Record Number: 17313

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'I have before me as I write a photo by Sir Aurel Stein showing the body of a man of Turfan buried fifteen centuries ago, and it is hard to belive that he is even dead. And the reason Sir Aurel suggests for this desiccation of Central Asia is, that not so much has the climate changed, as that in the past those areas subsisted in the main on the excess water given by the slow melting of the original ice-cap, since the actual snowfall must have been insufficient to produce glaciers of a size to give their requisite summer volume of water. And so it seems to me that that is to some extent the condition of Ladakh...'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 1925 and 1928

Country:

India - Ladakh, Western Tibet

Time

n/a

Place:

n/a

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Martin Louis Alan Gompertz ('Ganpat')

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

23 Feb 1886

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Military

Occupation:

Officer in Indian Army

Religion:

Roman Catholic

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

India - Ladakh, Western Tibet

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a

Additional Comments:

Ganpat served in the Indian Army from 1904 - 1939 and wrote some 24 books and 19 magazine articles/stories

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Sir Aurel Stein

Title:

unknown

Genre:

Archaeology

Form of Text:

Print: Unknown

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

owned

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Source Information:

Record ID:

17313

Source:

Print

Author:

Martin Louis Alan Gompertz

Editor:

n/a

Title:

Magic Ladakh: an intimate picture of a land of topsy-turvy customs and great natural beauty

Place of Publication:

London: Seeley, Service & Co Ltd

Date of Publication:

1928

Vol:

n/a

Page:

45

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Martin Louis Alan Gompertz, Magic Ladakh: an intimate picture of a land of topsy-turvy customs and great natural beauty (London: Seeley, Service & Co Ltd, 1928), p. 45, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/RED/record_details.php?id=17313, accessed: 25 April 2024

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Additional Comments:

Major Gompertz wrote most of his fiction under the pseudonym 'Ganpat'. This and his earlier travel book 'The Road to Lamaland: Impressions of a Journey to Western Thibet' (1926) give his proper name after his pseudonym. 'Ganpat' was interested in the archaeology and exploration of Ladakh, its terrain, history, peoples and their religion and customs. He was also interested in presenting his travel book with a certain 'weight' by referring to Stein, Moorcroft and others.