The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1922-08-08
MAKE EXTENSIVE
STUDY OF TIBET
Woman is Master of Household in ii.
bet and Follow Custom of
Marrying Brothers.

| LONDON, Aug. s7-Great Britain in
tends to make a thorough study of the
little known land of Tibet, where devil
worship and belief in ghosts still exist.
A mission composed of some of Eng
Hands ablest explorers, scientists, mis-
sionaries and ethnologists soon will
leave London for the city of Lhasa,
which is buried behind the worlds
| greatest rampant of mountains, the
Himalayas, between India and China,
The mission will proceed under the
auspices of the International Buddhist
Union, representing all schools Of
buddhism, including the Buddhist So
ciety Of the United state.
Penetrate Veil Of Mystery.
The mission will make a closer in
vestigation of the Tibetian people.
their customs, religion and language,
than has yet been possible, together
with a study Of rare books and manu-
scripts known to exist in the mona site
| libraries. These are expected to prove
Of the greatest value, not only to Budd-
hist scholarship and to the study of
comparative religion, but to fill many
gaps that at present exist in! the
worlds knowledge of the early history
OF country which to the present day
is yelled in mystery
The Tibetans live in mountain
Etrongholds, $4,000 feet above the level
Of the sea, which is 500 feet higher
than Mount Whitney, the highest peak
in the United States. They have al
ways proved inhospitable to foreign
ers and to the introduction of modern
ideas. Little is known of the origin of
the people. Local tradition has 1t that
the progenitors of the race were "a
she-devil OF the Himalayas" and an
ape from the plains of TIindustan.
The last foreigner in Tibet was an
American medical missionary. DR.. A.
L. Shelton, of San Francisco, who
spent II years at Batang, near the
Chino Tibetan border. In It's form of
Tibet is one of the few
remaining theocracies in the world |
The people lead a nomadic life Mono i
gamy, polygamy and polyrandry flour |
ish. Under the polyandrous system, |
the eldest son of a family marries |
woman and she becomes the common !
wife Of himself and his brothers.
Dead Fed to Vultures. |
DIR. Shelton found that the Tibetan |
woman usually marries three or four I
brothers, and in one case that came !
under his observation a woman had !
six brothers for husbands. The oldest
brother is considered the father and |
the other brothers the uncles of the |
family Woman occupies a superior
position She is master of the home |
and farm Grass worms, fungi, and |
the horns of young deer, ground to
powder, are considered by the Tibetans
Infallible medicinal remedies for all |
Ills, and are even held in high favor as
table delicacies.
Thousands of years of isolation have I
paralyzed the progress of the people
There is no public instruction. Pagan
forms of worship prevail. Only the
most elemental form of government I
exists. Offenders against the law,
which is derived largely from the
Khnjur, the Buddhist Bible, work OF
I0S volumes are punished by having
heir hands and feet amputated. When
!, Tibetan dies his body is dismember |
Ind fed to vultures. The people arS
extremely poor. They dress in sheep
skins and the usual rule is one gar
nent to person.