part which he was constrained
habitually to enact. At the age of five he had been declared Buddha and
Grand Lama of the Buddhists of Khartchin, and he was now about to pass a
few years in one of the Grand Lamaseries of Lha-Ssa, in the study of
prayers and of the other knowledge befitting his dignity. A brother of
the King of Khartchin and several Lamas of quality were in attendance to
escort and wait upon him. The title of Living Buddha seemed to be a dead
weight upon this poor young man. It was quite manifest that he would
very much have liked to laugh and chat and frolic about at his ease; and
that, _en route_, it would have been far more agreeable to him to have
dashed about on his horse, whither he fancied, than to ride, as he did,
solemnly between two horsemen, who, out of their extreme respect, never
once quitted his sides. Again, when they had reached an encampment,
instead of remaining eternally squatted on cushions, in a corner of his
tent, apeing the idols in the Lamasery, he would have liked to have
rambled about the desert, taking part in the occupations of nomadic life;
but he was permitted to do nothing of the sort. His business was to be
Buddha, and to concern himself in no degree with matters which
appertained to mere mortals.

The young Chaberon derived no small pleasure from an occasional chat in
our tent; there, at all events, he was able to lay aside, for a time, his
official divinity, and to belong to mankind. He heard with great
interest what we told him about the men and things of Europe; and
questioned us, with much ingenuity, respecting our religion, which
evidently appeared to him a very fine one. When we asked him, whether it
would not be better to be a worshipper of Jehovah than a Chaberon, he
replied that he could not say. He did not at all like us to interrogate
him respecting his anterior life, and his continual incarnations; he
would blush when any such questions were put to him, and would always put
an end to the conversation by saying that the subject was painful to him.
The simple fact was that the poor lad found himself involved in a sort of
religious labyrinth, the meanderings of which were perfectly unknown to
him.

The road which leads from Na-Ptchu to Lha-Ssa is, in general, rocky and
very laborious, and when it attains the chain of the Koiran mountains it
becomes fatiguing in the highest degree. Yet, as you advance, your heart
grows lighter and lighter, at finding your