ld
by possibility desolate mankind. And, indeed, there is no year in which
this malady does not make fearful ravages at Lha-Ssa, and the only remedy
which has hitherto suggested itself to the government as a preservative
for the population against this fearful epidemic, is to proscribe the
wretched families who are seized with it. As soon as the small-pox has
declared itself in a house, all the inhabitants must dislodge, and
repair, whether they will or not, far from the city to the summits of the
mountains, or the depths of the valleys. No one may hold any
communication whatever with the poor wretches, who soon die of hunger and
privation, or become the prey of wild beasts. We did not fail to make
the Regent acquainted with the precious means used by the European
nations to preserve themselves from the disorder; and one of the chief
circumstances, which procured for us the good-will and protection of the
Regent, was his hope that we might one day introduce vaccination into
Thibet. The missionary who should be fortunate enough to endow the
Thibetians with so invaluable a blessing, would assuredly acquire over
their minds an influence capable of competing with that of the Tale-Lama
itself. The introduction of vaccination into Thibet by the missionaries
would, not improbably, be the signal of the downfall of Lamanism, and of
the establishment of the Christian religion among these infidel tribes.

People afflicted with the itch and leprosy, are numerous at Lha-Ssa.
These cutaneous diseases are engendered by the want of cleanliness, more
peculiarly prevalent among the lower classes of the population. Cases of
hydrophobia are not unfrequent among the Thibetians; and one is only
surprised that this horrible malady does not commit greater ravages, when
one bears in mind the terrible multitudes of gaunt, famishing dogs that
are always prowling about the streets of Lha-Ssa. These animals, in
fact, are so numerous in that city, that the Chinese contemptuously say,
that the three great products of the capital of Thibet, are Lamas, women,
and dogs--Lama, Ya-Teou, Keou.

This marvellous infinitude of dogs arises from the extreme respect which
the Thibetians have for these animals, and the use to which they apply
them in burying the dead. There are four different species of sepulture
practised in Thibet; the first, combustion; the second, immersion in the
rivers and lakes; the third, exposure on the summit of mountains; and