Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 1 (1876).djvu/323

 all the followers of this religion will migrate from Tibet.

This country is an island lying far away in the northern sea. Gold abounds in it; corn grows to an enormous height there. Poverty is unknown in that country; in fact, Shambaling flows with milk and honey. The migration of the Buddhists to this, promised land should take place 2,500 years after the date of the prophecy; since that time 2,050 years have elapsed, and comparatively not many remain.

The mode of accomplishment of the prophecy will be as follows. In Western Tibet there lives a Gigen (living Buddha), who as the living incarnation of the Divinity never dies, but only passes from one body to another. Not long before the time appointed for the fulfilment of the prophecy, this saint will be born in the person of the son of the King of Shambaling. In the meanwhile the Dungans will have become more troublesome than ever, and will have laid waste the whole of Tibet. Then the people of the latter country, under the leadership of the Dalai Lama, will abandon their fatherland and set off for Shambaling, where they will be received and colonised on good lands by their saint, who will have succeeded his father on the throne.

Meanwhile the Dungans, emboldened by their successes in Tibet, will subjugate the whole of Asia, Europe, and lastly invade Shambaling. Then the holy monarch will assemble his forces, defeat the Dungans, and drive them back to their country, and