i68 



THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



Photo by Messrs. Bourne & Shepherd] 



TIISETAN WOME.V. 



[Jiomiay. 



As Mr. Andrew Wilson says, the Tibetans are " the most pre-eminently praying people in 

 the world. . . . They have praying-stones, praying-pyramids, praying-flags flying over every bouse, 

 praying-wheels, praying-mills, and the universal prayer ' Om mane padme hum ' * is never out 

 of their mouths." These four words, as Colonel Yule remarks, among all prayers on earth, form 

 that which is most abundantly recited, written, printed, and even spun by machines for the 

 good of the faithful. "They are the only prayer known to the ordinary Tibetans and Mongols 

 the first words the child learns to stammer, the last gasping utterances of the dying." 



Colonel T. G. Montgomerie, R.E., thus describes the "prayer-wheel" of Tibet, which, he 

 says, "consists of a hollow, cylindrical copper bag, which revolves round a spindle, one end of 

 which forms the handle. The cylinder is turned by means of a piece of copper attached to a 

 string. A slight twist of the hand makes the cylinder revolve, and each revolution represents 

 one repetition of the prayer, which is written on a scroll kept under the cylinder [sometimes it 

 is engraved outside]. The prayer-wheels are of all sizes, from that of a large barrel downwards; 

 but those carried in the hand are generally 4 or C inches in height by about 3 inches in 

 diameter, with a handle projecting about 4 inches below the bottom of the cylinder. . . . 

 The top of the cylinder was made large enough to allow the paper to be taken out when 

 required. The rosary, which ought to have 108 beads, was made of 100 beads, every tenth 

 bead being much larger than the others [this refers to the one used by a certain pundit]. 

 The small beads were made of a red composition to imitate coral, the large ones of the dark 

 corrugated seeds of the ridrds. The rosary was carried on the left sleeve." 



* The meaning of this sentence seems to have been lost ; but some say it may be translated " God the jewel in 

 the lotus." 



