HOME-LIFE OF THE THIBETANS. 115 



truth that it would be quite impossible to wash an adult Thibetan 

 down to the skin. The beauty of a woman in Thibet consists in her 

 being stout, broad, thick-set, and heavily membered, and the accom- 

 plishments to be desired are that she should be above all things auda- 

 cious, a good hand at a bargain and at repartee ; in fact, a typical Bil- 

 lingsgate virago, if massive enough, would pass as a Venus in Thibet. 



The ordinary food of the country is barley that, having been 

 parched, is afterward ground and called Tsam pa, or Tsang pa. This 

 meal they moisten with tea made in the Thibetan manner — i. e., of 

 boiled *' brick-tea " buttered and salted — or else, if too poor to use tea, 

 moistened with soup, by mixing it in a cup and working the paste 

 round with the fingers against the side of the cup. They eat this paste 

 soft and moist. Tea made of the filthy " brick-tea," boiled with but- 

 ter, salt being added to taste, and the mixture well churned, is the 

 ordinary drink of the country, soup taking its place among the poorer 

 classes. There are, of course, other kinds of food, but the above is 

 the staple. They have a kind of chupatti, or scone, a common food. 

 They eat flesh, chiefly of pigs, and fowls, but all depends upon their 

 locality and means. They have no established rules, customs, or fixed 

 hours for eating, the nearest approach to a rule being to take what they 

 can get on the spot when hungry. Tea, as stated above, is the chief 

 drink, so much so that it has become the custom to ask people to come 

 and " drink tea," when to come and eat dinner is really intended, and 

 this even in cases where the family is too poor to provide tea, and no 

 tea in such cases is expected. After tea, as favorite beverage, comes 

 a kind of barley-beer called Khiong in the east, Tchong in the west, 

 and then a kind of distilled barley- whisky called A ra. In the past- 

 urages buttermilk is the ordinary drink, and curds and whey, called 

 Ta ra, are in favor. On the days on which they boil their meat they 

 prepare no tea, but use the broth as a drink instead, on economical 

 grounds ; and on broth-days they mix the Tsam pa with broth instead 

 of tea. 



Coming to the Thibetan costume. The men wear the Tchru hay a 

 long and thick woolen robe, sheepskin in winter, descending down till 

 it would drag considerably on the ground if let loose. It is doubled 

 well across the chest and front till the ends or edges almost meet the 

 shoulders, where one edge is fastened under the right arm with a tape 

 or string bow. In dressing, the man, having on his Tchru ha hanging 

 loose about him, holds his sash or belt about on a level with the knees, 

 or a little above them, and this he draws in to make a gather, and then 

 the belt, with all of the robe above it, is drawn up and the belt fastened 

 round the waist. This leaves a large pouch of course, falling over the 

 belt all round, and leaves the foot of the robe about half-way between 

 the knee and the calf. Into the pouch so formed they put anything 

 they have to carry, such as their Tsam pa cup, and even little dogs, 

 and sometimes little pigs. 



