Through a Land of Extremes: The Littledales of Central Asia (Legends and Lore)

For thirty years, St. George Littledale and his wife Teresa mounted expeditions in North America and Asia. THROUGH A LAND OF EXTREMES gives a taste for a bygone time of travel into uncharted territory, when adventurers lived by a combination of wit, charm, and luck. Of independent means, the Littledales began in the American Rockies, Yellowstone, and Alaska. These trips were followed by expeditions in the late 1880s in the Caucasus, the Pamirs, Russian Central Asia and Mongolia.

Their greatest exploit was a 14 month long journey to Tibet in 1895. They were attempting to reach the Forbidden City of Lhasa, the great unmet goal of Central Asian explorers. In order to minimize their chances of being discovered until they neared their goal, St. George selected a route across the desolate, uninhabited Tibetan Plateau. At a 19,000-foot pass, they were finally blocked by 150 armed Tibetans. The Tibetans allowed them to continue over the pass to a suitable stopping place. The Littledales had come within 49 miles of Lhasa, closer than any other foreigners since 1846.