The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 5, 1898, Page 26

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, JUNE 5, 1898. il R 7 EV. D. W. LE LACHEUR has just returned from a mis- sionary trip into the wilds of Thibet. He was given special passports by the native zuthorities, but duty took him through sections of the country, like the robber districts, ere all authcrity was defied. He was the first one to pass hrough the great gate between China and Thibet, and which was flung open to qualified travelers holding the official permission for the first time last August. Dr. Le Lacheur’s life was threatened numerous times by privations and murderous bands of natives, but he succeeded at last in reaching the land of the Grand Buddha, where he was received as the Grand Lama of all the Americas. 5 Dr. Le Lacheur established .is mission and then returned tothis country. It was while Dr. Le Lacheur was experiencing his hair- breadth escapes and thrilling adventures in one part of the coun- try that Henry Savage Landor was undergoing tortures in an- other part of the country for daring to venture there. 000000 ) 0000000000 0000000000000 000O0O fore the country was reached, Dr. Le Lacheur sald: route we re “Our ng through 1ba Northern & by boat Yang-tse-Kiang River. Three half days were consumed in making Luhu, our next s , and the jour- ney onward to P was made in a mode of travel before which rs and discomforts of a sea ignificance. 2 cart do not revolve upon the axle, but the axle itself revolves. There is a springless box above it in which your bed, an essential part of a traveler's outfit, is placed, vour baggage is compactly stored, and you seat yourself upon your bed in the bottom of the cart. The driver takes his position forward upon the shafts behind his lean ani- mal. “The roads are never mended and hence are full of the deepest ruts Throughout an entire journey the trav- eler is compelled to keep a firm grip with both hands upon each side of the cart. A lapse even Into momentary forgetfulness is apt to result in his being flung about like a pea in a hot pan. I learned this to my cost, for T entered Peking with one of the black- est eyes I have had since I was a b nappiness! s a drop of you h passpa e is a copy of the free trans- st of a for- one and a and twenty-seven scribed in huge red by the hand of himself, bearing foond lssued to the st Peking, composed of three or- oh d Nl dinary cities, and the dirtiest city in all for China, Jap dirty China, we abandoned the carts and employed mules as a means of a and Thibet. Mong 2 - Dr. Le Lacheur (raneportation. just artived by .the Dole featp' doiuni s S ark o vek tosh ng, on his return to New York. cents per day for food, the Chinese gifted traveler relates with mule seldom displays -superabundant vivid earnestness his many experiences energy and spirit from overfeeding, but he has life enough to carry a . A folded cloth is put over his sharp back- bone, a saddle, or frame made of four pieces of wood, is placed over the cloth, your satchel is then slung upon one side and your trunk attached to the other side, while your indispens- —= HERE while journeying to a point beyond the great gate of Thibet, which up to last Au t was closed again mission- arie Dr. Le Lacheur was the first one to pass its portals In dwelling upon the distance to be rovered after leaving the aport be- “Now, 10 com w everyday ife, and more particularly times e frightful thing,” said |as a means of amusement, many a long Clivette one evening in his dress- | winter night has been pleasantly spent Ing room &t the Orpheum, “nor | by the children watching the fox, rabbit, is the little urchin olone in his | duck, etc., on the wall,” contfnued the terror, for an eclipse has horrified | master shadowgraphist. "Hlnto'rlcnlly .fntire nutions, and yot if there were no | the work of the shadowgraph(st'.s nrs; shadown there would be no night, no | spoken of in the quaint Chinese fable o vigiblo stars, Do art and certainly human | little Tsing-Tsing, the Chinese witch who snjoyment would be unknown, Bo much | enticed all the unjucky Tie-¥ou strip- for ghadows In the abstract. lings {nto her cave by the funny shadows SHADOW 1Is a wonderful thing. ! and to the small boy it is some- | o down to shadows applied 0Us ADVENTURES OF THE HALTED e bed is laid on top for you to ride on. In this manner we Kalgau, a city shadow of journeyed to hich stands under the the greaf wall. ince its ngdoms and nations have >cayed. au we took the carts again, fourteen days beyond the a0 Tao, and found that lay before us. For r no caravan will desolate waste. six months of the y venture to cr » our gui sity of making the journey, but no one ould risk either h or camels the burning sands ) we gathered together the horses mules of the nearby missions, and ourselves with food and and adding to our number a and Thibetan priest, westart- mulete ed acr the desert. Heat and dust at once combined to blind and suffocate us. But we plodded on day after day, our heads throbbing and the blood in seemingly turned to fire. r muleteer became so blind that > could not distinguish one from an our food dried un able. At the last we rode to sun without a drop of water to cool our swollen tongues. 4 cuit, which was the only carried for our animals, had to be n into bits with stones; it had become too hard for them to bite. The plight of one poor brute became so piti- able from lack of water that it was mercifully killed. dded to this misery our way was with packs of fierce wild dogs. In one locality the boy on guard fought them throughout the entire night, as they jumped into the inclosure where our animals were confined. But after fourteen terrible days we arrived at Ping Lo, and in due time went on to Tou Jou, where Mr. Christy, who acted as my interpreter, had for three years been waiting and prepar- ing to enter Thibet. “‘Official permission to proceed into Thibet was at last given, upon the morning of the 2d of last August. Early one day, while it was yet dark, I, with two companions, waited before the great locked gate in the crumbling old wall which divides Thibet from China, for the gray of dawn and the firing of a gun, the signal for the opening of the gate. “At last the gun sounded and the guards stationed at the gate to collect money from all who entered motioned us to pass through as the gate swung back. Strange to say they demanded no tithes, as we entered Thibet. “By noon we had ridden sixty Ui, and came upon the excited owner of a car- she formed with her tiny diry and ilke many of the uther tands, finger shadows, either as an art or as an amuse- | ment, can be traced to the Chinese, and this, 'like many other of the discoveries by the Chinese, lay practically dormant for years, and for nearly two thousand years not a step was taken to develop this branch of amusement. I take upon mysel? the credit of having done much to develop the art of shadowgraphing as an_entertalnment. “Now comes the most difficult move- mieat of all, and that i3 to control the IS THE . WAY . TO MAKE GLEVER SHADOW TPICTURES. = BISMARCK avan that had just passed through the rokt r district. This district extends miles upon the’ opposite side mountain range to be crossed in reaching La Brang. e were warned not to attempt to through this robber district. The caravan leader told me that the rob- bers had cut off the right arm of one of his par another man had been killed outright and he himself had been robbed of 600 taels. After listening to his terrible ad- ventures in the district both our mule- teer and priest flatly refused to accom- pany farther by that route. We were advised to either change our course or er e a party of soldiers. “To engage soldiers appeared to me too inconsistent with our frank declar- ation that we had come among this people to teach ‘Peace on earth and good will toward men,’ and also to teach our belief in a higher power than man’s. We therefore .decided to con- tinue our journey through the robber district and not to hire any soldiers. “The second day, we journeyed among the mountai 12,000 feet above sea level, a turn of the path brought us without war; g into an encamp- ment of robbe chief was in their center and over his head attend- ants were holding a huge umbrella. “There were fully rty of them. With the exception of their chlef they were all brawny young llows, naked to the loins and fully armed, having a great Thibetan gun strapped to their back, a broadsword slung across their breast, and in their hands huge spears with gleaming heads eighteen inches long. Each spear measured twenty feet. They throw them with the ac- curacy a gunner sends a cannon ball. “‘As the robbers caught sight of our party they formed a comptete and com- pact circle about the sacred person of their chjef, and gave vent to a vell that might have come from the throats of fiends instead of men. This is their cus- tom to frighten travele: ‘When the af- frightened turn terror-stricken to flee the robbers pursue and kill them. “Though the sight of them in war gear and the yell which greeted us was appalling, I s: to George Shields, the grand young Scotch minister, who rode by my side: ‘It's no time to be afraid now. Remember, we are in the hands of One who so far has protected us.’ “And checking our trembiing horses we three sat confronting the robber band, defenseless save for the Invisible Arm. “Our silent and motionless behavior seemed to paralyze the robbers. Very likely in all their experience they had never seen travelers act that way be- fore. the first joint without bending the sec-| ond joint, as shown in figure 4. requires a great deal of practice and pa- tience as well, although some acquire it much more readily than others; in fact some persons would never learn to do this properly. The same exercises apply to the thumb as to the fingers, although this is, as a rule. the easiest of all, for the thumb retains the suppleness of youth more than does any finger of the hand. All these cxercises must be constantly practiced untll the hand becomes very This | pract] 25 MoSIONARY TO ENTER THIBE IN THE ROBBER DISTRICT. “After brief pause we resumed our journey, pacing slowly down the path. “The Thibetan robbers stood as though stricken helpless, their hands upon their spears, gazing after us. But they made no further attempt to mo- lest us. “This was the only time we encoun- tered them; but as we traveled along We saw outposts on the mountain and heard them calling to each other, and also heard their magnificent horses gal- loping in our direction. Their horses are the finest in all Thibet. We reached La Brang, the temple center, in safety and put up at a native {nn. “In a native inn of Thibet men, horses, mules, all herd together in one floorless apartment, separated by an apology for a partition from the other apartment reserved for the inn- keeper, his family and his animals. ““We had, however, reached the land of our hopes after passing 100 days in the saddle. We had slept for three and a half months upon the ground, and had been seven months in making the journey from the Chinese coast. ““We could rent no houses to live in, but I succeeded, through persistence, in renting part of the inn and we re- arranged things more on our own plans. “To our intense surprise, word came that the great, living Buddha from the temple of Stag-dge would call upon me. “He came attired in his rich robes with a company of attendant priests, a young man of prepossessing appear- ance, who welcomed us most kindly through Mr. Christy. Notwithstand- ing my denial of the appellation, he per- sisted in styling me the Great Sacred Lama of America. “The Buddha followed up his call by a formal invitation to visit him at his residence temple some miles from La Brang. “We would gladly have rested in- stead, but the courtesy was not to be slighted, so on the Wednesday follow- ing our arrival we made the visit and found our host waiting to receive us at the top of his temple stairs. An honor which he had never paid to the highest dignitary of his own country. “When the hour for worship came we were invited to join him in the temple. He occupies a high, throne- like seat, about which kneel, upon a platform a Step lower, the first lamas. The second lamas are a step lower still and the common priests kneel upon the floor. The services consisted prin- cipally of worshiping the Buddha. “As we entered the temple he bade me seat myself upon the throne, and when I refused he gently pulled me down and seated himself at my side. THIERS .| fingers so that they can be moved at! flexible, and when one has attalned the to do these things he must still e the exercises until a rapid move- ment s acquired, and not till then are the hands under perfect control and fit tools for attempting the shadow of any- thing which may come under the obser- vation. ““There are no particular rules to be lald down for the position of the hands and fingers In order to get certain results. nbllk& No two shadowgraphists follow exactly in the same line. One will get certain results by one method and another the RESENTED WITH THE Oopp THIBETAR PassporT. . . “Following this worship came a feast, of which the first course was boiled meat cut into small squares. “‘Boiled greens were next served and then the dish of Thibet—the wooden bowl—was handed to each guest, and each bowl contained a piece of butter. “In Thibet fresh butter is at a dis- count, and that from two to three Years old at a premium, and as the Buddha is'served with the best in the land the butter in America would not have been termed gilt-edged. “An attendant poured hot tea into the bowls and we were invited to drink the beverage, which we did, blowing the floating butter aside; and I had cause to be thankful that I wore a mustache, as it acted as a sort of bar- rier against that dreadful butter. “Before the tea was all consumed a skin of brown barley meal, made from grain which is parched before grind- ing, was passed around. “Into this skin, the dried stomach of an animal, each man dipped his hand and stirring the handful of meal into the remaining tea ate the mixture with the finger which did the stirring. Each guest then cleaned his own bowl by the simple and entirely satisfactory process resorted to by one's pet re- triever and the feast was concluded. “The Buddha’s kindness to me throughout my stay in Thibet was un- varying. At my departure he presented me with the passport, the only one, so far as known, issued to a foreigner. “The sentence, ‘This passport con- tains a drop of gold,’ is from their greatest proverb and signifies the most sacred friendship. “The choice ¢f a Buddha’s successor is based upon the theory of reincarna- tion. At his death the lamas carefully mote the exact hour and minute, and search is made for a male child whose birth corresponds to the date of the Buddha's death. When the child is found it is at once borne away to the temple, where it is reared as the living Buddha, whose soul is suppcsed to have entered its body. “In the temple district or center there are 3600 resident priests with even a greater number traveling about the counties performing their various of- fices. “In Thibet there is a system of edu- cation for the priests, but none for the people, and though occasionally a man outside the priesthood may be found who can read or write, there is not one woman in thousands who can do so. “They are a generous people, and the trend of their nature is religious. In habits and appearance they resemble our North American Indian more than any people among the numerous races I have met. 2 “As with them, all formed by the’ women, A work is per- the men em- GLADSTONE same result by an entirely different po- sition of the hand. It is here that the abllities of the shadowgraphist comes in, and the shadows he throws tell the story in sharp outline as to whether he is a thorough artist or otherwise, “‘Another important item,” said Cli- vette, "is the matter of light. For public exhibitions where one is expected to do artistic work a calcium light is indispen- sable. in a cigar box placed on end. | THEIR FIRST VIEw oF A For home use, and for the chil- dren's amulezgentlo.:;}y, a vle'x;)l"“xeododclx}l 2;; a B Olgar box placed With all WhiTE MAN. . .. . pEN 4 : WZ:QW = t2AT £:5 ) Sl Res I'e&B. [SEES ] A 2w\ = X0 | ploying their time in hunting and pole ishing their spears and other arms. “The prevailing native garment, for both-men and women, is a long robe made of lamb skin with the wool worn inside. This is their only garment. It is held in place by a leather girdle. “‘On the Chinese side of Thibet among the cave villages are a number of tribes whose only distinguishing mark is the headdress of their women. “One of these head arrangements consists of a.strip of leather ten inches long by four inches wide, placed across the back of the head. There are num- erous holes in the leather through which the hair is drawn in tiny braids; these braids are lengthened by thick cords till they reach the ground, and to each tress a smaller piece of leather is fastened. “The foot wear of the Thibetan is very like the Indian mocassin, and the men wear foxskin caps the year round. “The houses are superior to the Chi- nese house, “As in China, their marriages are ar- ranged by a go-between, and upon: the day of the final ceremony the bride, with several priests and a band of maidens, apprcaches the home of the bridegroom. “When very near the bride, supported by two maidens, walks falteringly with bowed head to one end of the long mat placed before his door, which then opens, the groom walks out and takes his stand opposite her, from where he casts a rope about her and thus draw- ing her to him proceeds to cut the rope with a huge knife. “The marriage ceremony is then vir- tually over, and the immense pyramidal cake of browned flour, borne upon a triangle of wood, and inte which the priests have for days been praying all the evils incident to married life, Is brought out and thrown down to be broken in pieces and eaten by the dogs. “Then, amid the beating of drums and the music of numercus instruments, the couple, with their friends, enter the house and the marriage is concluded by a feast. “Regarding our work in Thibet, the young man left in charge of the mis- sion established has succeeded in win- ning the good will and confidence of the people. He has extended his labors sixty miles inland from La Brang to- ward that mysterious center, and is now in the great military center. He has been promised protection by a high official, providing he does not enter the robber district. “I have no doubt that Lassa will eventually be entered by the white man, but it will be through winning the respect and confidence of the na- tives and proving to them that he has only their best and highest interests at heart.” the other lights in the room extinguished very fair results may be had from even this crude plan. Still better results Snay be had from a small lamp with a reflector placed in the box. Some very funny ef- fects may be had by arranging mirrors so as to throw several shadows. The sheet on which the shadows are to appear should be about six feet from the light and the opening in the box should be just large enough to throw the light all over the sheet, but none of the rays should 50 past the sheet, either top, bottom or side.