Mongolian Lamas. 



all accounts the lives of the greater portion are not on such 

 chaste hnes as their calhng would demand. 



I visited the temple and the buildings in connection there- 

 with the day after my arrival in Wong, as I was unable to continue 

 the march owing to bad weather and a hurricane which howled 

 across the plain from the north-east. The temple was large and 

 built of solid beams and mud plastering, the hall measuring 

 about 80 feet square. At the far end a low flight of steps led 

 up to a smaller chamber, containing relics brought from Lhasa, 

 and beautifully carved bells of copper workmanship. The 

 head lama, who showed me over, was a man of about 30 years of 

 age, with a villainous cast of countenance, a shaven pate and 

 grimy paws, his robes no longer the same bright colours they 

 once were. Over his right shoulder he carried an old blanket, 

 matted with the accumulated grease and dirt of generations, as 

 some additional protection against the inclemency of the weather. 

 Altogether this high priest did not possess that air of sanctity 

 one usually associates with the religious orders, nor did he 

 impress me as being one to whom to apply when in need of 

 spiritual relief. 



When I left this inner temple the lamas were engaged in 

 chanting their hymns, ranged in rows along the platforms, all 

 kneeling, and mumbling so rapidly that one could not catch any 

 of the words. The call to prayer is sounded on a conch shell, 

 a summons that is frequently heard, commencing with the 

 break of dawn, so that whatever their bad points are they 

 must perforce be early risers. 



During my short stay at Wong I went to see the lama's 

 kitchen. This was in a large room with beaten mud flooring, 

 having at one end a circular fireplace, constructed hkewise of 

 mud, of a height of about 3 feet. On the top of this was fixed 

 a huge iron cauldron, the space beneath being filled with 

 camel dung and such brushwood as is obtainable in the form 

 of " burtsa." The cauldron was filled with water, chunks of 

 meat were thrown into it, and the whole then seasoned with 



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