712 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1893. 



workmansliip ; the leather used is red Kussiau {hvlgarm Tibetan), aud 

 tlie metal work very higlily fiuished and thickly gilt.* 



The Tibetan sword.is oftwo kinds. Both^are straight and of iron, but 

 in one kind the extremity of the blade runs to a sharp point; in the 

 other (copied from the Chinese) the point is oblique, like the Japanese 

 and Chinese swords. The average length of the blade of Tibetan 

 swords is 2a inches. Fig. 3 of pi. 22 shows a flue sword of the latter 

 pattern, made in Poyul. The hilt is covered with shagreen, and 

 in the pommel, which is of iron, wires of brass and copper have 

 been set in the metal. The scabbard is of wood covered with shagreen 

 and plain bands of silver extend half its length. The upper half 

 of the scabbard is covered with red cloth, a strap fastened to the 

 scabbard near the hilt passes around the wearer's waist, and the sword 

 is worn in front of the person, as are nearly all Tibetan swords. In 

 Lit'ang, Ch'amdo aud a few other localities, however, a variety of sword 

 is made which is worn in Chinese fashion, hanging from the left side 

 (see Diary of a Journey, etc., p. 330), but the usual Tibetan mode of 

 carrying a sword is passed in the belt in front so that the right hand 

 rests on the hilt. Fig. 2 represents a sword with a rough wooden 

 scabbard, and was manufactured in the Horba country, in eastern 

 Tibet. It is in shape like the preceding. 



In Land of the Lamas (p. 257) is figured a fine sword of Derge make. 

 The scabbard and hilt are highly ornamented with.repoMsst' silver work, 

 in which are set coral beads. The edges of the scabbard are protected 

 by a rim of iron. This style of sword is the most highly prized of any 

 in Tibet, and large sums of money ($100 to $150) are frequently paid 

 for them. (PI. 22, fig. 1.) 



The Tibetan matchlock gun {me-da or ^j^^o; the latter is a Chinese 

 term) has a barrel about 48 inches long with a half-inch bore. The 

 stock is of wood, sometimes covered with wild ass skin, and extends to 

 near the muzzle of the barrel. This gnn aud the accouterments to be 

 described are shown on pi. 23. A wooden ramrod fits in the stock, 

 and the barrel is fastened into it by either rawhide thongs or brass 

 wire. Through the stock, about 6 inches behind the breech of the gun, 

 passes a trigger, the upper end of which is forked so as to hold a slow- 

 match of plaited cottoii soaked in powder and then dried. The lower 

 end of the trigger projects slightly beyond the lower side of the stock 

 so that the match can be depressed onto the pan. The unused part 

 of the slow-match is held in a leather case on the right side of the 

 stock from which it i)asses out by a small iron tube. It is held firm in 

 the fork of the trigger by a strap fixed'on the left side of the stock to 

 a small ring. The powder in the pan is in like fashion protected by a 

 leather cover. Attached to the muzzle of the gun by a bolt is a long 

 wooden fork [ra-jo) with iron or antelope horn tips. When the gun is 



*See also Capt. Turner's remarks, p. 714 of the present paper. 



