ransmigrate, the first time by
strangulation, the second time by suffocation, and the third by poison.
A confession was drawn up in the Tartar, Chinese, and Thibetian
languages; the Nomekhan and his accomplices signed it; the
Bandchan-Remboutchi, the four Kalons, and the Chinese ambassador set
their seals to it; and it was immediately forwarded to Peking by a
courier-extraordinary. All this was done in secret. Three months
afterwards, the capital of Thibet was thrown into a state of the greatest
agitation; there was seen placarded on the great gate of the Nomekhan's
palace, and in the principal streets of the town, an imperial edict, in
three languages, on yellow paper, and with borders representing winged
dragons. After a long flourish about the duties of kings, and of
sovereigns, great and small, and an exhortation to the potentates,
monarchs, princes, magistrates, and people of the four seas, to walk in
the paths of justice and virtue, under pain of incurring the wrath of
heaven and the indignation of the Grand Khan, the Emperor recounted the
crimes of the Nomekhan, and condemned him to perpetual banishment on the
banks of the Sakhalien-Oula, in the depths of Mantchouria. At the end
was the usual formula: "Tremble and obey."

The inhabitants of Lha-Ssa collected round these strange placards, which
they were unused to see on the walls of their town. The report of the
condemnation of the Nomekhan spread rapidly among the people. Numerous
groups began to form, who discussed the point with vehemence, but in
whispers. All faces were animated, and from every quarter there rose a
deep murmur. This agitation among the Thibetian people arose not so much
from the merited downfall of the Nomekhan, as from the interference of
the Chinese authorities, an interference which every one felt to be very
humiliating.

At the Lamasery of Sera, opposition manifested itself with an altogether
different sort of energy. As soon as they had notice there of the
imperial edict, the insurrection was spontaneous and general. Those
15,000 Lamas, who were all devoted to the cause of the Nomekhan, armed
themselves hastily with lances, fusils, sticks, whatever came first to
hand, and threw themselves into Lha-Ssa, which was only half a league
distant. The thick clouds of dust which they raised in their disorderly
course, and the terrible shouts they sent forth, announced their arrival
to the inhabitants of Lha-Ssa--"The Lamas of Sera! H