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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 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... |