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Yetti
The Reports Begin
Reports of a large, human like
creature in the Himalayas have
been
found as far back as 1832. In
that year, B.H. Hodgson
wrote in The Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal of a human-like
biped
that walked erect and was covered in dark hair. He stated that the
local
people, called Sherpas, told him it was a demon...
Sherpa Description of the
Creature
The local Sherpas claim there
are actually 2 yetis.
Dzu-teh which is 7-8 feet tall and meh-teh which is only 5-6 feet tall.
Most
describe yeti as being 6 feet tall, ape-like with human
characteristics,
covered with short brownish-red hair (and occasionally described as
having
white spots on his chest). The creatures hair is longer on the
shoulders and
walks slightly slumped. He is described as having a broad face and
large mouth.
Most reports indicate he has large teeth, but no fangs. His head is
usually
described as being conical shaped with a pointed crown. He has large,
long arms
that almost reach to his knees.
Expedition Reports
In 1889, Major L.A Waddell found
human like footprints
in the snow one morning. His Sherpa guides matter-of-factly told him
they were
the prints of a hairy wild man that was often seen in the area. Waddell
wrote
Among the Himalayans (1899). "The belief in these creatures is
universal
among Tibetans."
Expeditioners to the Himalayas,
including many from the Western countries continue to report sightings
of the
strange creature. In September 1921, on a mountaintop near Tibet
at 20,000
feet, Lt. Col. C.K. Howard-Bury found strange footprints in the snow.
Howard-Bury, who was on an expedition to Mount
Everest,
described the prints as being 3 times the size of a man's. His Sherpa
side-kicks told him that they were from 'a manlike thing that is not a
man'. A
newspaper columnist wrote a piece based on Howard-Bury's note. In his
piece,
the columnist mistakenly translated Howard-Bury's Sherpa description
for the
animal as 'abominable snowman'. The name has stuck ever since.
The name 'yeti' came about in
1925. N.A. Tombazi, a
British photographer and member of the Royal Geographical Society,
recorded a
strange account on the Zemu Glacier:
The intense glare and
brightness oft he snow prevented me from seeing anything for the 1st
few
seconds, but I soon spotted the 'object' referred to about 200-300
yards away
down the valley to the east of our camp. Unquestionably, the figure in
outline
was exactly like a human being, walking upright and stopping
occasionally to
uproot or pull at some dwarf rhododendron bushes. It showed up dark
against the
snow and, as far as I could make out, wore no clothes. Within the next
minute
or so it had moved into some thick scrub and was lost to view.
Tambazi immediately examined the
area and found 16 footprints, shaped
like a man's, 6-7 inches long and 4 inches wide. It was from this
account the
term 'Yeti' (from the Sherpa yeh-teh, meaning 'the thing') became known.
Modern day reports
Sightings continue to this day. In 1970 on Mount Annapurna,
Don Whillans, a British Mountaineer, heard eerie cries that his Sherpa
guides
told him were the screams of a 'yeti'. Don spotted a dark figure on a
nearby
ridge and when he examined the area the next day, he found large
footprints
buried 18 inches in the snow. He knew from the depths of the prints
that the
animal must have been extremely large and heavy and this was confirmed
when he
witnessed the creature pulling branches
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and leaves from a nearby tree.
He had no doubt that what he was seeing
was not a human creature or an ape since he observed the entire even
for over
20 minutes through a pair of binoculars.
Two years later, on December 17,
1972, the Edward Cronin expedition
(officially known as the Aruri
Valley expedition)
awoke
to find strange tracks passing between their tents. They tracks were
carefully
examined and found to be 9 inches long by 4 3/4 inches wide. They were
human
like with 5 toes and a large heel. They attempted to follow the tracks
but soon
had to abandon their search when the terrain became so rough they could
no
longer continue. They stared helplessly as the tracks were seen to
disappear
over a heavily wooded ridge. It was obvious to them that whatever made
the
tracks was much stronger and more adept to the environment that they
were.
Physical Evidence
Physical evidence of yeti also
exists. Tibetan monks had long claimed
to possess the hand of a yeti creature. In 1959, a Westerner named
Peter Byrne
sought to analyze the hand. After a little persuasion, the monks agreed
to let
Peter examine the hand in private. Peter, apparently a not-so-honest
kind of
guy, stole a finger and thumb off of the hand. In it's place, he
stitched a
human finger and thumb that he snuck into the complex. The yeti parts
were
smuggled into India.
From there, the famous film actor, James Stewart, and his wife Gloria,
wrapped
the parts in underwear and buried them deep in their suitcases. The
yeti
souvenirs made it across the remaining borders and into England
in a
suitcase. The British primatologists W.C.Osman Hill, analyzed the parts
and at
first declared them human. Later he changed his analysis and reported
that they
were probably from a Neanderthal. Zoologist Charles A. Leone and
anthropologist
George Agogino then took their turn in examining the ill-obtained
specimens and
stated that they were from a human hand with very primitive
characteristics.
Blood tests obtained from the skin of the finger, indicated that the
parts were
neither human nor primitive.
Fecal droppings were also
obtained during the 1959 expedition. When
examined in the laboratory, they were shocked to discover an unknown
parasite.
They deduced that since the parasite was previously unknown, the hosts
that the
fecal droppings came from would therefore also be 'unknown'.
Large prehistoric ape fossils
were soon discovered in the Himalayan
foothills giving rise to the theory that the strange creature must be
some sort
of unknown ape. Some speculated that the creature may have evolved from
one of
these prehistoric apes. What is definitely known is that something
strange
exists in the Himalayan mountains - an elusive creature that continues
to
puzzle scientists...
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