THE MYSTERIOUS WHITE CITY OF LHASSA.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXXVII, Issue 169, 18 July 1903, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE MYSTERIOUS WHITE CITY OF LHASSA.

STRANGE NEWS FROM A STRANGE LAND.

In the heart of Asia is one great mysterious semi-savage land, guarded by stupendous mountains, from which the innovating influence of the white man is fiercely excluded.

This is Thibet, and it seems as if all the strangest and most fantastic customs on,earth had taken refuge in this last retreat, for there each woman has many husbands, but no man ia allowed more than one-wife;1 ilicrul^r- is a child who dies before he comes of age, while" the inhabitant* wash themselves with butter and pray by machinery.

And in the midst of this strange land is the sacred white city of Lhassa/—the holy of holies, the mystery of mysteries, where the Grand Dalai Lama dreams away his sacred but brief existence and where no white man has entered since 1840, and even then it was a risky enterprise accomplished in disguise.

Explorers from time to time cross the wild mountain borders, but they must advance amid great 1, natural difficulties and in the face of a murderous population. The rulers of Lhassa hear of their coming months before they can reach the capital, and can make ample arrangements for murdering them. When Henry Savage Landor crossed the frontier in an attempt to reach Lhassa, lie was seized, tortured, 4ind barely escaped with his life. This is the fate of all white intruders into Lhassa. Thibet lies between. India, Asiatic Russia and China. On the southern side are the Himalaya Mountains the highest in the world, and the whole of Thibet consists of mountainous table-land rising 20,000 ft. and more above the sea level. * Thibet has an absolute religious government ol* Theocracy. The head of it is the Grand or Dalai Lama at Lfyassa, who. is supposed to be an incarnation of Buddha, but the real leader is a person curiously named " the "Gyalpo," or temporal thief. He, too, is a lama. Years ago t'hc lamas were not so anxious about excluding foreigners from their laud as they are now, probably because t|iey believed the visitors would revere their greatness. But since .1810 no white man has seen the ' sacred city. Every one attempting to approach-it has been killed. This fierce cxclusivcncss has naturally stirred civilized curiousity to the uttermost and much information has been gathered from Asiatic Btuldbists concerning the * Sacred Cily. This curiousity has now received an unusual gratification in a remarkable series of photographs ( now in possession of the Royal Geographical Society ) of the Holy City and its 'most holy places. These were all obtained by Asiatics. One of them was a Kalmuk chief named .Ovchu Nov.zounof, a Russian subject, ami tho other a member of the Nepaul Embassy to China. These photographs confirm the extraordinary statements that have- ■ been made concerning the place. The Fotala, or Grand Lama's abode,- is situated on a steep rock from 800 ft. to 500 ft. high and rises nine tall stories above that into the sky. It is the most conspicuous architectural feature in Lhassa. The lower storeys are occupied by the Gyalpo and hundreds of Lamas or priests r while the Grand Lama is hidden away at the top. The Grand Lama who is regarded as a reincarnation of Buddha, is usually chosen at the age of five or six. Under the influence of the Gyalpo h« dies of some mysterious malady at the age of 15 or 16. .His Spirit then passes into another child. SPbe dethronement of the Grand Lama is accompanied by ceremonies so strange and elaborate that it would require volumes to describe theni. Each one of the nine storeys of the palace is the scene of some symbol' ical and mysterious performance. The Tbibetians say that the Wealth of the Grand Lama in Potala is ten times that, of the rest of the world put together. Outside Lhassa is.the sacred grazing ground where 300 brood mares feed, from whose milk a fermented liquor is prepared for the Grand Lama. A great temple at Lhassa contains the greatest image in the world, called the Jo-Vo, representing Buddha. It is 120 ft. high rises up through four stories and is covered with jewels. About one-fourth of the population of Thibet consists of lamas who dwell in lamaseries or Buddha monasteries. They possess practically all the wealth of the country, and rule it absolutely. The lamaseries are situated in the most fantastic places, some on the tops of mountains, some on the sides of them, hanging over precipices, so that one can only reach them by ropes. The lamas of a certain superior order have, it is asserted, the strangs custom of manifesting their power tc die and come back to life. The devoted lama stands before the altar, surrounded by worshippers, and then deliberately cuts open his abdomen, takes out his intestines and lays them before him on a table. Then he appears to die or at least becomes unconscious. After a time he comes back to life, puts the intestines back in their place, tics, himself up with a large red scarf, and goes on living just as before. Fathers Hue and Gabet, two Jesuit priests who entered Lhassa In 184-6 relate that they witnessed this astonishing ceremony. Another class of lamas called the Skooshaw arc supposed to be identical with the much discussed and mysterious Mali atmas. The strange and repulsive custou of polyandry, whereby one wo unit has many husbands prevails »-(Uier ally in Thibot. It is. sometimes ac counted for by the poverty of th» KfiUUtry and the desire to keep tUi

population ddwh.. The wife is .a very important person under this system. Her house is surrounded by that of her husbands, and she rules them. All brothers in a family marry the same wife, but she may take'other husbands. The men may only have one wife. The Thibetans arc very fond of devil and ghost dances and similar. .perrdmancos in which they wear musks representing demons and wild boasts. Among the strange articles used, in these performances are a dii!m made of human skulls, a libation bowl made of skulls, "and other : equally gruesome things. , It is "well known that Buddhaists are in the habit of praying with the '• aid of a wheel, but the extent to 1 which this custom is carried in Thi'ljet is-ir^FCSStvCj,, " The Buddhaist it shouftTbe rcmenr--bcred has to pass through a long series of incarnations in various animal forms until he has so purged himself of sin that he is fit to enter into Nirvana. This process may bo accelerated by prayer, and for convenience the prayer is written and fastened on a wheel, which the devo tee turns. Jn Thibet a devoutdd and prosperous man has a collection of prayer wheels driven by wind and | water power. In this way he may I'm a few years make progress which would otherwise occupy millions of years of reincarnations. The time is surely approaching when the invading foreigners will break into the sacred city of Lhassa but before that happens there will be a fearful struggle to protect that astonishing resort of mysticism, humbug and crime.