The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1889-03-28
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George Kennan's eoBAgIbutlon to
The March Century, IL q description
Of HE visit TO the Grand Lama Of the
Trans-baiksl, and from it the fol-
lowing 10 quoted:
latter dinner I had . long talk
with the Grand Lama aboHt my
native country, geography, and the
shape OF the earth. lt seemed very
strange 10 find anywhere on the
globe, On the nineteenth century, an
educated hIan and high ecclesiastical
dignity who had never seen Or heard
Of America, and who did not feel 10
all sure thai the world is round.
The Grand Lama was such . man.
"'YOu have been In many cOun-
tries, he said TO me through the
interpreter, and have talked with the
wise men OF the West; what IL your
opinion with regard TO the shape Of
the EARTH
al think ! replied, that 10 II
shaped like = great ball.
al have heard 20 BEFORE said the
Grand Lama, looking thoughtfully
away into vacancy. The Russian
officers whom have met have told
me that the world II round. Such
. belief IL contrary TO the teachings
Of our Thlbetan books, but l have
observed that the Russian wise men
predict eclipses accurately: and IL
they eau tell beforehand when the
sun aud the moon are daTkened,
they probably know something
about the shape Of the earth. Why
do You think that the earth u
Tound:'
81 have many reasons for think
ing So answered; bat perhaps the
best aud strongest reason u that ]
have been around IT.
This statement seemed Ia give
the Grand Lama = sort 0f mental
shock.
How have you been around -
he inquired. What do you mean by
"arOund IL" How do you know
that you have been around ~
- turned my back upon my
home replied, and travelled mauy
months la the course taken by the
sun. crossed wide continents aud
great Dreams. Every night the sun
set before my face aud every morn
ing u rose behind my Lark. The
earth always seemed fiat, hut ! could
not fiHd anywhere an end nor an
edge; aud aI last, when I had Irav-
sIed more THAI :sI.IED ver-i-. I found
mysrlf again Ca my own country,
aud returned Ia my hOInr n direction
exactly opposite % thaI which had
taken In leaving o. 10 the world
Was hat, do you Ihirk I could have
dome this -
"'iI H. very strange" said the
GRAND Lama, sitter q thought fuI
pause OF moment. Where IL your
country" How far L. u beyond ~.
PetFrshurg?'
"'My country L. farther from ~.
Petersburg than 81 Petersburg II
from here replied. III lies
almost exactly under our feet, aud
% We could g0 directly through the
earth, that would Ice the shortest
way tn reach it.
49, Are your cOuutTyinen walking
around with there heads downward
under our feet asked the trraud La
una with evident intsrestsnd surprise,
but without any perceptibls change
in his habiiually impassive face.
YES ! replied; aud to them we
seem To- he sitting heads downward
here
The Grand Lama then asked me
TO describe infinitely the route that
We had followed in coming from
America To siberia, aud to name the
countries through which Ne had
passed. He knew that Germany adj
Joined Russia on the west, he had
heard Of British India and Of Eng
Iand-prObabIy through ThIbet-and
he had n vague idea of the extent
and situation uI the Pacific Ocean
but of the Atlantic aud Of the cont
oceans he knew nothing.
After . long talk, la the course
Of which We discussed the spherielty
Of the earth from every possible
point OF view, the Grand Lama
WINGED Of the truth Of that doctrine,
aud said, with q sigh, 1t IL not in
accordance with the teachings Of
cur books; but the Russians must lie
right
ait II q some " hat remarkable fact
that DIR. ErmAu, the only foreigner
who had seen the lamAsery Of Goose
Lake previous 10 our visit, had an
bltnusi lTctisclN slhstihI CtuNctno"
ton concerning the SHAPE OF the
earth with the mau who Was then
lin 1881 Grand Lama. Almost
sixty years elapsed between Or.
EFnan's visit and ours, hut the doc.
tFine Of the spherIciIy UT the earth
continued throughout that period 10
trouble ecclesiastical minds In this
remote EAst-Siberian iamAsery; and
Il IL not improbable that sixty years
hence some traveller from the Wes-
tern world may be asked by some
future Grand Lama to give his
reasons for believing the world To he
. sphere"