Directory_and_Chronicle_1850 — Page 711

1850.

Travels of M. Huc.

669

the Tala-lama, have, they tell us, affinities that are replete with in- terest. Strange matter for philosophical reflection, affinities between forms of priestcraft so geographically removed from one another!

"

The missionaries were ultimately expelled from H'lassa on the 15th of March, 1846, and they traveled for several days along a fertile val- ley, dotted with Tibetan farms. The chain called Lumma Ri, having a pass of easy ascent, separated this valley from the town of Jiamba; it was, however, still enveloped in snow. Jiamba, where they were detained two days, is a commercial and populous city, with two Budhist temples of colossal proportions. The missionaries, it is to be observed, were now traveling under the protection of a Chinese mandarin of the first class, Li Kwoh-ngan, "Pacificator of Kingdoms," and of the lama Jiamchang, or the Musician," besides an escort; and although, at almost every town and every village, some excuses for delay and loitering were easily found, more especially in the uncertain supply of horses and oxen for the caravan, still, a com- fortable room, a large fire of argols, and abundance of provision, made a very different thing of the return to what the journey to H’lassa had been. The only drawbacks were, the severe climate of Tibet, the rude mountains and rapid torrents, and the variable weather. Many an impetuous torrent had to be passed by a frail bridge of unhewn pine-trees, not even lashed together. The fourth day from Jiamba, they passed a great lake on the ice, concerning which, a Chinese "Itinerary," which was originally translated by the Russian mission- ary, Father Hyacinthe, and published, with notes by Klaproth, in the "Nouveau Journal Asiatique," I serie, tomes 4 and 6, says that the unicorn is met with in the neighborhood. The animal here alluded to appears to be a species of antelope, analogous to the animal obtain- ed by Mr. Hodgson from Nípál, and called by Dr. Abel, Antelope Hodgsonii. Beyond this, a rugged and rocky chain, with rude gla- ciers aud vast accumulations of snow, had to be crossed. This was the II'la-ri, or "Mountain of Spirits." The ascent was effected on foot, holding hard by the horses' tails; the descent, by slipping down a glacier, which the oxen and horses did on their four feet, rolling over and over as they reached the snowy basis; the men, lamas, man- darins, and missionaries effected the descent in a far less dignified posture. Such a pass necessitated a day's rest at the post of H'larí where they were entertained in a Chinese temple called Kwán-tí Miáu, dedicated to the God of War.

The arrrival at Hilari

furnished materials for a sketch of Chinese life, such as, considering the intimacy of the missionaries