Page:Lhasa and its mysteries.djvu/476

 CHAPTER XVI

"All roads lead to Lhasa."—

at last was the object of our dreams!—the long-sought, mysterious Hermit City, the Rome of Central Asia, with the residence of its famous priest-god—and it did not disappoint us! The natural beauty of its site, in a temperate climate and fertile mountain-girt plain, with the roofs of its palatial monasteries, temples, and mansions peeping above groves of great trees, to some extent explains why the Lamas were so jealous of intruders, and fits Lhasa, when once its natural and artificial difficulties of approach have been removed, to be one of the most delightful residential places in the world.

The most superb feature of all, undoubtedly, was the majestic castle of Buddha's vice-regent on earth, which far exceeded the highest expectations we had formed of it. From first to last, from far and near, this imposing pile on Potala hill dominates the landscape and catches and holds the eye. Wherever else we might direct our gaze for a time, we invariably found our eyes involuntarily returning to this towering mass and resting on its fascinating outlines (see photo, p. 2). As we neared this palace of the Buddhist Pope, encircled by hills rising above the marshes of the 330