THE WORLD'S STRANGEST CAPITAL 



275 



It would be quite impossible to give 

 even a semblance of a plan of this con- 

 glomeration of buildings, and it would 

 take weeks, perhaps months, to visit 

 every part of the enormous structure, 

 capable of holding thousands of people. 

 The Treasure House was said to be full 

 of gold and jewels at the time of our 

 stay; but we had no opportunity of in- 

 specting it, nor did we see the Dalai 

 Lama's private apartments, in the north- 

 east corner of the building, as we were 

 particularly asked by the Tibetans not to 

 enter this part of the building and of 

 course did not do so. 



IMPOSING LANDSCAPES 



From the flat roofs of the Potala the 

 whole valley lies mapped out below — the 

 town to the east, a mass of low, two- 

 storied, substantially built houses inter- 

 spersed with temples ; the Jo-Khang, the 

 most holy shrine in Tibet ; the Chagpo- 

 ri, or school of medicine ; the Turquoise 

 Bridge (Yutok Sampa), so called on ac- 

 count of its green-blue tiled roof ; the 

 many channels of the River of Delight 

 (the Kyi-chhu), beyond which lies the 

 Arsenal, and to the north the Monastery 

 of Sera under the hills, containing 5,000 

 monks (see page 281). Further on the 

 Debung Monastery, with 10,700 inmates; 

 the gilded roofs of the Na-chung-chos- 

 kyong (see page 286) ; and the Ling- 

 Kor, the Sacred Road (see page 288), 

 along which all devout Buddhists pros- 

 trate themselves in the hope that all their 

 earthly sins may be forgiven, could be 

 seen in places. 



picturesque; priests 



There are monks everywhere in or 

 near Lhasa. The three large monas- 

 teries of Sera, Debung, and Gah-dan 

 alone contain about 20,000, and with all 

 the other temples and monasteries the 

 number cannot fall far short of 30,000, 

 while the lay population of Lhasa only 

 amounts to about 15,000, of whom 9,000 

 are women, who, strange to say, carry on 

 practically the whole of the trade done. 

 The remaining 6,000 males are about 

 3,000 Tibetans and 3,000 foreigners — 

 Chinese, Nepalese, Kashmeris, etc. 



The monks are very picturesque in 

 their somber red robes, perhaps not quite 



so much in evidence in the town itself, as 

 there there is more bustle and life and 

 people are more occupied with trade than 

 with the saving of their souls. The 

 streets are full of laden animals, bring- 

 ing in the every-day supplies, and cara- 

 vans arriving from Mongolia and east- 

 ern Tibet. The people look well and 

 cheerful and the town is not nearly so 

 dirty as might be expected. 



Of the other buildings in Lhasa, the 

 School of Medicine, situated on a smaller 

 hill on the same ridge as the Potala, 

 stands out prominently. There is very 

 little of interest connected with it, and 

 the inmates or students hardly knew 

 even the names of common useful herbs. 



One of the prettiest spots in all the 

 valleys was the Lu-Kang Garden, where 

 there is a beautiful pool of water sur- 

 rounded by lofty trees and willows half 

 concealing an island in the center. 



The legend runs that the island is the 

 abode of a snake, which must be pro- 

 pitiated or the waters of the underground 

 lake which lie beneath the Jo-Khang will 

 overflow and submerge Lhasa. Doubt- 

 less the legend is founded on the fact that 

 water lies close under the city and no well 

 need be sunk more than 6 feet to reach 

 the water level. When I visited the gar- 

 dens the clear, brown water was ex- 

 tremely peaceful and reflected with added 

 effect the beautiful coloring of its sur- 

 roundings. 



The quarter of the beggars, scavengers, 

 and outcasts showed in what extraordi- 

 nary hovels these people can and do live. 

 Many of the walls of the huts were built 

 of yaks' horns set in mud, and I need 

 hardly say were most insanitary. 



THE TURQUOISE BRIDGE OE EHASA 



Not far from the Cathedral is one of 

 the sights of Lhasa, the Turquoise 

 Bridge, so called on account of the lovely 

 coloring of the green blue tiles of the 

 roof. Encircling the buildings is the 

 Sacred Road, merely to walk along which 

 absolves the mortal from all earthly sins, 

 and many pilgrims prostrate themselves 

 for its entire length, thus securing ever- 

 lasting happiness in their future life. 



The most interesting portion of the 

 Sacred Road is where it nears the Kyi- 

 chhu and runs through some sharp lime- 



