Albert Terrien de Lacouperie

“ Great Tibet is broadly divisible into a western region, in which there is a considerable preponderance of tableland over hill and mountain and of lake basins over river basins, and an eastern region, in which the reverse holds good and the surface of the ground is so greatly corrugated that the natives call it rong-rtsub, " a rough country full of ravines." ”

“ Much of Tibet is wholly abandoned to wild animals, and much is uncultivable and occupied only by various wan dering tribes of nomads. The centres of the settled and agricultural population lie to the south, in a region named Bod-yul (meaning Bod-land) by the inhabitants, who are called Bod-pas; by the Hindus it is called Bhot, and by the Chinese Si-tsang. The greater portion of this region is governed, under the supremacy of China, by lamas and gyalpos, ecclesiastical and lay Bod -pas, the principal seat of government being at Lhasa, the chief city of Bod-yul. ”

“ At Lhása (in 29° 39′N. lat., height 11,800 feet) the mean temperatures observed by the pandits were 36° in February and March and 61° in June and July. Southern Tibet is described as being delightful in summer, the land covered with vegetation, streams flowing in every valley, and all nature bright, sparkling, and fresh. But in winter snow and frost reign supreme; all vegetation is dried up; the lakes and rivers are frozen; the roads and footpaths are paved with ice; and cold cutting winds sweep across the surface of the land. ”

“ Trade.Every Tibetan is more or less a trader. Officers for the superintendence of trade, called garpons, are appointed by the king, the ministers, and the great lamaserais. The import and export traffic is carried on by caravans, which, according to the route and its difficulty, employ yaks or sheep. The two great markets are Shigatze (or Digarchi) and Lhasa, where the caravans arrive in December and January from China and Mongolia, Kham and Sze-chuen, Bhutan, Sikkim, and Nepal, Kashmir and Ladak. ”

“ The provinces appertaining to Kashmir have already been described in the article Ladak and Balti (q.v.) . The Karakoram chain, although its principal pass is 18,500 feet above sea-level, nowhere rises very high above the tableland. It constitutes a portion of the water-parting between India and Turkestan, separating the Lingzi-tang plateau, the highest in all Tibet, from the broad and open valley of Cháng-chenmo; it has been traced eastwards to the meridian of 82°, but no farther. ”

“ Within a remarkable basin, surrounded by high hills and enclosing the great Dangra-Yum Lake and a cluster of small but well-built villages, Ombo, are lands which produce a profusion of barley at an altitude of 15,200 feet, a unique instance of cultivation at so great a height, no other cultivation occurring within 300 miles on either side. ”

“ It is crossed at Chetang by a ferry on the road from Lhása to Tawang in Bhutan via the Yarlung-chu valley (right bank) , which is said to be the pleasantest and most populous in Tibet; fruits grow in profusion at its lower extremity and the hills are forest-clad. At Chetang the river is 350 yards broad, 20 feet deep, and 11,000 feet above the sea, and has a sluggish current. On crossing the meridian of 92° 30′ E. it passes out of the province of U into that of Khám and enters its eastern basin. ”

“ Myriads of wild animals—chiefly the yak and the antelope, but also the ass and the camel—roam over the entire region, but mostly congregate in the uninhabited northern portion; their argols furnish a plentiful supply of fuel, without which it would be impossible for travellers to cross the country, as there are stretches of hundreds of miles in which no other fuel is procurable. ”

“ Among the Mongols Tibet was simply called Barontala (the " right side") , in contradis tinction to Dzdntala (the "left side") , which was among them the name of Mongolia. In China, during the Yuan or Mongol dynasty, it was called Wei-sze-Tsang, in which we recognize the names of the two central provinces of Dblls (U) and Tsang. Khachi, Khache, Khaschi, Kashi, are various forms of a term which is often met with in books as applied to a part of the plateaus of Tibet, and which cannot without difficulty be identified in positive geography. ”

“ Bod-skad is the general name of the language of Tibet, which Lanis also occasionally called Gangs-can-gyi skad (i.e. "the glaciers guage. language ") . This name is specially applied to the forms in use in Dblls-gTsang. The vernacular is called p dl-skad or common language in contradistinction to the Kos-skad or book language. Besides the Bod-skad there are two chief dialects [6] in Great Tibet, that of Khams, spoken in the three provinces of Mdo (Darrtsemdo) , Kham, and Gong in the east, and that of Ngari-Khorsum in the west. ”

“ Portions are subject to Kashmir and Nepal, and to independent chieftains, and portions are directly subject to China; but the Bod -pa ethnological element prevails more or less throughout. Tibet was long a terra incognita to Europeans. It is difficult of access on all sides, and everywhere difficult to traverse. Its great elevation causes the climate to be rather arctic than tropical, so that there is no gradual blending of the climates and physical conditions of India and Tibet, such as would tend to promote intercourse between the inhabitants of these neighbouring regions ”

“ Chiamdo is the chief town of the province of Kham, and, being considered a point of great strategic importance, is strongly garrisoned; it has a large monas tery, containing 3000 lamas. It is situated at the junction of two rivers, which are frozen in winter; but in summer the valleys are highly cultivated. Thence the Jung-lam proceeds south-west to the bridge of Shang-ye-Jam (Kia-yu-kiao) over the Giama-Nu-chu here called the Sok river and then ascends to Lhojong (13,140 feet) the Lourondson of the lamas survey where it is joined by the road from Gartok via Zayul and Nagong. ”

“ Western Hor country.The western Hor country lies to the north, on the direct Western route between Ladak and Lhasa; it is a region of extensive Hor grassy plains and numerous lakes, some of great size, and countr y occasional hill ranges, which, though often snow-covered, are of no great elevation above the tableland. It is in habited by nomads—Cháng-pas of local origin and Khampas from the east—and occasional communities of golddiggers and of traders in salt and borax, which are plentifully found on the margins of the lakes. ”

“ A considerable belt of the middle zone is known as the Hor country. The middle and northern zones embrace the greater portion of the region known to Bod-pas as the Chang-tang (Byan-tang, Jan-tang) or "Northern Plain," which, however, protrudes southwards and abuts upon the Himalayas from 80 to 85 E. long., thus interposing a nomad population between the settled populations to the east and the west. The northern zone merges on the west into the Pamir tablelands. ”

“ Silver and gold are the most important articles of export; then follow salt, wool, woollen manufactures, furs, drugs, and musk. By the Nepal and Ladak routes Tibet exports large quantities of yaks tails, borax, gold, silver, and ponies. In 1882-83 the total exports to India amounted to 58,322 (Punjab 17,710, North-West Provinces and Oudh 40,612) . The imports into Tibet reached 24,197 (1530 from Punjab, 22,667 from North-West Provinces and Oudh) . ”

“ The inhabitants of this last are said to have conquered the neighbouring districts and to have even braved the Chinese, but at last to have been won over to Lhasa by bribery. Rongbacha lies in the valley of the Ja-chu and contains the large town and monastery of Kanzego (2500 houses, 2000 lamas; 10,200 feet above the sea) . Beyond it lies, in the valley of the Di-chu, the district of Dar-ge (De-gue) , said to be one of the richest and most populous in all Tibet, con taining towns in which the best jewellery, saddlery, guns, and swords are manufactured. ”

“ Himalayan region.The Himalayan Mountains, which constitute so considerable a portion of the southern scarp of Tibet, consist of a succession of longitudinal chains, running in general parallel to each other along the glacis of the plateau. These chains are much higher on their southern than on their northern faces, and are connected in some parts by trans verse ridges, but in other parts are broken and interrupted by fissures and valleys. The principal chain is the one of high peaks covered with perpetual snow which culminates in Mont Everest, 29,000 feet above the sea. ”

“ In 1811 Thomas Manning made his way from India to Lhasa; he is the only Englishman who has succeeded in reaching the sacred city, and he had soon to leave it. During the 19th century Europeans have been systematically prevented from entering the country or speedily expelled if found in it. In 1844-46 the French missionaries Hue and Gabet made their way to Lhasa from China, but were soon deported back again. In 1866 the Abb6 Desgodins travelled through portions of eastern Tibet and reached Chiamdo (in Kham) , but was prevented from approaching any closer to Lhasa. ”

“ The monkeys began to speak and became men, and clothed themselves with leaves. The interest of this legend, when stripped of its Buddhistic adornments, lies in the fact that belief in a monkey ancestor seems to have been common to various branches of the race. The Tang-chang and Peh-lang tribes boasted also of being descended from a monkey; they were the two great divisions of the Tang-hiang or Tangut, offsets of the same Sien-pi stock as that of the conquerors of Tibet under Fanni Tubat (see note, p. 338 above) . ”

“ Peace and prosperity gradually weakened the benign rule of the kings of this dynasty, and during the reign of the last but one internecine war was rife between the chiefs and nobles of U and Tsang. This state of things, occurring just as the last rulers of the Ming dynasty of China were struggling against the encroachments of the Manchus, their future successors, favoured the interference of a Khoskot Mongol prince, Tengir To, called in the Tibetan sources king of Koko-nur. ”

“ Patna for that passing through Nepal, and Leh and Kashmir in the west. From China come silks of all varieties (Buddhist prejudice not permitting the Tibetans to rear silk-worms and kill them) , carpets, and hardware; from Mongolia leather, saddlery, sheep, and horses; from Kham perfume; from Sze-chuen brick tea (some six millions of pounds annually; tea in leaf is not in use in Tibet) ; from Tawang, Bhutan, and Sikkim rice and tobacco; from Nepal broadcloth, silk, indigo, coral, pearls, sugar, spices, and Indian manufactures; from Ladak and Kashmir saffron and Indian commodities. ”

“ In the lower zone the Indus and the Yaro-tsanpo rise on either side of the 82d meridian and flow in opposite direc tions parallel to the Himalayas, and then, passing through openings in those mountains twenty degrees apart in longi tude, enter India on the extreme east and west. The Lohit Brahmaputra rises behind the eastern Himalayas and flows south-westwards into India. The Giama-Nu-chu, Chiamdo-chu, and Di-chu flow southwards into Burma and Yun nan, through closely contiguous valleys between a system of meridional ranges which project as spurs from the Tibetan plateau. ”

“ The lamas are generally inhumed in a sitting posture, the knees being brought up to the chin and corded together as tightly as possible. In the case of the gyalpos or kahlons the body is burned in a metal vessel, the ashes being afterwards carefully collected to be made into an image of the deceased. Polyandry has been practised from the earliest times, and has been carried by the spread of the race into more genial countries, such as Bhutan. The joint husbands are usually, but not always, brothers. ”

“ To get an idea of the configuration of the ground let any one take a sheet of parchment, crumple it in his hands into many creases, and then spread it out on a table, and he will obtain a map in relief, furrowed with depressions and steep slopes and presenting very little flat surface. ”

“ The conditions which approximate most closely to our present, perfect, future, and imperative are marked either by aspiration of the initial or by one of the five prefix con sonants according to the rules of euphony, and the whole looks like a former system thrown into confusion and disorder by phonetic decay. ”

“ U-tsang.The common border of the provinces of Nári and Tsáng falls nearly on the 87th meridian. Here the Cháng-táng recedes from the Himalayas, and its southern scarp, trending north-east, forms the upper fringe of tracts appertaining to U-tsáng that are capable of producing a single crop annually. The Yaro-tsanpo.This region constitutes the most important portion of the basin of the Yaro-tsanpo, for it contains the chief towns and monasteries of the settled Bod-pas. Cultivation commences on a slight scale where the river enters Tsáng on the west. ”

“ Being ignorant of the use of arms in the chase, they lie in wait for their prey near springs of water or salt flats. They are remarkable for their fleetness of foot; even a horseman finds difficulty in over taking them. Whenever they see a civilized man they run off in great alarm. ”

“ On the west they are described as being short, with an average stature of 5 feet 2 inches, according to the measurements of General Alexander Cunningham; in central Tibet and the east they are of middle stature, rather tall than short, a difference resulting ap parently from their intermingling with the surrounding races. As general characteristics, they are strong, slender in limb, with black eyes slightly oblique, large mouth, brown hair, no beard, a clear ruddy brownish complexion with an intelligent expression. ”

“ Much more im portant is the route which comes from the west, with Leh as its starting point; it runs via Gartok, Lake Manasarowar, Muriam pass, Tadom, and Shigatze to Lhasa. Like the other caravans, the yearly one which follows this route stops several times on the way for local fairs; the districts passed through are compelled to fur nish it with 300 yaks for carrying goods and to provide food for the travellers. The centres for Tibetan trade on the borders are for Mongolia and north China, Si-ning ”