726 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1893. 



preceded by a mau in white riding a white liorse.* On arriving there she is received 

 with other ceremonies, especialiy noticeable among which is that of driving away 

 any evil spirits which may have accompanied her from her parents' honse. The 

 mother of the groom advances now toward the bride and presents her with a k'atag, 

 tsamba mixed with butter, ahd ajar of milk. 



There is after this a marriage dinner and the friends and relatives of the groom 

 present them with k'atag and presents, and it is they who supply the provisions for 

 the marriage feast. 



After this a Ronbo priest gives the bride a new name which she is henceforth to 

 bear, connecting it in some manner with the name of her mother-in-law. When this 

 is performed a small piece of wood about 6 inches long is held to the lips of the 

 bridegroom. The bride now sits in front of her husband, and takes the other end 

 of the wood between her lips. 



In the meantime a tuft of wool is placed in the hands of the bridegroom, who 

 draws out the fibers to some length. The bride takes it from his hands and twists 

 it into a thread. This is called the ceremony of the first work of harmonious union. 

 Then the party of the bride separate from that of the bridegroom, and sitting in 

 rows of seats facing each other sing repartee songs. When the festivities terminate 

 the bridegroom dismisses the kyel mi (the men who have escorted the bride from her 

 home) with suitable presents. (Sarat Chandra Das, Marriage Customs in Tibet, 

 Jouru. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, i, 1893, Pt. in, pp. 6-31. t) 



Although the cereinouies in differeut parts of Tibet vary somewhat 

 from the above, they are analogous, as the betrothal and the marriage 

 ceremonies, which are nothing but a long feast, are their essential fea- 

 tures. Chandra Das, in the interesting articles from which the preced- 

 ing facts are derived, describes the ceremonies as they are performed 

 in Ladak, Sikkim, and central Tibet, and I must refer tbe reader'whom 

 the subject interests to his paper for further details on the subject. 



So much has beeu written about Tibetan polyandry that it is only 

 necessary to touch on it here. 



As far as my information goes the husbands of a given woman are 

 always brothers, the elder brother choosing the woman and the younger 

 brothers cohabiting \vith her. Whatever may have been the origin 

 of i)olyandry, there can be no doubt that poverty, a desire to keep down 

 population and to keep ])roperty undivided in families, supply suffi- 

 cient reasons to justify its continuance. The same motives explain its 

 existence among the lower castes of Malabar, among the Jat (Sikhs) 

 of the Punjab, among the Todas, and probably in most other countries 

 in which this custom prevails. 



Polygamy is not uncommon among the wealthier classes of Tibet 

 throughout the whole extent of the laud, and monogamy is, naturally 

 enough, frequently met with, esj^ecially among the Drupa tent dwellers, 

 where it is in fact the invariable rule, I believe.f 



* Among the Mongols it is deemed proper when inviting a guest to one's tent to 

 send him a white horse to ride. 



tSee also Journ. Roy. Asiat 8oc., n. s., xxiii, pp. 228-230, and Alex. Cunningham, 

 Ladak, p. 207. 



tSee, on this subject, Sarat Chandra Das, Narr. of First Journey to Tashilhunpo in 

 1879, p. 34; Col. Edw. Parke in Journ. Authropol. Institute, Vlii, 195 et seq., and Land 

 of the Lamas, pp. 190, 212 et seq. 



