278 SPORT, TRAVEL, AND ADVENTURE 



along the monumental stairway of marble which led 

 to the summit. Finally, amid the detonation of salutes, 

 a glittering group appeared ; followed by his high 

 dignitaries, clad in capes of cloth of gold, the Dalai- 

 Lama slowly descended the staircase, supported on 

 either hand by two young priests. The file of lamas 

 already in position on each step of the stairway began 

 to advance in step ; it was as though the stairs them- 

 selves were descending, bringing the divine procession 

 from the sacred heights. 



At the foot of the hill, in the midst of an innumer- 

 able crowd which had gathered from all directions, the 

 Dalai-Lama was awaited by a tao-tai, or governor, 

 a general, two prefects, and numerous squadrons of 

 cavalry, sent by the Pekin Court to escort the pontiff- 

 king. This little army began to march. The Dalai- 

 Lama, at first carried in a chair of yellow silk, re- 

 sembling that of the Emperor, soon emerged from it 

 in order to mount on horseback, in the midst of his 

 Tibetan guard, and the whole cortege, with trumpets 

 sounding, set off at a rapid pace. 



All that day I travelled with the Living Buddha, 

 sometimes mingling with the cortege, sometimes draw- 

 ing aside to enjoy and to photograph the pageant. 

 At the entrance of every pagoda the monks were drawn 

 up to salute the Lama ; he halted to receive their 

 homage, and this multitude of prelates, mandarins, and 

 Chinese and Tibetan soldiers, assembled in those singu- 

 larly beautiful surroundings, composed on each occasion 

 a picture of incredible strangeness and beauty. When 

 the march was resumed, when the pageant of all that 

 royal pomp swept through the solitary valley, when 

 the trumpets sounded as though to tell the rocks, the 



