hose teachers, particular
reverence is felt for the Buddha, Sakya-Muni, known in China also under
the name of Fo, who lived three thousand years ago, and whose teachings
brought all China back into the path of the true God; and the Buddha,
Gautama, who lived two thousand five hundred years ago, and converted
almost half the Hindus to the knowledge of the impersonal, indivisible
and only God, besides whom there is none.

"Buddhism is divided into many sects which, by the way, differ only in
certain religious ceremonies, the basis of the doctrine being everywhere
the same. The Thibetan Buddhists, who are called 'lamaists,' separated
themselves from the Fo-ists fifteen hundred years ago. Until that time
we had formed part of the worshippers of the Buddha, Fo-Sakya-Muni, who
was the first to collect all the laws compiled by the various buddhas
preceding him, when the great schism took place in the bosom of
Brahmanism. Later on, a Khoutoukhte-Mongol translated into Chinese the
books of the great Buddha, for which the Emperor of China rewarded him
by bestowing upon him the title of 'G-Chi--'Preceptor of the King!'
After his death, this title was given to the Dalai-Lama of Thibet. Since
that epoch, all the titularies of this position have borne the title of
Go-Chi. Our religion is called the Lamaic one--from the word 'lama,'
superior. It admits of two classes of monks, the red and the yellow. The
former may marry, and they recognize the authority of the Bantsine, who
resides in Techow Loumba, and is chief of the civil administration in
Thibet. We, the yellow lamas, have taken the vow of celibacy, and our
direct chief is the Dalai-Lama. This is the difference which separates
the two religious orders, the respective rituals of which are
identical."

"Do all perform mysteries similar to that which I have just witnessed?"

"Yes; with a few exceptions. Formerly these festivals were celebrated
with very solemn pomp, but since the conquest of Ladak our convents have
been, more than once, pillaged and our wealth taken away. Now we content
ourselves with simple garments and bronze utensils, while in Thibet you
see but golden robes and gold utensils."

"In a visit which I recently made to a gonpa, one of the lamas told me
of a prophet, or, as you call him, a buddha, by the name of Issa. Could
you not tell me anything about him?" I asked my interlocutor, seizing
this favorable moment to start the subject which interested me so
greatl