Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-03-09

are by no means safe in going through it.
They are liable to be mobbed, and it is only
by bribing and fighting that one can get
his way out. There are three living Bud
dhas in the world One Of these is in Lhas-
sa, another Is somewhere in Mongolia and
the other is in Picking. became indirectly
acquainted with the brother of the living
Buddha in Picking, and was told that this
Buddha was fond of cigars and liquors, and
that he now and then went about incog.,
like Haroun Alraschid. There are numer-
Gus temples scattered over Mongolia and
Thlbet Is said to be a country of temples.
l was within ninety miles OF Thibet dur
ing my stay in Darjiling, in the Hima-
laya mountains, and the Thibetans whom I
saw both here and in Picking were about
the same as the hongols. am told that
the people of both countries do little but
swing prayer wheels, drink whisky and
keep themselves dirty. heard great stories
about their monasteries and temples. Some
OF the Thibetan towns are a mere collec-
ton of temples. and some of their monas-
ler1es have copper roofs plated with gold
Lhassa, the Thibetan capital, has about
$1,000 people, and the most of these are
priests The Chinese bulldoze the Thibetans
ana the Mongolians, and they bluff them
into SORT of dependence upon them The
Ihlbetans and Monaghan priests whom I
saw IN Thibet were dressed in bright yell
shouldered. thick-nosed. high-cheek- boned
Fellows, with small. twinkling, black eyes.
They are shrouded in ignorance and super
IRENE.
There are number of Buddhist book
stores in Picking. and the Chinese capital
mas one street which is devoted to nothing
else but book stores. There are publishing
houses there which are devoted to the pub
fishing of Buddhist books The books are
cut out on blocks, and are not set up from
type. type, some OF the editions are costly. and
some or the richer priests prefer to have
their books written out by hand.
One Wife, Four Husbands.
The Mongols have but one wife though
the richer Of them often have concubines
II Is far different In Thibet, as 1 learned
from the famous traveller, Mrs. Isabella
BIRD Bishop. Mrs. Bishop went out to Asia
en- the same ship with me last year. She ex-
pected to travel in Corea, and she had just
returned from trip among the Thibetans. 1
talked with her for some time about the
custom OF poiyandry. 1t seems that there
Is a scarcity of women, and the average
female has from four to six husbands If
man marries, his wife becomes the com
mon property of his brothers. and, though
ne Is the chief husband, she is the wife of
the whole lot. The woman rules the fam
lily. She takes charge of the money. and
she Is practically the governor of the es-
TAP, .aohs y, It is only a very rich man
VINO Is able TO have wife to himself and
,athers sell their daughters to the
hignest bidders. The children are regard
ea as belonging to the woman, and the
fathers can lay no claim to them Mrs
Bishop said that the women seem to he
satisfed with the situation, and that thew
rather pity their sisters in other parts Of
the world VINO can have only one husband.
How Mongolia Is Governed.
Inc Mongolians are divided up into tribes.
and they are governed from Picking. The
emperor appoints governors general and
all Oh the tributary provinces of China have
mliltary governors. and there are Chinese
soldiers to enforce their edicts AS a rule
however, the people are oppressed in every
possible way The government is corrupt
ana the man who can pay the most can do
as ne pieases Manchuria is ruled by mil
ltary boards. Some parts of Mongolia have
their own officials, under the government
at Peking. The province of Iii is ruled by
military governor. and in outer Mongolia
there Is great llama, much like the one
at lhloet, who is sort of living Rud
ana, and who rules the country. He 3
SAD 10 De very rich. His capital is known
so,,o anu II is the biggest city in Mon
coma, II contains about thirty thousand
people. and the most of these are priests
the Dig llama or living Buddha is said "a
nave hundred and fifty thousand slaves
ana ne mas quite an imposing palace The
people reverence him, and the Chinese rule
TINS part or the country through him. It
Is much the same in Tibet and the gov
eminent is combination of religious Cor
ruption and Chinese despotism Inner Mon
coma mas a different government and in
iact, the whole of these tributary prov
inces OF emma are managed in a way which
Is practically unknown to the world. The
settlement or the present trouble will prob
ably lead to their explora ton. and the
world will, for the first time in its history
nave the whole of Asia open to scientific
investigation.
FRANK G. CARPENTER.