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LAST ESSAYS.
seal and signature were thoroughly understood by him, and I have the fullest confidence in his absolute veracity.
Shahmwell Joldan
(. Retired Postmaster of Ladakh under the British Imperial Post Office ).
Leh : June s, 1895.
This statement and declaration appear conclusive, and they are confirmed by my own inquiries, and by those made in my presence by the Abbot of Himis of some of the monks who have been longest resident in the monastery. There is every reason for be- lieving that the conversations with the Lamas of Wokka and Lamayuru originated also in the fertile brain of M. Notovitch.
Neither of these reverend abbots remembers any- thing about the Russian traveller, and they know nothing of the religion of Issa (Christianity), or of any Buddhist sacred books or writings which mention his name.
I would here remark that the Lamas of Ladakh are not a garrulous race, and I have never known them indulge in high-flown platitudes on any subject. The casual reader would judge from a perusal of