Wealth of the World's Waste Places and Oceania Part 9

This isolated table-land is the seat of a former Buddhism better known by the name of Lamaism. A deep but crude religious feeling tainted with the grossest superst.i.tions pervades the whole people, whose ignorance of other learning is appalling.

When a person dies a lama must be present to see that the soul is properly separated from the body and to direct the spirit on its journey to paradise; the lama must also influence its rebirth in a happy existence and provide for its entrance upon Nirvana, or eternal rest.

Many a mountain contains hollowed-out cells in which hermit monks spend their lives in silent meditation. On an island in one of the lakes, where they can be reached only when the lake freezes, reside twenty monks. In the midst of this wild and majestic scenery each rock and stream has its deity and saint, together with its appropriate legend.

Although the Buddhist monks do not believe in G.o.d as a creator, their religion demands audible and written prayers; indeed, prayer-wheels are frequently used to facilitate the repet.i.tion of prayers. Prayers numbering hundreds and even thousands are carefully written and placed, rolled up, in drum-wheels, which are revolved by wind, water, or hand power. Each revolution of a wheel is supposed to say all the prayers enclosed in it.

Many prayer-wheels, each with appropriate prayers, are mounted on axles and placed convenient to frequented paths so that they may be whirled around by those who pa.s.s by. Others provided with suitable fans are placed where they may be revolved by the wind. Sometimes water power is made to turn the wheels, but most of them are made of a size convenient to be carried about and operated by hand.

The capital of Tibet and seat of the Dalai Lama is Lasa, situated in a plain nearly twelve thousand feet above sea level. The city is surrounded by a marsh and is reached by a causeway raised above the mora.s.s. It has wide and regular streets, the princ.i.p.al buildings being made of stone, but the majority of the structures are adobe and sun-dried brick.

This interesting city contains forty-five thousand inhabitants, two-thirds of whom are monks. Streams formed by the melting snow course down the surrounding mountains, flooding the plain. At a distance the city presents an imposing appearance with the adjacent Potala as the crowning glory.

In the centre of the city stands a cathedral, called the Jo-Kang, which contains one of the most renowned statues of Buddha. This image, of life size, is an object of the greatest reverence and adoration. It is made of a composition of metals, gold and silver predominating. Priests are always in attendance and lamps are constantly burning before it. The roof of the temple is gilded and the interior is richly furnished.

Situated in the suburbs, on a rocky elevation above the plain which overlooks the city, is a wonderful group of buildings forming the Potala, or palace of the Dalai Lama. This huge, conglomerate structure of granite rising story above story to an immense height fascinates the beholder, who marvels at the skill and patience of the builders.

As though to heighten its beauty, the Potala is separated from the city by a park of gra.s.s and trees about a mile wide, making the stately edifice look like a huge diamond encircled with emeralds. Nothing but a blind religious zeal could have brought to completion such a series of connected edifices with their miles of halls, courts, corridors, and labyrinthine pa.s.sageways.

Scattered throughout Tibet are upward of three thousand monasteries, or lamaseries. Some of them are built in remote and inaccessible places and contain as many as seven thousand monks. Each lamasery has set apart for its use the best land in that vicinity, the cultivation of which is done by the common people, who are little better than serfs, or peons.

It is a notable fact that in this strange land there are many more men than women, although the reverse would be expected. The support of the hordes of lazy monks is a great incubus and r.e.t.a.r.ds the development of the country.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The yak not only serves as a beast of burden, but furnishes milk, b.u.t.ter, and meat]

The use of water for cleansing purposes seems to be no part of the religion of the people; they never bathe their bodies and seldom wash the face and hands. To protect themselves from the biting cold they smear their faces with rancid b.u.t.ter, which, catching the smoke and dust, adds to the effectiveness as well as the strength of the odor.

Their homes and places of worship reek with dirt and filth; small-pox, ailments of the eyes, and other contagious diseases are prevalent.

Harelip, in a great measure due to lack of proper nutrition, is a very common ailment.

In leather and inlaid work the Tibetans show great skill, much of the decorative work on the handles of their swords and daggers being very artistic. The common people live in constant terror of evil spirits in this world and of terrible punishments in the hereafter; the educated cla.s.ses believe they can drive off or propitiate all evil influences in this world, but fear they may be changed in a future rebirth to some vile form of being. In general, the people are treacherous and cowardly.

For weapons of defence they use matchlocks; in firing them, the weapon is held directly in front of the nose.

Of domestic animals the yak is one of the most useful, since it not only serves as a beast of burden but furnishes rich milk, b.u.t.ter, and meat.

The long hair of the animal is used for making ropes, tents, and cloth.

The yak resembles the ox in body, head, and legs; but it is covered with long, silky hair which hangs like the fleece of an Angora goat. The long, flowing hair of the tail reaches nearly to the ground. Thousands of these tails find their way to India where they are used for various household purposes.

Wild yaks are found in considerable numbers near the limits of perpetual snow, but at the approach of winter they descend to the wooded valleys just below the snow line. During the summer they pasture on the higher elevations. In their wild state yaks are fierce and dangerous. Being accustomed to high elevations, they fall sick and die when removed to the lowlands.

Milk is obtained not only from the yaks but from the sheep and goats.

The sheep, being of large size, are frequently used to bear small loads.

Many horses are raised, but they are used chiefly for riding.

Tibet is rich in gold, and for thousands of years the precious metal has been washed out of its surface by the crudest of methods. In fact, gold is washed from every river which has its sources in the Tibetan plateau.

Most of it in time finds its way to China. Silver, copper, iron, lead, and mercury abound in the southeastern part and considerable quant.i.ties are mined.

Traffic is carried on by means of caravans, the most common pack animal being the yak. Almost all the commerce is controlled by Chinese merchants, and the chief article of trade is tea, which is received in exchange for wool, hides, musk, amber, and gold. The tea is an inferior kind known as "brick tea," being composed of the refuse, stems, and leaves of the plants cemented with rice water and pressed into hard bricks. This kind of tea is preferred by the Tibetans, who brew it with b.u.t.ter and other ingredients and consume the entire concoction. The tea trade amounts to several million pounds annually.

CHAPTER IX

THE PRIMAL HOME OF THE SARACEN

Who has not had the youthful imagination fired by the "Arabian Nights"?

The simplicity and lifelike reality of these interesting stories, made even more fascinating by their Oriental color, appeal both to young and old.

So great has been their popularity that few works have been translated into so many different languages, while their influence on the literature of the present day is felt in a marked degree. They are more than the luxurious fancies of the Arab's mind, for they vividly set forth the love and hate, the craft and hypocrisy, the courage and revenge of his race. Moreover, they portray in a truly dramatic manner the innermost life and thought of the Moslem, while they captivate the senses by a magnificent panorama of exquisite banquets, lovely characters, charming gardens, and beautiful palaces.

The country and the descendants of the race that created these masterly storiettes are surely worthy of careful consideration. A region that is the birthplace of a religion claiming nearly two hundred million converts scattered all over the world must possess a special interest.

We are apt to look askance at everything Arabic as bordering on ignorance and savagery; but if we study the past of this alert race we shall find a profusion of historical side lights that are valuable; we shall also find in Arabic literature much to admire. The Arab is poetic and delights in imagery. There are Arabic poems dating back one thousand years before the Christian era that for beauty of thought, vigor, and polish are equal to those produced by any nation and in any age.

In the Middle Ages the Arabs led the world in commerce, exploration, art, science, and literature. The secret of their successful conquests was not in the number of their soldiers but in the courage inspired by the Muhammadan religion. Death has no terrors for the fanatical Moslem, for to him it is the vestibule of paradise where the pleasures of earth await those who fight in the holy cause.

By nature the Arab is active, vivacious, and keen-witted. He is proud of his lineage, earnest, and hospitable. The mother not only takes care of the home but educates the children; and, strange as it may seem to the outside world, illiteracy is practically unknown to Arabia.

To the Arabic race we are indebted for our knowledge of arithmetic, and many of the principles of algebra and geometry. The pendulum, the mariner's compa.s.s, and the manufacture of silk and cotton textiles were introduced into Europe by the Arabs. They claim to have used gunpowder as far back as the eleventh century. In the year 706 paper was made at Mecca and from there its manufacture spread all over the western world.

To them we owe many of the useful arts and practical inventions which were later brought to perfection by other nations.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Khaibar Pa.s.s, the gateway to India]

Now, no one is quite certain about the Saracens as a people because the name has been very loosely used. It was applied by Roman soldiers to several wandering tribes of Arabs who were much accustomed to mistaking other people's flocks of sheep and herds of cattle for their own. Most likely there never was a Saracenic Empire. But there certainly was a time when Arabians controlled not only the Arabian peninsula, but also Syria and the fertile plains of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers as well; and that great region became known as the "Land of the Saracens." From Damascus to Bagdad, and from the Bab-el-Mandeb to the Gulf of Oman, the Moslem was all-powerful.

Let us glance at the country itself. In the first place, Arabia is not a nation but a country made up of petty states--some independent, some controlled by the sultan of Turkey; two or three are included in the British Empire. But the country itself is very far removed from the rest of the world so far as accessibility is concerned; and although its coast is scarcely a gunshot from the greatest trade route of the East, Arabia is to-day one of the least-known countries in the world.

In general, the country is a moderately high table-land bordered by low coast plains. Much of it is an out-and-out desert; all of it is arid.

Long ago it was divided into Arabia Petraea, Arabia Deserta, and Arabia Felix--that is, the rocky, the desert, and the happy. It is needless to say that Arabia the happy was the part receiving enough rainfall to produce foodstuffs.

The coast-line of this great peninsula is nearly as great as that of the Atlantic and Gulf coast of the United States; but in its entire extent, not far from four thousand miles, there is scarcely a harbor in which a good-sized fishing schooner could find safe anchorage. Even at Aden a steamship cannot approach within a quarter of a mile of the sh.o.r.e. So one will not be far out of the way in designating Arabia as an impa.s.sable country with an impossible coast.

It is estimated that about seven millions of people live in the entire peninsula. To say that these belong to the Semitic race is merely to say that they are dark-skinned and black-haired. The Arab, whether a merchant dwelling in a city along the coast, or a Bedouin wandering with flocks and herds, is a product of the desert and of the teachings of Islam. His black eyes twinkle with shrewdness and he is a past master of craftiness. As a trader he is unsurpa.s.sed, and Arab traders control the interior commerce of western Asia and northern Africa just as the Chinese control the trade of southeastern Asia.

As a Bedouin of the desert the Arab is supreme in his way. Savage and blood-thirsty by nature, if there is no caravan to rob or common enemy to fight, neighboring tribes easily find cause for fighting one another.

Usually a quarrel over pasture lands in the same locality furnishes an excuse for a feud that results in the extermination of one tribe or the other.

A hatred of those who are not followers of the prophet is a heritage of all Arabs. The merchant cla.s.s, who are wealthy and usually educated, may have trained themselves to conceal it, but they possess it. Even to the most liberal Arab, one who is not of the faith of Islam is a "dog of an unbeliever." Among Bedouins, not to rob the caravan containing the belongings of a Christian would be a sin. There is one exception, however; if a Bedouin sheik agrees to convoy a party of "unbelievers,"

together with their valuables, over a robber-infested route, he will carry out his bargain faithfully.

Family ties among the Bedouin Arabs are much the same to-day as they were two thousand years ago. The great-grandfather, grandfather, or father, as the case may be, is the head of the family, and his will is law. The tribe is governed by a sheik, who is simply a "boss." He does not inherit his office, nor is he elected to it by popular vote; he elects himself because he is the best man, and he "holds over" for the same reason.

The family mansion of the Bedouin is a tent made of goat-hair cloth.

Some tents occupy as much ground as is covered by a small cottage. The tent of a sheik may be richly furnished with rugs and silk portieres; ordinarily, a coa.r.s.e hearth-rug and a divan cover are about the only furnishings. The cooking utensils are primitive--one or two kettles to a family; and of tableware there is practically nothing more than one or two platters. Meat is freely eaten and coffee is commonly a part of each meal. In the place of bread, flour about as coa.r.s.e as oatmeal is mixed to a paste, rolled or beaten into thin cakes, and cooked in hot b.u.t.ter.

Dates are almost always a part of the food supply.

The camel has first place in the wealth of the Bedouin, but sheep and goats in many instances form a part of his herds. The tents of a family are pitched where the grazing is good and the families move about as they will. All disputes are settled by the sheik, and he is apt to emphasize his decisions by the free use of his lance shaft. Whenever it becomes necessary because of poor grazing, the whole clan or tribe may move to a distant place. All household goods are wrapped in packs or put into saddle bags. Two or three camels will readily carry the tent and luggage of a family. The women are carried in litters; the men ride camels. Horses are rarely ridden at such times.