The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-12-05

makes it possible for travellers to cross this Asian desert, for dry yak manure is the only fuel to be found. When the murrain destroys the yaks and antelope the journey is out of the question.
 One of the glaciers seen by an Eng fish explorer took it's rise in a steep snow wall or coil of about twenty thou sand feet altitude, and connected two lofty peaks, one of which was surveyed at 24, ,4S6 feet. An English soldiers re- mark about Abyssinia applies equally as well to Tibet. This Tommy Atkins said, Well, if it's a table, it's table with all the leg uppermost."
 l An ungaIlant traveller said in Lon don club after return from Tibet that he thought the Tibetan women the most homely devils in the world. Photo graphs certainly do not give them the appearance of much charm, their com plexions being sallow and indicative or an admixture of the Mongolian or Tar tar with the noble features of the Indi- an or Persian races. One of the most 'beautiful'' wives of the Dalai Lama may well be called hideous.
 WOMEN OF LHASSA.
 As almost every head of the house about Lhassa is a warrior or a loater, the women do all the work. They wear red and blue petticoats of gaudy stripes, cloth boots up to the knees, tight-fittinS jackets covered with a sheepskin cape, the hair usually turned inward under the cape, the head bare except for odd looking cloth lappets that protect the ears from the biting wind, and a "pe- rak," their most precious ornament, consisting of a broad strip of leather hanging down backward from the head top and covered with rows of large imi- tation turquoises that gradually dwin- dle away to single stones near the tip. The womens chief occupation out of doors is to lead the fierce-looking yaks that are to carry the burdens.
 The men of Tibet as a general thing wear cloth boots that gfarter at the knee, thick woolen frocks girt about the waist and reaching below the tops of the Ieggings, and sort of black Phry- gian cap that serves the triple purpose of covering their pig-tailed head, shad- ing the eyes or sheltering the ears from the winds of the afternoons. -,s.,. l The Lamas, whose word is 'ordained
 and almost obeyed, are the real obsta- cles to the success of the foreigner in Lhassa, A Lama is usually dressed in a red robe and carries skuru, or pray CT cylinder, in his hand. He whirls this instrument of piety, which is shaped like drum, round on it's wooden han dle by an almost imperceptible motion of the hand, aided by string and a small weight which assists the rotation. The monastery of Lama is invariably on some handy pinnacle or damned against the vertical face of rock. 1 . WAYS OF THE NATIVES.
 Every Tibetan village has it's "chor- ten," a large square pedestal, twenty 1 feet high, surmounted by huge invert- ed teapot, all whitewashed and crowned 1 by a wooden globe or crescent. These are tombs and are supposed to contain | the. remains of sainted Lamas. The bodies are buried in standing posi- tion. At the sides are pigeon-holes filled with odds and ends of tiny medallions nodded into amazingly fine figures of ndred-handed deities. These medal- lions are made of clay that has been mixed with the ashes of other saintly but happily dead Lamas. Every saint ly Lama Is transformed at death into the image of his favorite god. The Tibet house is generally flat roofed, two stories in height and built of immense bricks that have been dried in the sun. Its sides slope inward and the windows and doors are finished in gaudy white and red stucco. A pile of horns is to be seen on the roof of al- most every house, and these are stuck all over with small flags and rags of colored cotton. While the Lamas rule the people. the Gelums, or priestesses, rule their priest ly spouses. They have a monastic ap- pearance and are able to twirl the pray ing cylinders better than their hus- bands. The cylinder is supposed to contain an inexhaustible supply of pray CTS, and the noise that comes from the whirling movement is the voice of the gods. It is the Lamas and Gelums who have sent armed forces miles away from Lhassa to intercept explorers and forbid them to advance upon the holy capital. The priests join in the wild or gies of the Tibetaris, filling themselves with wine and dancing, stamping, shouting, writhing and twisting their bodies and brandishing their swords in a dance that is far more savage than that of the wild blacks of Haiti or of the aborigines of North America.
 Dr. Sven Hedin, Rockhill and a num- Der of other explorers were all turned back and not permitted to visit Lhassa. Dr. Sven Hedin and Rockhill swore they would not make a second attempt, yet before long they were back again to ''eat all the dirty messes, to use fin- gers instead of forks or chopsticks, to lick their platters instead of washing them," and otherwise to live and dress like the filthy Tibetans.
 All the other chiefs of the country are in a terrible dread of the Lhassa au- thorities, and particularly the Lamas of the capital, who are famous for their magic, including the power to dispel storms. They have never been able, however, to stop the snow from falling on the mountains, or to give life to Kumdaria, "river of the desert," which is dried up and as useless as the ancient ruins buried along it's shore lines.-New York Mail and Express.
 
 A DIPLOMAT.