasion, after many,
refusals, he was persuaded to demonstrate
his shooting prowess.
The chief lama at. diis spot, Fr.
Detry went on, once he realized
that the movie-camera meant no
harm, delighted in starring in the
film. He even allowed the priest
to dress in his lama's robes, a
sign of equality, and Fr. Detry
was himself photographed in
them. A print of this picture, he
said, proved to be a passport
wherever he went afterwards.
Fr. Detry was able to confirm
for the members of the Royal Geographical
Society the theory that
in some parts of the country the
people are cannibals, because it
is almost impossible to get ordinary
food. A brigand chief, he said,
for whom he had done a service,
presented him with a dead mouse,
a real sign of goodwill.
Spontaneous and loud applause
greeted the priest's lecture and
his film on "Life in Tibet." The
latter included shots of sacred
ritual dances inside a lamasery,
never before filmed, it is believed.
Fr. Detry, Belgian-born son of
a British father, has • served with
the Belgian and British navies.
During the war he was captured
on the Western Front, but later
escaped and entered Germany
with the American Army.
He disclosed that he intends to
return to Tibet soon. "I belong
to the hospice," he said.
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