July, 1913. Notes on Turquois. 19 



supply from Calcutta, Shigatse from Lhasa, whilst at many other places the people 

 merely said that they did not know where the stones came from, that they had had 

 theirs for years, and that none were to be found in their district or anywhere near. 

 X)espite these unsatisfactory answers, the consensus of opinion leads one to believe 

 that they exist in the greatest numbers in the country situated between Lhasa and 

 the western border of China." 



I am somewhat doubtful in regard to Rawling's point that Tibetan 

 turquoises are worked up in India and find their way back into Tibet. 

 I am rather under the impression that the reverse is the case, as already 

 stated by George C. M. Birdwood ^ that a good deal of Tibetan 

 jewelry is imported into India through Bhutan, Sikkim, Nepal, and 

 Cashmir, chiefly in silver — ornamented with large, crude turquoises, 

 and sometimes with coral — in the shape of armlets, and necklaces, 

 consisting of amulet boxes, strung on twisted red cloth, or a silver chain, 

 and in various other forms, such as bracelets, anklets, etc., hammered, 

 cut, and filigrained. 



I have carefully gone over four volumes of the Trade Statistics of 

 the Government of Bengal.^ Turquois is not specified in these columns ; 

 it cannot, therefore, claim a big share in the trade between Bengal and 

 Tibet. There is, however, a general item: Jewelry, and Precious 

 Stones and Pearls. Jewelry was imported into Bengal from Tibet in 

 1906-7 at the value of 56 Rupees, precious stones and pearls, unset, 

 at the value of 2,923 Rupees. The export of the latter from Bengal 

 into Tibet for the same year amounted to 27,329 Rupees, in the pre- 

 ceding year, 1905-6, to 32,112 Rupees, in 1904-5, to only 12,460 Rupees 

 (probably owing to Younghusband's expedition). I do not know how 

 large a share is due to turquois in these figures.' 



OsvALDO RoERO ^ givcs a list of merchandise imported into Ladakh 

 from the official register kept by the customs of Leh, the capital of 

 Ladakh. Among the products there enumerated he enlists turquoises 

 as coming from Persia by way of Bokhara, the best and most valuable 

 coming from Seistan. The same view that turquoises are imported 

 into Ladakh from Persia through Bokhara had previously been upheld 

 by Alexander Cunningham.^ H. Ramsay ^ enumerates three classes 



' 1 The Industrial Arts of India, Vol. II, p. 28. 



^ The Trade of Bengal with Nepal, Tibet, Sikkim, and Bhutan. Last volume 

 published, Calcutta, 1907. 



' There is a pretty lively trade in turquoises on the part of Tibetans in Darjeeling; 

 the stones sold there come from Tibet and China (via Tibet). In most cases it is 

 possible to discriminate between turquoises of Tibetan and Chinese origin. 



* Ricordi dei viaggi al Cashemir, Piccolo e Medio Tibet e Turkestan, Vol. Ill, 

 p. 72 (Torino, 1881). 



* Ladak, p. 242 (London, 1854). Also in Gilgit the turquois is employed (J. 

 BiDDULPH, Tribes of the Hindoo Kush, p. 74, Calcutta, 1880). 



* Western Tibet: A Practical Dictionary, p. 162 (Lahore, 1890). 



