TACHIENLU, THE GATE OF THIBET 211 



the Sanai tribe. Monsieur Bons d'Anty considers that these 

 people are of Shan origin, and remnants of an aboriginal popula- 

 tion of this region. This authority has spent many years 

 in studying the ethnological problems of this borderland, and 

 is most competent to express an opinion. It is well known that 

 the Shans formerly ruled in western Yunnan, and there is 

 no reason why they should not, in the distant past, have 

 ascended the valleys of the Yalung and Drechu and established 

 themselves there. But whatever the origin of these people 

 of Chantui and Sanai, they are dreaded by their neighbours, 

 who regard them all as robbers and murderers (Ja-ba) quite 

 beyond the pale. 



The religion of the people of Chiala is Lamaism, both ihe 

 orthodox "yellow" and unorthodox "red" sects being re- 

 presented, but the former are the more numerous and powerful. 

 Some one has described Lamaism as " mechanical," a most 

 descriptive term, since the religion consists in the main of 

 tiu^ning praying-wheels by hand, water, or wind, counting 

 beads, and the continual muttering or chanting of the mystic 

 hymn, " Om mani padmi hum." Lamaism draws its inspira- 

 tion from Lhassa, where all the priests repair for study, the 

 head of the sect being the Dalai Lama. Aided and abetted by 

 Chinese authority, the King of Chiala has never submitted 

 to the Dalai Lama in temporal affairs ; he has maintained his 

 freedom and right to govern his own people untrammelled by 

 Lhassa interference, in spite of the dire threats and treachery 

 on the part of lamaseries within his jurisdiction. In 1903 the 

 Dalai Lama issued an ultimatum to the King of Chiala threaten- 

 ing to take from him and the Chinese by conquest all the 

 territory west of the Tung Valley. The British Expedition 

 prevented the carrying out of this threat. The Dalai Lama 

 undoubtedly had designs of territorial expansion at the expense 

 of China's vassal states. The Chinese knew this, and it was 

 fortunate for them that Great Britain stepped in and broke 

 the power of Lhassa De. I was in Tachienlu during 1903 and 

 1904, and from what I saw and heard there it was plain that 

 the British were unwittingly pulling China's " chestnuts from 

 the fire." The Chinese were not slow to perceive the advan- 

 tageous position they were in after the power of the Dalai 



