GOOD MISSIONARIES 109 



Christie. From all the missionaries whom we met 

 in China we received kindness and hospitality. 

 I can pay no greater tribute to that of Mr. and 

 Mrs. Christie than to say, that even had their old 

 friend Dr. Smith been absent, their welcome to us 

 would have been the same. Almost entirely cut 

 off from the outside world, utterly out of reach of 

 the comforts and luxuries of civilisation, they have 

 given up their lives to the wild hillmen of the 

 Thibetan border. It must be some consolation 

 and satisfaction to them to know that they are 

 universally loved and respected by all the natives 

 for miles. It is very largely, if not entirely owing 

 to their tact and to the friendly relations which 

 they have established with the Prince and his 

 people that we were enabled to hunt for weeks in 

 the mountains round Choni without a harsh word 

 or a disagreement of any kind with the natives. 

 Mr. Christie is a model to all missionaries. His 

 knowledge of Thibet and the border people is 

 thorough, wide and most entertaining. It is a 

 thousand pities that he does not make public some 

 of the information which he has collected during 

 a long residence among people whose folk-lore and 

 character are but little known in Europe and are 

 of the greatest interest. 



He took us over the lamaserai and proved a 

 most well-informed guide. All Thibetan monas- 

 teries are built on the same plan. A prominent 

 feature of the main court is the large brass " wheel 

 of life " of which Gautama spoke. He, of course, 

 used the expression in a figurative sense, but the 

 Thibetan mind is not capable of grasping an ab- 

 stract idea, hence the brass wheel. At Choni, 



