To the snows of Tibet through China . The Golden Summit, as it is called by the Chinese,has once had a magnificent temple erected on it, butthis is now a mass of ruins, having been destroyed bylightning. This temple must have been constructedentirely of bronze, as there are a large number of slabs,pillars, and pieces of architraves lying about in a con-fused mass, all being made of that metal. In the woodentemple which has been erected close by, a few of thebronze panels have been used by being let into thewalls and gilded, but all those outside seem to have nocare bestowed upon them, and are
To the snows of Tibet through China . The Golden Summit, as it is called by the Chinese,has once had a magnificent temple erected on it, butthis is now a mass of ruins, having been destroyed bylightning. This temple must have been constructedentirely of bronze, as there are a large number of slabs,pillars, and pieces of architraves lying about in a con-fused mass, all being made of that metal. In the woodentemple which has been erected close by, a few of thebronze panels have been used by being let into thewalls and gilded, but all those outside seem to have nocare bestowed upon them, and are left to perish. Allthese slabs are ornamented with the figure of Buddha,as may be seen in the illustration. There is a bronzepagoda about fifteen feet high erected on a woodenplatform close to the edge of probably the highest pre-cipice in the world. It is not much out of the perpen-dicular, and at least a mile in depth. The edge isguarded by rails and chains which no one is allowedto touch, but it is easy to see down. In the temple. SUICIDES OF PILGIilMS 171 there is a statue of Buddlia about fifteen feet high andclosed in by curtains, many incense bowls, and otherthings commonly found in such places. There were a large number of pilgrims, who worshipat all the temples on the way up. Man}^ tales are toldby the priests of tigers carrying off pilgrims, who arenever heard of again. All men so carried off are putdown as being very wicked. I may add that if thisis the case, the tigers on Mount Omti differ very muchfrom those in other parts of China that I have beenin, for everywhere else a man-eating tiger is mountain is considered to be the most holy inChina, and many pilgrims commit suicide every yearby casting themselves over the precipice. The morning of April 13 was beautifully clear, anda splendid view was obtained from the summit. Overthe clouds beneath could be seen Mount Wa to , while to the northward of west the snowy rangeabove and beyond Ta-tsien-l
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectchinade, bookyear1892
