The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1904-07-02
REGION IS LITTLE KNOWN.
Portion Of Thibet with Which Geog-
Taphers and Writers Had
But Little 10 Do

The Chumbi valley, WHlCl mas DesA
described as the Engadine OF the Him
a!ayas and is generally supposed to be
the conventional Arcadia OF these high
lands, is, az a matter of fact, not well
known to geographers. It is a portion
Of Thibet directly administered by
Lhasa-so far, indeed, as there has
been any administration at all, says
the London Times. Like other e~cclesi-
astical temporalities, there has been
found here as well as in the papal
states, or in the liberties AMI principal
tiles of the Old English church, a ten
dency to fatten the spiritual side of
the community to the neglect and also
at the expense of the laity; and,
though the hillsides of the valley are
dotted with lamaseries and cells.
though the highway and the tributary
hillpaths are fianked by prayer wheels
and INSTRUCTED almost every mile with
chuertens or pious squat memorials in
plaster and stone of dead ecclesiastics,
and though from every town and vii
iage, and even from many ~leafless
bushes by the river side, there fluttet
innumerable torn perpendicular strips
of prayer-printed cotton, it is difficult
to see where the social prosperity,
which has been noticed by more than
one traveller, is to be found,
This Is Of course the barest and most
Comfortless month in the year. Every
allowance must be made for the mo-
ment at which the advance has been
made. But the scarcity and poverty of
nearly all but the houses owned or
lived in by the lamas; the actual area
OF the eXiguOus slopes which permit of
cultivation; the badness of the roads,
often a mere careless jumbo of water
worn builders over which it is difficult
to coax a horse and impossible to run
4 wheeled carriage-all these silent
Of poverty are not dispr0yed by
he occasional presence of a house a.
{lnchjnsong or Phema which betrays
within evidence Of piety and even taste
If an elemental order.
Two races only fOurished in this val
ey before the advance of the mission,
amas and brigands, It is difficult now
o make any estimate Of the rsal value
II the property owned by the lama
cries here. Although not the least ex-
use for anxiety has been given by the
ehaFiOr Of any Il mar in the force,
be boarding abbots of this patrimoni-
m have been sorely alarmed by the
dVent Of the English, and vast GUAM
tiles of ecclesiastical ornaments have
cen carried off to the hillsides and
uried.
The 2humars and MARINES or shrine
often beautifully worked and
'Weled, are in almost all cases gone
together or replaced by a commoner
Institute. The great damrus, or twin
runs, composed Of the tops of two
uman skulls-One a mans and the
her a Woman's-fastened back to
ick, and covered with sheepskin: the
eat golden thunderbolts, which are
.e especial pride of the temples. the
lyer-gilt c~larinet-like instruments OF
are vanished or poorly re-
aced' In some cases the lamas have
dden the braziers and bowls Of
Fought copper, Only the long brass
ID copper trumpets, seven to ten feet
length, resting on the ground at
cir ends, and so heavy that a frame.
OF wood had to support the
'uthpiece, have proved too cumber-
ne 10 move, and the giIded and Jew I
"a Buddhas in the inner shrine have
IN Ieft to protect themselves. But
appearance of the lamas Them
YES, fat and w~eIl-clothed, bellies tbs
'ecJ Of their stripped compass The
2ahds OF Bhutan, who have hitber-
IeVled a heavy blackmail upon Six
oese and Chinese traders using the
ley, have found their occInation 4
but the gaudiness of some of the U
indoned houses in the valley is at. "
'uted to this ill-gotten wealth.
picturesque the valley is at all times
now, when the first hard ne,lets
long-delayed snow are rafting
0ng the frozen willow shoots and
E like mama wherever It falls m
lce-ertpped earth. the scene ia
n'ilui' Everything falls into it,
dark slopes of the advan-
mountains which thrust their feet n
the valley and turn it out Of its
'Se, the rich outstanding batt91;ons
lark green pines already busted
l "hite. the gray shingles of the v
close set houses which make the y
rs on the maps, the bridges CAN'T
req with huge boulders on their ~
ward ends, the occasional CLEAN If y
ldeh pinnacle on a gompa Or = ~.
! residence; above all, perhaps. W
hnrrying Ammo river. clear "a hi
al IN those rare lengths when II il -
'uiiiins over stones, twisting hitbpr u
thi'her, now and then leaving a n
Ted eyot in its midst.
I the Chumbi valley, narrow tor w
s. WIND swept, priest ridden. and q
by a foreign country on either
mas not had the chance of iustt- SIX
lhe euIogy of injudictous travail
FOR the moment the pax Britain Gil
feigns and the wool packs come 1fo
more freely than before; but tha %
lol valley probably owes its remit Or
more to the welcome contrast n t..
TO the appalling passes b. va
1t is guarded than to any intrin. zef
1t is a highway, and tn, a.
OF churchnen, who have in tho tAo
down from their eyries ~ no,
arrow ribbon Of cultivated lap1
OF providing rather their ant
eS lhan the necessities of tn. eL-
nen who own a,S al, Sllc