Peking to Lhasa : vol.1 / Page 344 (Color Image)

0344	Peking to Lhasa : vol.1

260 PEKING TO LHASA

an enclosure reserved for special Chinese. His

grave would thus be ensured against desecration.

The spot selected was on the east side of Kanze,

under the shadow of the great Lamasery on the

hill. A coffin of the best wood was made, and,

with his sword and military cap laid on it, it was

carried up the steep hill-side by twenty Tibetans.

Dr. Thompson himself read those beautiful words :

" I am the resurrection, and the life ", and

Pereira's Chinese boy read parts of 1 Corinthians,

chapter xv. After prayer the sword and cap

were removed and the coffin was committed to

the earth. A temporary wooden cross was placed

over the grave, and as there was a Roman

Catholic priest two marches away, arrangements

were made with him for a more permanent

memorial.'

So in the scene of his great endeavours his

body is laid at rest. But his spirit lasts on. To

the very end he was true to his self-imposed duty.

His iron will forced out of his frail body its last

possibility. But it was not only his inflexible

will and fidelity to purpose that impressed those

who met him on his journeys. They speak of his

essential goodness, his lovable nature, his faculty

of endearing himself to all he met. French,

American and British, Chinese and Tibetan, alike

esteemed him in the highest regard. This spirit

which animated his work will remain as an in-

spiration to all who follow after him in that dis-

tant borderland, and to many a lover of travel

in every quarter of the world.

1 This has since been done, and he is now buried in the cemetery at

Ta-chien-la.

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