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What Made Tibet Mysterious? 
 
 Notes on Tibet's Topography, History and Religion 
 
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 WALTER J. KIDD ^4%' 
 
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 Hin^Uiya JnU • 
 
 _.3q,ooo Feet 2cti)ve_S.eaJcv.e 
 
 .SiS.Q.O.O. 
 
 _ .2 0.0.0.0 Tkian SHah nitV, 
 
 -.I5;000_ Altai.mts. 
 
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 This diagram represents a north and south line about 3,000 miles 
 long, from the Siberian plains running over the mountains and across 
 the Tibetan plateau to the plains of India, both plains being near sea 
 level. Scale about 600 miles to an inch. 
 
 The elevations are on a scale of about 25,000 feet to an inch. 
 
 Newark, N. J. 
 
 NEWARK MUSEUM ASSOCIATION 
 
 1921—1922 
 
Reprint from The Newark, N. J., Sunday Call, October 23, 1921. 
 
 Tibetan Exhibit at Free Public 
 Library in December Will Portray 
 Little Known Elemental Civilization 
 
 More Than Eight Hundred Objects Brought Here by Amer- 
 ican Missionary, Dr. Albert L. Shelton, to Give 
 Insight Into Interesting Life of Isolated 
 People of Long-Forbidden Land. 
 
 THE principal event of the year at 
 the Free Public Library will be the 
 Tibetan exhibition to be opened by 
 the Museum Association on December 7. 
 It will be the most notable display shown 
 at the library since the Colombian ex- 
 hibit of three years ago. With more than 
 800 objects brought from Tibet by the 
 American medical missionary, Dr. Albert 
 L. Shelton, an opportunity such as has 
 never before been enjoyed will be afforded 
 to Newarkers to get a closer insight into 
 the interesting- life of the isolated people 
 of the long' forbidden land, a land that 
 in its mountain fastnesses has sheltered 
 elemental races and civilizations, while 
 other peoples of the world were moving 
 forward m the path of progress. 
 
 The forthcoming exhibition is to be held 
 under the auspices of the Contemporary 
 of Newark. There is to be a private 
 view on Tuesday, December 6, with the 
 formal opening on the following day. 
 
 This large collection includes paintings 
 and pictured scrolls, rich in glow of color, 
 from lamaseries (monasteries) and tem- 
 ples, together with all kinds of articles 
 used in the elaborate ceremonies of public 
 worship or private devotion — censers, in- 
 cense burners, altar lamps, bowls and 
 other vessels for holy water, prayer 
 wheels, sweet-toned bells, cymbals, trum- 
 pets, some made out of human bones, 
 drums made from the crowns of skulls, 
 offering bowls, prayer beads like rosaries, 
 charm boxes, images of Buddha, of 
 gods, goddesses and demons, begging 
 bowls and hoods of the monks or 
 lamas and, last but not least, valuable 
 
 sacred books. It contains clothing and 
 other articles illustrating the domestic 
 life of the people— earrings for women 
 and men, finger rings, head dresses, 
 coats, dresses, belts, curtains brocaded 
 satin, mirrors, churns, snuff boxes, tea- 
 pots, bowls, pitchers, wine bottles, locks 
 and keys, seals, coins, bridles, saddles and 
 harness, saws, etc. There is a headsman's 
 knife used by the executioner, swords, 
 guns and other military accoutrements. 
 Among the clothing is some that was 
 worn by a one-time living Buddha. There 
 are also numerous photographs taken by 
 Dr. iShelton which admirably aid in illus- 
 trating the topography of the country, its 
 social types and national customs. 
 
 Dr. Shelton's Career. 
 
 Dr. Albert D. Shelton, to whose efforts 
 the possession by Newark of this valu- 
 able collection is due, was born in In- 
 diana about forty-six years ago. The 
 family moved to Kansas, where he was 
 brought up on a farm. When he was 17 
 he began teaching school and three years 
 later he himself entered the school at 
 Emporia. While he was securing an edu- 
 cation there he carried newspapers, acted 
 as janitor, cut wood, herded cows, tend- 
 ed furnaces, tutored and otherwise cov- 
 ered his expenses. He married a pupil 
 he had met in the Normal School. Later 
 he secured a scholarship in a Kentucky 
 medical school, worked his way through 
 the medical course and. after being gradu- 
 ated as a physician he became medical 
 missionary under the Foreign Christian 
 Missionary Society. Following his or- 
 

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 dination as a minister when he was 28 
 years old, he and his wife went to China. 
 They ascended the upper Yangtsze River 
 and then crossed the mountains to Tat- 
 sien-lu. There they learned Chinese and 
 Tibetan and Dr. Shelton practiced medi- 
 cine. There also their daughters, Doris 
 and Dorothy, were born. 
 
 From there they journeyed later over 
 fourteen mountain passes into Batang' in 
 Tibet, where the children grew up with 
 the Tibetan language as their native 
 tongue. A hospital was opened. The 
 people were instructed in sanitation and 
 hygiene and all sorts of beneficent activi- 
 ties were started by Dr. and Mrs. Shel- 
 ton, the latter having' also been engaged 
 in the translation of portions of the 
 Scriptures into the Tibetan language. 
 
 Twice in their eighteen years of service 
 they have returned to the United States. 
 Their daughters are at present at school 
 in California but are later to rejoin Dr. 
 'Shelton who has obtained permission 
 from the Dalai Lama, the head of the 
 government of Tibet, to open the first 
 medical school at Lhasa, the capital of 
 the country. It is to be the beginning- of 
 the introduction of modern medical 
 knowledge and efficiency into this iso- 
 lated land in place of its old-time reli- 
 ance on charms, magic and other useless 
 and mischevious methods that have come 
 down from dark and distant bygone 
 times. 
 
 The Switzerland of Asia. 
 
 Three miles up in the air, near the top 
 of the world and with an area greater 
 than that of France and Germany com- 
 bined, is the table land of Tibet, walled 
 in by giant mountains that make the 
 Alps seem small. The maximum eleva- 
 tion of the Tibetan plateau is 17,600 feet, 
 more than 2,000 feet higher than Mont 
 'Blanc, the monarch of Europe's moun- 
 tains, and higher than our Rockies. On 
 the southern 'border of Tibet the world's 
 loftiest sumnciit. Mount Everest (29,000 
 feet) in the Himalayas, casts its mighty 
 shadow over the land. 
 
 Despite its extensive area it has a small 
 population, the inclemency of its climate, 
 its scanty pasturage and the poorness of 
 its soil resulting in its supporting only 
 about 6,000,000 people. Great portions of 
 the country are uninhabited except by 
 wild beasts. The city of Lhasa itself has 
 a population of only 15,000 to 20,000. 
 
 This fastness amidst eternal snows 
 became from early times a refuge for 
 more backward peoples. For ages in- 
 
 vasion after invasion and unceasing 
 struggle for possesson of the rich 
 alluvial plains of Northern India went 
 on. Weaker races that stood in the 
 way were destroyed or reduced to ser- 
 vitude. But none of the conquering 
 peoples coveted the stern and largely 
 desolate mountain land or envied its 
 possessors so long as at the foot of 
 the mountains were the broad cham- 
 paigns of India. 
 
 Some sixteen centuries or more be- 
 fore the Christian era the Aryan in- 
 vaders entered India from the north- 
 west, followed at later times by suc- 
 cessive streams of the same race. They 
 gave the Sanscrit language and in 
 large part the Brahman religion to 
 India. In the fourth century B. C. the 
 armies of Alexander the Great poured 
 into the country. About the date of 
 the Christian era came the Huns. In 
 the middle ages the onrush of the 
 Mongol hordes brought terror and des- 
 olation in its path. The Mohammedan 
 conquerors followed. Then came Tam- 
 erlane and still later the Mogul con- 
 quests. The struggles of all these 
 peoples took place in the plains far 
 below the mountain fastness of Tibet. 
 
 If we look at a geographical diagram 
 giving a sectional view of Asia from 
 north to south it will show us the 
 loftiest and most extensive plateau in 
 the w^orld, a tableland rising like a 
 towering citadel above the plains be- 
 low. None of the invading hosts ever 
 crossed it to enter India. No one wanted 
 the three-mile climb up that mighty 
 bastion. Genghis Khan, the Mongol 
 conquerer, worked all around it by way 
 of Bokhara and Afghanistan when he 
 invaded India. 
 
 These conditions allowed the inhabi- 
 tants of this lofty plateau to remain 
 unmolested while world historic strug- 
 gles raged near at hand. Primitive 
 and elemental groups were preserved 
 and afford us opportunity today to 
 study early cultures and types that 
 have elsewhere passed away. It is not 
 impossible that in the more ancient 
 stocks among the people of Tibet there 
 may be something in common with 
 the Accadians and Sumerians, who 
 laid the foundations of Babylon and 
 created the civilization that later 
 Semitic peoples seized and appropri- 
 ated. The earliest Babylonians were a 
 broad-skulled (brachycephalic) people. 
 They gave to the world industrial arts, 
 including the working of metals. They 
 were exceedingly religious but pro- 
 foundly superstitious, devoted to the 
 efficacy of charms and incantations, to 
 an elaborate ritual and ceremonial in 
 public worship and haunted by dark 
 and terrible fears of demons and other 
 powers of evil. The Tibetans, the purer 
 elements of which are of the broad- 
 skulled type, have similar character- 
 istics. 
 
 Wives With Several Husbands. 
 
 Another indication of primitive con- 
 
ditions is the prevalence of polyandry. It 
 is usually carried out by the brothers of 
 a family having one wife in common. 
 Generally the elder brother is considered 
 the father of the children and the other 
 brothers as uncles. As a rule there is 
 harmony in these families, but sometimes 
 one husband will drive another out. The 
 wife has a position of importance, but 
 she is also likely to find she has to serve 
 several masters instead of one. The 
 children of such fainilies do not seem to 
 be numerous, three or four being" the 
 average. Such a system would naturally 
 lead to an excess of unmarried women. 
 There is a partial offset, however, . 
 through a certain amount of polygamy, 
 'but the tendency is to a large proportion 
 of unmarried women. In addition to this 
 almost every family gives one son 
 to the church to be brought up as a 
 lama (monk), so that one-seventh of the 
 people consist of these celibates. 
 
 Polyandry has generally arisen in con- 
 ditions where the struggle of life was 
 hard, whereas polygamy was more of a 
 luxury of the rich and had, therefore, 
 less widespread effects. In Tibet, while 
 among the plain people a wife may have 
 four or five husbands, a king, prince or 
 other high personage does not so share 
 his wife with others, but has one or more 
 wives who are the wives of himself alone. 
 
 Claim Descent From Apes. 
 
 The Tibetans are a genial, kindly, 
 easy-going people, fond of dancing and 
 gaiety; honest withal, but lacking in 
 initiative and energy. They have been 
 successful in the working of metals — 
 iron gold, etc. — and in the manufacture 
 of the articles they use in domestic 
 life and for religious purposes. Be- 
 side the older Tibetan stock other 
 types are found due to infiltrations 
 from China on the east, Mongolia on 
 the north and India on the south. But 
 the old Tibetan character has in gen- 
 eral dominated and modified the others. 
 
 A curious tradition exists among 
 them as to their origin. It is the frank 
 claim that they are descended from 
 apes, which has an interest in connec- 
 tion with the teachings of anthrop- 
 ology and the proximity of Tibet to 
 the cradles of the human race. An 
 ape from India, these stories tell us, 
 and a female demon from the Hima- 
 layas were the parents of six chil- 
 dren which in time increased to 500. A 
 famine came upon them until a 
 friendly deity, Chenresig, declaring 
 that he would be their protector, pro- 
 cured for them supplies of five kinds of 
 grain. As the consequence of eating 
 this grain their tails and the hair on 
 their bodies grew shorter and shorter 
 until they finally disappeared. The 
 monkeys began to speak, became men 
 and clothed themselves with leaves. 
 
 Today the more peculiarly Tibetan 
 types are said to have some resem- 
 blance to the American Indians. There 
 are also Chinese types and others that 
 show thoroughly western physiog- 
 
 nomies and might easily pass for 
 Europeans. 
 
 Racially the Tibetans are classed as 
 Turko-Mongols, With the exception 
 of some Mongol and semi-Chinese dia- 
 lects the languages spoken in Tibet 
 belong- to the linguistic family known 
 as Tibeto-Burman, which is one of the 
 divisions of the Turano-Scythian lan- 
 guages. 
 
 The Forbidden Land. 
 
 The situation of Tibet made it easy for 
 the country to become a "forbidden land." 
 During the middle ages a few Roman 
 Catholic missionaries visited that country, 
 but even in the course of several cen- 
 turies their number was very small. The 
 first Englishman to enter Tibet went on 
 a special embassy in 1774. In 1811 Thomas 
 Manning made his way from India to 
 Lhasa, the capital, being the first English- 
 man who had reached the holy city. But 
 he soon had to leave it. During the nine- 
 teenth century Europeans were con- 
 stantly prevented from entering the 
 country or speedily expelled if found in 
 it. In 1844-1846 two French missionaries, 
 made their way to Lhasa from China, 
 but were soon deported back again. In 
 1866 the Abbe Desgodins entered eastern 
 Tibet, but was prevented approacihing 
 any closer to Lhasa. Later still a Rus- 
 sian officer explored portions of northern 
 Tibet, but was unable to penetrate south- 
 ward. 
 
 Although treaties provided for the secur- 
 ity of trade ibetween Tibet and India con- 
 tinual hindrances to this trade occurred on 
 the Tibetan side. Consequently in 1904 the 
 Indian government sent a mission under 
 Sir Francis Younghusband with an escort 
 to arrange matters with the Tibetan 
 government. The British party met 
 with opposition, but it reached Lhasa, 
 where a convention was agreed to settling 
 the questions at issue. Confirmatory 
 agreements were made with China as 
 suzerain and with Russia, the latter 
 guarding against danger from pro-Rus- 
 sian or pro-British activities in Tibet 
 by providing that neither country 
 should have a representative at Lhasa.. 
 The British troops w^ere "withdrawn.. 
 The results were most happy and did 
 much to remove the prejudices of Ti- 
 betans against Europeans. 
 
 Dr. Shelton mentions Tibetans who told 
 him how, after being taken prisoners in 
 the fighting, the British nursed them in 
 the raospitals, sent them safely back and 
 gave them money to take them home. 
 Nothing had done so much to lower the 
 bars of the forbidden land, and now Dr. 
 SIhelton's years of healing service as a 
 medical missionary has carried this feel- 
 ing still further and secured for him ad- 
 mission to Lhasa and opportunity tO' 
 open his hospital there. The British- 
 Russian treaty, however, still seems to 
 prevent any activities of British or Rus- 
 sian missionaries in Tibet. There is prob- 
 ably fear on the part of the British that 
 church missions' in Tibet might be a. 
 means of political exploitation and propa- 
 
ganda. So that to some extent the bars 
 are still up. 
 
 A Wonderland of Religion. 
 
 Religion is everywhere in evidence in 
 Tibet. Its all-absorbing dominating char- 
 acter strikes every visitor. It is, how- 
 ever, religion of a deeply superstitious 
 character, marked by an intense belief 
 in ghosts, devils, charms, incantations 
 and in the efficacy of strange mechanical 
 expedients to ward off the powers of 
 evil that surprise the stranger. The 
 prayer wheel is an illustration. It may 
 be large or small. There are small ones, 
 about the size of an alarm clock, that 
 can be set on a table. Inside the wheel 
 is a roll inscribed with prayers and pious 
 ejaculations, repeated over and over 
 again, such as the "Oim mane padme 
 hum." It is believed that the mechanical 
 turning of the wheel gives efficacy to 
 the prayers that are written within. You 
 call on a Tibetan friend. He receives 
 you, and, seated with the table and 
 prayer wheel near at hand, as you both 
 talk— business of pleasantries or other 
 matters— he does not fail to give the 
 prayer wheel occasional twists, so that 
 the conversation and mechanical praying 
 go on together. Large prayer wheels are 
 sometimes run by water power, thus 
 securing continuous offering up of the 
 prayers. Prayer flags are an equivalent 
 aid to prayer. Prayers or religious 
 ejaculations are inscribed upon them. In 
 large numbers such flags are strung on 
 cords. All Tibet is more or less awave 
 with these countless flags wafting the 
 prayers to heaven or to the gods, demons 
 or spirits to whom they are addressed, 
 while at the same time serving as a very 
 pleasing and graceful decorative feature. 
 
 The devotion of Tibetans to charms, 
 spells and magic is so deep-rooted that 
 some of the lamaseries (monasteries) have 
 schools for the teaching of magic to 
 those who are to become lamas (monks) 
 and who are to derive their incomes partly 
 from the exercise of this art. Their 
 temples or places of worship are sup- 
 posed to be haunted 'by the goblin ghosts 
 of mischievous ecclesiastics who former- 
 ly ministered there. 
 
 There is a gruesome character in the 
 fondness of Tibetans for the crowns of 
 skulls as dishes or drums, for trumpets 
 made out of human thigh bones, espe- 
 cially if these parts of human anatomy 
 come from the body of a near and dear 
 relative. In the collection at the library 
 there is quite a little graveyard in the 
 way of human remains worked up into 
 articles of general use, among these being 
 aprons made of bones from the hand and 
 elsewhere strung together. These latter 
 are worn by the monks in the exercise of 
 their religious duties. 
 
 Public worship is marked by the most 
 elaborate ritual and ceremonial. Mixed 
 up with all these features is a certain 
 amount of more distinctively Buddhist 
 teaching. Lamaism is, however, the best 
 name for the national religion. It claims 
 to be Buddhism, but is far removed from 
 
 the original doctrines of that great 
 teacher. 
 
 Buddha, who was contemporary with 
 the Chinese sage Confucius and whose 
 great religious work dates from the early 
 part of the fifth century before Christ, 
 sought primarily to purify and simplify 
 the religious ideas of his time. With the 
 dying out of the Aryan stock that gave 
 its northern vigor to the life of India, its 
 influence was gradually supplanted by 
 that of the older peoples — the Mediter- 
 ranean stock that had affinities with the 
 present brunet populations of south- 
 ern Europe and the still older and more 
 swarthy Dravidian and Negrito popula- 
 tions, who were more deeply supersti- 
 tious. Outbreeding of the higher races by 
 the more primitive peoples went on and 
 led to the decline of both Brahminism 
 and Buddhism. 
 
 Corruption of Buddhism. 
 
 Buddhism has probably retained its 
 greatest purity in Burmah. In India, its 
 birthplace, it became corrupted with su- 
 perstitious elements drawn from the older 
 popular religions. Gods many and lords 
 many were introduced, dark and debas- 
 ing rites and usages crept in from the 
 older faiths, complicated and senseless 
 ritual and ceremonial, abhorrent to all the 
 teaching- -ef Buddha, gained ground, 
 with attention to idle and endless repe- 
 titions of sacred phrases and prayers 
 rather than deeds. Charms, incanta- 
 tions, magic and the mechanical relig- 
 ious aids that have been already 
 referred to gained ascendancy. The 
 multiplication of words was held to 
 count, and in public worship entire 
 chapters from the service books 
 would sometimes be rushed through with 
 the most remarkable dispatch by the 
 ingenious expedient of each monk in- 
 toning at the same time a different verse 
 so that an entire chapter would be chant- 
 ed in the same time as a single verse. 
 
 Strange pranks were played with the 
 ancient doctrine of reincarnation. Buddha 
 held that deliverance from the endless 
 round of fresh incarnations and from the 
 sorrows and evils of life could only be 
 found by a change of heart that involved 
 an entire break with all earthly desires 
 even of life here or hereafter. He who 
 by such renunciation, by a life of con- 
 templation and the sole pursuit of holi- 
 ness had found redemption from his own 
 lower self, had attained "Arahatship," 
 and his "karma" (character) could not 
 pass on to any other individual in an- 
 other life, that is, after "Arahatship" 
 there would be no rebirth. 
 
 But in the corruption that went on the 
 return to earth of Buddhas or spirits of 
 Buddhas was accepted. Deities of all 
 kinds became associated with them. It 
 was in northern India that this decad- 
 ence began, and it was this corruption 
 of Buddhism that was accepted in Tibet 
 and there merged with the older religion. 
 Dr. Shelton says of the Tibetans that 
 they are "perhaps the most religious peo- 
 ple on earth. Their faith is nominally 
 Buddhism, but in reality it is more truly 
 
a veneer of Buddhism over the old Bon 
 religion, a religion of devil worship. They 
 are exceedingly superstitious, believing 
 in ghosts and in the daily interference 
 of devils in their affairs." 
 
 The Temporal Power. 
 
 Originally Tibet was ruled by kings 
 and chieftains, but in the middle ages 
 the abbot of the Sakya Monastery 
 gained control and was recognized by 
 the Mongol ruler, Kublai Khan, as the 
 tributary sovereign of the country and 
 the ecclesiastical head of Buddhism. 
 Thus was established the temporal 
 power of the Dalai Lama, the pope of 
 Tibetan Buddhism, who lives at the 
 capital, the holy city of Lhasa. He is 
 looked on as more than an ordinary 
 mortal, as nothing less than a rein- 
 carnation of the spirit of the Buddhas. 
 When he dies the names of all the 
 children born in Tibet since his death 
 are sent in. After solemn ceremo'nies. 
 and a week of prayer, names are 
 drawn, the first being that of the child 
 that is believed to be the reincarnation 
 of the lately deceased Grand Lama, 
 the infant being recognized and brought 
 up as the Dalai Lama. 
 
 Religion, being the dominant feature 
 of Tibet, naturally calls for especial 
 attention. But there is not space to 
 tell all of the wonderful story of the 
 immense lamaseries, almost villages in 
 themselves; of the celibate lamas and 
 great abbots, of the impressiveness of 
 the service at the great cathedral at 
 Lhasa, with the Dalai Lama, the chief 
 abbots and other leading dignitaries 
 ofRciating with the most elaborate cere- 
 monial, the chanting of the service, the 
 tinkling of the soft-toned bells, the clash 
 of cymbals, the blare of trumpets, the 
 glow of altar lights, the aroma of 
 incense, the rich vestments of the 
 lamas, the mystic rites and the many 
 other points of interest of this strange 
 form of religious faith. 
 
 Secular Life of the People. 
 
 Tibet has its mountain passes, its 
 mountain torrents, its grazing lands on 
 the plains or mountainsides, and its cul- 
 tivated lands in the valleys below. There 
 are no railways or great highways 
 (wagon roads). The yak, a mountain ox, 
 serves as the beast of burden, and as it 
 is covered with wool like a sheep it serves 
 more than one purpose. This yak, or 
 woolly ox, is also a survival, perhaps, 
 from the days of the woolly elephant. It 
 thrives in the high, bleak altitudes and 
 dies off on removal to warmer regions. 
 In addition to the yak. heavy loads are 
 also carried long distances on men's 
 shoulders, the men under these weights 
 climbing and descending the mountains, 
 even old men stepping out cheerily under 
 these heavy burdens. 
 
 Tea from China is carried all over 
 Tibet either by yaks or men. It is the 
 national and popular drink, but is brewed 
 in a way all their own. So universal and 
 
 extensive is its use that it is often pre- 
 pared, especially in lamasaries, on a 
 wholesale scale in great vats large 
 enough to hold a man ; in fact the Chi- 
 nese have in some cases boiled Tibetan 
 prisoners alive in such cauldrons. 
 
 The sojourn of Dr. Shelton, an Ameri- 
 can, in Tibet at the seat of gov- 
 ernment with the full approval of the 
 Dalai Lama is an unusual occurrence, 
 especially when British and Russian 
 diplomatic agents are excluded under 
 the treaties. Dr. Shelton's presence 
 there may not impossibly lead to many 
 beneficent results in addition to th'e 
 value of his services in introducing 
 the healing art of the civilized nations 
 into Tibet. 
 
 The Museum Collection. 
 
 Before leaving the United States Dr. 
 Shelton at the Newark library gave 
 many details concerning the various 
 objects in the collection. A valuable 
 catalogue has been prepared under the 
 direction of Miss Louise Connolly of 
 the museum and library staff. A fur- 
 ther contribution from Miss Connolly 
 is a bright and ' interesting ac- 
 count of the religion of Tibet in 
 the shape of a synopsis of the volume 
 on "Lamaism," by the British writer, 
 L. Austine Waddell, who spent so 
 many years in the study of the sub- 
 ject of w^hich he made Mmself a 
 master. Miss Connolly has also pre- 
 pared a brief sketchy story of 
 Tibet and its people and of Dr. Shelton 
 and his labors. 
 
 ^^hen on view in December an in- 
 telligent consideration of the various 
 objects will be greatly aided by the 
 carefully prepared descriptive labels 
 that will give to the visitor a mass of 
 interesting information. Valuable 
 
 work has also been done in deciphering 
 such Tibetan words, inscriptions, titles 
 and descriptions as appear in that 
 language in manuscripts, books and 
 oth'er objects through the services of 
 the Rev. Albert E. Andre of Minne- 
 apolis, who knows the language and 
 was for fourteen years a Lutheran 
 missionary in China, India and on the 
 southern border of Tibet. 
 
 A list is being prepared at the library 
 of the books it possesses on the subject 
 of Tibet and these, of course, can be 
 borrowed or consulted by Newarkers. 
 The following call for special mention: 
 William Carey, Adventures in Tibet; A. 
 L. Shelton, Pioneering in Tibet; L. A. 
 Waddell, Lhasa and Its Mysteries, Bud- 
 dhism of Tibet; Ekai Kawaguchi (a Jap- 
 anese Buddhist), Three Years in Tibet; 
 Rudyard Kipling, Kim; S. C. Rijnhart, 
 With the Tibetans in Tent and Temple; 
 O. T. Crosby, Tibet and Turkestan. 
 There is also an interesting work by 
 Fielding Hall, The Soul of a People, 
 which gives an illuminating description 
 of the Buddhism of Burmah and enables 
 the reader to make comparisons of much 
 significance between the religions of the 
 two countries, a -comparison that is of 
 unusual value. 
 
Part of the Library in the Litang Lamasery. 
 
 In Kham the sacred Buddhist writings are printed from blocks, such as 
 were first used in China, or are written by hand. The printing of religious 
 books is one of the principal industries of the town of Litang. The Buddhist 
 Bible is a "work of 108 volumes and the companion commentary -work is of 
 equal bulk. 
 
 (Copyright, 1921, by the National Geographic Magazine.) 
 
Tibetan Houses in the Robber-Infested Bad Lands, 
 
 These homes are built primarily for protection. With the exception of the 
 main entrance, there is no opening until the third story is reached. The style 
 of architecture greatly simplifies the problem of defense against marauders. 
 (Copyright, 1921, by the National Geographic Magazine.) 
 
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 Bird's-Eye View of Batang Surrounded! by Terraced Fields. 
 
 The white building's on the hill are the hospital and residence of the Ameri- 
 can Mission. Note the head of the horse in the foreground; the photog'raph 
 was taken from the vantage podnt of its back. 
 
 (Copyright, 1921, by the National Geographic Magazine.) 
 
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An Elaborate Chorten (Shrine) Near Batang. 
 
 Chortens are a common sight in Tibet and the surrounding lands. In 
 Peking- there are larg-e Lama towers similar to these shrines, As^hioh are built, 
 solid, thoug^h they may contain valued, relics. 
 
 (Copyrig-ht, 1921, by the National Geographic Mag^azine.) 
 
 12 
 
Men and Women Threshing With Flails on the Roof of a Batang House. 
 
 Threshing methods are primitive throughout the East; but "with primitive 
 transportation methods and small fields, a modern threshing machine would 
 be useless. 
 
 (Copyright, 1921, by the National Geographic Magazine.) 
 
 13 
 
The Governor of Lower Kham, His Wife and Piper. 
 
 This piper was brought down from Chiamdo, a ten days' journey, for the 
 entertainment of the American physician and his family. The Tibetans have 
 adopted the Scottish bagpipes as their national military instrument. It w^as 
 startling- to hear the piper playing "The Cock of the North," "The Campbells 
 Are Coming" and "The Drunken Piper." He played with great skill, for the 
 Tibetan instructors have learned their music in India. 
 
 4 
 
 14 
 
Bandit Brave or Tibetan Troubadour? 
 
 The horseman, is making a circuit of the -walls of a 
 ruined lamasery at Batang. This monastery was once one 
 of the most flourishing- establishments in eastern Tibet, but 
 was destroyed by the Chinese during one of their invasions. 
 The Tibetans are not allowed to rebuild damaged lamaseries 
 or to erect new ones, for the Chinese conceive these re- 
 ligious communities to be centers of rebellion. 
 (Copyright, 1921, by the National Geographic Magazine.) 
 
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 A Street Scene in Batang. 
 
 Batang", or Paanhsien, derives most of its importance from the Tibetan trade 
 route, which passes through it on its way from Yachow to Chiamdo, connecting 
 the Yangtze Valley "with the highlands of Tibet. 
 
 (Copyright, 1921, by the National Geographic Magazine.) 
 
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