NOTES ON THE ETHNOLOGY OF TIBET. 707 



The bouses usually eousist of 2 or 3 stories and sometimes of 4. The foundations 

 and lower parts of the walls are built of stone, the upper walls of large sun-dried 

 bricks, 20 by 10 by 6 inches. In the better houses some of the rooms are of consid- 

 erable size, 25 feet long and 18 broad, but they are always very low, the highest 

 not exceeding 7^ or 8 feet. The roofs of these large rooms are always supported by 

 plain wooden pillars. The roof is formed of iioplar spars 5 or 6 inches in diameter, 

 peeled white, and laid only 1 to 1^ feet apart. The beams are covered in with small, 

 straight pieces of pojdar branches about 1 inch in diameter, peeled white, and 

 placed touching each other.* Generally they are laid straight across the beams, 

 but sometimes at ditterent angles, in the alternate intervals, so as to form a pattern 

 like herring bones. The whole is then covered with a layer of leaves and a thick 

 coat of well-beaten clay. The floors are generally of earth, but the better sort are 

 paved with small slit pebbles, about the size of turkey's eggs, set in clay wnth the 

 flat surface upward. Thej^ form a clean, hard, smooth, and lasting floor. 



The principal room generally has a balcony toward either the south or the west 

 from 10 to 20 feet iu length and usually about 2^ feet in width, where the family sit 

 to enjoy the sun in the winter season. The doors are mere rough planks of wood, 

 joined together by wooden tenons, and sometimes strengthened by crossbars fastened 

 by wooden jiins. Purdahs or wadded curtains are also used as an additional means 

 of excluding the cold wind,t but when the doors are shut there is only a dim light 

 admitted into the apartments through one or two loopholes, which are closed with 

 small shutters at night. * * * In Ladak the upper story is usually reached by 

 a flight of earthen steps, but in Lahul by the sloping trunk of a tree notched into 

 steps. (Alex. Cunningham, Ladak, pp. 313,314.) 



Ill the iii(tuiitaiiK»us and well-timbered regions of western Kan-sii, 

 inhabited by Tibetans, log houses of one story are much used, and in 

 portions of eastern Tibet the second story of many of the houses is 

 made of logs. This work is, in most cases, done by Chinese carpenters. 



As regards the houses of eastern Tibet and such other portions of 

 the country as I have visited, there is absolutely no furniture iu them. 

 Sometimes a log of wood, roughly squared, or a low Chinese table is 

 found near the hearth, the smoke from which escapes as best it can 

 through a hole in the ceiling' or by the low door and little windows. 

 Some houses contain furnaces or cooking stoves, similar to those used 

 in the black tents, on which the kettles boil over a dung or wood tire. 

 In others there are large, open hearths, in the center of each of which 

 are three stones to rest the pot on. The simplicity of the nomad is 

 found in all the appointments of the agricultural Tibetan's house. 

 (Land of the Lamas, pi). 191-195, Comp. C. R. Markham, Narrative of 

 the mission of Geo. Bogle, p. 122.) 



The houses of the people of Bhutan dilfer principally from those pre- 

 viously described in the roofs, which are made of " shingles of pine, 5 

 or 6 feet iu length, laid over- a framework and kept in their i>lace with 

 stones. Theslope is, of course, very inconsiderable, otherwise thestones 

 would roll off. * * * The appearance of the houses is precisely that 

 of Swiss cottages. They are singularly picturesque and comfortable, and 



* When a house has been used for a year or more the ceilings become a shining black 

 color from the smoke of the fires. 



t These are also used in parts of eastern Tibet, where they have been introduced 

 by the Chinese. Felt or wadded door curtains are used all over northern China. 



