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et
Journey to Thibet
which he had heard from the Lama of the Moulbek monastery. The monks here also denied having any of the rolls in their possession; one monk, however, acknowledged that he had seen many copies of the manuscript in a convent near Leh, where he had spent many years previous to his appointment to Lamieroo: but the visitor was unable to induce the monk to mention the name of the convent where the rolls were kept, and further questioning only provoked suspicion.
Europeans have not yet understood the reason why the monks and other custodians of the sacred literature of the East have been unwilling to give full information about manuscripts, although they would gladly explain the significance of other sacred objects; nor did M. Notovitch comprehend the reason for the refusal of the monks of Lamieroo to give him the desired information of the rolls relating to Jesus Christ.
In India, also, the European scholars and professors meet with the same difficulties. Dr. Peterson, Professor of Oriental Languages, met with a similar experience. There is a famous library of Jain manuscripts at Cambay, India. Dr. Peterson, in 1885, desiring to examine the manuscripts, made application to the custodians of the library, but was met with the most positive denial of the existence of any such library. Professor Roth, of Tubingen, wanted to know if there was a manuscript of the Atharva Veda in the Brahmin Library of Gwalior, but he was unable to obtain any information, although the political officer of that part of the country used his influence to put him in possession of a copy of the book. Dr. Bhandarkar, of the Deccan College, Poona, succeeded in examining only a few manuscripts of the Jain Libraries of Patan and that only through the influence of the ruling prince, H. H. the Gaikwar of Baroda. Drs. Buhler and Kielhorn, of Vienna and Leipsic, are under the fond impression that they have examined the whole collection of the Jain manuscripts at Jesalmer. But I know as a fact that the most important collection has never been