, 1905-01-26

The Tibetans are the strangest peo-
pie on earth.
To hold life sacred and benefit the
creatures are the laws of Buddha,
which they are supposed to obey most
s~crupulously. And as they think they
may be reborn in any shape OF animal.
bird or fish, they are kind to living
things.
During the morning service a pray.
er is repeated by the lamas for the
minute insects which they have swal-
lowed inadvertently in their meat and
drink, and the formula insures the re-
birth of these microbes in heaven.
Sometimes, when a lama's life is de-
SPARED of, the monks will ansom a
yak or a bullock from the shambles
and keep him I. ] lsioner in their
monastery, praying the good Buddha
to spare the sick mans life for The lie
ransomed. Yet they eat meat freely,
all save the Gelug-pa, or reformed
church, and square their conscience
with their appetite by the pretext h a
the sin rests with the outcast assassin.
the public butcher. who will be born
in the next incarnation as some tam
talized spirit or agonized demon.
That, however, is his own affair.
But it is when a Tibetan dies that
his charity to the creatures becomes
really practical. Then, by his own
tacit consent when living, his body is
given as a feast to the dogs and vul-
lures. This is no casual or careless
gift to avoid the trouble of burial or
cremation. All creatures who nave a
taste for these things are invited to
the ceremony, and the corpse is carved
to their liking by an expert, who de-
votes his life to the practice.
When a Tibetan dies he is left three
days in his chamber, and a slit is made
in his skull to let his soul pass out.
Then he is rolled into a ball, wrapped
in a sack. or silk if he is rich, packed
into a jar or casket. and carried along
to the music of conch shells to the Ger
emonial stone. Here a lama takes
the corpse out of it's vessel and wrap
pings and lays it face downward on
a large fiat slab, and the pensioners
prowl r hop round waiting for their
dole. They are quite tame. The lamas
stand a little way apart n see that
strict etiquette is observed during the
entertainment. The carver begins at
the ankle and cuts upward. throwing
little strips of flesh TO the guests;
the bones he throws to a second at.
tendant. who pounds them up with a
heavy stone
passed the place to-day as | ode
in from a reconnaissance. The slab
H.. ..-t- IT,. e. a. 81
great northern DAD to Tengri Nor and
Mongolia, about two miles from the
city.
A group of stolid vultures. too de.
moraliZed to range in search of car
rion, stood motionless on a rock above,
waiting the next dispenser of charity.
A few ravens hoped about sadly;
they, too. were evidently pauperized.
One maybe was prying around in
suspicious proximity. and dogs. con.
scious of shame, skunk about without
a bark to them, and nosed the ground
diligently. They were always there,
waiting.
There was hardly a stain on the
slab, so quick and eager are the appIi-
cants for charity. Only a few rags
lay around, too poor to be carried
away.
| have not seen the ceremony. and
| have no mind to. My companion this
morning. a hardened young subaltern.
who was fighting nearly every dav in
April, May n June. and has seen
more bloodshed than most veterans.
saw just as much as have described.
He hen left i'll. dug his spurs into
his horse, and rode away.-Edmund
Gambler in Chicago Tribune.