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Show I &H TOT if 5" I JjpiMinMEN H In tho Grand Dnlnl I.nnm of Thibet H Great Britain lias the strnnRust enemy m eho has ever had. H Thibet llos on the (dopes of the h Himalayas, nnd haH a totnt area of H about CfiO.OOO square miles, H with a population of six mil- H Ilonn. Its capital In Lhasa (which H means "God's ground"), nnd is the H metropolis of tho Huddhlst world. Do- H cauBO It Is situated at n holRlit of B nearly twclvo thousand feet nbovo the H levol of tho sea. It Is often referred B to as the "roof of the world." H It Is the ambition or adventurous En- H ropcan travelers to make their way M Into Lhasa, and solve many of tho H mysteries which surround the sacred M city, but only throo have over dono so H and come out alive. No living Euro- B pean has ever seen the Grand t.ania. B Only ono Englishman ever got to B Lhasa and came back again, and that B was Thoinns Manning, a great friend H of Charles Lamb, In 1811. Hj However, at various times Indians B nnd Chliicso have got there more or B less In British interohts. and tho In- H dla Ofllco has a special secret service H In its employment, the mombers of B which have, at terrllilc risks, obtained B information which has been duly B pigeonholed, so that, though wo havo M not seen Thlbot nor its famous Grand B Lnma, wo nro not by any means Iguo- B rant concerning either. B Lama simply moans priest, and tho H Grand Lama is tho head of all tho M thousands, of priests with which tho B capital city abounds. Tho whole M country is divided Into four sections, B called "lings," and a lama rules over M each of them. Tho Grand Lama is as- B Bistort In his government "y a council, B consisting of a Prime Minister nnd BBB nine other ronrcscntatlvos, including M a minority of laymen. Two "am- B bans," or Chinese residents, are tho B only omclnls stationed In tho city In M an ambassadorial capacity, Though M tho govemmont Is nominally a theoc- H racy entirely religious, that Is tho M man who really makes tho wheels go H round in Thibet Is the I'rlmo Minister, B or Gyalpo, as ho is called. B Tho relations existing between tho B a rand Lama and his Gyalpo nro as H . peculiar as they are interesting nllo- H pother too much so, ono would Imag- B lno, for tho peace of mind of tho M former. It somehow bceaino a tradl- B tlon, which Is now regarded as in- m vlolnblo, that tho Grand Lnma shall H never live long, nnd tradition nowa- B days further llxcs his departure from H tills world at Rome dnto between his H thirteenth nnd flfteonth years. Thoro B Is really no physical reason why tho B head of tho State should not live us B long ns any other Inhabitant of tho M sacred city, but as tho Thibetans B would soon bo In n stnto of panic nnd B fear that tho end of tho world had B come If ho did ho, tradition requires B caroful management, which is oxer- M clscd by the Gyalpo. M A point in his favor nt tho ontsot H is that it Is decreed that tho manner B of tho Lama's denth shall always bo m unknown, but that tho fundamental H cnuso of It shall bo a mysterious dls- vcl that he should bo so exnetly what tho Gyalpo had said he would bo. Then ho Is taken oIT to tho great palace, pal-ace, or pntaln, and duly Installed as tho new Grand Lnma. Tlicro is no doubt that the Gynlpo has proviouslj arranged all details concerning mo finding of this child. The people be-llovo be-llovo It to be in effect tho samo Grand Lama all tho tlmo merely a change of spirit from one body to another. Ho Is only consulted In stnto matters In nn emcrgoncy, nnd then his word Is tho last to bo said on any question. Tho Gynlpo holds his office for Ufo; any other arrangement might lead to dlfllculttcs. Though a religious potentate, tho Orand Lnma has many lively distractions, distrac-tions, and it is said that ono of his predecessors Indulged In dissipations to n scnndnloUB extent. Amongst tho chief festivities In which ho participates partici-pates Is a kind of lama carnival, which lasts for fifteen days nt tho beginning of each year, On tho second sec-ond dny ho gives a grand banquet, nnd on tho third there nro sports. Ono of theso which Is called tho "dance of tho gods," and which tho Grand Lama never fails to witness consists or n long cablo of leathern thongs bo-Ing bo-Ing stretched from ono of tho pinnacles pinna-cles of the palace to tho ground far bolow, and down this steep slopo two mnu, lying on their chests, nnd spreading tholr arms out as If thoy wcro swimming, slide with tho speed of nn arrow. Occasionally tboy nro killed In tho process. On tho thirteenth dny of tho second month of tho year tho Grand Lima undergoes a kind of annual vindication. vindica-tion. A poor Thibetan Is hired to play tho part of a demon. Ho is dressed In weird fashion, nnd his fnco U painted In n mottle of black and white. He Is met by a roprosentntlvo of tho Grand Lama, nnd tho two cngago In what Is supposed to bo theological argument, In which tho Grand Lama's nun scores heavily. V - i i tt - H Thibetan Travel'nrj Merchant and Wife. H ease which doos not afflict other per- H sons. Hero Is tho Gyalo's chanco. H When, In his opinion, tho psychologl H cal moment has arrived for n chnngo H of Grand Lamas, ho announces to the B people that the spirit has passed from , H the ono upon whom it had rested for ' H tho past few years, nnd vio was now I H no more, and that it had descondnd H upon t llttlo child, whom thoy would H And in a locality in tho. city which H ho definitely Indicated, giving at tho H same tlmo nn exact description of tho Hj They f.o in search nf him, nnd mar- Plowing with Buffalo. Then thoy ngreo to decldo nil questions ques-tions In dlsputo by resort to dlco, nnd tho Grand Lama has nover be;n known to lose, becnuso tho dlco nro always loaded. It would bo nn appalling appal-ling omen If he did, and It has to ho offcctually guarded npalnst. Tho lU'inon, In his dlscomflturo, Is marched off amidst exocratlons and blows, nnd imver lives long nfterwnrds. The Roofer ho dies, tho hotter Is tho omen tor Lhnn. |