MOONLIGHT ON MUS-TAGH-ATA 385 
our Mother Earth, whose cheek is furrowed with such 
deep and unfathomable wrinkles around thee! In my 
memory I still hear the rippling of thy mountain-brooks, 
bringing strange messages from those sublime regions 
which no mortal foot hath ever trod. Like the holy Dalai- 
lama, thou permittest none but thy chosen children to 
approach the sacred precincts of thy temple. Shed then 
thy saving light as from a lofty beacon-tower across the 
desert ocean, which stretches to a boundless distance from 
thy eastern flank. Let the gleam of thy silver brow 
scatter the dust-haze of the desert hurricane — let the cool 
refreshing airs of thy palace of eternal snows be wafted 
towards the weary traveller toiling through the burning 
heats of sun and sand — let the life-giving streams, which 
flow from thy mighty heart, abound in strength for 
thousands of years to come, and for thousands of years 
to come still maintain their fight against the all-devouring, 
all-devastating desert sands ! Amongst the lights of Asia 
thou art, and always wilt be, one of the brightest, as thou 
art amongst the mountains of the earth one of the noblest, 
one of the most sublime ! 
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