Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1892-01-07
YARNS ABOUT TlIIBET.
STORIES ABOUT LIFE IN AN Al
MOST unknown COUNTRY.

,rs-somc Remarkable Accounts Of
Strange Doing. In Chinese Writings
A curious collection Of facts respect.
inr Thibet, as represented by yari.
ons Chinese authors and travellers. has
been made by Mr.. Woodvillc Rockhill.
v,hohas himself explored that mysteri-
Gus country Of middle Asia.
ON New Years day at the capital city,
Lhasn, there begins season Of festivity
one OF the entertainments Is called tho
"spectaole Of the Flying Spirits" The
performers stretch an enormously large
rope made Of hide all the way from the
Ton 10 the bottom Of Mount Poiala; then
they fasten grooved blocks Of wood to
their chests and sail down the line like
40 many swallows. On top OF this same
mountain dwells the popo Of the Budd-
hist religion. who is called the tale lama.
He Il also the incarnation Of the god
which chiefly protects mankind.
on the 30ih Of the month there Is an
either great sport when the king OF the
devils h driven away. a priest is chosen
40 inlay tho part OF tho tale lnma, and
lavrnnn. selected for his wit aud activity,
takes the role Of the demon. The latter
smear, his face with black and white
plint. and goes before the pretended talo
lama for the purpose OF mocking him.
The two have TN argument on religion,
the issue Of which is finally referred by
mutual agreement 10 u cast Of dice.
These dico arc very big ones, about
the size Of apples but the poor fond has
no show at an in tho gamble, for his die
is blank on every side, while the lama's
has the highest number on cnch Of it,
faces. In Thibet, as in Christian ooun-
tries. Z, Ia always laudablo to defraud
thc dovil.
Being beaten, the king Of the devils is
frightened and runs away, with all the
reoplouftor him. firing runs and cannon,
80 that he is obliged to hide as length IN
hole IN the mountain, where provisions
have previously been placed 20 feed him
fdr few days while he remains In con-
calmgut. 1horc Hro noarly as many
demons In Tlibot as thoro are human
Inhabitants, mud tho priest or "lnmas"
arc kept very busy exercising thon, DO
cluac Otherwise they would swarm every
where and do no end Of mischief.
POWER or tue rRmsw.
II any one ia dcl, or annoyed IN any
way the devils are responsible, and tho
ouly sensible thing Is TO go and hire a
priest % friThten them oil. For this
purpose tho lama reads aloud from tho
mcrci writings, blows horn made
from a human thigh bone, beats a drum
manufactured out u two human skulls,
rings bell and tells over a rosary Of
dusk shaped bcad8 cut out OF human
skulls.
Tho lamas also DO largo business In
fortune telling. somodmos they ascor-
tain the fatos with barleycorns; at
Others they burn sheep bones for tho
tamo purpose or ga1o into bowls OF
water.
According 90 enc author there n
very Astonishing curiosity IN Thibot In
tho shape Of o plant that hies. II re-
e'mble1 a dog IN shape, Is the color of
tortoise shell and is very tame. II lions
or elephants eco u they are frightened,
thence II is tho king Of beasts" There
q q kind Of black donkey which can
cope In fyht with the tiger. On the ley
PEAKS VI tho Hmalayas, says this imagi-
native writer, there Is q "suow maggot,"
resembling the silkwonn In appearance
and Weighing nearly pound. 1t is ox-
cellcnt TO eat, but too much Of 1t will
make one bleed at tho nose.
Seventy Ii from Lh'asa Is convent on
TOP Of hill and q great holo full Of
white clay that is good to eat. As fast
a. the clay Is eaten more tal;os its place.
Behind the convent Is n largo lake, and
eylldoen who 80 near always tumble
into 1t, The Thibetans used to cast
Buddhas In copper, aud the smaller they
were the more they were worth.
rouTESEss IN TyIBET
Chinese philosophers say that manners
differ every hundred Ii Of distance, and
customs are no longer the same every
thousand II. Thus the ways Of tine
Thibe;ans vary, but In most parts It Ia
usual for a woman going to see "a priest
10 smear her face with molasses. II
this Is not done it Is said that she is try.
ing to cap,ivato the lama by her comeli.
ness-an unpardonsble crime. A sign
OF pohteness on meeting a person is TO
hold up tho clasped hands aud stick out
tue tongue When man dies one-half
OF his property goes 10 charity and the
other half to tho lamas. His family
gets nothing.
Ono OF the writers quoted observes
that In case Of death the corpse is tied
mp with the head between the knees,
Mresuspended in n rawhide bag from
the raitcrs, A few days later II IL taken
10 the corpse cutters place, where II Is
tied to post. The flesh is then cut of
aud given to dogs aud the bones crushed
IN a stone mortar aud made up with
grain into balls, which aro also thrown
10 dogs and vultures. Both these meth
obs Of burial arc considered highly de-
nmblo.
For small misdemeanors men and
women are stripped and beaten in the
market place. Great criminals are
bound with ropes aud whipped with raw
hide lnshes, II this does Not persuade
Them 10 avow their guilt boiling butter
ls poured on their chests. Surprising
that they still protest their innocence,
they are sniiocatel with water or splint-
erS are driven under their nails. Wash.
ington Star.
Aaohinorg Has Affected the Shoemaker
Aman called a shoemaker thirty years