The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1911-04-12
SAVAGES Of Asia.
The Uniamed chites OF Tibet Are
:doIate!s and CanniDa!s.
MURDER IN THEIR RELIGION.

MURDER IN THEIR RELIGION.
Al Their Wild Ceremonies the Priests
OF These 5arba-ians c@er Up Hu-
man Sacrifices to Their Grotessue
and Repu!sive Stone GODS.
\ religious festival by a savage tribe
of asia. il which occurred human
sacrifice and the burning Of the victim
On q funeral pyre, is described by VIZ
liam Jameson Reid in his book, "Unex-
p1o-ed Asia" The rites were held IN
place called. Chite City, Tzuchan,
which was reached after hazardous
iccrney through the Ping mountains.
xEe says:
"Let me give q brief history Of this
strange race, vino for centuries have
defed the most persistent research OF
explorers and ethnologists. Many cen
turies ago. in the vicinity Of Shanghai,
there lived a highly enlightened race
known as the Chites. They We're the
most fanatical and bigotec Budonlsts'
so fanatical, in fact, that their turoo-
lent spirits and eager desire to SOW the
seed Of proselytsm caused freQuen1
Revolutionary disturbances, The gov
ernnent, IS its only means OF zsalFa-
ton. made war on them For years the
Chites hattled against Overwhelming
odds until at last, their numbers fear
tulIv reduced. they gradually retired to
the west, settling here and there, only
to be again driven back. After years
Of wanderings they located IN the WILD
mountain region OF northwestern l1oe.-
"For untold centuries they have held
entirely aloof from their more c2ylllzed
Chinese neighbors, and today they are
as untamed and barbarous as were
their fierce ancestors. Many OF then
are sayages Of the worst degree; even
cannibalism IS said to be prevalent
among many of them. They acknoWi-
edge no allegiance to the emperor, en-
Grely ignore the authority Of the man
dar;ns and hold no CONTAMINATION
with the outside world. Yet We have
visited their wild domain; we nave
penetrated into their stronghold ana
have witnessed their strange customs
sIt had been our intention to steal
into the city under cover Of night, but
from our position of vantage we coulo
see that some religious demonstration
was in progress, and we did not care
to move. For half an hour our guides
6atiyes) crawled out on the plain snd
returned with the information that
they had discovered a considerable
cave in the hillside to the left OF the
town. which would screen US from OBJ
sevation and at the same time permit
MS to watch the movements Of those
inside the walls. We had just time to
reach our place Of concealment When
the leaders Of the procession entered
the narrow ori5ce and halted WmIe
torches were being lit to guide their
passages through the gathering gloom
Following them pressed the unkempe
crew, until the interior Of the dome
shaped cave was filed to the point OF
sufocaton.
"For half an hour the ear torturinS
strife Of discord waSed louder at every
moment ur6 a hundred devils II hu-
man form fitted beneath the fare OF
Pickering torches a freozied enthust-
asst would leap into the ar. lacerat1ns
himself with a knife, graspins the CORY
strip Of flesh and grinding it under his
heel, or taulting a neighbor into the
spirit Of emulation by faunting before
his eyes the ghastly piece Of flesh. SUD
denly from out the compact mass rose
howl Of mingled anguish and fury,
and solitary i1G-idual mounted a
sort Of platform and stretched forth
his hand. Evidently be was q hgn
priest Instantly there was silence
The light Of the torches enabled US to
see the man who had mounted the plat
form. He was q tall, gaunt indi7ld-
ual. Ali his right side was naked, ana
his face was covered with gaping rents
of knife wounds, from which blood
tsckled.
"A garment Of coarse cloth covered
his body below the waist Soon we
saw five others follow him upon the
platform, which was Of raised earth
In recess in the wall at the rear OF
the platform one could see the dis
torted form Of a gigantic image
stony, impassire figure Of such gro
tesque ugliness that one could not help
wondering how race Of people, how
ever unenHghtened, could bring them
selves to worship an object of such re
pulsiveness.
eat last a fearful moment was at
hand. An old man was seized and
stretched upon sort Of stone altar,
raised above the platform he realized
his last hour had come, and he sTug-
gled IN fear and fury to escape from
the grasp Of bis captors, giving vent
to shrek after shrek until, exhausted,
ne fell into stupor. -Four Of the
priests held the family struggling
BODY, while from the gloom stalked
forth the sacrifcial priest, bis hand
holding long knife. Once, twice.
thrice he abased himself before the
image, and then, turning round like a
beast ready to leap upon its prey, ne
rushed toward the PROSTATE form. y
flash Of light and the keen blade sank
to the hilt in the flesh Of the victim
.sThree times did the worshiDers on
the foo- rise and abase themselves,
and then quickly the minor priesS
seized the Gfeless body and held it IN
the air. For a moment it silhouetted
against the ftful glare Of the fire; then
the flames leaped forward in eager