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THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



down, both arms are drawn from the 

 sleeves, and the chest and back are left 

 bare. When on foot, one arm is slipped 

 in to prevent the coat and its heavy 

 contents from falling off. 



The Tibetans have innumerable 

 varieties of head-gear, although many 

 men go about uncovered. Conical brown 

 and grey felt hats, not unlike filters, are 

 common, as also are cloth or fur caps 

 with ear-flaps. The ground of the head- 

 dress in our illustration on this page is 

 of cloth of a claret colour, with rough 

 turquoises sewn on, and silver ornaments 

 on the buckles in front. The appendages 

 at the side of the head are made of the 

 hair of some animal, and fastened on to 

 the natural hair. The mantle is lined 

 with sheep-skin, and has an outer covering 

 of cloth, half red and half dark green. 

 The woman on the left wears an em- 

 broidered mantle-cloth. 



There are two religions in Tibet 

 Buddhism, in the form of Lamaism, and 

 an earlier creed, generally called the Bon 

 or Bonla religion, of which not much 

 is known. 



Lassa, the capital of Tibet, is the 

 sacred city of the Buddhists, and the 

 centre of Lamaism, the religion which 

 prevails throughout that country and 

 Mongolia. The name of the city signifies 

 "Seat of the gods." The fundamental 

 doctrines of Lamaism are those taught 

 by Buddha about 450 years before the 

 beginning of our era; but so much has 

 been added to the original articles of 

 belief in the course of centuries, that Lamaism is really Buddhism corrupted by belief in 

 Siva and other spirits whose existence Buddha did not acknowledge, while Lamaists worship 

 them as gods. The central point of pure Buddhism is that deliverance on the part of 

 man from all the evils and sorrows of life can be achieved here on earth by the practice of 

 self-control, self-denial, and constant intellectual self-culture. The essence of all that is sacred 

 in Lamaism is comprised under three heads, which they call the "three most precious 

 jewels." The first is the " Buddha jewel"; the second, the "doctrine jewel"; and the third, 

 the "priesthood jewel." The first person in this trinity, the Buddha, is not regarded as 

 the creator of the universe, but as the founder of the doctrine, the highest saint, though 

 endowed with all the qualities of supreme wisdom, power, virtue, and beauty. The second 

 jewel is the law, or religion, that which constitutes, as it were, the existence of Buddha 

 on earth after he had entered the Nirvana, or state of everlasting rest. The third jewel, 

 the priesthood, is the congregation of all the saints, those who are in the flesh, and those 



* The writer is greatly indebted to Mr. H. C. V. Hunter, F.R.G.S., for the excellent photographs of Tibetans here 

 reproduced, which were taken by himself when travelling in Tibet. 



Photo by Mr. 11. C. V. Hunter, F.B. 



WOMEN AND GIRL OF LADAK." 



