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0570 Across Asia : vol.1
Across Asia : vol.1 / Page 570 (Grayscale High Resolution Image)

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[Photo] Tanguts in the yard of the sarai at Labrang.

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doi: 10.20676/00000221
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C. G. MANNERHEIM

Tanguts in the yard of the

'•=- < ~:_ sarai at Labrang.

Followed by a crowd of lamas, our guide led us from one back-street to another. Evidently he hoped to tire the inquisitive escort and then continue the round in peace. When he finally decided to make an attempt, I saw two stones prepared to be thrown at me and the door was banged in my face. We crossed a square at the very moment when service was over in some of the temples. The bareheaded lamas, dressed in red, appeared on all sides like an army of ants. Hooting, jeers, stones etc.

The friendly lama, who was piloting us, nevertheless managed to get a temple opened. The seat of honour in the hall of the temple, decorated with 5 rows of wooden columns, was occupied by Dogung, though he did not differ particularly from other images occupying one of the side walls of the large hall. This temple was considerably lower, but the centre of the roof was raised and allowed the light to enter through the walls of this drum that formed a row of large windows. There were hassocks along the walls in several rows all round the hall. When we came out again, the crowd of lamas had not dwindled; we continued our round with them following on our heels. Our lama was nervous and obviously anxious. Suddenly he remembered that I had promised to go and see a lama who had called on me the day before. As if by accident, we happened to be just outside his door. An array of sweets was displayed on a table in a large, light and unusually clean room, in expectation of our arrival. This was really meant for Tambarabdsji, a young Tibetan, who had been to Mongolia, the Transbaikal district and Siberia as far as Irkutsk and, owing to his liking for Russia, had looked me up, when he heard that I spoke Russian. He was exceedingly amiable and made a good impression on me. He had taken a Mongolian from the neighbourhood of Urga, who spoke a little Russian, as interpreter. The entertainment, however, had been prepared at Algdsjembas's, one of the senior »holy» lamas (as a Buriat called them) of the monastery, of whom there were about 30. This man was

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