to the colour of my
face, which was sunburnt and had long remained unwashed, and they thought
that I was on a pilgrimage of circumambulation round the Mansarowar Lake.
They appeared anxious to know whether illnesses were cured by occult
sciences in India, or by medicines only. I, who, on the other hand, was
more interested in getting information than in giving it, turned the
conversation on the Lamas themselves.

Of course I knew that there are sects of red, yellow, white and black
Lamas, the red ones being the older and more numerous throughout the
country; next to them come the yellow Lamas, the _Gelupkas_, equally
powerful in political and religious matters, but not quite so numerous;
and, lastly, the white Lamas and the black Lamas, the _Julinba_, who are
the craftsmen in the monasteries, working at painting, printing, pottery
and ornamentation, besides attending on the other Lamas and making
themselves useful all round in the capacities of cooks, shepherds,
water-carriers, writers, and last, but not least, executioners. The
lamaseries are usually very rich, for the Tibetans are a deeply devout
race, and the Lamas are not backward in learning how to extort money from
the ignorant worshippers under pretences of all kinds. Besides attending
to their religious functions, the Lamas are traders at large, carrying on
a smart money-lending business, and charging a very high interest, which
falls due every month. If this should remain unpaid, all the property of
the borrower is confiscated, and if this prove insufficient to repay the
loan the debtor himself becomes a slave to the monastery. It is evident,
from the well-fed countenances of the Lamas, that, notwithstanding their
occasional bodily privations, they as a rule do not allow themselves to
suffer in any way, and no doubt can be entertained as to their leading a
smooth and comfortable existence of comparative luxury--a condition which
frequently degenerates into vice and depravity.

The larger lamaseries receive a yearly Government allowance, and
considerable sums are collected from the oblations of the faithful, while
other moneys are obtained by all sorts of devices which, in any country
less religious than Tibet, would be considered hardly honourable and
often even altogether criminal. To any one acquainted with Tibet, it is a
well-known fact that, except in the larger towns, nearly all people
besides brigands and Lamas are absolutely poor, while the monks
thems