CLOSED LAND

Feilding Star, Volume 8, Issue 2668, 26 August 1930, Page 6

CLOSED LAND

MYSTERIOUS TIBET

BORDER .MISSIONARY'S LIFE

I NTOJ.ERA NT I* RJ KSTS

There arrived iu Auckland on rout*to his native land, Mr JX. Cunning ham. who for well over 20 years liac been labouring iu the interests o 1 the Gospel amongst the Tibetan no mads in tlie Cliinesei province of Sze ehuan., where the Yar»gtse River take* its rise in tlie mountain ranges. AGAINST THE MISSIONS Mr Cunningham spoke modestly O' his unusual experience beyond in thi strange territory that is known a the “roof of the world.” Tibet, saj’s, is a elefsed land, and no mis * ion ary, scientist or explorer nia? without permission cross the border which consists of a belt of from 20 to 600 miles in width of unadminis tcred territory ,where life is ver precarious. It js liere that Air am* Mrs Cunningham worked for th< China lulaud Mission. The inhabitants were friendly until the priests of Lamaisrn turned thi minds of the people against mission aries. Every person in Laum-la.ud h religious, and every hont© has its re present a lives in the lamaseries that are scattered over tlie “Forbidder Land.” Many arc armed jn modem fashion, and prepared toi make .an.' ‘sacrifice for their tenets. The head of the whole system is the Dalai Lawn and he rigidly opposes tire entry o' any Europeans. Although, to gair Nirvana, a Lama would not take tin **iife of a flea, lie would not hestitat< to destroy any European who at tempted t> cross the border. CHRISTIAN PROGRESS SLOW M issitm work, Mr C uuniughaxn said, lias been carried i/ut urn. tile frontier for Lie last 30 years, but pi-ogrest is very .slow. No Lama can beeoint a Christian and safely remain ii Tibet. Converts are forced to go t'. China, Burma, Assam, or India. “Aclose as to have been t > the couutrj foi- so long, we know little of the inside working -of hidori Tibet,'* said ]\lr Cunningham. The domes of tin. Lamas’ secret order are of beater gold, and stand away up in almost in accessible momitai.n fastnesses. Tibet is very rich in gold, and the precious metal is freely" used for house decora ■ tion. Musk from tliei musk t’.ter is i a valuable commodity, used and traded as a perfume base. Speaking of the Tibetan people, as distinct from the Lamas, Mr Cunninglia msaid they were -a healthy people. A boiled mixture rf gn und barley, tea and yak butter, like pea soup, was the chief diet, eaten with the fingers from wooden silver-lined bowls. Tibetans seldom washed tl eraselves. and never their dishes, which they licked clean between meals