JOURNEY TO LHASA AND CENTRAL TIBET.
25
two old women here and there turning the prayer-wheels outside the temple. Ascending two flights of ladder-stairs, we entered the lama's house. He and his ani[1] received us most kindly, and the latter asked me for some medicines for the old gentleman, who was suffering with dyspepsia (pakan).
A Lepcha Soldier.
Returning to our lodgings, we found that the lock of the bag in which I kept my money had been tampered with, but I did not
- ↑ 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.)
