The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911, 1911-08-16
.SAVACES OF ASIA.
The Untamed Chites Of Tibet Are
IdoIaters and CannibaIs.
MURDER IN THEIR RELIGION.

A religious festival by q savage tribe
of Asia, in which occurred human
sacrifice and the burning Of the victim
on a funeral pyre. is described by WI;
liam Jameson Reid in his book, ''Unex-
plored Asia" The rites were held In .
place called Chite City. TZuchan
which was reached after a hazardous
tourney through the Ping mountains.
He says:
LET me give a brief history of this
strange race, who for centuries have
defied the most persistent research OF
explorers and ethnolOgists. Many cen
turtles ago. in the vicinity Of Shanghai.
there lived q highly enlightened race
known as the Chites. They were the
most fanatical and bigoted Buddhists.
SO fanatical, in fact. that their turbu-
lent spirits and eager desire to SOW the
seed of prOselytism caused frequent
| revolutionary disturbances. The gov
eminent, as its only means OF saliva
| tiOn, made war on them. For years the
| Chites battled against overwhelming
odds until at last. their numbers fear
fully reduced, they gradually retired to
the west. settling here and there. only
to he again driven back. After years
| of wanderings they located in the wild
mountain region Of northwestern Tibet.
For untold centuries they have held
entirely aloof from their more civilized
| Chinese neighbOrs, and today they are
rs untamed and barbarOus as were
their fierce ancestors. Many OF them
| are savases Of the worst degree; even
cannibalism is said to be prevalent
among many of them. They acknOwl-
edge no allegiance to the emperor, en-
tfrely ignore the authority Of the man.
darins and hold no communication
with the outside world. Yet We have
visited their wild domain; We have
penetrated into their stronghold and
have witnessed their strange customs.
| "It had been our intention to steal
into the city under cover OF night, but
from our position of vantage We could
see that some religious demonstration
| was i'm progress. and We did not dare
\
natives, crawled out on the plain and
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
seryation and at the same time permit
rs 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 orifice and halted while
torches were being lit to guide their
passages through the gathering gloom.
Following them pressed the unkempt
crew, until the interior OF the dome
shaped cave was filled to the point OF
suffocation.
For half an hour the ear torturing
strife Of discord waXed louder at every
moment until a hundred devils In hui
man form fitted beneath the fare OF
Pickering torches. A frenZied enthust-
asst would leap into the air. lacerating
himself with knife, grasping the CORY
strip of flesh and grinding it under his
heel. or haunting a neighbor into the
spirit Of emulation by Haunting before
his eyes the CHASTITY piece Of flesh. Sud
denly from out the compact mass rose
a howl of mingled anguish and fury.
and a solitary individual mounted .
sort Of platform and stretched forth
his hand. Evidently he was high
priest. Instantly there was silence.
The light of the torches enabled us to
see the man who had mounted the plat
form. He was a tall. gaunt individ-
ual. All his right side was naked. and
his face was covered with gaping rents
Of knife wounds, from which blood
trickled.
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 q gigantic image--a
; stony, impassive figure Of such gro
tesque usliness that one could not help
wondering how a race Of people, how
!. ever unenlightened. could bring them
! selves to worship an object Of such re-
pulsiveness.
at last a fearful moment was at
hand An old man was seized and
stretched upon a sort Of stone altar.
raised above the platform. He realized
his last hour had come, and he strug-
gled In fear and fury to escape from
the grasp Of his captors. giving vent
to shrek after shrek until. exhausted.
he fell into stupor. Four Of the
priests held the family struggling
body, while from the gloom stalked
forth the sacrificial priest. his hand
holding q long knife. Once. twice.
thrice he abased himself before the
image, and then. turning round like a
beast ready to leap upon its prey. he
rushed toward the PROSTATE form. A
fash Of light and the keen blade sank
to the hilt I'm the flesh Of the victim
Three times did the worshipers on
the floor rise and abase themselves.
and then quickly the minor priests
seized the lifeless body and held It In
the air. For q moment II silhouetted
against the fitful glare Of the fire; then
the flames leaped forward in eager
ecstasy to receive their prey"