n honour of the Buddha
Chakdja-Mouni. When Chingtsa-Tsio came to herself, she felt a pain in
the side, and at once comprehended that the fall had rendered her
fruitful. In the year of the Fire Hen (1357), nine months after this
mysterious event, she brought into the world a son, whom Lombo-Moke named
Tsong-Kaba, from the appellation of the mountain, at whose feet his tent
had stood for several years past. The marvellous child had, at his
birth, a white beard, and his face wore an air of extraordinary majesty.
There was nothing childlike about his manners. So soon as he saw the
light, he was capable of expressing himself with clearness and precision
in the language of Amdo. He spoke little, indeed, but his words always
developed a profound appreciation of the nature and destiny of man.

At the age of three, Tsong-Kaba resolved to renounce the world, and to
embrace the religious life. Chingtsa-Tsio, full of respect for the holy
project of her son, herself shaved his head, and threw his fine long
flowing hair outside the tent. From this hair, there forthwith sprung a
tree, the wood of which dispensed an exquisite perfume around, and each
leaf of which bore, engraved on its surface, a character in the sacred
language of Thibet. Tsong-Kaba himself withdrew into the most absolute
retirement, avoiding even the presence of his parents. He took up his
position on the summits of the wildest mountains, or in the depths of the
profoundest ravines, and there passed whole days and nights in prayer and
in the contemplation of eternal things. His fastings were long and
frequent. He respected the life even of the humblest insect, and
rigorously interdicted himself the consumption of any sort of flesh
whatever.

While Tsong-Kaba was thus engaged in purifying his heart by assiduity and
prayer, and the practices of an austere life, a Lama, from one of the
most remote regions of the West, casually visited the land of Amdo, and
received the hospitality of Lombo-Moke's tent. Tsong-Kaba, amazed at the
science and the sanctity of the stranger, prostrated himself at his feet,
and conjured him to become his instructor. The Lamanesque traditions
relate that this Lama of the western regions was remarkable not only for
his learning, the profundity of which was unfathomable, but for the
singularity of his appearance. People especially remarked his great
nose, and his eyes that gleamed as with a supernatural fire. The
stranger being, o