esult of Chinese susceptibility, rather than of any
religious hostility. At the period of their arrival at Lha-Ssa, the
Chinese resident at the Court of Pekin was no less a personage than the
famous Ki-Chan (or Keshen, as he is often called by the English)--the
same who played so conspicuous a part as Imperial Commissary during the
negotiations with England, in 1839. On that occasion, Ki-Chan showed, in
one respect at least, greater discrimination than most of his
countrymen, for he perceived at once the impossibility of holding out
against European forces, and made the best terms he could. The necessity
for concessions was not, however, so well understood at the court of
Pekin. The unfortunate Commissary was accused of having allowed himself
to be corrupted by English gold, and to have sold a portion of the
Celestial territory to the sea-devils. He was, in consequence, declared
"worthy of death," deprived of his titles, goods, and honors, and sent
into exile in Tartary: his houses were razed to the ground, and his
wives put up to auction! But Fortune and the emperors of China are
capricious; and events in Thibet having, towards the year 1844, assumed
an aspect which appeared to offer a favorable opportunity of extending
Chinese influence in that quarter, the "Holy Master" bethought him of
the talents of his discarded servant, Ki-Chan, and sent him to Lha-Ssa,
with extraordinary powers. The events we allude to are narrated by M.
Huc with clearness, and, we have reason to believe, with great accuracy;
but we cannot make room for any account of them, and must content
ourselves with a rapid sketch of the ruling powers at Lha-Ssa in 1846,
so as to render the situation of our travellers intelligible.

The government of Thibet is a complete theocracy, and the authority of
the Tale-Lama is unbounded, as that of a divinity deigning to reign on
earth must naturally be over his worshippers. But as he often
transmigrates into the body of a mere child, and that, moreover, his
very divinity makes it derogatory in him to meddle with worldly affairs,
he is supplied with a grosser colleague, who, under the name of
Nomekhan, or spiritual emperor, transacts all the business of the state.
He is nominated for life by the Tale-Lama, and in his turn chooses four
kalons, or ministers, whose power, like that of ministers elsewhere, is
of uncertain duration. At the time we speak of, thanks to Chinese
intrigue, both the Tale-Lama and the Nomekhan