PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2343, 26 January 1899, Page 57

PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

IN THE FORBIDDEN LAND.

Last week I outlined Landor's rout#, gave an idea of what he considered necessary to form his outfit, and described tlia effect mountain sickness had upon him and his followers. This week I'll give you a few bits that might interest you, though I am rather at a loss what bits to give. If the editor could only spare a couple of pages all the extracts worth reprinting could be given ; but as that amount of tpace is not available I'll do the best I can.

One of the first" things striking the reader ig the combination of cruelty and cowardice on the part of the Thibetans. More than once we are asked to believe that soldiers or brigands — most Thibetans seem to belong to three classes, soldiers, brigands, and the three religious orders of lamas — fully aimed, and purposely waylaying him, either to foil him in his desire to reach Lassa or to rob him of the rupees four men •were' required to carry — that soldiers and brigands of any number up to 200 all ran when he hit them or chased them ; and > when he was captured treachery plus. soo soldiers seemed necessary for the purpose. According to Landor, the Thibetans invade British territory, and, when prompted^ by caprice, subject their captives to exquisite torture, cutting off hands and feet, smashing fingers to a pulp one by one, searing the eyes with red-hot irons, and pulling off toe-nails being some of the playful ways they hiive of snowing their supremacy. As about a third of Landor's narrative is taken up with his tortures — perhaps ii is unfeeling to say so, but he seems to look upon them as a Godsend — a. brief deacrin; tion of what he went through will not Be out of the way. By way of preliminary.* he was bound hand and foot, and so tightly, that the flesh was cut through and the bones bared ; then he was comfortingly^ told that he would be flogged, hi 3 legs broken, his eyes burnt out, and his head cub off ; but other tortures were substituted He wns made to ride on a spiked saddW,' the spikes rasping his backbone and tearing the flesh at every step of his highly mettled horse. He was shot at twice within a few yards, and once the muzzle was placed by his temple, pointing upwards howeve^ when • fired ; a swordsman made two sham attempts to behead him, and hot irons were placed in front of his eyes ; he was spat upon, and handfuls of hair were tcrp out by the root. But perhaps his extraordinary endurance (or his imaginative, effort) is shown in the following: His feet, sli etched as far apart as possible, were fastened to a three-sided beam. Then hjs hands were fastened behind him and drawn upwards by a pulley, the shoulder blades touching. At the same time his companion was similnrly fixed, but facing him ; aid* bnth their heads were draivn to each otter by a rope at a strong tension. So w6 ure asked to believe that their necks were pretty well dislocated and that they wore nearly strangled at the same time, that their feet were resting on the. sharp fedge of a prismatic beam, and that their weight was almost entirely borne by the hinds pulled iij) behind ; and all this for abou* 24 hours ! But while in this exquisite tor? ture, and in this extraordinary positron, he was able to free one of his hand.3, to loosen the feet of his mate, and to repjs/cehis hand when necessary to avoid detection! There were two or three other tortures, but I won't go any further with them.

.And here I'll notice another character-* istic. In almost every page Landor 'contrives to make the reader think of hjm? Landor and not Thibet is the principal theme. No matter what are the conditions he always rises superior to them. Though riding the spiked saddle, he yas able to note that " the country wriij carious and interesting," and that " it Was a beautiful sight, though the pain I was undergoing rather detracted from the pleasure I should otherwise have taken in the picturesque scene." When lifted from the horse he was covered with blood, but, when brought before the local magnate he pretended not to feel any pain and expressed his pleasure in having such an excellent pony. Even when tortured ho draws a map with his blood and makes" copious notes. He is able to climb higher, travel quicker, carry more, last out longer, endure greater privation than anyone else. His narrative may be true ; if so, a Rougemonfc'or a Defoe must not be doubted, for the imagination of either cannot surpass what Landor gives as common-place facts. What he was able to stand in the way of torturing you now know. But immediately after that torturing he was able to walk oi' ride up to 40 miles a day on a nv?al once in two or three days. He gives the picture of an absolutely perpendicular cliff which he climbs around by hanging on by fingers and toes, • though how he manages to get his impedimenta past the same point he does not say. He always carried a rifie and cartridges and half a score of scientific instruments ; and had 800 rupees served into his coat. These burden? he wishes you to assume are comparatively nothing ; and a track about 6in wide, made in places of stones placejl on crowbars driven into the cliff, and with a sheer drop of 2000 ft below, such a track, says he, is not so bad ! But enough about Landor and his veracity or imagination when lie is himself directly concerned. . Everywhere, he said, he found the people as obsequious as they were cowardly. When the brigands on one occasion were charging him, he faced them, camera in ona hand and ride in the other. After !wail&

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g "until they came into tlie field of the camera, he took a snap-shot ; then as they .were preparing to fire, rapidly brought his tifle to Bear on them. This, he tells us, Caused them to show every sign of abject Submission. They placed their fur caps on 'the ground, and made a comical jerky curtley as if heads and knees moved with a 'spring; and their tongues were lolled out length until permission was given to «lraw them back.

MARRIAGES.

Most of the courting is done in houses set apart for the purpose, and when a match is arranged the bridegroom has to pay from five to 100 rupees as milk-money— representing the cost of bringing up. The marriage ceremony is extremely simple, a cake being pro.vided and this is eaten by the couple; if either refuses to partake of it, the marriage is broken off. In another district when a young man asks the bride's father for her and gets a favourable answer, the suitor places a lump "of yak butter on his betrothed's head and she "does the same for him : this constitutes marriage. Perhap you don't know that when a man marries he marries not only his sweetheart, but all her yCunger sisters; his younger brothers by the same ceremony have a share in their elder brother's wives. So says •liandor. I have read before that a family of brothers marry the same wife, but' did not iknow that the marriage involved more than (the( the one; The females cannot be said to be prepossessing. "With an accumulated filth that, from birth, is undisturbed by soap, scrubbing *br bathing ; with nose, cheeks, and forehead Smeared with black omtment-to prevent the 'fildn cracking in the wind ; and with the unpleasant odour that emanates from never .changed clothes, the Thibetan woman is, at jher Dest, repulsive to European taste. she possesses a better heart, more pluck, and a finer character than the anan. As befits one with so much power and authority, she wears boots and trousers like a man." DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD. i Landor describes three or four ways of disJposing of the dead, cremation being one of them. Another method involving the transjnigration of souls I'll briefly give: The body is first dressed with ghi (butter), then bent double and put on a rudely constructed fcearse. Feasting then takes place, after jivhich the body is taken away to be cremated, the women preceding the corpse and having jtheir heads covered with a canopy of white 'cloth. After the disposal of the body, all [■who have touched the corpse have to cleanse themselves by w"ashing. Amusement is proLvided ior the soul, and arrangements made [for its future tenement. An effigy is made iand dressed, and the soul implored to return ; 'the women, with bonnets reversed, dance 'around it, and a feast is provided for the fiead and the living. Then a yak is procured for the soul migration ; • latterly, however, sheep have been used by the less wealthy on account of economy, a male animal for a male corpse, and a female for a female. In the midst of dancing, feasting, and exhorting (the animal is led up and dressed in the clothing and decorations of the effigy. Then teandalwood is burnt under the animal's nostrils to induce the soul to enter and establish itself. Aftet the animal is caressed and dancing indulged in, suddenly, and amidst discordant cries, it is dragged about, beaten, chased out of the village and stripped of everything. If the animal is a sheep, it is then seized by an inferior caste, its heart torn tat and the whole eaten ; if a yak, it is driven pver a precipice, it being against the creed pi a Thibetan to draw blood from a yak, though he doesn't mind feasting on its foangled remains.

RELIGION.

'A great deal can be said on this, but I liave about exhausted my space. However, »i'll write a/word or two. Mansarawar is one of the most sacred of lakes. By it Siva, the "greatest of all gods, lives. A man who has .bathed in it is held in great respect by everybody, and commands the admiration and envy of the entire world. The lake is about '46 miles around, and those wishing to attain the greatest sanctity make a kora or circuit 'on foot ; one circuit absolving from ordinary Bins, two clears the conscience of murder, v »nd three will make hoi good one who bas killed a father or mother. There are some fanatical enough to go the circuit on knees, falling on" the face at each, step, and to throw handfuls of coins into its waters. {By the lake is Kelas, the sacred mountain, the abode of the gods, especially Siva. A ledge about its base is the mark oi an immense rope used by the devil to pull Siva jflown ; and the flattened top of the mountain 38 the roof of Siva's temple. Around the i>ase are hundreds of chokdens or obos, sacred pillars erected to the gods, and if a pilgrim can do nothing else, he can bring a stone and put it on top of one of these for good luck. I The Thibetans believe in transmigration of souls and in a god above all gods, who is the incarnation of all saints together in a trinity, the three in one being, according to some, symbolical of fire, air, and water, to others speech, charity, and force and life. One 'great point in Buddhism, the dominant religion, is the advocation of love and respect " for one's father and mother, and the prohibition against injuring one's neighbours in any way. According to the precepts contained in . some 800 volumes called the ,*' Kajars," the Thibetans believe in a heaven free from all anxieties of human existence, full of love and joy, and ruled over by a cod of infinite goodness, helped by countless disciples who spend their existence in performing charitable deeds among living creatures. With a numbei of intermediary places they also believe in a hell where the bouls of sinners are tormented by fire and ice. *The evils to be specially avoided are luxury, jpride, and envy. It is possible to become a Saint in Thibet, but it takes 500 transmigrations of an uncontaminated soul to become one.

1 Such is Landor's account, oi a part of it. There is a good deal more that is interestIng in his narrative, that is, if it is true. Perhaps some day I'll deal with medicine and fcurgery, the lamas, optical phenomena be saw, the Thibetans' explanation of an earthquake and one or two other bits ; but I hare jsritten quite enough to-day.

— The succulent sausage was invented in Germany in the year 897.