New-York tribune., 1903-11-29


Thibet Despite the defiance of these mysterious
people, Of whom many weird tales are told.
the English have determined to open up this
vast plateau to the commerce of the world. For
centuries Thibet has been sealed book to Eu-
ropean civilization Its high priests. OF lamas,
have ever denounced the foreigner an in
carnated devil: and they preach that SO long
Thibet remains isolated from the rest of the
universe. SO long shall she be great A few
missionaries and explorers have wandered
across the corners of this great tableland,
clambered up some of its snOwclad mountains,
and visited few of its stone cities; yet the
greater part of its 6JO.OO0 square miles.
equal to Germany. France and Italy combined,
Is still unknown to the outside world. On the
maps of the world there is other such white
patch this in the centre Of Asia.
From the accounts of travellers Thibet would
seem to be a land where religion is supreme.
The people obey their priests with almost sav
sh obedience. and accept the most marvellous
teachings with utter credulity. The lamas pos
sess most of the wealth of the country, and
consequently they have reason to fear the for
eigner and the intellectual rebellion against
their dominion which Christianity would
tainly awaken
Unlike some professed Christians who expect
their Sunday piety to last through the week,
the Thibetans pray most of the time. Whether
they at work or at pleasure whether squat
ting on the floor of their houses journey,
they continue their supplicauons. In order that
religion will not prove too inconvenent these
pious people have prayer flags and prayer
wheels, by which prisons are rendered auto
matically. prayer wheel, for example, is
sort Of spool, covered with cabalistic inscrp-
tions, which lama has written and sold and
should the faithful be walking along the street
or conversing with boon companion he can
keep saying his prayers by constantly turning
the wheel. Prayer flags likewise covered
with supplications which are believed to prove
efficacious when waved in the air.
Penances have a power of absolution in the
minds of the Thibetans which would upset the
purposes of jails and the gallows among Western
nations. There is crime which may not be
wiped out by some sort of abnegation. A pill
grimage to lamasery. or monastery, is a favor
ite Of self-expurgation. The chief Of
these is at Lhasa, a sacred capital Of the
Thibetans, from which foreigners are vigorously
excluded their feet pollute its streets. Here
dwells the chief high priest Of the land. known
the Gyelva Rim -po-chhe. or Dalai Lama In
him Buddha is believed to be reincarnated and
he sits Ifeless the idol before which is
his chair, and with stolid solemnity receives the
supplications Of the multitude Within the
boundaries of this lamasery grows the sacred
tree of the Ten Thousand Prayers. which is sup
posed to have sprung from the whiskers and
hair OF Tsong- KAPPA, the great Thibet reformer
of Buddhism. On each leaf the holy words,
'Om mani padme hum," which appear to have
been written there by nature. DR.. Hedin, who
is one of the few explorers who have ever pene-
trated into the lamasery of Lhasa tells of find
ing this strange inscription each leaf but
he afterward informed by indscreet
lama that the letters pricked by the priests
into the leaves when freshly budding. The
foliage is regarded with great veneration by
the masses, and the lamas make fortune each
year selling the leaves to pilgrims
Another pilgrimage is to the sacred lake of
Mansarowan When Henry Savage Landor, the
British explorer visited this lake he found men
and women walking around its shores whom
he first thought deirious. Some travelled over
a serpentine course. Others walked backward
Still others stopped and bowed every step.
Others crawled along their knees Each he
learned. doing penance for some SIM The
circumference Of the lake is forty-six miles, and
yet he found men who had made the circuit a