Evening star., 1925-09-06

ing orders; the arrival of the Dalai
Lama was announced, everybody,
women included, had to take their
hats off. and those who delayed were
soon acquainted with one or another
of the lamaist policemen's weapons.
Thanks to my short size, escaped
thumps and thrashings during the
hours / stood there. When danger
threatened, 1 always managed to find
sheiter between a group of tall
Tibetans who acted as a protecting
roof over my head.
THE Dalai Lama passed at last, rid
ing a beautiful black mule, ac-
companied by a few ecclesiastical dig
nitaries, all. like himself, dressed in
religious robes, dark red, yellow and
gold brocade half covered by the dark
red toga: they wore a Mongolian
round hat of yellow brocade edged
with fur The general in chief rode
before him and some horseguards clad
in khaki went ahead and at the rear.
After Lus Kong Yyi Gyalpo had
gone through the ceremony at the
Jokhang / saw him hurried out of
the city. He was clad in a coat of
white goat fur; he wore a black yak
tail as headgear, and held another
one in the hand; his face was painted
half white and half black. All along
his way the crowd shouted and
whistled.
More ceremonies were performed to
bring back to the city the yangku
wealth and prosperity that might
have gone, following in the train of
the impurities carried by the "scape-
goat" The sun had set before all
was over.
A town whose inhabitants had been
cleansed in such a way and to whom
unlimited prosperity was promised
could not but be joyful: so was Lhasa
that evening. Everybody was out
doors, chatting, laughing and es-
pecially drinking. The most hideous
beggars, deaf and dumb. blind, eaten
up by leprosy. rejoiced as well as the
wealthiest and the noblest citizens.
met acquaintances-I had made a few
who did not suspect my origfn-a.nd,
willing or unwilling, was hurried into
Il restaurant and there / had to show
myself up to the circumstances, in
eating large quantity of various fine
Tibetan dishes. / must confess that
L did not find it hard in the least to
submit to that trial: Tibetan cooking
is not to be despised.
The day that followed saw me
perched, among many, on the rocky
spur of the Potala, to look at the great
pageant called serpang marching past
Never did / see a more original, more
wonderful spectacle. Several thou
sand men in a file marched around the
Potala They carried hundreds of
multicolored. huge silk flags, hundreds
of embroidered banners and state um-
brellas. Dignitaries proceeded slowly
under canopies surrounded by clerics
,.ff fl1a
sion stopped, and then boys danced.
Couples made ul of a man carrying
a big drum on his back and another
who behind him beat the instrument
in time went through graceful evolu-
tions, and many others followed.
Religious and profane elements
mixed harmoniously at the sound
of all kinds of music-some solemn,
including, in the orchestra, fifteen
foot-long trumpets, carried by sew
eral men, whose deep vibrations filled
the whole valley-and some charm
ing when the turn came for the Mon
golian musicians. Elephants walked
gravely, escorted by fantastic paper
monsters after the Chinese fashion
that performed all kinds of antics.
Then, again, among warriors of yore
clad in coat of mail and the priestly
local deities whom l had already seen
the day before.
The pageant moved in fairy scene
Under the blue luminous sky and the
powerful sun of Central Asia. the in
tensif1ed colors of the yellow and red
procession, the variegated bright
hues of the crowds dresses, the shin
ing whitish distant hills. and Lhasa
lying on the. plain at the foot of the
huge Potala capped with glittering
gold, all seemed, men and things.
filled with light and ready to burst
into flames. Unforgettable spectacle
which alone would have repaid me
for all fatigue, all dangers that had
faced to behold it.
T LOOKED somewhat different when
I left Lhasa from the beggar who
two months before had reached the
forbidden city. I had promoted my
self to more respectable station in
the social hierarchy. / was, now, a
lower middle-class woman, owner of
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