LHASSA (seat of the gods) (50), the capital of Thibet, and the metropolis of the Buddhist world in the Chinese Empire, stands in the middle of a plain 11,900 ft. above the sea-level; on a hill in the NW. of the centre of the city, a conical hill called Potala, amid temples and palaces, is the residence of the Grand Lama; the monasteries are 15 in number, and the priests 20,000, and it is the centre of the caravan trade.