Wallowa chieftain. [volume] (Joseph, Union County, Or.) 1884-1909, 1902-04-24

90 IBET. the one land OF mystery
yet remaining in the world, has
at last been invaded by the pho
tOgraphic camera. Every foot OF At,
rica has been explored and that con.
tinent IS now gridironed with railroads
The railroad also runs through the
whole length OF Northern Asia. But in
the heart Of Asia is one great mysteri-
Gus. semi-savage land. guarded by stu
pendous mountains. from which the
innovating white man is fiercely ex-
cluded. That is Tibet 1t seems as il
all the strangest and most fantastic
customs on earth had taken refuge in
this last retreat. for there one woman
has many husbands. the ruler is a child
who dies before he comes of age. the
inhabitants wash themselves with but
ter and pray by machinery.
The attempts of the Tibetan govern
ment to keep foreigners absolutely be-
yOnd the borders of Tibet have not
been entirely successful. but they have
succeeded in keeping them away from
the sacred white city of LhaSa. in the
heart Of the land. That is the
holy Of holies, the mystery Of myster-
les, where the Grand Dalai Lama
dreams away his sacred. but brief ex-
lstence. Explorers from time to time
cross the wild mountain borders. but
they must advance amid great natural
difficulties and in face of a murderous
population. The rulers at Lhasa hear
of their coming months before they can
reach the capital, and can make ample
arrangements for numbering them.
When Henry Savage LandOr crossed
the frontier in an attempt to reach
Lhasa. he was seized. tortured and
barely escaped with his life. Mr.. Will
lam WOodville ROckhill, the dist.n-
guished diplomat, lately special Amer
lean envoy in China. has explored East
ern Tibet and written the most valua-
bic modern account of the people and
their customs. He did not try to reach
Lhasa.
Tibet lies between India. Asiatic
Russia and China. On the southern
side are the Himalaya Mountains. the
highest in the world, and the whole of
Tibet consists Of mountainous table
land, rising 10000 feet and more above
the sea land. The inhabitants die of
bilious fever when taken to a normal
level. On the northern or Russian side
are great deserts. The least explored
part Of China lies on the remaining side.
Tibet has an absolute religious govern
ment or theOcracy. The head of it is
the Grand or Dalai Lama at Lhasa,
who is supposed to be an incarnation of
Buddha, but the real ruler is a person.
curiously named the Gyalpo." or tenn
poral chief. He. too, is lama.
Years ago the lamas were not so anx-
ious about excluding foreigners from
their land as now, probably because
they believed the visitors would rever-
ence their greatness. 1t is one hundred
and forty-one years since the Jesuit
priests were expelled from Tibet, but
even for many years after that it was
not difficult for a foreigner observing
the Buddhist religion to enter the coun-
try. In 1911 an Englishman named
Manning entered Lhasa disguised as a
lama, and in 1916 the French priests,
Fathers Hue and CADET. did the same
thing. But since then no white man
has seen the sacred city. Every one
attempting to approach has been killed.
This fierce eXclusiveness has natural
ly stirred civilized curiosity to the ut
termOst and much information has been
gathered from Asiatic Buddhists con-
corning the Sacred City. This curiosity
has now received an unusual gratifica-
ton in a remarkable series of photo
graphs Of the Holy City and its most
holy places. These were all obtained
by Asiatics. One of them was a Kal.
muk chief named Ovche Novzounof a
Russian subject. and the other a men,
Der of the Nepal Embassy to China
Nepal is native state between India
and Tibet. These photographs con.
firm the most extraordinary state-
4iSht" eLaI ih We bctLl lldue concerning
the place. The Potala or Grand Lama's
abode Is situated on steep rock. about
1900 feet high. and rises nine tall
stories above that into the sky. The
lower stories are occupied by the
Gyalpo and hundreds of Lamas, while
the Grand Lama is hidden away at the
top.
The Grand Lama, who Is regarded as
a reincarnation of Buddha, is usually
chosen at the age of five or six. Under
the influence of the Gyalpo he dies Of
some mysterious malady at the age Of
fifteen or sixteen. His spirit then
passes into another child. Fathers
Hue and Gabet are the only white men
who have left a description of the en-
thronement of a new Grand Lama
When one dies the Tibetans watch for
a rainbow, and when this appears il ia
a sign Of aid from Buudha. The lamas
come out in procession and their Oldest
member says to them: Your Grand
Lama has reappeared in Tibet at such
a distance from your Lamasery. You
will find him in such family"
The lamas 20 to the place named and
n.