ENTRY INTO LHASSA.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 185, 10 August 1904, Page 3

ENTRY INTO LHASSA.

BU9SIAN DIPLOMAT QUITS BEFORE" BRITISH ARRIVAL. V BOMBAY, August 8. ;'M. Dorsjeff, a Russian, who possessed much influence at Lhassa, <£iittedthatxity -hi May last, and has gone to Siberia. \ Lhassa, or " The Seat of the Gods," the capital city of Thibet, and a sacred city of'ihV Buddhists, is situated on a fertile plain fortyfive miles north-east of the junction •. of the Ki-chu and Yaro Sau-po rivers. Itisll.UlO feet above the level of the sea, and is surrounded by mountainsJrom 2000 to 4000 feet high. The densely-packed city proper is surrounded with a wall, outside of which lie extensive suburbs. The houses stand; an gardens, and are ranged on each side, of broad, tree-shaded streets. In many respects Lhassa is the most remarkable city in the world. The. monasteries, some fifteen in number, are scattered over khe plain, and in the suburbs, Jus-t outside the • central city, on the north-west, stands Potala, which is tiu'clfly encrusted with palaces 1 and temples, their roofs'all gilded. This particular part of the city is the dwelling-place of the Dalai-Lama, whose predecessors have held undisputed sway in tins strange kingdom. for such it is, for many hundreds of years. Lhassa is not only the centre of the Lamaist form of" Buddhism, it is an important trading centre, ft terminus for caravans to and from India, Burinah, China, Mongolia and Turkestan. The resident population, exclusive of many thousands uf monks is variously estimated at from ten M fifteen thousand, but it is generallyaugnieated.'fiy a floating population of *40,000' to 80,000 pilgrims and traders, j