Among the great people there is a drinking of tea from morning till night. The lower class of people and the laymen will smoke eighty or a hmidred pipes of tobacco in a day:[1] and they hold this but a small quantity indeed. They also drink brandy distilled from wheat, though seldom to excess. The priests are forbidden the use of both. They often trespass, however, in smoking, not in drinking.
The servants and peasants wear horizontal caps made of locks of sheep's wool dyed yellow. They are like the Scotch boDnets but much larger. I never saw one above three feet in diameter. The women, in the winter time, cover their heads with small rough caps of the same materials. Sometimes they dye them a deep blood red. It has a droll appearance. Paima's dress may serve as a specimen of that of the inferior class of men. The higher laymen wear tunics of satin, brocaded or plain, lined with sheep and lamb skins, or Siberian furs; a round cap faced with fur, and crowned with a silk tassel, and Bulgar hide boots. Ked broadcloth tunics are also far from uncommon. The women wear a jacket, and petticoat reaching a little below the knee, of coarse blanket, of serge striped or plain, or of Chinese satin, according to their condition; Tatar stockings soled with leather, and gartered under the knee. When dressed they have a piece of cloth thrown cloak-like over their shoulders. All ranks of them are at great pains in adorning their heads; plaiting their hair neatly enough with coral and amber beads, bugles, or pearls; they wear also necklaces of them, where the pieces of amber are sometimes as large as a hen's egg. The quantity of the two first kinds of beads that is on the head, even of a peasant's wife or daughter, is amazing. The two last sorts fall to the share only of the ladies.
It is not only uncomportable in this cold climate of Tibet, but directly contrary to the custom of the country for the inhabitants, whether male or female, high or low, ever to wash their hands or face. It is, therefore, difficult to determine with precision the complexion of the Tibetans. They are in general, I think, much darker than the Deb Rajah's subjects. Paima's hue, however, is
among the blackest I have seen. They are also far from being so
- ↑ Of tobacco also the supply is scanty and dear; and for this commodity, too, a great outlet might be found in Tibet, were the artificial obstacles removed.
