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Journey to Thibet Leaving Surghol with fresh horses, M. Notovitch made the next halt at the village of Wakha. Upon an isolated rock overlooking the village, stands the convent of Moulbek. With his interpreter and the negro servant he proceeded to this convent; they climbed the narrow steps, carved in the solid rock, on which were placed little prayer-wheels, which are little drum-like shapes covered round the sides with leather and fitted vertically in niches cut in the rock. A spindle running through the centre enables them to revolve at the slightest touch or breeze; there are usually several of these wheels in a row, larger ones are placed separate, all are decorated on the leather bands with the mystic sentence—"Om mani padme hum," i. e. Om, the jewel in the lotus, amen!
On the top he was greeted by a Lama, attired in the usual monk's robe of yellow, with a cap of the same material, carrying in his right hand a prayer-wheel “made of copper, which he twirled from time to time his left hand, without interrupting the conversation. The Lama conducted the visitor through long, low rooms and halls into an open terrace, where as soon as they were seated attendants brought refreshments.
The Thibeian language is spoken here. It is only in the monasteries that the Thibetan is spoken in its purity.
The Lamas prefer visits from Europeans to those from Mahomedans. The reason of this preference is, as the Lama said :
"The Mahomedans have no point of contact with our religion; in their recent victorious campaign they converted by force many Buddhists to Islamism; it will require great efforts to bring back these descendants of Buddhists into the way of the true God. As for the Europeans, it is an entirely different matter. Not only do they profess the essential principles of monotheism, but they also are a part of the worshippers of Buddha under almost the same title as the Thibetan Lamas. The only error of the Christians is
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