18 MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS RITES. 
fection as to merit admission into the first. But only few are so perfect as 
to be immediately assigned a place in either of these abodes; most men. 
have to undergo first a purification, shorter or longer according to the state 
of the soul, by means of a transmigration into the bodies of different 
animals, which always terminates in the body of a dog, the emblem of 
fidelity and genius, before the soul is permitted to inhabit for a second time, 
preparatory to its final rest, the body of a human being. 
The wicked are condemned either to a long course of transmigration from 
one body to another, and if very bad through those of the meanest reptiles, 
or if hopelessly corrupt are sent to the lower regions (Zamu). Tamu is 
divided into three regions: the first, Biridien Orron, is a kind of purga- , 
tory, whence the soul after a long course of suffering may again be liberated. 
This purgatory is situated 500 miles beneath the surface of the earth, and 
has a large city, surrounded with white walls, for its capital, in which 
Erlik-Khan has his palace in a castle guarded by sixteen iron walls. The 
second division in Tamu is Gvehva (hell), subdivided into sixteen regions, 
eight of which are always filled with a burning heat, and in the other 
eight reigns more than polar cold. In the former the spirits are tor- 
mented by being thrown into vast caldrons filled with liquid iron, and 
then stirred up in their frightful bath by their jailors, the imps of the 
place, while others are hacked or cut to pieces with red-hot saws and scythes. 
In the other division a fearful cold penetrates every sensitive part, without 
depriving it of sensation. Murderers were thrown into the boiling ocean 
of ever sweltering gore. The soul that had once entered these regions could 
never more return. 
3. Tuz Priestaoop. Priests have always exercised a great influence, and 
Thibet may justly be called the kingdom of priests. Those of the higher 
rank are called Zamas, and those of the lower Gylongs. The former are 
always considered an incarnation of the gods, and are therefore always 
looked up to with the most profound reverence. PJ. 3, jig. 21, repre- 
sents a Mongolian Lama, and jig. 22 a Lama among the Tartars. The 
chiefs of the whole priesthood, and at the same time the rulers of the 
country, are two Great-Lamas. One of these, the Dalai Lama, resides 
at Lassa and governs the northeastern portion of Thibet ; the other, Bogdo- 
Lama, has his residence in Tishi Lumbo, and exercises dominion over the 
southern part of Thibet. Besides these two there is also a Great-Lamaess 
(female Lama), who resides on and rules over the island Palte or Shandro, 
governing the convents of this island. But though absolute on the island, 
she is not independent of the Great Dalai Lama, before whom she appears 
at stated periods seated upon a movable throne, her face and body enve- 
loped in costly veils, and her carriage surrounded by a numerous retinue. 
The Dalai Lama is considered not only the representative of the Supreme 
Leing, but also the Deity itself incarnate and dwelling upon earth. Hence 
divine honors are paid to him, which he receives seated with crossed legs 
upon a magnificent cushion of costly material and embroidered with gold 
and precious stones. He is supposed to be omniscient and omnipresent, 
and on that account the questions which he addresses to his worshippers are 
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