ce of incarnations which, as he observed, had become simply
the hereditary perquisites of certain noble Mongol families. He
therefore ordered that when there was any question of an incarnation
the names of the claimants to the distinction should be written on
slips of paper and placed in a golden bowl: that a religious service
should be held and at its close a name be drawn from the bowl in the
presence of the Chinese Agents and the public. The child whose name
should be drawn was to be recognized as the true incarnation but
required investiture by an imperial patent.

A period of calm followed, and when the Grand Lama died in 1804 the
Tibetans totally neglected this edict and selected a child born in
eastern Tibet. The Chinese Court, desirous of avoiding unnecessary
trouble, approved[968] the choice on the ground that the infant's
precocious ability established his divine character but when he
died in 1815 and an attempt was made to repeat this irregularity, a
second edict was published, insisting that the names of at least three
candidates must be placed in the golden urn and that he whose name
should be first drawn must be Grand Lama. This procedure was followed
but the child elected by the oracle of the urn died before he was
twenty and another infant was chosen as his successor in 1838. As a
result the Lama who was regent acquired great power and also
unpopularity. His tyranny caused the Tibetans to petition the Emperor;
and His Majesty sent a new Agent to investigate his conduct. Good
reason was shown for holding him responsible for the death of the
Grand Lama in 1838 and for other misdeeds. The Emperor then degraded
and banished him and, what is more singular, forbade him to reappear
in a human reincarnation.

The reigns of Grand Lamas in the nineteenth century have mostly been
short. Two others were selected in 1858 and 1877 respectively. The
latter who is the present occupant of the post was the son of a
Tibetan peasant: he was duly chosen by the oracle of the urn and
invested by the Emperor. In 1893 he assumed personal control of the
administration and terminated a regency which seems to have been
oppressive and unpopular. The British Government were anxious to
negotiate with him about Sikhim and other matters, but finding it
impossible to obtain answers to their communications sent an
expedition to Lhasa in 1904. The Grand Lama then fled to Urga, in
which region he remained until 1907. In the autumn of 1908