The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-12-01


a third. then a fourth, and we were mutely
wondering il this verbal torrent would ever
cease. when the arrival Of the head man
himself, in all his pristine splendor. brought
an end to these apostrophes.
We found him TO be well-built man Of
about forty. with a pleasing cast OF coun-
tenance. and with unmistakable preten-
sions Of cleanliness, which was enough in
itself TO commend him in our eyes, and
having gathered with liveliest satisfaction
the account of our journey through the
country he spoke in somewhat the follow
ing terms:
Il thank you for the favor you have done
me in coming 20 my country. Never has
a white man been here before. and l be-
lieve their coming will bring US good for
tune. The rich men live far from here
(meaning the Chinese traders Of Lan-Chou.
etc. and I wanted some Of them TO come
TO trade IN my territory. In vain. how
ever, but now we shall see. You. who are
great princes, will use your efforts when
you go among them and then all will be
as we shall wish"
Being assured of our good intentions in
this direction his talk become more per-
sOnal, and We instantly discovered that he
was not governed by any feelings of mod
esty, but launched out into praises of his
own person. dwelling more particularly
upon his greatness and prowess. which
made the previous laudation Of his am
bassador seem tame in comparison On
leaving however, he sent us a further pres
ent Of two sheep, and also offered of his
own accord TO provide US with guides for
several days journeying; this was a truly
agreeable surprise and proved that his
protestations Of good will and friendship
were sincere. He further acquainted us
with the fact that in his village lived a
famous diviner and that it would be profit
able for US to secure his services. Finding
that we did not show enthusiasm at this
hint, he must have taken matters into his
own hands, for. returning from a little ex-
cursion through the town, we found seated
before our tent a man in a mask, who was
cutting antics all over the place to the
great enjoyment of numerous spectators.
prominent among whom was the chief him
self
MONGOLIAN SOOTHSAYER.
OF all the grotesque figures we had ever
seen this was the most singular. His
dress was composed of sort of net made
of interlacing pieces of coIored cloth which
enveloped him from head to foot: from
his girdle was suspended fringe. or
Kilt Of bones, attached to which were
small bells that tangled furiously in ac-
cord with his wild gyrations, while TO
crown all, his head was covered with a
mask which was a wonderful thing to
behold, If for no other reason than that
one could not but have a certain amount
or respect for the intelligence of the in
dividual who could contrive such an OBJ
| Ject- Leaping and dancing before us in
vigorous manner for half an hour, he
drew from his girdle a small box and
| dice, and by throwing these on the ground
and consulting the infsllibie oracle which
| their position denoted. he answered glibly
all questions which were PVT to him, the
| answers to our own being exceptionally
| satisfying, as, doubtless, the clever rascal
| had an eye to future emolument. Euring
| this operation he gave vent to an oc,.s
| sional funny remark, or humorous say
| ing, If one could judge from the broad
| grins and bursts of laughter with which
/ 1t was received. and the performance was,
| OF course, wound up with - collection, ="
to which we had the honor of being the
first contributors.
| In many of the Mongol villages and
camps henceforth We saw many of these
| curious figures. We were never able to
| gain any accurate information concerning
| their real official position, although they
seem to be In great favor with the natives
| themselves. They are known as mama
| quas and their duties seem to be semi
religious and semi-official. This last as
sertion is derived from the fact of our
having seen on various occasions one of
| these masks" belaboring various individ-
uals with a whip, to the evident salts
faction and hearty CALCULATIONS of APPROX
! al of the bystanders. 1t may be therefore
assumed that the na-na-qua, notwith-
| standing his character Of public entertain
er and oracle, exercises unitarian func-
tons. such. for instance. as the castigat-
ing of public offenders. the Furnishing of
shameless women and the accusing of
| criminals, not to mention such trihing
duties as regulating the weather. calling
down rain and staying its fall, and in gen.
eral fulfilling the positions Of priest, pro-
phet, pantomimist and policeman.
The few Thibetans who live in thB dis
trict. however, look down with the utmost
contempt upon these "barbarians" and
their pagan forms and priests. The rea-
ever, not apparent to the traveller for ex-
cepting the difference in name, the lamas
in spite OF their Wanted piety, are not
averse TO initiating practices which they
so loudly decry in others. The number
of Mongols following Buddhistic precepts
in this region are very few, lamaseries are
very seldom met with, and these Of the
smallest kind. usually a house In one OF
the larger towns, which serves as a sort
Of base for the peregrinatiols OF the wan
dering apostles. In fact. 1t may be said
OF the Mongols Speaking Of this district
alone) that il is almost impossible TO gair
anything concerning their religious beliefs
for one very seldom preceives any reli-
gious ceremony amongst them. l suspect
that they somewhat careless on the
subject and trouble themselves very little
with theology; If they had any specific
belief of their own, instead OF encourag-
ing a pot pourri cult savoring of mingled
Buddhism and Mohammedanism, they
would scorn them, and adhere 10 the sup
ersution OF their country.
FUNERAL CEREMONIES.
A raw wind came whistling down from
the north as we started away in the morn
ing. and after progressing for a quarter oil
mile in the face of clouds OF singing
sleet we decided that further advance was