Evening star., 1925-08-30

milliner who had made il for me. No
doubt a human being had lost it, but
why just at that place? Jocularly, my
companion said that one of my invisi-
BILE friends had pulled it down from
the load of a traveller TO present it to
me-a kingly gift indeed l let him
jest at will, washed the bonnet, and
carried 1t in my luggage.
A week after l noticed that l was
the only woman to wear my LoutZe-
kiang headgear. We had crossed a
pass. and in the country we had en-
tered it looks conspicuous. People be-
gan to question me about my native
land. The time had come for which
the plain, we'll known Khan bonnet
was intended. AS soon as | began to
wear it all questions and curiosity
about me ended. Later on l had a
new reason to bless il. when | had to
cross high passes among glaciers and
snow. when the blizzard ragged around
us. Then the poor fur-lined bonnet
kept my head and ears warm and pro
tected me against frost and wind.
= = =
I EFT US come back TO Lhasa In
IL spite of the splendor of the Potala
the Dalai Lama does not habitually
dwell there. He goes there at the
time of certain festivals, but his true
residence is situated outside the town
in a park called Norbuling Ghe jewel
island, and, by extension, the jewel
place or quarter).
Some houses are scattered in that
park. The rooms of one of them are
furnished according to different styles,
or at least what Tibetans believe to
be different Styles. one room they
call the English room, another Indian.
another, again. the Chinese room, and
as on the flat roof of the building
stand the gilded ornaments called
syaltsen, emblematic of power and
victory, the courtiers of the Dalai
Lama repeat to safety before him:
"All these various roomS-English
Chinese, Indian, and SO on--are under
the Tibetan roof, where stand the Ti-
betan gyaltsen, and so, also, Tibet is
above all nations and you are the high
est among all rulers. -
! have been told that the Tibetan
clerical king smiles and takes pleasure
in these batteries. One may doubt
that he takes them seriously. He has
been twice in eXile-tirSt in China and
then in India, and must have learned
there many things about the world
outside Tibet But if the ruler is per
haps aware of his true situation, ii is
not the same with the common folk
to whom most extra ordinary stories
are told about the greatness of the
Dalai Lama and the position in which
ne stands before Great Britain. Very
likely the Court of Lhasa spread these
abSurditieS in order to increase the
prestige OF the Dalai Lama, TO which
its own is bound.
] will venture to relate one of these
stories, as il is a rather amusing one.
At the time when the Dalai Lama
was in India he happened to be the
guest of the Viceroy. Once, being
seated with him and many dstn-
guished guests in a large drawing
room, he stretched his two arms. and
behold, on each of his palms, turned
upward, appeared one of the hills of
Lhasa. On one hand one could see
the Potala. on the other the great
medical college of Chok bu ri the
tent-shaped hilD. At the sight of such
d wonder the Englishmen We're struck
with awe and reverence, and all of
them. with the viceroy at their head
fell on their knees and bowed down at