The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-09-25

Engshmen, however, undeterred by fear of torture at the hands of the priests of the Northern Buddhists
 The reports from the British forces all agree that the first view of the town in approaching 1t from the west is remark able. On the left is conical hill, on which Is situated Potala, the Dalai La mas residence, with its lofty buildings and its roof of gold, between which and the town winds a broad avenue of ancient trees.
 To the right is Changpa Hill. sur mounted by the Medical college, an im- mense structure over a quarter of mile long and several stories high. Between these two regal hills,e crowned by their wonderful structures, the visitor to Las sa catches sight of the Forbidden City. It appears a closely packed mass Of well built, white houses surmounted by roofs of blue, glazed tiles, with here and there the glittering minarets and spires thrust ing upward toward the cold, clear sky overhead, and over all the dominating presence of the golden-roofed temples and palaces of Lassa.
 Lamas Gold-Domed Palace.
 The most striking feature of the city Is undoubtedly Potala, the palace of the Dalai Lama, Buddha's vice regent on earth. The palace is an aggregation of several temples, the middle one, which dominates the rest, being the Red Pal ace" containing the great audience hall, where the Delai Lama, clad in yellow and seated on a throne supported by carved lions, receives pilgrims.
 The Red Palace is crowned by a dome covered entirely with plates of gold, and from this roof at the great festivals the Dalai Lama contemplates his worshipers thntF oIty aIA .1nf,, prostrate themselves at the foot of the sacred mountain. Three-quarters of a mile to the south west is Norbu Ling, the summer palace of the Dalai Lama, situated in the midst of a beautiful garden, in which the British force is now encamped | The Jovo Khang, or "Temple of the Lord Buddha." is an immense building with three Chinese roofs covered with gold, the upper stories If the edfice being supported by great wooden pillars ten feet in diameter. Here Is an exquis- itely modelled image of Buddha said by the priests to have been made during the | life of the great teacher. Around this are | placed many golden lamps, which are kept | burining constantly, supplied with melted | butter.
 North of this temple stands the house | of the astrologer royal and his hundred | retainers, with an enormous golden eu- pola, which Is visible for many miles. | On the southern side of tho city flows the River Kyichu, while a canal diverted from the river flows to the north. enclos- ing the city entirely by water Across
 the canal is the huge stone bridge over
 which crossed the British forces. | As yet no accurate idea of the popula- | tion of Lassa has been obtained. It is
 the home of the very heart of Buddhism
 and every tenth person is a priest of l Buddha.
 Those who are not priests are more or | less intimately connected with the ad-
 ministration of the religious government
 of Tibet, either as the servants of the | priests or laborers in the temples, or as
 subordinate lay officials of the priest | hood government.
 Human life is held so cheaply that
 the slightest offense, the most trivial
 infraction of the rules of the order of Buddha, is punished by death, and us-