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took to deliver it the 150 miles to Chentu from Emei
Mountain is unknown.
The distance from Chentu to Katmandu, via the
old ‘Silk’ road is about 1,300 miles which could have
only been done on foot and across the inhospitable
Himalayan mountain range. The postal route and
mileages taken for this cover are as follows:
ROUTE TO SHANGHAI
MILES
From Chengtu via Min Jiang to Yibin ..............160
From Yibin via Yangtse Kiang to Chongqing .180
From Chongqing via Yangtse Kiang
to Anking ..............................................................760
From Anking via Yangtse Kiang
to Shanghai ...........................................................400
Total ....................................................................1,500
BY SEA
From Shanghai to Singapore ...........................2650
From Singapore to Tuticorin ............................2350
Total ....................................................................5,000
BY TRAIN
From Tuticorin to Visakhapatnam ....................850
From Visakhapatnam to Calcutta .....................500
From Calcutta to Raxaul ....................................400
Total ....................................................................1,750
BY RUNNER
From Raxaul to Kathmandu ..............................200
Overall mileage from Chengtu
to Kathmandu .....................................................8,450
Conclusion
As we see from the background, of what remains
of this grubby piece of cover, is both surprising
and fascinating with a colourful story to tell. Who
would have thought that a monk would want to
petition the King of Nepal and expect some poor
novice to walk 150 miles to post the letter? And
then walk all the way back during the ravages of
February weather. So far, it has taken over nine
months of research to this stage and, as we noted,
experts are still trying to determine the origin of
a previously unseen boxed handstamp. It is these
small items that create more understanding of the
routes and by which offices the cover took to reach
its destination.
It is a pity that it is not known what the petition
was about as this would have completed an already
fascinating story. There is a great probability that
the petition was just one of many that appeared on
the Maharajah’s desk each morning and finding out
which one was sent by the monks of Emei Mountain
would be an impossibility after all these years. *
Acknowledgements
This article could not have been written without the
invaluable help of Colin Hepper and S. L. Shrestha
both of the Nepal and Tibet Philatelic Study Circle and
Major Richard Pratt of the Chinese Philatelic Society of
London.
286 • the CP / le PC • SO06