CHAPTER XI.

SOCIAL DIVISIONS—MARRIAGE—FUNERALS—MEDICINE—FESTIVALS.

In Tibet there are three distinct classes among the people, lay and clerical, which are determined by birth and social position, and each of these has three sub-divisions. [425] They are as follows:—

First, or highest class, Rab:—

1.—Rab-kyi rab. The king, members of the royal family, and incarnate lamas who have appeared many times on earth.

2.—Rab-kyi ding. The Desi, or regent, ordinary incarnate lamas, ministers and councillors of state, learned lamas, or abbots, professors at important monasteries.

3.—Rab-kyi tama. Secretaries to the Government, Dahpon, Djongpon, and inferior lamas, or abbots.

Middle classes, Ding:—

1.—Ding-kyi rab, or “upper middle class,” including families who have for generations possessed great wealth, landlords who do not claim descent from illustrious ministers or warriors; Dungkhor, old families and men who have personally contributed in a marked degree to the welfare of the country; and lastly, the Don-nyer.

2.—Ding-kyi ding. This class includes the Dung-yig, or clerks, stewards, chamberlains, head grooms, head cooks, and other petty officers.

3.—Ding-kyi tama. Soldiers and subjects. [426]

Lowest class, Tama:—

1.—Tamai rab. Grooms, menials engaged in domestic service, and other hired servants.

2.—Tamai ding. Those who have no fixed homes, men who keep concubines, but no wives, loose women, professional beggars, vagabonds, and paupers.

3.—Tamai tama. The lowest of the low are butchers, scavengers, disposers of dead bodies, blacksmiths, and goldsmiths.

In Tibet there are no caste restrictions with regard to marriage as in India. The rich may bestow their daughters on the poor, the daughter of a poor man may become the bride of the proudest noble of the country. But the girls of the royal family and those of high rank are not generally bestowed on the low classes; but in the event of their not finding a suitable match, they are sent to convents. The daughters of commoners do, however, occasionally become the wives of nobles.

The nuptial ceremonies are alike for all classes, the only difference being in the amount of money expended in the festivities. In the first place, the friends of the bridegroom employ a go-between to make the first overtures to the parents or guardians of the girl. Should the latter entertain the proposal, the parents of the would-be bridegroom either take or send presents to them, consisting of khatag and wine (called long chang, “proposal wine”), and formally make an offer of marriage. The girl’s parents make excuses, saying that she is neither handsome nor accomplished, and will be of no service to the suitor. The go-betweens thereupon more and more earnestly press their suit. After these conventional phrases have been exchanged, the girl’s parents say, “If you are really in earnest, and believe that she will be of service to you, we shall consult with our friends and relatives, and let you know our decision.”

A few days later their consent to the union is formally conveyed to the suitor’s parents, when the latter, taking with them twenty or thirty gallons of wine, proceed to the home of the bride, where they entertain not only all her relatives, but also the servants and neighbours, and present each with a scarf. The purchase-money (rin) is then paid, which, for the middle classes is usually five or six doche (625 to 750 rupees), and about fifty gallons of wine. Another scarf is then presented to each of the elder members of the bride’s family, and also to prominent persons among her friends and neighbours.

After an auspicious day has been fixed for the wedding, the parties make the arrangements necessary for the occasion. On the appointed day the bridegroom’s parents depute some seven or eight respectable men to go as their representatives to bring home the bride. They remain at her father’s house three days, during which they are engaged in making negotiations and in assuring their hosts, by whom they are provided during this period with all necessaries, that their daughter will be happy in her new home. At the end of the three days the bride is told by her parents to go to the bridegroom’s house. They give her a good milch-cow or yak, a pony, four or five oxen, two suits of summer and winter dress, a complete set of jewellery according to the custom of the country, a piece of stuffed carpet and a small dining-table, cups, plates, cooking vessels, and other articles for domestic use, fifty ounces of silver, and a female attendant. All those who have received scarves now come to present her in return with a scarf and a piece of money. The nearest relatives and friends of the parents, the chief of the country, and other people of position, present her with scarves, clothes, blankets, etc., and silver coins.

Presently about twenty of the bridegroom’s friends arrive to conduct the bride to her new home. For the first half of the journey the arrangements are made and expenses defrayed by the bride’s parents; for the second half by those of the bridegroom, and it is made on horseback, the bride riding in the middle of the party. Arriving at their destination, the bride is seated on a cushion placed on a raised stand by the side of her husband in the middle of the bridal party. At an auspicious hour a short religious service is performed by the village lama, and the parents or sponsors of the parties offer prayers for the happiness of the union. [427] The bridegroom’s parents then beseech the gods to witness the ceremony of their son’s marriage, and declare that henceforth the bride will be owned by the bridegroom and his brothers alone. For three days the festivities continue, during which time as much as fifty chupan of wine, three oxen, and three pigs are sometimes consumed. The notables among the bridegroom’s friends arrive with presents of scarves, and are entertained by his father.

On the third day the bride exchanges the clothes and jewellery she wore on her arrival, for others supplied by the bridegroom. After a short prayer to the gods the pair are left together, for the first time, and on the following morning the bride begins to apply herself to her household duties. Her brothers and relatives who have accompanied her, return home at the expiration of seven days.

Some three months after the wedding her parents, accompanied by the chief men among their friends and by servants, arrive with presents of food, and request that their daughter may pay them a visit. After being entertained for ten or twelve days, they return home, and are followed some weeks later by the young couple, who are accompanied by a number of female servants bearing presents of scarves, provisions, wine, etc. They remain a month, and on their departure the bride receives from her father a new costume and jewellery, and the husband a complete suit of clothes and the inevitable scarf.

Among the very poor the proceedings are much simplified, the negotiations being conducted by the parents in person.

There is no fixed limit of marriageable age in Tibet. The average age, however, for both sexes, is from fifteen to twenty-five, and frequently the bride is older than the bridegroom.

When parties are desirous of dissolving the marriage bond, the reason for so doing must first be investigated. If the husband be found entirely blameless and willing to live with his wife, but she be resolved to divorce him, she is required to pay double the rin, or price paid for her, as a fine for the dissolution of the marriage contract, called borche and den yo, that is, “divorce fine” and “innocence fine.” [428] In the absence of a marriage contract, the divorce fine fixed by law for the wife to pay amounts to eighteen gold sho, equal to 135 rupees; and for the husband three gold srang, equal to 180 rupees. If the husband’s innocence be doubtful, but the wife’s charges remain unproved, the wife is required to pay as divorce fine a complete suit of clothes, a pair of shoes, a bed-carpet, bed-rug, and a wrapper, and the husband must present to his wife a second scarf and a third article of any kind.

On the other hand, if a wife be found perfectly innocent, and willing to live with her husband, but the husband be resolved to divorce her for no fault of hers, he is required to pay to her twelve gold sho, equal to ninety rupees, as divorce fine, and also yog la, “service wage,” amounting to six pounds of barley for every day and six for every night which she has spent with him from the day of marriage to the date of separation. The husband is also required to return the price of all the clothes and other gifts made to the wife by her friends since the time of their marriage. The divorced woman also takes away with her all jewellery given her by her relatives, but not that given to her by her husband. The wife cannot demand the “innocence fine.” If there be children at the time of separation, the father takes the boys, and the mother the girls. If the husband be a man of property, the court may order him to give the divorced wife a certain share of his possessions for the maintenance of the girls. On the other hand, if the wife be possessed of property, she may be required to give something for the maintenance of her sons.

Again, when a marriage is contracted between a man of noble blood and a woman of humble rank, or vice versâ, with the definite understanding that they shall share each other’s good and adverse fortune, their property in case of divorce is to be divided between them according to their faithfulness or guilt, and their amount of mutual presents at the time of union. In cases of divorce between parties who were united at their own wish for the enjoyment of pleasure or merriment, the court should, without regard to the nature of their guilt, divide their property equally between them. [429] In cases of marriage between slaves or serfs, the owner decides their separation or continued union. A man of this class is, for instance, married to a woman who, the owner thinks, might be of some service to him. When the woman is found useless, she is dismissed, being given one-sixth of her husband’s belongings, and her place is supplied by a new wife chosen by the owner.

In Tibet members of the same family are forbidden by law to contract matrimonial alliances with their kindred within seven degrees. This rule is, however, nowadays disregarded by the people, who are known to make alliances with their kinsmen who are distant only three or four degrees of consanguinity. Among the Pobos and Khamba marriage is promiscuously contracted, the brother marrying his sister, the nephew his aunt. [430] Among the common Tibetans, so long as the parties do not claim a common father, there is no objection to the marriage; the uterine brother and sister may be united, and a man may marry his stepmother or aunts.

The custom of several brothers making one woman their common wife, to keep the ancestral property entire and undivided, is said to have had its origin in Khams, where it is at this day extensively practised. The Tibetans of U and Tsang have borrowed it from their cousins of Khams, but it is not universal with them. [431] The wife is claimed by the younger brothers as their wife only so long as they continue to live with the eldest one. When they separate from their eldest brother, they cannot ask him to pay compensation for their share in the wife, and she remains the lawful wife of the eldest brother. It is not unusual for a father or uncle to live with his son’s or nephew’s wife, and even in high life a father makes himself a partner in the marital rights over his son’s wife. [432]

The cessation of the pulse and the suspension of breathing are not considered tests of the extinction of vitality. The Tibetans consider that the spirit (nam she) usually lingers in the mortal frame for not less than three days, though the spirits of those who have attained to some stage of holiness quit the body immediately after the last breath has been drawn, for communion with the dwellers in Paradise, called Gadan or Tushita; but instances of such saintly personages are of very rare occurrence. It is consequently considered a very sinful action to move or dispose of the corpse immediately after death. Nowadays in Tibet and Mongolia the dead bodies of all classes of men are carefully kept within doors for three days, during which time their friends and relations attend on them and make prayers for their future well-being. On the morning of the fourth day the horoscope of the deceased, and that of the man who is selected to be the first to touch the corpse for removal, are consulted. A lama is employed to perform certain funeral ceremonies, with a view to cause the spirit of the deceased to pass out through a certain slit in the skull. [433] If this ceremony is omitted the soul will make its exit by some other passage and go to a state of damnation. The lama remains alone with the corpse, all the doors and windows being closed, and no one is allowed to enter until he declares by what passage the soul has fled. In return for this important service he receives a cow, yak, sheep, or goat, or a sum of money, according to the means of the deceased.

Before the dead body is removed from the house, an astrologer notes the dates of birth of the friends and relations present. If any among them were born under the same constellation and planet as the dead person, they are said to incur the risk of being ridden by his ghost, and are consequently not allowed to attend the funeral. The astrologer also receives his reward in money or kind. Then the corpse, tightly wrapped in clothes, is placed on a stretcher facing the direction which has been declared auspicious by the astrologer, and is placed in a corner of the house. Five butter lamps are lighted near the head, and a screen is drawn round it, within which his usual food and drink, together with a lamp, are placed. Early on the morning of the day appointed for the disposal of the body, it is carried to the nearest cemetery. At the time of its removal the relations make profound salutations to it. Two men carrying wine or tea, together with a dishful of tsamba, follow the bier. The family priest, or lama, of the deceased throws a khatag on the litter and walks behind at a slow pace, holding a corner of another scarf tied to it. As he proceeds he mutters funeral mantra, turning a hand-drum (damaru) with his right hand, and with his left ringing a bell. It is inauspicious to place the litter on the ground before its arrival at the cemetery. If by accident this should happen, the body must be disposed of at that spot, instead of in the cemetery. In the neighbourhood of Lhasa there are two sacred cemeteries, Phabongka and Serashar. Those who dispose of dead bodies at the former pay two or three tanka for tea to the monks of Phabongka monastery; and at the latter they pay one tanka to the cemetery keeper, who also gets the bedding and clothes of corpses.

In every cemetery there is a large slab of stone, on which the corpse, stripped of its coverings, is placed face downwards. The officiating lama then crosses it with lines, and while repeating mantras, cuts it in pieces. The first pieces are flung towards the biggest and oldest vulture of the flock, called tankar, and the remainder to the rest. They are so tame that they come one by one at the call of the priest. Last of all the head of the corpse is crushed, and the bones pounded together are mixed with the brain and distributed among the vultures. [434] Then a new and unused earthen bowl, filled with fire of argol (dried cowdung), with some butter and barley flour burnt in it as incense, is presented to the departed by being placed in the quarter towards which he is supposed to have gone. The funeral attendants now wash their hands, and retiring to a short distance from the cemetery, breakfast, and at about midday return home. During forty-nine days after the drawing of the last breath, food and drink are offered to the departed in his favourite dish; and incense, consisting of barley, butter, and juniper spines, is burnt.

During this period of bardo, as the interval between death and regeneration is called, the departed spirit is believed to wander, and in order to prevent its being subject to misery, on the forty-ninth day some of the clothes, shoes, head-dress, coins, etc., which belonged to the deceased, after being washed and sprinkled with saffron-water, are presented to some incarnate lama for his blessing. The last service is conducted by a Tantrik lama, with a view to expelling all the evil spirits and hungry ghosts which haunt the house of the departed.

On the seventh day after death, prayers are moreover offered for the deceased’s well-being, and alms in coin, food, tea, gold, and silver are distributed among religious men. This is repeated on every consecutive seventh day until the forty-ninth day, when a grand feast is given to the congregation of lamas. Nowadays, however, the rich people of Lhasa generally distribute alms, at the rate of one tanka each to the monks of Sera, Dabung, and Gadan, dispensing with the other costly ceremonies. They also present the clothes belonging to the deceased to the professors and heads of those monasteries. Some bequeath the whole of their property to these monastic institutions or to Lamas of great repute.

The practice of making wills has been followed by the Tibetans from very remote times. Every man of property leaves a will bequeathing his movable property to his children or friends, and leaving instructions for the performance of his funeral obsequies and other pious works.

The cutting up and distributing of a corpse is a practical illustration of the Tibetan belief that charity is the highest of all the moral virtues. That man is said to be most virtuous whose funeral is attended by the largest number of vultures, while if his corpse attracts but a small company, the very dogs not deigning to touch his defiled remains, he is judged to have led a sinful life.

The dead bodies of pregnant and barren women, and also of lepers, are packed in leather bags and thrown into the waters of the great Tsang-po. A Tibetan proverb says, “She whose son dies after birth is white barren (rab-cha karpo); she whose daughter dies after birth is partly barren (rab-cha tavo); she who has borne no children is black barren (rab-cha nagpo).” The corpses of such and of lepers are considered particularly unclean, and should not be kept within the limits of the country, but must either be thrown beyond nine hills and dales, or packed in horse’s or ox’s skins and thrown into the river.

The dead bodies of incarnate lamas are occasionally burnt, and their ashes and bones deposited in chorten. The remains of saintly personages, such as pretend to have emanated from Bodhisattvas and Buddhas, are preserved like the Egyptian mummies, being embalmed or salted and placed within gold, silver, or copper chorten, where they are seated in a meditative posture, like the conventional image of Buddha. These incarnate lamas, at the time of death, mention the time when and the place and the family where their souls will subsequently find re-embodiment, and also the name and race of the family, and instruct their friends to perform rites and ceremonies for their well-being after death.

On the demise of the Dalai and Tashi lamas, the work in all the public and private offices, all business, and market gatherings are suspended for seven days. For thirty days women are forbidden to put on their jewellery, and men or women may not wear new apparel. Lamas and monks must, on such occasions, mourn for ten days, during which they must not shave their heads, or wear their church head-dresses during services, All classes of people refrain from amusements and festivities, and from going into groves for pleasure, sports, or love-making. It is only in honour of the death of these two great hierarchs of Tibet that the whole country goes into mourning. The mourning for abbots of other monasteries and heads of families is confined to the friends and monks who are near to them. Rich and respectable men do not, within a year after the death of their parents, take part in marriage ceremonies and festivities; and do not undertake journeys to a distance.

Among the Sikkim Buddhists, dead bodies are burnt. On the fourth day after cremation, a lama performs the tusol, or washing ceremony, which consists in removing the relics, ashes, etc., and washing the place of burning with water. The relics are placed in an urn and deposited in a chorten. The ashes are thrown into a mountain stream, such as the Tista or Rungit. [435] The relics of lamas and important men, after being pulverized, are mixed with clay and cast in moulds into miniature chorten. These relic chorten are deposited in sacred places, such as monasteries, temples, caverns, etc. On the seventh day the funeral ceremony, called Ten-zung, is performed. All relations and neighbours are invited to this funeral feast. At dusk all the evil spirits which are believed to have been invited to the departure of the deceased, are expelled by a Tantrik priest, assisted by the deafening yells of the guests. [436]

The physicians of High Asia have, I am told, discovered such remarkable properties of vegetable drugs, and of the flesh and bile of certain animals, and of some sorts of excrements in healing different kinds of sores, that if the statements of my informant be true, the surgeons of civilized countries would be struck with wonder at their marvellous performances. For this remarkable success, the Tibetans do not appear to be indebted to their Chinese or Indian neighbours. [437] Their medicines are mostly indigenous, and their discoveries in surgery have resulted from their own experience. They supply the greater number of physicians and surgeons to the Mongols and other neighbouring peoples.

The treatment of small-pox is very little understood by Tibetan doctors. Inoculation is, however, resorted to, and a new method of performing this operation has been discovered by the Northern Chinese physicians. It consists in selecting the best lymph from the light white pox pustules of a healthy child, which, mixed with camphor powder, is blown with a pipe into the nostril of the person to be inoculated. [438] Great care and experience are required in selecting the lymph, on which alone depends the safety of the patients. Chicken-pox occurs only in a mild form, and is generally left to take its course.

Hydrophobia is very prevalent in Tibet, Mongolia, and China, and its effects are considered to manifest themselves, according to the colour of the dog, at periods varying from seven days to eighteen months, and also according to the time of day at which the bite was received. The remedies are, however, sufficiently practical. As soon as possible tie a ligature four fingers above the wound; draw out the poison by means of the sucking apparatus, called rnyabs-ras, similar to the cupping-glasses of the Indians, and then bleed the wounded part. If the patient presents himself to the physician a day after having been bitten, the latter should only cauterize the wound, and then apply an ointment made of butter, turmeric, a poisonous bulb called bon-nya, and musk.

In Lower Kongbo, Pobo, Pemakyod, and other mountainous districts of Southern Tibet, and in Nepal, Sikkim, and Bhutan on this side of the Himalayas, goitre is the most prevalent disease. It owes its origin to the calcareous nature of the water drunk by the natives. Six varieties of goitre are recognized by Tibetan physicians, which are variously treated by cauterization, bleeding the jugular vein behind the ear, and also the swollen muscle of the goitre, and the administration of nostrums composed of the dried gullet of the yak or sheep, dried fish, different kinds of salts, Piper longum and pepper, and powdered conch-shell, burnt in a hermetically closed vessel.

Snake-bite is of rare occurrence in Higher Tibet, but in the lower valley of the great Tsang-po, great numbers of snakes are found, and also on the western frontier of China bordering Tibet. [439] Snake-bites are treated like hydrophobia, by tying a ligature above the part bitten and cupping. The wound is then washed with curd or milk, camel’s milk being the most efficacious. [440] It is believed in High Asia that if a snake bite a camel, the snake dies immediately without injuring the camel. If there be no burning heat as a consequence of the bite, the wound should be cauterized. Internal remedies are also taken, consisting of cardamom, musk, pepper, and other native drugs. The Glak-los (wild people) of Pemakyod [441] immediately cut off the bitten portion, or the bitten limb, if possible, after which they apply musk and bear’s bile (gall?) to the wound and bind it up. The Lalos eat snakes, of which, however, they reject the head and tail as injurious.

During the months of January and February, when the great mon-lam (or prayer-meeting) fair takes place at Lhasa, the city is occasionally visited by a highly infectious disease which causes great havoc among the people when the crowd is great. When the disease is not properly treated the patient generally dies before the tenth day, but those cases which have passed the thirteenth day are considered hopeful. Tibetan physicians, by watching this disease in its different phases, have achieved remarkable success in treating it with their indigenous drugs.

In Lhasa, Shigatse, and other towns and monasteries of Tibet, the principal disease from which people suffer and die is paralysis. [442] Five different kinds of this disease are recognized by Tibetan physicians, who also profess to have observed that the first symptoms generally show themselves on the 4th, 8th, 11th, 15th, 18th, 22nd, 25th, or 29th day of the lunar month. Persons who have passed their sixtieth year seldom survive a paralytic stroke of any kind. All other cases in their milder forms are curable by proper and regular medical treatment.

Leprosy is prevalent in most of the countries of High Asia. It is variously called glud-nad, “the nag’s (serpent’s) disease,” and mje-nad, [443] the “corroding malady,” and is believed to originate from various causes, fanciful and real. By digging in pestilential soil where snakes live, turning up stones under which these reptiles lurk, felling poisonous trees, throwing tea, water, or cooked food and other refuse on the blazing hearth, men are said to excite the wrath of the Nagas and mischievous spirits of the upper and nether worlds, who delight in working the ruin of the human race. They spread this hateful malady by the exhalation of their breath, by their poisonous touch or malignant glance, or even by the power of their malignant wish. The “charmed banner” [444] is a great preventive of these evils. The people of High Asia generally fix banners with printed charms thereon near to or on their houses, as they are believed to prevent the Nagas entering them. Leprosy is likewise assumed to be the consequence of the sins of former lives. [445] It also originates from disorders produced by irregularity and intemperance in food and habits, whereby the black and yellow fluids of the body are increased, and give rise to this distressing malady. Eighteen different kinds of leprosy are recognized. The chanting of charms and mantras of Vajrapani Buddha by the patient or the physician is resorted to, that wrathful deity being a mighty subduer of all malevolent demons and Nagas, and various native drugs are also administered in the form of pills.

Dropsy, though rare in High Asia, prevails in the southern and eastern districts in Tibet, and is caused by drinking much water after exercise, lying down in damp places, taking cold, or by light unsubstantial food, by which the digestive powers are deranged. Twelve varieties of this disease are recognized, which are divided into two main groups, characterized as “the hot” and “the cold fluid” respectively. Bone-ash is believed to be the best remedy; but other medicines, consisting of grapes, cinnamon, oxide of iron, pomegranate (rind?), lime, and other ingredients, are also prescribed. [446]

Dyspepsia (pad-kau) is one of the commonest diseases in Tibet, and forty-three different varieties of this malady have been observed by native physicians.

Toothache is also a very general complaint of the people of Tibet, due to the extreme rigour of the climate and the coldness of the water. The inhabitants of the remote province of Chang-tang usually lose their teeth before reaching the age of thirty.

Among the games played by the Tibetans, there are some such as mig-mang, or “many eyes,” resembling chess; srid-pai khorlo, or “the circle of life,” [447] and dice, which even the clergy are permitted to amuse themselves with. Others, as, for instance, wrestling, archery, polo, foot and pony races, are confined to the people; nor are the lamas allowed to amuse themselves with singing and dancing except at stated times, as, for example, during the New Year holidays.

At midsummer the people and nobility dress tents, and for several days amuse themselves under them, picnicking, dancing, and singing.

In the 8th moon the jon-gyu festival takes place, lasting for seven or fourteen or even twenty-one days. On this occasion the lamas and people amuse themselves with sports, games, dancing, and feasting. This festival is observed in all northern Buddhist countries. [448]

Again, in the latter part of the 12th moon, there is a lama dance in every monastery, after which the evil spirits are exorcised. [449] Sometimes the 4th of the 6th and the 22nd of the 9th moons are observed as feast days; the latter as the anniversary of the Buddha’s descent from the Tushita heaven. [450]

In the summer, commencing with the full moon in July and lasting for a period of forty-five days, all lamas make a retreat in their monasteries, during which time they are not allowed to go without the lamasery walls, or take part in any amusement. This is known as the yar-nas. [451]

The birthdays of the Dalai and Tashi lamas are also kept as holidays, and on their reaching the age of three, twenty-five, forty-nine, sixty-one, seventy-three, or eighty-five, there are also great festivities.

When eclipses of the sun or moon occur, the Tibetans hold religious ceremonies similar to those of the Hindus.

Of all feasts, that of the New Year is probably the most popular. At Lhasa the State makes arrangements for the celebrations, beginning them about a month beforehand.

The kitchen of the Grand Lama is in a large yellow building called the Phodang serpo, or Jag-ming khang (ljags-ming khang), situated to the east of the palace. The cooking-stoves are ornamented with gold, silver, and precious stones, estimated to be worth Rs. 20,000, and all the cooking utensils are of solid gold. All the butter and milk used here is obtained from the herd of five hundred jomos (half-breed yaks) belonging to the Dalai lama, which herd the people salute as it passes, taking off their hats or kotowing to the animals. Twenty Tse-dung (lama officials) herd these cattle, milk them, and churn the butter.

Here, when New Year is approaching, five lamas prepare cakes and dainties for the Grand Lama, their mouths covered with eight thicknesses of silk, so that the food may not be polluted by their breath. In the village at the foot of Potala, called the Shedo khang, two or three hundred men make cakes and biscuits for the officials, lamas, and people; and every one, whether rich or poor, has some prepared for the festival.

On the 15th of the 12th moon two hundred workmen begin white-washing the walls of Potala, which work occupies them for three days; and then, but only then, people are at liberty to have the walls of their houses whitened, and there is no one so poor that he does not at this season renovate the exterior of his dwelling.

On the 18th all public offices are closed for fifty days. Booths are erected to supply the crowds which assemble for the mon-lam chenpo, or “grand prayer-meeting,” which, beginning on New Year’s day, lasts for a month, and many of the officials visit Tse-dung linga, a beautiful park to the south of the city, where there is a Chinese restaurant and singing and dancing girls, called Tung-shema, or “drinking ladies.”

On the 22nd in all lamaseries and in many houses of the people torma offerings are made, to be offered the following day to the household gods. Then the people bathe and get themselves ready to make visits of congratulations, which they begin doing on the 27th. On the 29th each householder has a general house cleaning, and the dust and dirt is thrown in a cross-road, and thus all impending misfortunes are got rid of with the rubbish.

Early on the morning of the 29th large and gorgeously decorated tents are erected in the great courtyard of Potala and other temples, in each of which three or four hundred people can be seated. In the centre of each tent are estrades of carved and gilt sandal-wood (?), on which the abbots, head lamas, and guests of distinction take their seats, while on lower seats are the other guests. A number of lamas, with little tables of sandal-wood in front of them, on which different instruments of music, and implements used in church ceremonies, such as dorje, bells, damaru, etc., are placed, occupy another portion of each tent. When the preliminary service is over the grand “black hat” dance, of which I have previously made mention, begins. [452]

The dancers are eighty in number, and their gowns are made of white, red, and green satin. Each one holds in his left hand a wooden skull, and in his right a short club, from which hang five silk scarfs of different colours. They prance about, wildly waving their arms, for half an hour or so, when suddenly there is heard wild shrieking, and a second set of dancers, or masks called Kambab, come in. They are dressed to represent the various gods, most of them extraordinarily hideous to look at. These continue the wild dance to the music of cymbals, drums, and flutes for a couple of hours.

When the Kambab have stopped, four skeleton-like figures appear: they are the Durdag, or “lords of cemeteries,” and they dance in their turn. These are followed by sixteen figures representing Indian atsaras, who, by their dress and contortions, excite wild mirth among the people. A number of dancers wearing stag heads then appear, and finally the “black hat” dancers come out once more, each with a cymbal or a drum in his hand, and the dance comes to an end.

At the termination of the dance the lamas who performed the religious service earlier in the day form in a procession and proceed to throw away the torma offering.

Five hundred soldiers and twenty-four flag-bearers accompany the procession. Three lamas carry on an iron tripod the tsamba torma, which is of pyramidal shape, about ten feet high and painted red, with projecting edges to represent flames, and frequently surmounted by a skull moulded in tsamba. Three other lamas bear on a large iron tray supported by a tripod a skeleton also made of tsamba. The procession goes to about a mile from the temple to where a shed, or hom khang, of straw or brush has been made, in which the torma and the skeleton are placed and then set on fire.

When the flames break forth the flag-bearers lower their flags and run back to the lamasery with all speed, to escape the devil’s assaults, and the soldiers fire off their guns at the burning mass to prevent the evil spirits escaping from the fire in which they are now supposed to be roasting. [453]

On the thirtieth day of the moon, New Year’s eve, all house decorations and furniture are renewed or cleaned, and offerings and oblations made in every domestic chapel. The walls, pillars, posts, lintels, etc., are washed with whey. A lotus, finger-marks or marks of animals’ claws are painted on the wooden floors of the rooms, or a sheep’s head is scorched, and its eyes, ears, and nose painted with the five colours mixed with butter: this is said to be a certain means of insuring good luck, and is believed to be a pre-Buddhist custom of the country.

In the evening the whole city is illuminated, and this is kept up for three successive nights.

New Year’s day is called Gyalpo lo sar, or “the King’s new year,” and the Grand Lama holds a levee on this occasion. The Donnyer chenpo, or Grand Chamberlain, opens the ceremony by wishing the lama all happiness (“tra-shi de leg phun-sum tsog”), and presenting him some wine and tsamba. The Grand Lama replies, “Tan-du de-wa tobpar shog” and dipping his finger in the wine, sprinkles a little about as an oblation, and then tastes the tsamba. Then the great trumpets sound, and the Dalai lama takes his seat on the throne in the great hall, and all the ministers and church dignitaries take their places according to precedence. Tea is then served, followed by toma, a kind of red potato of Tibet, cooked in butter and sugared. [454] When they have finished eating, every one presents His Holiness with khatag about eighteen feet long, and he gives each one in return his blessing.

In the mean time “the good luck dance” (tra-shi-gi gar) is going on outside the hall, in which some twenty little boys, of eight years of age, take part, the lower officials, such as the Dungkhor, forming the audience.

In every house of any importance the master, his wife, and children are offered the compliments of the season by all their relatives, dependents, and friends, who, in their turn, are treated with wine by them. When the New Year’s wine has been drunk, the misser (serfs) sing some hymns or glees.

At the New Year the Tibetans watch out for omens for the forthcoming year, the best of which, if one is to start soon on a journey, is to see a young woman with a child in her arms. To see flags, banners, milking of cows, persons carrying vessels filled with water or any other liquid, or timber for house-building or firewood, is lucky, as is also the sight of a corpse on a bier. To meet well-dressed persons, to be greeted by friends, to hear a lucky name, are also held to be signs of good luck; but to see beggars, ragged persons, empty vessels, a person descending a hill, or carrying shoes in his hand, a saddled horse without a rider, to hear impolite or rough language, are portends of bad fortune. [455]

On New Year’s day dancing beggars (or Dre-kar) make their appearance in the streets and houses. They wear masks, usually representing a black devil, with a shaggy, white beard, with cowries for eyebrows and encircling his face, and sometimes with a cowrie on either cheek. They dance and crack jokes to the delight of the guests assembled in each house for the New Year’s breakfast. [456]

In the afternoon there is further feasting in most of the houses, and the guests, both male and female, frequently end the entertainment with a dance (shabdo); first, the women dance alone, then the men, and finally, both sexes together. [457]

The New Year’s festivities terminate on the third day at noon, when the monks of the great lamaseries all meet in the Kyil khording (or Jo khang) to hear the Grand Lama expound the faith. On each succeeding day, till the 24th of the moon, they hold the great prayer-meeting, or monlam chenpo. [458]

In the afternoon of the third, the Tsog-chen Shalnyo of Dabung assumes the government of Lhasa for the next month and a half, previously informing the police magistrates of the fact, and henceforth all authority, even that of the Kalon, as far as the city is concerned, is vested in him alone. [459]

NOTES

[1] Sarat Chandra has, in honour of Sir Alfred Croft, named the lake Yamdo Croft. See Journ. Buddh. Text Soc., iv. pt. iii. p. iv.

[2] The publication of this volume has been unavoidably delayed.

[3] On the origin of Darjiling as a sanatorium, see Hooker, ‘Himalayan Journals,’ (1854) i. 115.

[4] Hooker, op. cit., ii. 37, mentions seeing a troop of large monkeys in the Lamteng valley (alt. 9000 feet) in Sikkim. Ibid., p. 108, he says that in the most snowy part of Sikkim (near the Tunkra la) “large monkeys are also found on the skirts of the pine forests, and a curious long-tailed animal, Ailurus ochraceus, peculiar to the Himalaya, something between a diminutive bear and a squirrel.” Large monkeys are also found in Eastern Tibet at about 9000 feet alt.—(W. R.)

[5] Called Chung by the Lepchas. Though not divided into castes, they belong to several tribes. All consider themselves as the earliest inhabitants of the Tambur valley, though they have a tradition of having originally emigrated from Tibet. See Hooker, op. cit., i. 137.

[6] It would, perhaps, be better to transcribe this mangdong (from Tibetan mang, “many;” and dong, “stones”). Chorten is mchod, “offering;” rten, “receptacle.” It is usually pronounced chürten. See infra, 37, 40.—(W. R.)

[7] Made from half-fermented millet. Murwa is Eleusine coracana. See Hooker, op. cit., i. 133, 175.—(W. R.)

[8] The country between the Arun and Tambur is called Limbudu by the Nepali natives, and the aboriginal people who have dwelt there from time immemorial are designated by the name of Limbu, though they call themselves by the name of Yakthanga. In the same manner the tribes inhabiting Kiranta, or the regions between Dudkosi and the Arun, are called Kirat, which name is as old as that of the great Hindu deity Mahadeva. The Kirat of the north and the Limbu of the south were known to the ancients by the name of Kirata, on account of their living by hunting and carrying on trade with the natives of the plains in musk, yak-tails, shellac, cardamoms, etc., from the earliest Hindu periods. See also infra, p. 26.

The Tibetans and the Bhutias of Nepal and Sikkim call the Limbus by the name of Tsang, probably on account of their having emigrated from the Tsang province of Tibet. Both tradition and written Limbu works relate that the Limbu people partly emigrated thither (to Limbuan) from Tsang in Thibet and Kashi in the Madhya Desh, and partly sprang from underneath a huge rock in the village of Khedab, to the north-east of Tsanpur. So that the Limbu people were divided into three great tribes, according to their original homes, Tsang, Kashi, and Phedah. The first branch from Tsang spread over Tambur-Khola, Phalung, Mirva Khola itself, Mayiwa, and Yangrub, being designated by the Tibetans as Tsang Monpa, or the Limbus inhabiting the defiles. Those who came from Kashi occupied Chaibisa, Kaikhola, and Tsolkar. Those that sprang from underneath the great rock of Phedah were also called Baiphuta. The name of the place in the middle of which stands the huge slab of rock, measuring a hundred fathoms on either side, was Phedah Pangi-loma, which is evidently a corruption of the name Pheduh Pangi-lungpa, or “the pasture land in Pheduh.” See also infra, p. 26.

The Baiphuta Limbu were the most powerful and numerous; their chief, Baiphuta Han Raja, ruled over Eastern Nepal. All the Limbu tribes, as well as the Kiratas, paid him tribute and military service, in a manner resembling the feudal system of Europe. The power of this family having declined, the third tribe assumed the supremacy, and massacred the adherents of the former rulers. After the fall of the Han dynasty there was anarchy all over Eastern Nepal, until there arose in the Srisobha tribe a mighty man called Marang, who succeeded in reconciling the different tribes, and was elected king over all the aboriginal tribes of Eastern Nepal, the southern portion being ruled by a Newar chief. After the death of the most distinguished of his successors, Mohani Raja, the Limbu tribes again fell into anarchy, and continued in this state for more than a century. At last, probably in the ninth century, appeared the famous Srijanga, the deified hero of the Limbus. The cis-Himalayan Bhutias identify him with an incarnation of Padma Sambhava, and attribute to him the introduction of the art of writing by the invention of an alphabet. Tradition also attributes the introduction of this art to Marang Raja, and its revival to Srijanga.—(S. C. D.) See Gazetteer of Sikkim, pp. 36–38.

[9] Cf. Hooker, op. cit., i. p. 107: “They puncture through thick worsted stockings, and even trousers, and when full roll in the form of a little soft ball into the bottom of the shoe....” Ibid., p. 167, he makes mention of them swarming below 7000 feet, “a small black species above 3000 feet, and a large yellow-brown solitary one below that elevation.”—(W. R.) Leeches are found at all elevations up to 10,000 feet at least.

[10] La, “pass;” rtse, “point, summit;” usually a pile of stones with brush stuck in it, on which rags are hung.—(W. R.)

[11] Lha, “god;” gsol, “to beg.” The invocation I have always heard used is “lha gya lo, lha gya lo,” meaning, “god (give me) an hundred years, god (give me) an hundred years!”—(W. R.)

[12] The giant nettle is the Urtica heterophylla. Hooker, op. cit., i. 182. The fibres of some nettles are twisted for bowstrings, others as thread for sewing and weaving, while many are eaten raw and in soups, especially the numerous little succulent species. The Urtica crenulata, or great shrubby nettle, grows also in these parts. Hooker, op. cit., ii. 188.—(W. R.)

[13] On the Lepchas, see Dr. A. Campbell, Jour. Anth. Inst., i. 128, et seq. Dr. Campbell has also written several valuable papers on the Limboos in the Jour. Asiat. Soc. of Bengal for 1855 and other years, and in the Jour. Anth. Inst., vol. i.; also papers on the Murnis and Haius of Nepaul and Sikkim, in the same collection, I believe; but they are not accessible to me. Dr. Hooker, op. cit., i. 127–136, says of the Lepchas: “They, or at least some of their tribes, call themselves Rong and Arratt, and their country Dijong. Polyandry is unknown among them, and polygamy rare. Marriage is by purchase. The dead are burnt or buried. Omens are sought in the entrails of fowls (p. 135). They have no religion, though acknowledging the existence of good and bad spirits.”—(W. R.)

[14] Perhaps Nya-dug-shing (nya, “fish;” dug, “poison;” shing, “tree”). Dr. Hooker (op. cit., i. 168) mentions as growing in Sikkim, aconite and convallaria yielding the bikh poison.—(W. R.)

[15] Dr. Hooker (op. cit., i. 138) says that in their funeral ceremonies “the Bijooa of the Lepchas is employed; but the Limboo has also priests of his own, called ‘Phedangbos,’ who belong to rather a higher order than the Bijooas.” Dr. Hooker’s description of the Bijua and of the Lepchas’ religious beliefs prove them conclusively to profess nearly the same religion as the Bonbo of Tibet.—(W. R.)

[16] Cf. Hooker, op. cit., i. 205.—(W. R.)

[17] The Tibetan word lagog is usually translated garlic. I have always heard onion called by its Chinese name tsung. Wild onions are very common in Northern Tibet, at elevations of 15,000 feet and upwards.—(W. R.)

[18] Chang is made from half fermented barley, and is the national drink of Tibet. On its preparation, see Jaeschke, ‘Tib.-Engl. Dictionary,’ s.v. chang, and infra 34, note 1.—(W. R.)

[19] On the salt trade viâ the Rathong valley, see Hooker, op. cit., i. 340, 350.

[20] Hooker’s Ringbee.

[21] Tsos (pron. tso) means “dye” in Tibetan. The dye here referred to is probably the yellow one prepared from the symplocos. See Hooker, op. cit., ii. 41, and J.R.A.S., 1891, 218.—(W. R.)

[22] Parmi seems to be Tibetan bar, “middle;” mi, “man.”—(W. R.)

[23] Cf. Hooker, op. cit., i. 137, 138. Speaking of their burial ceremonies, he says, “They mourn, burn, and bury their dead, raising a mound over the corpse, erecting a headstone, and surrounding the grave with a little paling of sticks; they then scatter eggs and pebbles over the ground.”—(W. R.)

[24] Trees or shrubs, with aromatic wood or having sweet-smelling flowers, are frequently called chandan in Tibet. At Kumbum, for example, the famous tree, which is said to have sprung from the hair cut from the head of Tsongkhapa, and which is in all probability a Syringa, is called Tsandan (or Chandan) karpo.—(W. R.)

[25] This work of Sakya Pandita, the Sanskrit title of which is ‘Subhashita ratna nidhi,’ is well known to Oriental scholars by the translation, accompanied by the Tibetan text, published by Csoma de Kőrös in vols. xxiv. and xxv. of the Journ. Bengal Asiat. Soc., and by the French translation of a selection from it made by Ph. E. Foucaux, Paris, 1858, 8vo., under the title of ‘Le trésor des belles paroles.’ The original work is in 454 stanzas. Csoma only translated the 234 first. Sakya Pandita’s Indian name was Ananda Dhwadja; he lived in the thirteenth century. His Tibetan name is derived from that of the lamasery of Sakya, near Tashilhunpo, where he resided.—(W. R.)

[26] Dug, “poison;” shing, “tree or wood.”—(W. R.)

[27] Cf. Hooker, op. cit., i. 254.

[28] Written, I believe, gsha.—(W. R.)

[29] Utpala, or Udpala, is the blue lotus of India, also used medicinally. Mr. Jaeschke, ‘Tib.-Engl. Dict.,’ s.v., says, “In Lhadak this name seems to be transferred to Polemonium caeruleum.”—(W. R.)

[30] Hares, I take it, are meant.—(W. R.)

[31] Dr. Hooker, op. cit., i. 255, states having found similar pheasants near the Nango la. The male bird had two to five spurs on each of its legs, according to its age.—(W. R.) Ithagenes Cruentus.

[32] Cf. Hooker, op. cit., i. 275.—(W. R.)

[33] See Hooker, op. cit., i. 263.—(W. R.)

[34] Tibetan beer. Its preparation is thus described by Jaeschke, op. cit., s.v., Chang: “When the boiled barley has grown cold, some phabs (yeast or dry barm prepared in Balti of flour, mixed with some ginger and aconite) is added, after which it is left standing for two or three days, until fermentation commences, when it is called glum. Having sufficiently fermented, some water is poured to it, and the beer is considered to be ready for use.”—(W. R.)

[35] Hooker’s Kambachen (op. cit., i. 257). He gives its altitude at 11,380 feet above sea-level.—(W. R.)

[36] Hooker (loc. cit.) says that the only cultivation here consists of radishes, potatoes, and barley: no wheat is grown.—(W. R.)

[37] This custom of putting a little piece of butter on the mouth of a bottle or neck of a jug of wine when offered to any one is observed by all Tibetans, and by most of the Mongol tribes with which I am acquainted.—(W. R.)

[38] From this description of Pemazang, it may be inferred that he was a Khamba, a Tibetan from the north-east. We know by Hooker, op. cit., i. 137, that many Khamba came to Sikkim with the first Sikkim rajah. They are, as a people, famous “rain-makers;” while the people from other parts of Tibet are not much given to performing rain-making or rain-dispelling ceremonies. Cf. ‘The Land of the Lamas,’ p. 188.—(W. R.)

[39] The term ani (also pronounced aneh) is used to designate a wife, concubine, or nun. In the present case it certainly means a nun living in a state of concubinage with a lama. It is a common practice in Tibet, and in many places lamas (graba) and ani live in the same convent. See ‘Report on Explorations in Sikkim, Bhutan, etc., from 1856 to 1886,’ pp. 9 and 12, and infra, p. 42.—(W. R.)

[40] Written, according to Jaeschke, op. cit., dkyar. The word and the thing are unknown, I believe, in other parts of Tibet.—(W. R.)

[41] Throughout Tibet and the greater part of Mongolia, the intestines, stuffed with the hashed heart, liver, and lights, compose the first meal made from a freshly killed sheep or kid. The head and pelt are usually given to the person who has sold the sheep, this not being included in the price paid. Cf. infra, p. 41.—(W. R.)

[42] The Kirata are well known as a tribe of non-Brahmanical people (Mleccha) in the Veda. See Chr. Lassen, ‘Indis. Alterthumskunde,’ vol. i. p. 78: “The land between the San Roci and Kankaji is approximately the same as that of the Kiratas.” A complete discussion on the Kiratas is to be found in ‘Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes,’ vol. ii. p. 35 ff. See supra, p. 3.—(W. R.)

[43] Yarsa probably means “upper (yar) land (sa).” Yara mara, or yarka marka, meaning “upper and lower,” are terms used throughout Tibet.—(W. R.)

[44] Tetraogallus Tibetanas.

[45] Cf. Hooker, op. cit., i. 250–254. He made the altitude of this pass to be 15,770 feet above sea-level.—(W. R.)

[46] Hok (or og) means “lower,” kong or gong means “upper.”—(W. R.)

[47] See infra, p. 37, note 2.

[48] Purug is rather a poor transcription of the word phrug (pronounced truk), but better known by the Chinese name of pulo. Pulo, though now a Chinese word, is a borrowed term, probably the Tibetan name. Phrug is native Tibetan cloth made in pieces usually nine or ten fathoms (damba in Tibetan) long and about fourteen inches broad.—(W. R.)

[49] Mi, “man;” za, “to eat.”—(W. R.)

[50] Mthong-wa, “seen;” kun, “entire;” grol, “freedom.”—(W. R.)

[51] Also visited by Hooker. He says that it was (in 1848) a miserable collection of 200 to 300 stone huts. Its altitude is about 13,500 feet above sea-level. See Hooker, op. cit., i. 238. On p. 242 of his work is a “diagram of the glacial terraces at the fork of the Yangma valley.”—(W. R.)

[52] Yang-ma, meaning “broad.”—(W. R.)

[53] Rtsa, “grass;” mtsams, “boundary-line, limit.”—(W. R.)

[54] Tara, or tarak, is made of curdled milk slightly cooked and stirred up in the process. It is a favourite dish throughout Tibet and Western Mongolia, in which latter country it is also known as tarak. It is generally eaten just before meals. In Eastern Tibet and the Kokonor it is called djo (pr. sho). It is the same as the yaurt of the Turks and the people of the Balkanic States.—(W. R.)

[55] Shape is the colloquial title given to the ministers of State (Kalon) of the Tale lama. The word is possibly gshags, “justice;” dpe, “model,” though it is now written as in the text. See infra, p. 174.—(W. R.)

[56] Gyagar Khamba means “Indian Khamba,” the same as probably Hooker’s Khumba of Sikkim. See p. 107, note; and Hooker, i. 136.—(W. R.)

[57] Nyingma, or Ngangyur, the old or red-hat sect of lamas. Their chief stronghold is Ulterior Tibet, Sikkim, and Bhutan.—(W. R.)

[58] The famous “six-syllable prayer.” See my ‘Land of the Lamas,’ p. 326 et sqq.—(W. R.)

[59] A small stream emptying into the Taya Tsangpo of our maps.—(W. R.)

[60] Ugyen-gyatso visited in 1883 another rock-cut hermitage in this neighbourhood, at a place called Kyil-khor ta dub, some 10 miles from the She-kar gomba, at the foot of the Lama la. It was about a quarter mile long. Padma Sambhava is said to have lived in it. See ‘Report on Explorations in Bhutan, etc.,’ p. 20, § 20.—(W. R.)

[61] Written phyug-po. Med (from me), “no.”—(W. R.)

[62] Written hbrog, and usually pronounced dru, du, or do. The name dopa or drupa applies equally to all pastoral tribes, and they, when speaking, use it with the acceptation of “house, dwelling, tent, home.”—(W. R.)

[63] Three Tibetan tankas are the equivalent of one rupee. There were four varieties of tankas then current in Tibet, two of Nepalese minting, two made at Lhasa, the best being that known as Gadan tanka, and made at the Castle of Gadan.—(W. R.)

[64] In 1879 Chandra Das crossed the Chorten nyima la, probably 20 to 30 miles south of the village of Tebong (called then by him Thekong). He followed the Chorten nyima river from its source in the mountain of the same name to near its mouth at Tebong, where his route joined the one described in the present narrative.—(W. R.)

[65] Or, more correctly, Drang-lung; for he says, in his diary for 1879, that it means “cold valley.”—(W. R.)

[66] Nabu, or, more correctly, Nabo, means “host, landlord.”—(W. R.)

[67] Called satu by Anglo-Indian writers. This word is also found in Georgi, ‘Alphabetum Tibetanum’ (1762), p. 445: “Hordei farinam in jentaculi, pultisque formam subactam Satù communi vocabulo dicunt.”—(W. R.)

[68] This is the ordinary style of Mongol fur cap, very generally used in Tibet.—(W. R.)

[69] On this organization, see chap. vii. p. 180.

[70] In his journey of 1879, he speaks of Mende as “the pretty village of Mende.... Facing the village is a flower-garden, in which are also dwarf willows, stunted birch and juniper trees.” He also says that Targe (Targye) is on the Yaru-tsang-po (the Taya tsang-po of the maps), probably a local appellation for the upper Arun. Taya tsang-po is probably Targye tsang-po, “the river of the Tar-gye.”—(W. R.)

[71] Probably Khyab-dvang, “all-powerful,” a title in frequent use in Tibet.—(W. R.)

[72] This river is the Che chu (or Chi chu), the great Arun. Kurma, the author tells us in his journal of 1879, is a “Dokpa town containing about six hundred families.... All supplies are brought here from Shigatse.”—(W. R.)

[73] Hence the name phag, “pig;” ra, “goat.” S. C. D. says they roast them alive. This must be a mistake. I never heard of meat being roasted in Tibet. He evidently means that the sheep are cooked without the skin being removed. The Mongols do the same thing, throwing the carcass (some say the live sheep) in boiling water. These carcasses are sold in a frozen state by the Mongols in Peking in winter, and are known as Tang-yang, or “scalded sheep,” in Chinese. Cf. C. R. Markham’s ‘Narrative of the Mission of Geo. Bogle,’ 86.—(W. R.)

[74] It is called Ya-go on the maps. S. C. D. says, in the account of his first journey, that this village is on the boundary-line between Lhasa and Ulterior Tibet, belonging to the former country.—(W. R.)

[75] The Tagmar of our maps. The writer says elsewhere that it has about two hundred houses.—(W. R.)

[76] The Bra-gyin pa gomba of the maps.—(W. R.)

[77] The Ngambu dung la of our maps, altitude 14,800 feet; but in the account of his first journey S. C. D. says it is 13,500 feet high. The descent on the north side, he adds, is very steep.—(W. R.)

[78] Or Luguri jong, as he calls it elsewhere.—(W. R.)

[79] S. C. D. reached this city for the first time on July 7, 1879.

[80] “If the magnificence of the place was to be increased by any external cause, none could more superbly have adorned its numerous gilded canopies and turrets than the sun rising in full splendour directly opposite. It presented a view wonderfully beautiful and brilliant; the effect was little short of magic, and it made an impression which no time will ever efface from my mind.”—Captain Samuel Turner, ‘Embassy to the Court of the Teshu Lama,’ 230.

[81] This word is colloquially used to designate the cook of any dignitary or official.—(W. R.)

[82] Or rather, “Please walk in, Mr. Pundit.”—(W. R.)

[83] Or Nyer-pa (gnyer-pa); this word is generally used to designate the procurator or manager of the temporal affairs of a lamasery.—(W. R.)

[84] Called ma-hua by the Chinese; made of thin strips of dough thrown into boiling grease for a minute or two. They are eaten all over China, Mongolia, and Tibet. I do not know the Tibetan name; Mongols call them by the Chinese term of ma-hua-erh.—(W. R.)

[85] This appears to be the Chinese ping, meaning “cake or pastry.” In North-West China and Szechuan this word designates a thin cake of wheat-flour the size of a plate, cooked on a hot iron or in a shallow dish. In Tibetan it is called palé.—(W. R.)

[86] Kusho is the Tibetan equivalent of “Mr.”; Tung-chen is Drung (yig) chen-po, “chief secretary,” not a name, as one might suppose by the way it is used in this narrative. The minister’s residence, S. C. D. says elsewhere, was at the northern end of the town. It is a stone building three stories high, the exterior painted yellow.—(W. R.)

[87] Farther on (p. 57) our author says 125 pages.

[88] Called in Chinese mien, and nearly the same as the Italian spaghetti. The word is also frequently used for the Chinese kua-mien.—(W. R.)

[89] Or, more correctly, “the cup-bearer, or teapot-bearer.” The Solpon chen-po is one of the great officers of State both at Tashilhunpo and Lhasa.—(W. R.)

[90] Rdo-tsad, an ingot of silver weighing fifty Chinese ounces (taels), and also called yambu (from the Chinese yuan-pao), tarmima (rta-rmig-ma, also pronounced tänpema), or simply do. A do is usually exchanged for Rs. 160. Turner, ‘Embassy,’ p. 345, speaks of masses of pure bullion called Tariema.—(W. R.)

[91] The colloquial name for Chinese in Tibet is Gya. In the official language they are called Gya-nag.—(W. R.)

[92] Or ja-lu (ldug); also called ja lu-sa, “bowl (or place) to pour tea in.” Usually a cup with a metal cover.—(W. R.)

[93] The northern part of Tibet, inhabited by a few pastoral tribes only.—(W. R.)

[94] A torma is a small cone varying in height from a few inches to a foot and more, made of tsamba, butter, sugar, etc. Sometimes the surface is coloured, and some tormas are of great size. They are placed on the front of the altars in rows, and are propitiatory offerings. On the celebration of this feast, cf. J.R.A.S., vol. xxiii. (1891), p. 214.—(W. R.)

[95] Tu-Kham is probably Stod Khams, or “Upper Khamdo”—in all probability Dérgé is meant.—(W. R.)

[96] During his first visit to Tashilhunpo, Chandra Das was received by the Panchen rinpoche. He describes him as follows: “The Grand Lama is twenty-six years of age, of a spare frame and middling stature. He has a remarkably broad forehead and large eyes, slightly oblique. The expression of his face, although highly intelligent, is not engaging, and lacks that sympathy and dignity so conspicuous in the minister’s countenance. The old monks of Tashilhunpo informed me that, unlike his predecessor, the present Grand Lama was more feared than liked, on account of his cold and self-reliant spirit. He is strict in the observance of ceremonies and in the administration of justice, and slow to forgive.” Kun-kyab ling is the name of the residence of the Panchen lama, the great lama of Tashilhunpo.—(W. R.)

[97] Bogle thus describes the ceremony of blessing by the Panchen rinpoche: “Upon the gylongs, or laymen of very high rank, he lays his palm; the nuns (anni) and inferior laymen have a cloth interposed between his hand and their heads; and the lower class of people are touched, as they pass by, with the tassel which he holds in his hands.”—C. R. Markham, ‘Narrative of the Mission of Geo. Bogle,’ p. 85.

[98] For further details on the subject see S. C. D.’s ‘Indian Pundits in the Land of Snow,’ and Waddell, ‘Buddhism of Tibet,’ p. 173.

[99] W. Moorcroft, ‘Travels in the Himalayan Provinces,’ i. 17, describes this feast as witnessed in Kashmir. It is there called Barat, and is celebrated to avert impending evil. Chinese authors say it is celebrated at Lhasa a few days after the New Year. See J.R.A.S., vol. xxiii. (1891), p. 209.

[100] Tibetan cooks have invariably soot-covered faces; this seems as indispensable a part of their make-up as the white cap is to the French chef.—(W. R.)

[101] This idea is common to Chinese, Mongols, and Tibetans, among whom “A worm has bored a hole in my tooth” is equivalent to “I have a cavity in my tooth.” The extraction of the dead nerve confirms them in the idea.—(W. R.)

[102] In the narrative of his first journey, Chandra Das says this is the Panchen rinpoche’s summer residence. There is no image of the Emperor, but an imperial tablet and a throne, or chair of state.—(W. R.)

[103] Such tablets are always carried in official processions in China.—(W. R.)

[104] This is known in China as la chiao, “to drag the chair.” It is rather a mark of respect to the official being carried in the chair than assistance to the bearers. It is a form of corvée throughout the empire. In Tibet the Emperor’s representatives and the Tale lama and Panchen rinpoche alone have the right to be carried in green sedan chairs.—(W. R.)

[105] Spogs-dpon. Spogs (pron. pog) means “salary of officials,” and more especially, “that allowed lamas by Government or the monastic authorities.”—(W. R.)

[106] Chandra Das has given a translation of an extract from this work in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. lv. pp. 201–203, and in part vii. of his ‘Narrative of a Journey round Lake Yamdo’ (Palti), pp. 117–130. Though full of interesting details, it has been thought advisable to omit it from the present work, most of the Tibetan names of places being still unidentified. He says the work is by Lama Tsanpo Nomenkhan, of Amdo.—(W. R.)

[107] Or rather “master-tailor,” Wu-jé (Dwu-rje) tsem-po on Tashi-gyantsa, see infra, p. 67.—(W. R.)

[108] The second Tale lama was known by the name of Gedun-gyatso. Born in 1476.—(W. R.)

[109] Our author says their name is written Rogyo-pa, meaning “corpse-vulture.” According to Jaeschke, the “vulture” is go-vo, while ro means “corpse.” Further on (p. 163) S. C. D. calls them ragyabas, and tells us that their houses (at Lhasa at all events) must have walls made of horns. From the fact that “horn” in Tibetan is ra-cho, we might suppose that the name of this class of people is Ra-cho-pa, “the horny ones.” I have never met with the name in writing.—(W. R.)

[110] I have never seen pottery made in Tibet, but know that no wheel is used. Capt. R. B. Pemberton, in his ‘Report on Bootan’ (in ‘Political Missions to Bootan,’ p. 74), gives a minute description of the mode of making pottery among the Butia. He remarks that “a lump of the compost was placed on a flat board, supported on the top of three sticks, and was kneaded from the centre outwards, until an opening had been effected through the mass; the orifice thus made was gradually enlarged by the person who preserved its circular form by walking round the board on which the mass rested.... The mass thus prepared formed the upper section of the vessel; and the lower half being wrought by a similar process, the two parts were united together, and the vessel completed.” The whole paragraph is very interesting.—(W. R.)

[111] Kwa-tse (or kua-tzŭ) is a Chinese term for a short riding-jacket. The Tibetans of the better class have adopted this article of Chinese clothing, and also their name for it. I have never heard trousers called anything but ma-yo (smad-gyogs).—(W. R.)

[112] Cf. Sam. Turner, op. cit., p. 303.

[113] Or drung-yig, “clerk, secretary.” Khamba Dungyig means “the clerk from Khams” (or Eastern Tibet).—(W. R.)

[114] They are usually called Peurbu in Tibetan, and by the Chinese these people are known as Pe- (or Pieh-) pung-tzu. They are not to be confounded with the Gorkhas, who are called Korhka. Abbé Huc, ‘Souvenirs d’un Voyage, etc.,’ ii. 267, calls them Péboun. Speaking of those of Lhasa, he says, “Les Péboun sont les seuls ouvriers métallurgistes de Lha-Ssa. C’est dans leur quartier qu’il faut aller chercher les forgerons, les chaudronniers, les plombiers, les étameurs, les fondeurs, les orfèvres, les bijoutiers, les mécaniciens, même les physiciens et les chimistes.”—(W. R.) Balpo, or properly Palpa, is the chief district in Western Nepal.

[115] Chos dja. Probably the yellow-pointed cloth hat with flaps, and ending in a point on either side in front, the usual head-cover of lamas outside their monasteries. Inside the lamaseries all go bareheaded.—(W. R.)

[116] In the account of his first journey, he says that these “chaits” are on top of the palace of the Tashi lama.

[117] Elsewhere he says that Shikha means “bailiff.”

[118] The syllable la, here and throughout this narrative, whenever it is a suffix to a name of a person, forms no part of the name, but is only an honorific expletive. It is even used after titles, as Ponbo la, Pundib la, Lhacham la, Kusho la, etc. Chandra Das hardly ever gives the names of the Tibetans he refers to in his narrative, because a person’s name is never used when he or she is addressed, nor is it but rarely mentioned. He probably never heard the names of most of the people of whom he speaks.—(W. R.)

[119] Written grog tsang, or grog-ma tsang.—(W. R.)

[120] Or Eastern (shar) gyatso.—(W. R.)

[121] Kye-na of the map.—(W. R.)

[122] Probably Shornub is shar, “east;” nub, “west.”—(W. R.)

[123] By “Grand Lama” the author means the Panchen Rinpoche or Teshu lama of Tashilhunpo.

[124] Called on the map Gang, Jor-gya, Patshal, Pen jang. Natog does not appear on it. On p. 74 he calls Penagangdo, Penjang, and Pishi, Patal.—(W. R.)

[125] I have never heard of unam; but gonam (sgo snam?) is the name generally given to serges and foreign (Russian) broadcloth.—(W. R.)

[126] A mani lhakhang is usually a chorten around which are, under covered galleries, rows of large prayer-wheels, or rather prayer-barrels. I have never seen any temple attached to such structures; but the chortens are hollow, with an opening at the base by which clay tsa-tsa offerings can be put in the monument.—(W. R.)

[127] Doi of the maps.—(W. R.)

[128] Penam jong of the maps. Cf. Captain Turner, op. cit., 229 (he calls it Painam), and C. R. Markham, op. cit., 78, where Bogle also refers to it as Painam.—(W. R.)

[129] In Tibet a married woman is called chang-ma, or “wine companion.” One of her principal duties is to present wine to her friends and guests. It is to avoid this duty that many women enter monastic life (S. C. D.). I think S. C. D. was misinformed. A wife is called chung-ma, not chang-ma. Chung means “little,” and ma “mother.”—(W. R.)

[130] The metaphysical portion of the Tibetan Buddhist scriptures, called in Sanskrit Abhidharma.—(W. R.)

[131] Or gsol gchig, i.e. “first meal.”—(W. R.)

[132] Pe li of the maps.—(W. R.)

[133] Chog-tse of the maps.—(W. R.)

[134] See J.R.A.S., n.s., vol. xxiii. p. 220. The Dung-khors’ offices are mostly hereditary.—(W. R.)

[135] Nagpa, “enchanters or experts in incantations.” See Waddell, op. cit., 475, 483. ‘Land of the Lamas,’ p. 217.—(W. R.)

[136] Or Norbu khyung hdjin (?), “the precious garuda-holder.” The garuda (khyung) is the king of birds, according to Tibetans.—(W. R.)

[137] Pong kong of the maps.—(W. R.)

[138] Called Tho-man on the maps.—(W. R.)

[139] Ging-gu la, Yá-go, and Tuchung-Jong of the maps.—(W. R.)

[140] Called Shar cho ening on the maps. Shar, “east;” chyog (pyogs), “quarter.”—(W. R.)

[141] Dowa targya of the map.—(W. R.)

[142] The author is slightly mistaken here. The Gyarong is on the west border of Sze-ch’uan and identical with the Chinese Chin-chuan, while Markham is to the west of the River of Golden Sands (Chin sha chiang), in 29° N. lat., with its capital at Gartok (or Chiang-ka), and is one of the easternmost provinces ruled by Lhasa.—(W. R.)

[143] Georgi, ‘Alph. Tibet.,’ p. 450, appears to refer to Dongtse when he says, “Antequam pervenias Kiangse Feudum est Kalonii Prouse, Castellum Vallo minutum, et Aurifodina.”—(W. R.)

[144] Kon-chog sum, i.e. Buddha, the Law and the Brotherhood (Sangha). Protestant missionaries have, very wrongly, I think, used the word Kon-chog as a translation of our word God, which is as untranslatable into Tibetan as it appears to be into Chinese, unless the Mohammedan expression Chen chu, “the real Lord,” be used.—(W. R.)

[145] Or Ngi-hok, an open quadrangle on the roof of a house, enclosed on all sides by walls, in two of which are door-like openings (S. C. D.). Jaeschke explains the word nyi-yol by “any screen or shelter from the sun’s rays: awning, curtain, parasol, pent-house.”

[146] Gnas-brtan bchu-drug, the sixteen highest disciples of the Buddha Gautama.—(W. R.)

[147] Cf. Captain Sam. Turner, op. cit., 236, and Geo. Bogle (in C. R. Markham’s ‘Narrative of the Mission, etc.,’ 97). Bogle there says, “The floor is of a chalky clay, mixed with small pebbles, and formed into a smooth and very beautiful terrace, which, by the labours of a young gylang, who every morning gets his feet upon two woollen cloths, and exercises himself for three or four hours in skating about the room, will, in the course of fifteen or twenty years, acquire a polish equal to the other floors in the palace, which are not inferior to the finest variegated marble.”—(W. R.)

[148] This image is called the Jo-vo. It is in the Lhasa Jokhang, in the centre of the city. See my ‘Land of the Lamas,’ p. 105, note 2. See also chap. vi. p. 151 of the present narrative.—(W. R.)

[149] Called in Tibetan Chos-gyong (skyong), “protectors of the doctrine,” or Ku na gyalbo, “five great kings.” See Emil Schlagintweit, ‘Buddhism in Tibet,’ p. 157.

[150] Dzabs-drung-(pa), lit., “one near the feet of.” The expression ku-drung-pa, “near the body,” is also used.—(W. R.)

[151] Mdah-dpon, “master of the arrow,” is a military officer of about the rank of a general; they are given light-blue buttons (4th class) by the Chinese authorities.—(W. R.)

[152] A Chyan-dso-pa, or Chya-djo-pa (Phyag-mdjod-pa), is a civil officer (of 5th class of Chinese official rank) of the treasury.—(W. R.)

[153] The minister was not correctly informed. So far as I am aware, the Chinese never use this kind of “white board.” It is, however, in general use among the Western Mongols, where paper is quite as rare as in most places in Tibet.—(W. R.)

[154] A Tsipon is an accounting officer, and is assimilated by the Chinese to a 4th class official among them.—(W. R.)

[155] One of these earrings is figured in Hooker’s ‘Himalayan Journals,’ ii. 271. Tibetan men always, I believe, wear their earring in the left ear.—(W. R.)

[156] I think the author means pé-tsé, the usual Tibetan pronunciation of the Chinese pai-ts’ai, and meaning “cabbage.” “Cured in the cold draught” is a culinary preparation unknown to me. White potatoes are used all over Tibet; they were introduced into Bhutan in 1774 by Mr. Bogle (see Markham’s ‘Tibet,’ p. 19). Radishes, or rather turnips (la-pug, from the Chinese lo-po), are usually eaten raw; they are also dried for winter use.—(W. R.)

[157] A. K. calls it Pena Nang Chu river.—(W. R.)

[158] The Tibetans neither kill nor will they eat hares. All wild fowl are equally safe from their guns.—(W. R.)

[159] A. K. says of this place (which he reached on August 21, 1878): “Giangche, a small town on the right bank of the Pena Nang Chu river. The town is situated about two small hills which lie east and west, and are united by a saddle; the western hill is further connected with the chain of mountains to the north. On the eastern hill, which is about 600 feet above the surrounding plain, is a large fort, ... and on the western hill a Gomba inhabited by five hundred Dabas. In this Gomba there is a Chiorten, called Pangon Chiorten, which is considered by the Tibetans a most holy place. Besides the fort and temple, there are about one thousand dwelling-houses on three sides of the double hill. Woollen cloth called Nhambu is manufactured. There is a large market; and traders from Nepal and China reside here.” See ‘Report on the Explorations in Great Tibet,’ by A. K., p. 31.

[160] But women throughout Tibet do most of the selling in the shops and the markets.—(W. R.)

[161] Ta Laoyeh is the honorific appellation claimed by all subordinate Chinese officers in Tibet, from the rank of Pa-tsung (sergeant) to that of Shou-pei, or major. The Chinese officer in command of the post of Gyantse is, I believe, a Chien-tsung, or lieutenant. On the Tibetan military organization, see chap. vii. p. 180.—(W. R.)

[162] The ordinary kang is a measure of land in which about 400 lbs. of seed-grain can be sown. The State tax on each kang is 50 srang (or ounces of silver) a year.—(S. C. D.)

[163] On the pay and allowances of the Chinese troops in Tibet, see J.R.A.S., n.s. xxiii., p. 276–278. In many places along the route between Lhasa and Tachienlu the Chinese soldiers are never paid in cash, but only receive brick-tea, the value of which is arbitrarily fixed by the paymaster, who cheats the poor devils most disgracefully. A srang is an ounce of silver, the Chinese tael.—(W. R.)

[164] Georgi, op. cit., p. 451, says of this town, Kiangse: “Civitas præclara et planire ad radius montium. Ad Urbis, præsidium Arx est inædificata rupi, musis, et fossis aquæ vivæ circumvallata. Cœnobium vero adeo vastum, et magnificum, ut quum millia aliquot Xacaitarum contineat, alterius cujusdam civitatis speciem præreferre videatur.”

[165] Born in A.D. 1595 in S.E. Tibet (see Waddell, op. cit., p. 4).—(W. R.)

[166] Probably an error for Dorje chyak, Vadjrapani.—(W. R.)

[167] In the Lhobrak country lama Ugyen-gyatso visited the celebrated shrine of Seh Guru Chhoi wang, built after the model of the famous monastery of Nalendra, in Magadha. “The shrine ... contains some important relics, among others a stuffed horse of great sanctity (belonging to the Great Guru), which is called Jamling ninkhore, or ‘the horse that can go round the world in a day.’ Observing that the horse was bereft of his left leg, U. G. inquired the cause, and was told how the leg had been stolen by a Khamba pilgrim with a view of enchanting the ponies of Kham.” See ‘Report of Explorations from 1856–86,’ p. 23. Probably the objects seen at Gyantse by our author were originally votive offerings, and now simply curios.—(W. R.)

[168] Probably written Ston ran-pa, “one who may teach; a doctor.” See ‘Indian Pundits in the Land of Snow.’ It is probably the same degree as Ge-she.—(W. R.).

[169] Both Bogle (op. cit., p. 107) and Captain Turner (op. cit., p. 284) mention the fondness of the Tibetans of Shigatse for palmistry.—(W. R.)

[170] All these are Chinese dishes.—(W. R.)

[171] Gong khang means “upper house.”—(W. R.)

[172] Most likely imported into the country by some Chinese. I have never seen a greyhound in Tibet, and they are rare even in China and Mongolia.—(W. R.)

[173] Apparently we should read “husbands,” for the author has told us that this accomplished young woman was the wife of the two sons of the Chyag-dso-pa.—(W. R.)

[174] Jaeschke, ‘Tib.-Engl. Dict.’ s.v. oug-pa, says this word is used to designate a medicinal plant. It usually, however, means “hand.” Soap is known and occasionally used in Tibet, though not manufactured there. It is usually called langle (written “glang-glad”). It is brought there from India or China, the former kind being the best.—(W. R.)

[175] See chap. vii. p. 171.

[176] Shar-li means, literally, “Eastern bell-metal;” and Nub-li, “Western bell-metal.”—(W. R.)

[177] On July 31, 1879, the thirteenth incarnation of the Dalai lama was placed on the throne of Lhasa. Chandra Das speaks of this event in the following terms: “The princely infant, into whose person the spirit of the late Dalai had passed, had been brought up till now in a small palace of Gyal-kup, near Lhasa. Last year the Tashi lama, at the invitation of the Emperor of China and the high officials of Tibet, had gone to Lhasa to examine the infant Dalai, and report if the spirit of the last Dalai had really passed into his person. For several days oracles were consulted, the result being to establish beyond doubt that the infant was the incarnate Shenrazig, the patron of Tibet. On the day when he pronounced the infant’s claim to the pontifical throne to be good and valid, a magnificent rainbow is said to have appeared over the palace of Potala. The Tashi lama had fixed July 31 for the Dalai’s accession to the throne” (see ‘Narrative of a Journey to Tashilhunpo,’ p. 25).

[178] The Khamba are much dreaded throughout Tibet; frequent mentions are made in the narratives of the Indian explorers of their lawless ways. For fuller particulars regarding them and their country, I must refer the reader to my ‘Land of the Lamas’ and to the narrative of A. K.’s journey.—(W. R.)

[179] See supra, p. 75.

[180] De-le of our maps.—(W. R.)

[181] Speaking of the dances of Tibet, our author says elsewhere that Padma Sambhava, in the eighth century, A.D., is the reputed originator of religious dances in Tibet. He introduced the war-dance and the famous masqued dance, or bag chams (hbag hchams), the former being but a modification of the latter. At present the great religious dance of Tibet is the black-hat dance (Dza nag cham), which was introduced in the eleventh century, A.D., to commemorate the assassination of the iconoclast King Langdarma by Lama Lhalun Paldor, the murderer having disguised himself in black when seeking to approach the king. The ordinary dance of Tibet (dzabs bro) is performed by men and women on all or any occasion of rejoicing. Sometimes they dance in pairs, sometimes in a ring, and at others the women hand-in-hand on one side, the men in like fashion on the other. (S. C. D.) Cf. Markham, ‘Tibet,’ p. 92; E. F. Knight, ‘Where Three Empires Meet,’ p. 202 et sqq.; Waddell, ‘Buddhism of Tibet,’ pp. 34, 477, 515 et sqq.

[182] Cf. infra, p. 116.

[183] The office here mentioned is well known in Sikkim. See the Sikhim Gazetteer, p. 304, vi. The amged, as colloquially pronounced, is the active ruler of the monastery, and often a very important person.

[184] This Chinese Buddhist monk (or ho-shang) came to Tibet in the reign of King Srong-btsan gambo (A.D. 629–698). He is usually called Mahadeva, not Dharmatala.—(W. R.)

[185] Geo. Bogle, op. cit., p. 106, witnessed a somewhat similar dance at Tashilhunpo on New Year’s Day. An effigy of the devil was likewise burnt. Tibetans use the word atsara much as the Chinese do yang kuei-tzŭ, or “foreign devils,” though it was originally the name given to learned Indian pilgrims. The word is Sanskrit, acharya.—(W. R.)

[186] See Captain Samuel Turner, ‘Embassy,’ p. 314.

[187] According to Chinese authorities, this, or a similar feast, is celebrated at Lhasa in the second moon of the year. Another analogous festival is held on the 30th day of the sixth moon. See J.R.A.S., xxiii. pp. 212, 213.—(W. R.)

[188] The Chang-tang is not an uninhabited desert, for numerous tribes of Drupa pasture their herds there the year long, and keep up a considerable trade with Lhasa and Shigatse, which they supply with salt. It has been repeatedly crossed by European explorers.—(W. R.)

[189] Cf. the legend of the miraculous tree sprung from the hair of Tsongkhapa, and still growing in the courtyard of Kumbum gomba. ‘The Land of the Lamas,’ pp. 67, 68.

[190] On the new year festivities, see Waddell, op. cit., p. 513.

[191] On lamaist monachism, see Sarat Chandra Das’s ‘Indian Pundits in the Land of Snow,’ and Waddell, op. cit., pp. 169 et sqq.

[192] In the narrative of his journey in 1879 (p. 26), S. C. D. thus describes the headdress of the ladies of wealth and fashion at a festival at Tashilhunpo: “Their headdresses struck me much. The prevailing form consisted of two, or sometimes three, circular bands of plaited hair placed across the head and richly studded with pearls, cat’s-eyes, small rubies, emeralds, diamonds, coral and turquoise beads as large as hens’ eggs, pearl drops, and various sorts of amber and jade encircled their heads, like the halo of light round the heads of goddesses. These circles were attached to a circular headband, from which six or eight short strings of pearls and regularly shaped pieces of turquoise and other precious stones hung down over the forehead.”

[193] Farther on (p. 138), our author tells us that the incarnate goddess Dorje phagmo also wore her hair long.

[194] See my ‘Diary of a Journey through Mongolia and Tibet,’ p. 256, where two such tea-churns are shown.—(W. R.)

[195] I think our author was misinformed. Rampa (Polygonum viviparum, L.) does not grow as described here. Rampa seed is eaten, after being parched and ground, mixed with tsamba. Choma (Potentilla anserina), also eaten all over Tibet wherever it occurs, is dug out of the ground; it is not a grain, however, but a small root. I think Chandra Das must refer to choma, though it is a small tuber not over 1½ inches long.—(W. R.)

[196] Lama Serap gyatsho says there are three different kinds of Lobas, viz. Lo Karpo, Lo Nagpo, and Lo Tawa, or Lo Khabta. The Lo Karpo means “white, and little civilized.” The Lo Nagpo means “black, and little civilized.” The Lo Tawas, or stripped Lobas, meaning “quite barbarous Lobas,” live on the lower part of the Tsangpo, on the east bank. They are said to kill the mother of the bride in performing their marriage ceremony, when they do not find any wild men, and eat her flesh. Report on Explorations, etc., p. 7. See also ibid., pp. 16, 17; and Pundit Nain Singh’s Journey, in Jour. Roy. Geo. Soc., vol. xlvii. p. 120.

[197] Og khang means “lower house,” as opposed to Gong khang, “upper house, or story.”—(W. R.)

[198] Torma offerings are cones made of tsamba, butter, treacle, and sugar, and not unfrequently of cardboard, and sometimes painted red, blue, or green. They are placed in front of the images of malignant gods as propitiatory offerings. See Waddell, op. cit., 297. On the word nyihok, see supra, p. 77.—(W. R.)

[199] One of these libation bowls is represented on p. 90 of ‘Land of the Lamas.’—(W. R.)

[200] Lha-sre is the usual title of sons of very high officials. It means, literally, “son of a god,” but may be conveniently translated by “prince.”—(W. R.)

[201] See note 1, p. 115.

[202] The “presiding deity” was probably Dorje sempa or Vajrasattva. The Kala Chakra mysticism and its standard work in the Tibetan Tanjur, called ‘Dus-gi khorlo,’ which I once tried to read, have remained beyond my comprehension. Emil Schlagintweit, ‘Buddhism in Tibet,’ pp. 46–57, and p. 242 et sqq., gives many details on the subject. See also Waddell, op. cit., 15, 144, 397.—(W. R.)

[203] This official is referred to, p. 94.—(W. R.)

[204] Chandra Das’s experience recalls to my mind the prophecy made me in 1889 by an incarnate lama in the Tsaidam. ‘Land of the Lamas,’ pp. 164, 165.

[205] Rong usually means a fertile valley where cultivation is possible, or which is cultivated.—(W. R.)

[206] Gab zi on the maps. It must be the same as A. K.’s Upsi village, where, he says, there is a large Chinese stage-house.—(W. R.)

[207] Called Shetot on the map.—(W. R.)

[208] A. K. says that there is also at this village a large Chinese post station. These post stations are called tang in Chinese; the building itself is a kung kuan. On the Dugpa sect, see Waddell, op. cit. He says it originated in the XIIth century.—(W. R.)

[209] Also known as Ralung la, according to A. K.—(W. R.)

[210] Jaeschke, Dict., s.v. o-ma., says that this name designates the plain on which Lhasa stands. Georgi, op. cit., p. 451, mentions between Gyantse and Nangartse, Lhomar and Lhamentung. The first place I do not find on any maps at my disposal. The latter, however, corresponds with the Langma of the maps. According to the maps, the Karo la is 16,600 feet high.—(W. R.)

[211] On such religious services, see Waddell, op. cit., 353, 494 et sqq.—(W. R.)

[212] The name is written Bsam-lding, meaning, apparently, “fancy floating.” It was founded, according to Chandra Das’s authorities, by Shon-nu drupa.—(W. R.)

[213] Tibetan, Mongol, and Chinese doctors ask their patients but few, if any, questions. They are supposed to diagnose the disease by the general appearance of the patient and by his pulse and the condition of his urine.—(W. R.)

[214] Khyab-gong and Khyab-gong rinpoche are titles given all the higher incarnate lamas. The word means “protector.”—(W. R.)

[215] Such pills are usually called mani rilbu. On the ceremonies performed in making them, I must refer the reader to my paper on the subject in Proceedings of the American Oriental Society, October, 1888, p. xxii. On the subject of “general teas,” see Huc, ‘Souvenirs,’ vol. ii. p. 122; ‘Land of the Lamas,’ p. 104; and Waddell, ‘Buddhism of Tibet,’ p. 191.—(W. R.)

[216] Sa-ga is the name of the 15th lunar mansion (gyu-kar), and also of a month of the year. Dao is Da-wa, “a month.” On the new moon festivals, see Waddell, op. cit., 501.

[217] This custom prevails in China, where it is called fang sheng, “to let go living creatures.”—(W. R.)

[218] See ‘Land of the Lamas,’ p. 164.

[219] Gurkum is saffron. Chusum may be rhubarb.—(W. R.)

[220] Cf., however, note, p. 131, where he says that the founder of this lamasery was Shon-nu drupa.—(W. R.)

[221] See ‘Land of the Lamas,’ p. 106. On Tamdrin, see Waddell, op. cit., 62 and 364.

[222] Georgi, ‘Alph. Tibet.,’ p. 451 says, “In Australi eorum (montium) latere Monasterium, et Sedes est Magnæ Renatæ Lhamissæ Turcepamò. Eam Indi quoque Nekpallenses, tanquam ipsissimam Deam Bavani venerantur et colunt.” Mr. Geo. Bogle visited her at Tashilhunpo in 1775: “The mother went with me into the apartment of Durjay Paumo, who was attired in a gylong’s dress, her arms bare from the shoulders, and sitting cross-legged upon a low cushion. She is also the daughter of the lama’s brother, but by a different wife. She is about seven and twenty, with small Chinese features, delicate, though not regular, fine eyes and teeth.... She wears her hair—a privilege granted to no other vestal I have seen; it is combed back, without any ornaments, and falls in tresses upon her shoulders.... I never visited her but this time. Mr. Hamilton used to be there almost every day.” Markham, ‘Tibet,’ pp. 105, 108, 109.

[223] Hailo must be the Hang of the maps.—(W. R.)

[224] Georgi, ‘Alph. Tibet.,’ p. 451, speaking of Lake Palti, says, “Palti: Lacus, alias Jamdro aut Jang-so nuncupatus. Maximæ amplitudinis est, quam homo pedibus, uti indigene tradunt, nonnisi octodecim dierum spatio circumire queat. Sic totus ambitus 300. circiter milliariorum esset.” A. K. calls the town Pete Jong, and on the maps it figures as Pe de Jong, or Piahte-Jong. The Chinese call it Pai-ti, but I have been told by Tibetans that the name is Pé-di (written Spe-di).—(W. R.)

[225] The name is also written Sha-ma-lung and Demalung.—(W. R.)

[226] The Khamba barchi of the native explorers. It is also called Kampa lacha.—Khamba chyang tang means “Plain north of Khamba.”—(W. R.)

[227] A. K. thus describes this bridge: “The bridge is formed of two iron chains, one on each side; from the chains thick ropes are suspended to the depth of four yards; by these ropes planks, three feet long and one foot broad, are supported lengthwise, so as only to admit of one person crossing at a time. The chains are stretched very tight, and are fastened around huge blocks of wood buried beneath immense piles of stone; the length of the bridge is about 100 paces.” ‘Report on the Explorations,’ p. 31. This is the usual style of Chinese suspension bridge common throughout Western China and Tibet. This one was in all likelihood built by the Chinese in the eighteenth century. I am not aware that the Tibetans ever build this style of bridge; theirs are usually of wood and of the cantilever description. See my ‘Diary of a Journey,’ p. 304.—(W. R.)

[228] Chinese authors say that convicts used to be confined at this place. See Jour. Roy. As. Soc., 1891, p. 78.—(W. R.)

[229] On the maps this place is called Tsha-bu-na.—(W. R.)

[230] Called Chiang-li by the Chinese.—(W. R.)

[231] The name is also written Nyer-tam. The Chinese call it Yeh-tang. Atisha came from India to Tibet in A.D. 1083. His proper Indian name was Dipankara Srijnana.—(W. R.)

[232] What the Chinese call chan. They are ridiculously short on the high-road between Lhasa and China, and probably elsewhere. This is so as to make the ula less oppressive, and I suspect it has something to do with the allowances of the Chinese officers who have to travel over it, and which are regulated by stages, not by miles travelled.—(W. R.)

[233] I have always heard policemen called sa sung (srung) pa by Tibetans. The word used by our author seems to be khor che (byed) pa, which would correspond to “patrol-men.” Huc says that Lhasa is about two leagues in circumference, and A. K. that it is about six miles.—(W. R.)

[234] Doring (or rdo ring) means “ancient stone,” or “stone from long ago.” On the inscription here referred to, see Jour. Roy. As. Soc. (new series), vol. xii. 486 et sqq.; and vol. xxiii. p. 264. Yu-tog zamba means “blue roofed bridge.”—(W. R.)

[235] Better known by its popular name of Cho or Jo khang, or Lhasa Jo-wo khang. A. K. calls it Jhio. He also mentions Azimabad (Patna) merchants as having shops in Lhasa.—‘Report on the Explorations,’ p. 32. See also Waddell, op. cit., 300 et sqq.

[236] These “fringes” are cotton strips on which are printed charms (mantras). Usually the figure of a horse occupies the middle of the strip. They are called lung-ta, or “wind-horse.” E. Schlagintweit, ‘Buddhism in Tibet,’ p. 253, and plate xi. The “inscribed banners” belong to the same class of objects, and have also prayers or passages from the scriptures printed on them. Georgi, ‘Alph. Tibet.,’ p. 509, refers to these “flag-poles” as being called Tarpo che (tar-pai shing?), “Arbor salutaris, depulsoria mali.” See also Waddell, op. cit., 468 et sqq.

[237] Mutton fat is a common substitute for butter in tea among the Tibetans, and is not always used as a pis aller, but in preference to butter.—(W. R.)

[238] A dzo is a tenth of an ounce (sang), or about two-thirds of a rupee in weight. In India its equivalent is a tola.—(W. R.)

[239] The Buddha’s death is said to have occurred on the 15th of the 4th month, which only occasionally falls on June 1.—(W. R.)

[240] “Outside the gate (of the Jo khang) there is a stone pillar in a poor state of preservation: it is the tablet containing the alliance of Tang Te-tsung with his nephew. On either side of the pillar are old willows, whose aged trunks are bent and twisted like writhing dragons. It is said that they date from the Tang period.” Jour. Roy. As. Soc. (new series), vol. xxiii. p. 264. This inscription bears date A.D. 783.—(W. R.)

[241] See I. J. Schmidt, ‘Geschichte der Ost-Mongolen von Ssanang Ssetsen,’ p. 35. According to Tibetan historians, this same princess (or Kung chu, her name was Chin-Cheng), the wife of King Srong-btsan gambo, introduced into Tibet, among other things, the art of pottery, grist-mills, looms, etc. Emil Schlagintweit, ‘Die Könige von Tibet,’ p. 49. Chinese authors (see Jour. Roy. As. Soc., vol. xxiii. p. 191) attribute to her influence the first use of winepresses, paper, ink, the Chinese almanac, and the introduction of the silkworm. This princess was not a daughter of the Emperor Tai-tsung, but a member of his family. She appears to have travelled from China to Lhasa by the Hsi-ning road, which passes by the sources of the Yellow River.—(W. R.)

[242] On the various celebrated images of the Buddha, see ‘Land of the Lamas,’ p. 105, note 2. Kunyer is the “keeper of images.”—(W. R.)

[243] Maitreya (Chyamba, in Tibetan) is the Buddha to come in the last period of this cycle, and Dipankara (Mar-me dzad) is the Buddha of the first period. The historical Buddha, or Sachya tubpa, is the Buddha of the present era.—(W. R.)

[244] Our author calls it “a fossil rock ... discovered in a rock cavern in Tibet.” I can offer no explanation of the nature of this relic.—(W. R.)

[245] A river of Magadha famous in early Buddhist history, and in which the Buddha is said to have bathed after attaining omniscience.—(W. R.)

[246] This king reigned over Tibet at the end of the ninth century, A.D. He appears to have been a fervent follower of the Bonbo religion. He was murdered in 900 by a lama who had disguised himself so as to be able to approach the king, and went through clownish tricks and dances. The murder of the king is still fêted by dances, in which the participants wear costumes resembling those of the murderer of the iconoclast. See supra, p. 114.—(S. C. D.)

[247] Presumably Chyi (phyi), “outside;” and ra-wa, “an enclosure.”

[248] I suppose this name means “innumerable beings; legions of beings (gro-vo); a host in himself.” The title To-wo or, “Angry,” applies to a whole class of deities of the Protector (or Chos-gyong) class.—(W. R.)

[249] A wandering lama and saint who lived in Southern Tibet in the eleventh century, and who taught by parables and songs, some of which have considerable literary merit. The two principal works ascribed to him are an autobiography, or ‘Nam-tar,’ and a collection of tracts called ‘Lu bum,’ or “the myriad songs.” They are still among the most popular books in Tibet. See Nineteenth Century, Oct., 1899, pp. 613–632.—(W. R.)

[250] Though I have not a copy of Milarapa’s ‘Lu bum’ with me, I feel sure that this anecdote is taken from it.—(W. R.)

[251] Ramoche means “a large enclosure”; it was probably the name of the locality on which the famous temple was built, and not the original name of that structure.—(W. R.)

[252] A. K. (op. cit., p. 33) mentions this chorten which he calls Giang Bimmoche, “erected in honour of a Tibetan hero who is said to have killed 100,000 of his enemies (Chinese) on the spot.”—(W. R.)

[253] The princess is said to have been buried in this temple.—(W. R.)

[254] Georgi, ‘Alph. Tibet.,’ p. 242, says, “Magiæ Doctores Nga Rambà dicti, diabolicæ hujus sapientiæ mysteriis initiantur, Magica Laurea solemniter ornantur in duobus Lhassæ Cœnobiis Ramoie Chintopà & Morù Chinpà nuncupatis.... Oracula sunt tum publica tum domestica, quæ Populi, quæ Cives, quæ sacri ac profani Magistratus adeant responsa capturi.”

[255] Or Ta-chien-lu, on the border of Sze-chuen.—(W. R.)

[256] Pomda appears to be Pungde, a little post-station two days’ ride from Chamdo, and south-east of that town. It is called by the Chinese Pao-tun. See my ‘Diary of a Journey,’ p. 316.—(W. R.)

[257] Amdo is that portion of the western border-land of the Chinese province of Kansu and Sze-chuen which is occupied by Tibetan tribes. This anecdote is also found in Ugyen-gyatso’s relation of his exploration, ‘Report on Explorations from 1856 to 1886,’ p. 31.

[258] Cf. Huc, ‘Souvenirs d’un voyage dans la Tartarie et le Thibet,’ vol. ii. p. 258; and ‘Land of the Lamas,’ p. 214.

[259] Georgi, op. cit., p. 406 et sqq., describes very fully and accurately this famous temple, of which he also gives a ground plan. He calls it the Lahpranga Lhassensi. This description agrees very closely with that of our author, and is highly interesting, as the analogies between its style of architecture and that of Christian churches are discussed.—(W. R.).

[260] Phagpa was given the government of Tibet by the Emperor Kublai in A.D. 1260. The first of the Phagmodu kings was Nyakri btsan-po, who is said to have ascended the throne of Tibet (then a little principality south of the Tsangpo, in the Yarlung valley) B.C. 313. See I. J. Schmidt, op. sup. cit., p. 23; and Emil Schlagintweit, ‘Die Könige von Tibet,’ pp. 39–41. From B.C. 313 to A.D. 1260 is such a long period of time, that we are hardly able to say that the date of the introduction of tea into Tibet has been fixed. It is probable that the Tibetans did not use tea before the eighth century, at the earliest, and its use only became common in recent times. No mention, I believe, is made of tea in the works of Milarapa (eleventh century), nor in any of the older books known to us in the Tibetan language.—(W. R.)

[261] According to Chinese authors, the selection of incarnate lamas by the drawing of lots from a golden vase dates from 1793. See Jour. Roy. As. Soc., vol. xxiii.; ‘Land of the Lamas,’ p. 290; Waddell, op. cit., 245 et sqq. and 279, note 2; also Huc, op. cit., vol. ii. p. 348. François Bernier, in his ‘Voyages’ (1723), vol. ii. p. 310, gives some interesting details about the reincarnation of the Grand Lama, as told him by an attaché to a mission from the King of Little Tibet to Aureng-Zeb.—(W. R.)

[262] Among the strange events which occur on the birth of a reincarnation of the Tale lama may be mentioned “the blossoming, in the immediate vicinity of the birthplace, of fruit-trees some months before their usual season; the casting of two or more young by animals which as a rule do not cast so many at a birth; and the sudden recovery from fatal illnesses of persons coming in contact with the newborn child.” See ‘Report on Explorations,’ made by A. K., p. 32.—(W. R.)

[263] See Waddell, op. cit., p. 478. He calls him “the Necromancer-in-Ordinary to the Government.” He was first brought to Tibet by Padma-sambhava, the founder of Lamaism in the middle of the eighth century.—(W. R.)

[264] A small and fertile district a little to the east of Lhasa. The chief town in this district is usually called Kong-po gyamda. Explorer K. P. visited it in 1883 (?). He says that “there are about twenty Nepalese shops and fifteen shops of Tibetans at this place.” See ‘Report of Explorations in Butan and Tibet,’ p. 15.—(W. R.)

[265] Cf. Ugyen-gyatso’s account of this discovery in ‘Report on the Explorations,’ p. 31. The place of his birth was “Paruchude, near Nam Jong, in Takpo,” according to the explorer K. P., op. sup. cit., p. 8.—(W. R.)

[266] I.e. “foreigners;” literally, “outside-country.” The word has no connection, as was once supposed, with Feranghi or Franks.—(W. R.)

[267] Our author tells us further on (p. 216) of a woman married to two men not related. Elsewhere he makes mention of a lamasery in which monks and nuns cohabit, and bring up their children in their profession. Polygamy also obtains among the wealthier Tibetans, who have probably adopted it from the Chinese, and monogamy has a few votaries. See ‘Land of the Lamas,’ p. 211 et sqq.

[268] Meaning, literally, “pillars of southern wood.” The “southern wood” is probably the same as the nan mu or teak of the Chinese.—(W. R.)

[269] The term yang-yig usually means “musical score,” the lamas using sometimes a descriptive score to teach chanting.—(W. R.) Lu kang means “Snakehouse.”

[270] A medicinal plant.—(S. C. D.)

[271] See Jour. Roy. Asiat. Soc., xxiii. p. 70, and Huc, op. cit., ii. p. 194.—(W. R.)

[272] “In the faubourgs there is a quarter where the houses are built entirely with horns of oxen and sheep. These curious buildings are extremely solid, and present a rather pleasing aspect. The ox-horns being smooth and whitish, and the sheep-horns, on the contrary, black and rough, these strange building materials lend themselves marvellously well to endless combinations, and form on the walls designs of infinite variety; the spaces between the horns are filled with mortar. These houses are the only ones which are not whitewashed.” Huc, ‘Souvenirs d’un voyage,’ vol. ii. p. 254.

[273] The Kung-chu came to Tibet A.D. 639 (see I. J. Schmidt, op. cit., p. 341). He there says (translating from the Bodhimur) that when the princess reached the spot where the Ramoche temple now stands, the cart on which was the image of the Buddha (Jo-vo) stopped of itself, and could not be made to move forward.—(W. R.)

[274] Dolma, or Drolma (Sanskrit Tara). The two wives of King Srong-btsan gambo are worshipped under this name. The Chinese princess is called Dol-kar, or “the white Dolma,” and the Nepalese princess Dol-jang, or “the green Dolma.” The latter is prayed to by women for fecundity. On the worship of Dolma, see Waddell, op. cit., p. 435 et sqq.

[275] The god of eternal life; in Sanskrit, Amitāyus.

[276] The Ka-dro (mkah-hgro) are nymphs or fairies, all friendly to man. In Sanskrit they are called Dakini. See Waddell, op. cit., p. 366.

[277] Mumen, “a precious stone of dark blue, but inferior to the azure stone, occasionally used for rosaries.” Mention is also made of mumen dmar-po (“red mumen”). Jaeschke, ‘Tib.-Engl. Dict.,’ s.v. mu-men.

[278] From what the author says a little later, it would appear that, on the contrary, the Tale lama is very accessible. Manning called repeatedly on him in 1811, and Huc tells us there was no difficulty about being admitted to his presence.—(W. R.)

[279] Cf. Jour. Roy. Asiat. Soc., xxiii. p. 285.

[280] The earliest name of Mount Potala was Marpo ri, “the red hill.” King Srong-btsan gambo is said to have built a palace on its summit, and it was occupied by the kings of Tibet down to the time of the fifth Tale lama, who built about the middle of the seventeenth century the present palace. See Emil Schlagintweit, ‘Die Könige von Tibet,’ p. 49. Our author says the palace was built “by the fifth Dalai lama and his illustrious Regent Desi Sangye-gyatso.” In connection with our author’s audience of the Grand Lama, it is interesting to read Manning’s account, which agrees with it very closely.—(W. R.)

[281] Manning says of the then Tale lama (Lozang lung-tog-gyatso by name), “The lama’s beautiful and interesting face and manner engrossed almost all my attention. He was at that time about seven years old; had the simple and unaffected manners of a well-educated princely child. His face was, I thought, poetically and affectingly beautiful.... I was extremely affected by this interview with the lama. I could have wept through strangeness of sensation.” See Markham, op, cit., pp. 265, 266. I am sorry I have not now access to Nain Singh’s report of his interview with the Tale lama in 1866; but, if I remember rightly, it contains some interesting details on his audience with the Dalai lama Trin-las-gyatso.—(W. R.)

[282] Water used for oblations in Tibet is usually coloured (or perfumed?) with saffron. See Waddell, op. cit., p. 298.—(W. R.)

[283] Manning says (op. cit., p. 265), “The ceremony of presentation being over, Munshi and I sat down on two cushions not far from the lama’s throne, and had suchi brought us. It was most excellent, and I meant to have mended my draught and emptied the cup, but it was whipped away suddenly, before I was aware of it.” Suchi is sol (gsol) ja, the polite term for “tea.” “Perfumed tea” is the Chinese hsiang pien ch’a.—(W. R.)

[284] Tonmi Sambhota introduced the alphabet of India into Tibet, and negotiated the king’s marriages with his two famous consorts. Gar (Mgar) was an equally famous general of the same epoch, and Prince Gungri gung-tsan is, I think, Srong-btsan gambo’s grandson. See Emil Schlagintweit, ‘Die Könige von Tibet,’ p. 47 et sqq.—(W. R.)

[285] There are seventy-five gods bearing this name. The gon-po (mgon-po) are the fiercest of the terrifying type of divinities.—(W. R.)

[286] On this famous Tibetan statesman (“Tisri vir ingenii sagacissimi,” as Georgi, op. cit., p. 329, calls him), see Georgi’s notice, loc. cit., and Jour. Roy. Asiat. Soc., xxiii. p. 186.

[287] Meaning “the ornament of the world.”

[288] Pronounced Tale lama. This Mongol name is in common use in Tibet. He is also known as Gyal-wa-gyatso, or Kyab-gong Rinpoche; but this latter title is applied likewise to all very high incarnate lamas. A. K.’s Kiamkun Ringboche is but an inaccurate transcription of Kyab-gong Rinpoche, which means “the Precious Protector.”—(W. R.)

[289] Or rather De-wa-chan, “the happy (place)” in Sanskrit Sukavati; also called Nub-chyog Dewachan, or “the western abode of bliss.”—(W. R.)

[290] On the Tale lamas, see Jour. Roy. Asiat. Soc., xxiii. p. 285 et sqq., and Waddell, op. cit., p. 227; the dates given in the former work are derived from Chinese sources, and differ by a year or two from those usually accepted by Tibetans.—(W. R.)

[291] I believe that the Lhasa mint is in this Gadan phodang. Tibetan silver coins (tanka) are inscribed Nam-gyal Gadan phodang chyog-las, “From the Gadan phodang of the Victorious (Tale lama).” See Lacouperie, ‘The silver coinage of Tibet.’—(W. R.)

[292] Manning calls the King “Ti-mu-fu, or Hu-lu-tu.” See Markham, ‘Tibet,’ p. 264. I am unable to explain satisfactorily these names, though the first has a rather Chinese tournure. The second may be the Mongol Hutuketu, “incarnate saint of the first rank.” The Chinese call the Regent Tsang Wang, or “King of Tibet.” See also, on the selection of this functionary, ‘Land of the Lamas,’ p. 289, and ‘Report on Explorations, 1856–1886,’ p. 31.

[293] In this connection the following is interesting: “Some few years ago the Grand Council of Lhasa (Caphyn) was composed of three men, named Semeling, Tengeling, and Kunduling. A man of influence named Sape Satya complained to the Emperor of China of the oppressive and inefficient rule of these men. The Chinese commissioner, ‘Kissen,’ came from China, apprehended Semeling, and took him off as a prisoner to China.”—Ashley Eden, ‘Report on the State of Bootan,’ p. 131; cf. Huc., op. cit., ii. 287 et sqq.

[294] He is also called Chyi-lon Hutuketu. He is Chancellor of the Exchequer; the Chinese Amban is his colleague, and his approval of any expenditure is necessary.—(W. R.)

[295] See Huc., op. cit., ii. 286.

[296] Our author’s informant must have written ja tsag, meaning “tea-strainer”; but Chasag is spelt rgyal tsab, and means “viceroy.” The Lhasa Amban is in like manner called Gong-ma tsab, “the Emperor’s deputy.”—(W. R.)

[297] Cf. Jour. Roy. Asiat. Soc., xxiii. pp. 11, 220, 239, 242. The nominees to these positions are confirmed by the Emperor of China.—(W. R.)

[298] This button is given them by the Emperor (or rather the Amban). The lama minister does not wear one. According to Chinese authorities, the Kalon have only 3rd class, or blue, buttons. The coral button belongs to the 1st class.—(W. R.)

[299] On the Dungkhor, see Jour. Roy. Asiat. Soc., xxiii. pp. 220, 243.

[300] Our author forgets the “squeezes,” which swell all salaries to very respectable sizes.—(W. R.)

[301] A lama (Tse-dung) and a layman.—(S. C. D.)

[302] On the military inspections made by the Amban, see Peking Gazette, January 24, 1886, and Jour. Roy. Asiat. Soc., xxiii, p. 216.

[303] Of course most of the Djongpon only attend to a very few of these duties. They squeeze the people under them, exact as much service as possible, and, together with the lamas, get everything they can out of them, and only stop when their exactions appear likely to cause serious trouble.—(W. R.)

[304] In Chinese, called Liang-tai. On the Chinese military establishment in Tibet, see Jour. Roy. Asiat. Soc., xxiii, p. 275 et sqq.; and on the Amban’s duties, ibid., p. 7 et sqq.

[305] In the Anglo-Tibetan war there were four Magpons or Mafeas, and eight Dahpons.

[306] Thos. Manning (Markham, ‘Tibet.,’ p. 274) says, “It is very bad policy thus perpetually to send men of bad character to govern Tibet. It no doubt displeases the Grand Lama and Tibetans in general, and tends to prevent their affections from settling in favour of the Chinese Government. I cannot help thinking, from what I have seen and heard, that they would view the Chinese influence in Tibet overthrown without many emotions of regret.”—(W. R.)

[307] This is not correct. Traders only have a permit issued either at Ta-chien-lu by the Chun-liang-fu or at Lhasa by the Amban allowing them to enter or leave Tibet. All officials, even common soldiers—the latter only when going to Tibet or when on duty—have ula supplied them.—(W. R.)

[308] A kang is a piece of land to sow which 10 yak-loads of barley are used, or one which pays 50 to 55 ounces of silver a year as taxes.—(S. C. D.)

[309] The 4th Panchen rinpoche was called Pal-dan Tan-pai nyi-ma. He was born in 1782. He died in the early fifties. Turner, ‘Embassy,’ p. 230.—(W. R.)

[310] Chamdo, in Eastern Tibet. It is an ecclesiastical fief under the rule of a high dignitary of the Gelugpa sect who bears the title of Phapa lha.—(W. R.)

[311] In other words, he should take all he can possibly get without forcing the misser to open revolt.—(W. R.)

[312] This seems impossible, in view of the large flocks owned by most of the people. One in a thousand would already be a heavy tax.—(W. R.)

[313] A pretty good allowance, one would think. Cf., on this courier service, Huc, op. cit., vol. ii. p. 450.—(W. R.)

[314] In China most of the couriers are opium-smokers.—(W. R.)

[315] A lebor is, says our author, equal to 720 yards. It is the Chinese li, but I have heard the word always pronounced leu. A li, however, is about 600 yards.—(W. R.)

[316] I fancy our author means rearrange or remove his dress. A travelling Tibetan never changes his dress.—(W. R.)

[317] There are cases on record in which a despatch from Lhasa has been delivered in Peking within a month.—(W. R.)

[318] Cf., however, Jour. Roy. Asiat. Soc. xxiii. pp. 216–218. See also ‘Report on Explorations made by A. K.,’ p. 33. The Chinese punishment of the cangue is now adopted throughout Tibet, the criminals wearing it being also heavily chained. The cangue is called in Tibetan, tse-go.—(W. R.)

[319] This, I fancy, is hearsay testimony, and, I think, should be taken with several grains of salt. The Tibetans are not cruel, though, like all Asiatics, they believe in deterring from crime by the terror of the punishment.—(W. R.)

[320] All this does not add materially to our knowledge of Tibetan business methods. It would seem that the Tibetans follow the rules concerning loans which obtain in China and India, but the text is not very clear.—(W. R.)

[321] See Hooker’s ‘Himalayan Journals,’ vol. i. p. 117, and vol. ii. p. 202 et sqq. He says, in speaking of the Dewan, “Considering, however, his energy, a rare quality in these countries, I should not be surprised at his cutting a figure in Bhutan, if not in Sikkim itself” (op. cit., vol. ii. p. 241).—(W. R.)

[322] I fancy our author refers to the hsiang pien cha usually drunk by Chinese in Peking and elsewhere in the north. Jasmine flowers are dried with the tea, and impart to it a strong and agreeable perfume.—(W. R.)

[323] It is strange that our author tells us nothing of this famous lamasery of Chagpori. We know, however, that it is one of the oldest in Tibet, that the medical school is attended by some 300 students, and that it supplies with medicines, most of which are simples collected by the lamas themselves, not only Lhasa, but remote parts of Tibet and Mongolia. I have seen remedies bought at Chagpori used in the Tsaidam, the Koko Nor, and all over Eastern Tibet.—(W. R.)

[324] Amdo being used here in its broadest sense as including all North-east Tibet. These Golok (or Golog) trade with Kumbum, Sungpan (in North-west Sze-chuen), and with the Lhasa country. “At Pherchode (near Namdjong in Takpo) many traders called ‘Golokpas’ come with large herds of yaks to trade, and annually visit this place in the months of October and November with merchandise, chiefly consisting of salt and wool.” ‘Report on the Exploration, from 1856 to 1886,’ p. 8.

[325] This is at all events a good story, but I doubt whether the Golok, any more than the Chinese, Mongols, or other Tibetan tribes, kiss in public.—(W. R.)

[326] I have never heard of any district of this name. This mode of saluting is a Mohammedan one.—(W. R.)

[327] Tsongkhapa, the great lama reformer in the 14th century, instituted these annual prayer meetings. The most important one is the “great prayer meeting” (mon-lam chen-po) in the early part of the year.—(W. R.)

[328] Chinese authors make mention of a similar festival, held at Lhasa yearly, beginning on the latter part of the second moon (middle March), and lasting for a month. Another of like description is held in the sixth moon. See Jour. Roy. Asiat. Soc., xxiii. pp. 212, 213.

[329] See supra, p. 70.

[330] This game is one of the very few national games of Tibet, but is probably of foreign origin. I have never seen it played in Northern or Eastern Tibet. In Bhutan the people appear to be specially skilful at it.—(W. R.)

[331] Seng chen is a Chinese title, meaning “the Monk Minister.”—(W. R.)

[332] Huc, op. cit., vol. ii. p. 338, tells us of the pleasure the Regent of Lhasa found in learning from him the Roman alphabet. I myself have found it the one subject which never failed to interest Tibetans, lamas, and laymen.—(W. R.)

[333] On this ceremony of burnt-offering, chin (sbyin), “alms;” sreg, “to burn up,” see Emil Schlagintweit, ‘Buddhism in Tibet,’ p. 249 et sqq.; and Waddell, op. cit., p. 498.

[334] See supra, p. 66.

[335] Ding means something like “village.” It is a very common termination to names of places throughout Tibet.—(W. R.)

[336] Daba, or Draba, is the name applied to all lamas irrespective of rank. The word lama is only used when speaking of some high dignitary in the church, or of a gelong, or “priest.”—(W. R.)

[337] The Gyade country, which extends from the high-road from Nagchukha to Hsi-ning in Kansu and to Chamdo, is not under the rule of Lhasa, it is a purely Bonbo country. I traversed this region from west to east in 1892. Khams Gyarong refers to the Chin chuan, a small region on the Upper Ta-tung river, in North-west Sze-chuen, where this religion has many adherents.—(W. R.)

[338] The present Bonbo religion is hardly distinguishable from Tibetan Buddhism, except in a few peculiar reversals of lamaist customs, and in the names of the gods. See ‘Land of the Lamas,’ p. 217. Schiefner, Sarat Chandra, and Laufer have published translations and texts of some Bonbo works.—(W. R.)

[339] Not a very intelligible or satisfactory explanation. See Waddell, op. cit., p. 287.

[340] The little water-bottle carried by gelongs, and with which they moisten their mouths in the forenoon when they are not allowed to eat or drink. Waddell, op. cit., 201.—(W. R.)

[341] The Sham-tab is a plaited petticoat of red pulo; it is worn by all lamas. The tongu is the upper shawl.

[342] By which he means, I suppose, the Chang tang Bonbos of Gyade.—(W. R.)

[343] This is also done among Buddhists, as in the Palti lake country. See supra, p. 139.

[344] Moorcroft, ‘Travels,’ ii. 68, refers to Bonbo lamas when he describes the lamas of Pin (in Ladak), who allow their hair to grow and become matted, and who wear black. Nain Singh makes mention of the Bonbo country of North Tibet, which he calls “the Ombo, or Pembo country,” Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, xlvii. p. 107.—(W. R.)

[345] I have heard of Chinese claims to the discovery of the telephone, but never before of Tibetan. I fancy the lama had heard of the Morse transmitter, which may have been taken for a little hammer struck on a board.—(W. R.)

[346] Visited by Ugyen-gyatso in 1883.

[347] Our author farther on (p. 241) says that these volumes are about six feet long by eighteen inches broad. This appears more likely. The age of the Chinese books is certainly greatly exaggerated.—(W. R.)

[348] Dob-tha jong of the map. Our author passed through it when returning to Darjiling, see infra, p. 244.

[349] About five miles from Khamba djong.—(W. R.)

[350] The same road followed by him and Chandra Das when going to Shigatse.—(W. R.)

[351] It is a shrub (Symplocos) common in Sikkim. See Hooker, ‘Himalayan Journals,’ ii. 41. Tso (or Tsos) is not, I believe, the Tibetan name of the plant, but only means “dye.”—(W. R.)

[352] See infra, p. 256; the details there given do not quite agree with what he says on this occasion.—(W. R.)

[353] Our author gives several pages of text on the ethics, etc., of the Bonbo, but they are so technical that I have been obliged to omit them. The Bonbo terminology used by him is practically the same as that of the lamas. He tells us that the Bonbo are divided into six sects, the most popular of which is the Tu lug, to which the people of the Chang tang and Gyade belong. The Shen-tsang lug is the second in importance. See also supra, 208.—(W. R.)

[354] Ta, “horse;” lung, “valley.” On the name Yamdok tso, see Journ. Buddh. Text. Soc. of India, IV. Pt. III. p.t.—(W. R.)

[355] The Choi-khor-tse of the map.—(W. R.)

[356] Certain dancers represent the celestial musicians or kinnara, called in Tibetan mi ham-chi. These are probably what S. C. D. refers to. Ri-o-tag Jong of the map.—(W. R.)

[357] Probably Nyema lung of the map.—(W. R.)

[358] Called Loh-bu Jong on the maps.—(W. R.)

[359] Tang-da of the maps.—(W. R.)

[360] Ton namgyalling Jong of the maps. Altitude 12,430 feet.—(W. R.)

[361] Tibetans from North-east Tibet. These were more probably Changpa from the Chang tang, for the Horba do not bring salt to Central Tibet.—(W. R.)

[362] Kedesho Jong of the maps. A. K., who passed through it the same year, only a fortnight before our author, calls it Chitishio Jong. He says there are about a thousand houses in it.—‘Report on the Explor. made by A. K.,’ p. 84.—(W. R.)

[363] Shanpa means “boatman,” not boat.—(W. R.)

[364] Ta-chien-lu, on the border of Sze-chuen. The Dorje-tag (Rdo-rje brag) lamasery has given its name to a sect. See Waddell, op. cit., 73.

[365] This seems to be the same custom as obtains in Eastern Tibet, where all corpses are kept until the crops have been reaped, and then either fed to vultures, burnt or otherwise disposed of. See ‘Land of the Lamas,’ p. 286. The text is not quite clear, for it does not state whether or not the corpses are kept permanently in the houses of the parents.—(W. R.)

[366] Called Tsong-ka on the maps. All this route was again gone over by Ugyen-gyatso in 1883. See ‘Report on Explorations from 1856 to 1886,’ p. 28 et sqq. He says (p. 29) that the river at Tsong-ka is over a mile broad. King Me agtsoms was the father of Tisrong detsan, of whom our author has so often occasion to speak. He reigned over Tibet in the latter half of the seventh century, A.D.—(W. R.)

[367] The Gokhar la crossed by Nain Singh in 1873. Dechen djong is on the Kyi chu, a day’s journey east of Lhasa.—(W. R.)

[368] Chyema (bye-ma) means “sand,” nagshu probably means “black.”—(W. R.)

[369] I cannot conceive how a chorten can resemble a dorje (vajra). The comparison is not a happy one.—(W. R.)

[370] Perhaps she came from Litang. The women there wear a large silver plaque on either side of the head, which meet over the crown in a point, so that, from a distance, the head-dress looks not unlike a pointed cap.—(W. R.)

[371] These are the subjects usually seen in such frescoes throughout Tibet and Mongolia.—(W. R.)

[372] Behor must be Bihar gyalpo, one of the five great patron saints or Chu-gyong, of Tibet. Noijinhamara may be the god of wealth.—(W. R.)

[373] Wu-khang would appear to mean “central room or house.” I have never heard of bottling up the breath or spirit of the dead among any Buddhist people. This must be a survival of some pre-Buddhist superstition.—(W. R.)

[374] Tibetan historians inform us that Padma Sambhava (Peme chyung-nas) was called to Tibet from Kafiristan (O-rgyan) by Santa Rakshita (Dji-wa tso), who could not withstand the onslaught of the Bonbos. See Emil Schlagintweit, ‘Die Könige von Tibet,’ p. 52 et sqq.

[375] Written Bsam-yas. I do not believe that this interpretation of the word Samye is correct. San yang, it is true, means “three styles” in Chinese, but Chinese yang would never be pronounced ye in Tibetan. Waddell, op. cit., 266, translates the name, “the academy for obtaining the heap of unchanging meditation.” Nain Singh visited Samye (he calls it Sama-ye Gomba) in 1873. “It is surrounded by a very high circular wall, 1½ mile in circumference, with gates facing the four points of the compass. On the top of this wall the Pundit counted 1030 chhartans (chorten) made of burnt bricks.... The interiors of the (stone) walls of these temples are covered with very beautiful writing in enormous Hindi (Sanscrit) characters....” Jour. Roy. Geog. Soc., xlvii. p. 114. Sarat Chandra says that a work, entitled ‘Pama Kahthang’ (‘Peme Katang’?), contains a full description of this famous lamasery. See also Waddell, op. cit., 266–268.

[376] This iconoclast, who appears to have been born in A.D. 861, interdicted the Buddhist religion in Tibet in 899, and was murdered in 900. See Csoma, ‘Tib. Grammar,’ p. 183. Cf. Emil Schlagintweit, op. cit., p. 59, and I. J. Schmidt, ‘Geschichte der Ost Mongolen,’ pp. 49, 362, et sqq. In the last work is the history of the murder of the king by the hermit, Lha-lung palgyi dorje. It agrees with what our author has told us supra, p. 153, when describing the origin of the “black hat” dance.—(W. R.)

[377] Our author says, only “in the year fire-tiger of the thirteenth cycle,” and “again, after a period of ten years, in the month of May (fire-tiger of the fourteenth cycle).” This is impossible, as fire-tiger is the third year in the cycle of sixty years. Assuming the first date to be correct, the second must be A.D. 1808. Waddell, op. cit., 267, says the library was destroyed about 1816.—(W. R.)

[378] Nain Singh speaks of a town called Sawe, where the Tibetan treasury is kept. See Markham’s ‘Tibet,’ p. cxiii. This is Samye. Explorer A. K. passed here in October, 1882, but his notes contain nothing about this celebrated place. Ugyen-gyatso visited it in October, 1883, but his report also contains little of interest. See ‘Report on Exploration from 1856 to 1886,’ pp. 28, 29. Csoma, ‘Tib. Grammar,’ p. 183, says it was founded A.D. 749. Cf. Emil Schlagintweit, ‘Die Könige von Tibet,’ p. 53. Ssanang Ssetsen (I. J. Schmidt, ‘Geschichte der Ost Mongolen’), p. 41, says the building of the temple was begun in A.D. 811, and finished in 823. The date given by Csoma is probably correct, as King Tisrong detsan’s father was a contemporary of the Tang Emperor Chang-tsung, who reigned in 684. Tisrong reigned from 740 to 786. He was born, according to Csoma, A.D. 728.—(W. R.)

[379] Ugyen-gyatso also speaks of the woods and gardens, and especially the walnut trees of this section of country. He refers also to the excellent roads. See ‘Report on the Explor. from 1856 to 1886,’ p. 28. A. K. speaks of the village of Do as Dushio. Tso (shio) means village, and is an abbreviation from grong-tso (pr. drong-tso).—(W. R.)

[380] There is a Reting gomba on the big broad between Lhasa and Hsi-ning, not far from Nagchukha. The party referred to may have come from this neighbourhood, though the Dokpa of that region are not Horba.—(W. R.)

[381] Phamu bub of the maps.—(W. R.)

[382] Jang on the maps.—(W. R.)

[383] Quoting from the Dsamling yeshe, our author says elsewhere that there are here eighteen silver tombs of the successive Phagmodu lama rinpoche.

[384] Trees sprung from the hair of saints or deities are frequently found in Tibet and in other Buddhist countries. The most famous is the “white sandalwood tree” of Kumbum, described by Huc and other travellers. Chandra Das tells us (supra, p. 117) of a juniper within the walls of Tashilhunpo, which had sprung from the hair of Gedun-dub, the first Panchen rinpoche. Explorer Ugyen-gyatso (‘Report on Explor. from 1856 to 1886,’ p. 28) refers also to the Densatil forest. Csoma, ‘Tib. Gram.,’ p. 185, says the Dän-sa tel (gdan-sa tel) monastery was founded in A.D. 1156.—(W. R.)

[385] The Dsamling yeshe calls it Zangri khang mar.—(S. C. D.)

[386] Elsewhere called Labkyi Donma.—(S. C. D.)

[387] From Sangri khamar the traveller turned westward along the river-bank till he came in front of Logang (or Lu-kang-tu), where there is a ferry-boat.—(W. R.)

[388] Nyen on the maps. I find no mention of this bridge in the reports of other explorers.—(W. R.)

[389] Called Chethang by all the other explorers. A. K. calls it “a large town containing 1000 houses, a bazar, a gomba, and a fort,” ‘Report of Explor. made by A. K.,’ p. 83. Explorer Ugyen-gyatso, who visited in October, 1883, says, “Mahomedan shops were found in the market in which wheat and meat soup were sold. It is curious that the lama notes that pork is specially cheap at this place, three annas being the price paid for a pig’s head, and eight annas for a quarter. Radishes, carrots, and yak’s flesh are also sold in the public market,” ‘Report of Explor. from 1856 to 1886,’ p. 27. Nain Singh, who visited Chetang in 1873, says there are 700 lamas in the two monasteries, see Jour. Roy. Geog. Soc., xlvii. 117.—(W. R.)

[390] This legend is told in the thirty-fourth chapter of the ‘Mani kambum,’ and our author gives an abstract of it. I have translated the full original text in my ‘Land of the Lamas,’ p. 355 et sqq.—(W. R.)

[391] Called on the maps Zomba Lha khang (“Ancient Palace”). The name is variously written U-bu la-gang, Ombo lang-gang. See Emil Schlagintweit, ‘Die Könige von Tibet,’ p. 42. It is said to have been built by King Nya-kri tsanpo (IVth century, B.C.?), or by King Totori nyan-tsan (IIIrd century, A.D.). I. J. Schmidt, op. cit., p. 317 (quoting the Bodhimur), says it was called Ombre lang-ti.—(W. R.)

[392] Tag chhen Pomda on the maps.—(W. R.)

[393] The young monk was certainly misinformed. Potatoes were introduced into Bhutan by Warren Hastings, and spread from there into Tibet within the last hundred years. On the eastern border of Tibet potatoes have been introduced by the Chinese and the French missionaries.—(W. R.)

[394] Ras-chung Dorje gragspa, or “Dorje drapa of Rachung,” was born in 1083. This lamasery, which he founded, is also called Ras-chung phug gomba, “the lamasery of the cave of Ras-chung.”—(W. R.)

[395] Probably porphyry.—(W. R.)

[396] This is a common practice in the Nyingma sect. Explorer K. P. found at Thum Tsung (Lower Tsangpo valley) a monastery in which “both men and women are allowed to preach and live together.” He found the same practice in the adjacent village of Bhal gonpa and Marpung. ‘Report on Explor. from 1856 to 1886,’ pp. 9 and 12.—(W. R.)

[397] These blue tiles are certainly of Chinese manufacture.—(W. R.)

[398] For this legend see I. J. Schmidt, op. cit., pp. 21 and 316. Also Emil Schlagintweit, ‘Die Könige von Tibet,’ p. 39 et sqq. Ugyen-gyatso visited this spot in 1883, and refers to this legend, op. cit., p. 27.—(W. R.)

[399] Called Bya (pronounced Chya). It is called Cha Sa on the maps. A. K. speaks of it as “the temple of Chyasa (Cheuse) Lhakhang.”—(W. R.)

[400] Tong-shoi on the maps. A. K. mentions, 1½ miles west of this point, the Gerpa Duga ferry.—(W. R.)

[401] Or Tsong du ta-tsang, according to Ugyen-gyatso.—(W. R.)

[402] This lamasery shares with Dorje-tag, previously referred to, the honour of being the supreme one of this sect. Waddell, op. cit., 277.—(W. R.)

[403] Ugyen-gyatso says that should the married member of the Tertaling family die without issue, “the throne” Lama, in spite of his vows, is expected to marry the widow, and raise up his own heirs to govern. A total failure of heirs is attended by widespread calamities—war, famine, and general disaster. ‘Report of Explor. from 1856 to 1886,’ p. 29.

[404] A. K. says there are 600 houses in Gong-kha Jong and 200 around the Gongkha Chorten (i.e. Gong-kar chosde).—(W. R.)

[405] Chiakri on the maps.—(W. R.)

[406] Called Lingbo chen on the maps. Our author’s narrative is not at all clear in this part. If, as he states, the Re chu (Shab chu) flows by Samdong, the maps are wrong, for they make this river to flow seven miles east of that village (San chong on the map). It is probable that the brook (?) which flows by Samdong is an affluent of the Shab chu, but the maps do not show any watercourse at this point.—(W. R.)

[407] Usually Tibetans drink their chang cold. Heating it is the Chinese fashion.—(W. R.)

[408] Chong la on the maps.—(W. R.)

[409] I am unable to follow on the maps our author’s route from the Chong la to Sakya. He appears to have taken a very roundabout way.—(W. R.)

[410] This, our author has told us elsewhere, is a distinguishing sign of all Nyingma religious and lay buildings.—(W. R.)

[411] Labrang means literally “dwelling of a lama dignitary.” Phodrang is a palace or residence of a secular officer.—(W. R.)

[412] Phagpa (or Dro-gon Phagpa) is said to have been born A.D. 1233, and became ruler of Tibet in 1251. Csoma, ‘Tib. grammar,’ p. 186. The latter date is, however, inconsistent with facts, as Kublai only mounted the throne in 1260, and became actually seated on the throne of China in 1280, and it was he who made him Kuo shih, or “Preceptor of the realm.” H. H. Howorth, ‘History of the Mongols,’ i. p. 506 et sqq., makes no mention of Kublai raising Phagpa to be ruler of Tibet.

[413] Abbreviation of Ponbo chenpo, or “great officer.” The Sakya monastery was founded in A.D. 1071, according to Csoma, op. cit., p. 197. Phagpa was a nephew of the famous Sakya Pandita, the author of many standard works of Tibetan literature.

[414] Buyantu reigned from 1312 to 1320. Ssanang Ssetsen says that the lama Sakya Sribadra was head of the church under him. I. J. Schmidt, op. cit., p. 121. The Saskya-pa sect was, prior to the rising of the present Gelugpa sect, the most powerful of the reformed schools of Tibetan Buddhism.—(W. R.)

[415] A spike of iron or bronze with a triangular section. The top of it terminates in a dorje. It is used in exorcisms. Emil Schlagintweit, ‘Buddhism in Tibet,’ p. 257 et sqq., and Waddell, op. cit., pp. 341, 483, and 488.—(W. R.)

[416] On this lamasery, see supra, p. 66.

[417] Apparently the earrings are attached to the ear-covers of gold, not to the ear itself.—(W. R.)

[418] Called in Tibetan, Ya chyil dung-kar; and in Chinese, Yu hsuan pai-lei. Both nations consider such shells as treasures of inestimable value. There is one in China, kept at Fu chu by the Ti-tuh. See Peking Gazette, February 23, 1867, and one at Lhasa. ‘The Land of the Lamas,’ p. 110.—(W. R.)

[419] “In 1794 the Tale lama, under orders from the Emperor, erected special hospitals for small-pox patients, in which they were supplied with food and every necessary, and which were in care of a special officer.... The same plan has been adopted by the authorities of Tashilhunpo and Chamdo” (Jour. Roy. Asiat. Soc., n.s. xxiii. p. 235). I am not aware that these hospitals are kept up at the present day.—(W. R.)

[420] The marmot is called Chyi (phyi)-wa. Mong I am unable to explain; perhaps it is the same animal which our author calls elsewhere the sremong (sri), and which is smaller than a cat, with tawny hair. The skin, he adds, is much used in witchcraft. The skin is blown up after putting inside it a slip with the name of the person it is desired to injure on it. The victim dies of an inflated body within seven days.—(W. R.)

[421] The Chiblung tsangpo, the Upper Arun, flows through this valley.—(W. R.)

[422] On this lake, see supra, p. 211.

[423] At this point our author’s route joined that which he had taken when coming into Tibet.—(W. R.) The Che chu is the Arun, see supra, p. 42.

[424] Certainly not of their own invention or manufacture.—(W. R.)

[425] I think these “classes” are more theoretical than real, and that these remarks are probably borrowed from some work, based on Indian notions. The idea of caste is un-Tibetan as it is un-Chinese. Rab (rabs) means “family, race, social class.” Rab-kyi rabs means “upper superior class;” Rab-kyi ding, “middle superior class;” Rab-kyi tama, “lowest superior;” Ding-kyi rab, “superior middle class,” etc., etc.—(W. R.)

[426] By “subjects” I fancy our author must mean serfs or tenants (misser).

[427] Cf. Jour. Roy. Asiat. Soc., n.s. xxiii. pp. 228–230. See also Waddell, op. cit., 553.

[428] The information contained in this section has been compiled, our author says, from “a legal work.” I doubt if its rules are in practice. Borche appears to be hbor-wa chye (hyed), “to cast away, to abandon.” Den yo is bden, “truth;” and perhaps gyogs (for yo), “covering of.”—(W. R.)

[429] This would appear to refer to temporary marriages.—(W. R.)

[430] So far as the Khamba are concerned, I think our author is not correct in his statement. That it may have once been as he says is highly probable, but at present it is certainly not so; intercourse with the Chinese has, I believe, caused not only the people of Eastern Tibet, but of all Tibet to adopt to a great extent their ideas concerning marriages between near relations.—(W. R.)

[431] Neither is it in Khamdo. See my ‘Land of the Lamas,’ p. 211 et sqq.—(W. R.)

[432] I hardly imagine that our author intends to convey the idea that this is a custom of the Tibetans.—(W. R.)

[433] See Waddell, op. cit., p. 88. He says the “soul-extracting lama” is called hpobo.

[434] Cf. ‘Land of the Lamas,’ p. 287.—(W. R.)

[435] The tuisol, or “cleansing ceremony” (bkrus, washed; gsol, to pray), is performed on numerous occasions and for various purposes. I suppose that by “relics,” remains after cremation are here meant.—(W. R.)

[436] Waddell, op. cit., 491, calls this sacrifice to the manes of the deceased ting-shag.

[437] Our author is not quite right here, as the Tibetans have borrowed the major part of their pharmacopœia from China and India. Most of their medical works are purely Chinese or Indian, and I do not believe they have much more, if even so much, knowledge of surgery as the Chinese, who are terribly ignorant themselves in this art. Tibetan medicines are in high favour among the Chinese and Mongols.—(W. R.)

[438] This is the usual Chinese method of inoculation.—(W. R.)

[439] Our author was misinformed. Snakes are very rare along the western border of China, venomous ones especially.—(W. R.)

[440] Camel’s milk must be as great a rarity in most parts of Tibet as is elephant’s milk, another remedy much prized in that country.—(W. R.)

[441] Probably the same as the Lo Tawa, or “stripped Lhopas,” mentioned by lama Serap-gyatso, ‘Report on Explor. from 1856 to 1888,’ p. 7. This explorer distinguishes three classes of Lhopas—Lho karpo, or “white Lhopas,” who are somewhat civilized; Lho nagpo, or “black Lhopas,” who are a little less civilized; and the Lho tawa (kra-pa), or uncivilized, literally “mottled” Lhopas. Cf. also, op. cit., pp. 16, 17, and Nain Singh’s remarks in Jour. Roy. Geog. Soc., vol. xlvii. p. 120.

[442] Our author gives the name of this disease as gzah-nad. Jaeschke, ‘Tib. engl. dict.,’ translates this word by “apoplexy,” adding that, in Western Tibet it seems to be used only for “epilepsy.”—(W. R.)

[443] Klu nad, or Klin gnod-nad, meaning that the Nagas brings about the disease. Mje nad is mdje nad.—(W. R.)

[444] These charmed banners are the lung-ta, or “airy horses,” of which mention is frequently made in this work.

[445] This remark applies equally well to all diseases in Buddhist estimation.

[446] Jaeschke, ‘Tib. engl. dict.,’ calls this disease pags chu, “skin water;” snying chu, “heart water;” dmu chu, “dropsy, especially in the chest and belly.” On the medical knowledge of the Tibetans, see Journ. Bengal Asiat. Soc., iv. pp. 1 et sqq.—(W. R.)

[447] In this game, which is an invention of one of the Panchen rinpoches, dice are thrown, by which the players get different positions in the various heavens or hells—(S. C. D.) Our author also mentions a game called te-pi, or rocket, but, unfortunately, does not give any idea of the game itself. See also ‘Report U.S. National Museum,’ 1893, p. 723.—(W. R.)

[448] Chinese authors say that, “during the 7th and 8th moons they (the Tibetans) put up tents along the river banks, and men and women bathe together in the river, it being symbolical of the purification ceremonies of the 13th of the 3rd month (in China),” Jour. Roy. Asiat. Soc., No. xxiii., p. 213.—(W. R.)

[449] On the 29th day of the moon.—(W. R.)

[450] Our author mentions also the following festivals:—

15th of 1st moon: Buddha’s birthday. 15th of 3rd ,, First preaching of the Kalachakra tantra. 8th of 4th ,, Buddha became a mendicant. 15th of 4th ,, Buddha’s nirvana. 5th of 5th ,, Feast of god of medicine. 4th of 6th ,, Buddha’s first sermon. 10th of 7th ,, Birth of Padma chyung-nas (Padma Sambhava). 15th of 7th ,, The snowy mountains are worshipped. 25th of 10th ,, Birth of Tsongkhapa.

Cf. Waddell, op. cit., 502 et sqq.

[451] Known in southern Buddhist countries as varsha or Barsat. Yar is dbyar (usually pronounced chyar), “summer;” and nas (gnas), “abode.” I do not believe the practice is generally observed. Cf. Waddell, op. cit., 224, and supra.—(W. R.)

[452] See p. 114. On the New Year festivities, see Waddell, op. cit., 518.

[453] I have witnessed a number of these kurim, or guilt-offering ceremonies, but none of such magnitude as the one held at Lhasa. See, for a picture of this procession at Lhasa, Georgi, ‘Alph. Tibet,’ p. 212.—(W. R.)

[454] Toma is droma (or doma), the root of the potentilla anserina, and called chuoma in Eastern and North-eastern Tibet. It is mealy, and tastes like a bean rather than a potato. It is about 1½ inches long.—(W. R.)

[455] All these omens of good and bad luck are of equal importance at any time of the year.—(W. R.)

[456] I have seen these mummers in North-eastern Tibet. See ‘Land of the Lamas,’ p. 246.—(W. R.)

[457] On the second day of the new year, all the inhabitants gather together to witness a feat performed by two men, each of whom in turn mounts on a wooden saddle and slides down a strong rope fastened from the fort walls to a post buried about nine feet in the ground. ‘Report on the Explorations of A. K.,’ p. 33. Cf. Jour. Roy. Asiat. Soc., n.s., xxiii. p. 209, and ‘Report on lama U. G.’s Exploration,’ p. 32, where we learn that on the second day of the New Year the Nachung chos-gyong prophesies the events of the year beginning. See also Huc, ‘Souvenirs d’un voyage,’ ii. 375 et sqq.

[458] The monlam chenpo was instituted by Tsongkhapa in 1407. Csoma, ‘Tib. gram.,’ 187.

[459] Cf. lama Ugyen-gyatso’s account of the Shalnyo’s rule in ‘Report on explor. from 1856 to 1888,’ p. 32. Also A. K., op. cit., p. 33; and Huc, op. cit., ii. 380. He calls this rule of the Shalnyo, the “Lha-ssa Morou,” but he says it only lasts six days; but all other authorities agree in saying that the rule of the city is turned over to the Dabung lama for a month.—(W. R.)