NOTES ON THE ETHNOLOGY OF TIBET 709 



tanned goatskin. In this latter implement an iron nozzle abont 18 inches 

 in length is tied in the skin of one of the legs, the skin is cnt off at the 

 fore legs, and the opening left by the other hind leg is sewed np. The 

 month of the bag is held with the left hand stretched ont from the 

 body, and with the right hand the open end is opened and shnt; 

 when filled with air the right hand is held firmly against the body and 

 the left arm, against which the closed mouth of the bag presses, is 

 lowered, and the air thus expelled through the nozzle. These bellows, 

 called kiimo. are used throughout Tibet in camp as well as in the houses. 

 In some of the lower valleys near regions where the bamboo grows, a 

 simple bamboo tube is used instead, and through it the cook blows the 

 fire, applying the tube against his mouth. This simple contrivance is 

 used also throughout Ssu-ch'uau. 



The Lh'asan iron padlock {dongpa) has the hasp armed with 4 springs, 

 and slides inside the lock until the springs have passed 2 shoulders on 

 the inside which catch and secure it. By means of a forked key worked 

 horizontally on slides along the under side of the lock, the springs of 

 the hasp are i>ressed down from the shoulders and the hasp flies out. 

 The key is quite complex, owing to the number of guides along which 

 it must i^ass in order to move the spring. These guides vary in each 

 lock, and the lock is copied on those in general use throughout China 

 (see Diary of a Journey, etc., p. 281). 



Wickerware is never used among the tent-dwelling Tibetans, and 

 none of that which I have seen in other parts of the country was made 

 by the people'themselves. In Poyul, in southern Tibet, the people of 

 which are not pure Tibetans, very pretty wickerwork is made. PI. 16 

 shows the usual shape of a little covered basket which comes from 

 that country. It is made of white, black, yellow, and red strips of 

 cane woven in diagonal pattern. In shape the basket is cylindrical, 

 11 inches in diameter and ] inch deep; the cover fits over the bottom. 

 I have also seen joints of bamboo covered with similar wickerwork and 

 made in the same country. They are used to keep cWang in. 



The Tibetans in some parts of the country make very coarse crates 

 of a truncated pyramidal form which they carry on their backs; they 

 use them principally to collect dry dung in. The tea strainers pre- 

 viously referred to are made either by the Chinese or by the people 

 living near the Indian border. In the various books of travel to which 

 I have had access, I have found no mention of wickerware in Tibet, and 

 the various names giving different forms of baskets by Mr. Jaeschke 

 in his dictionary {pe-ra, "a flat basket;" gzed-ma, "a box-shaped basket 

 with lid;" tse-jM) or tsel-po, "a basket carried on the back;" bag-tse, "a 

 little basket for wool or clews of wool,") are nearly all i^eculiar to 

 portions of the country in close proximity to India. 



Tobacco. — Tobacco is in general use in Tibet, but probably from the 

 fact that lamas are only allowed to take it in the form of snuff, this 

 mode of using the weed is much more popular than smoking. The 



