OCCUPATION; FOOD AND BEVERAGES. 119 



known to the Tangiitans in Kan-su is the span of 

 their arms ; so that the measurement of the piece, 

 and therefore the price to be paid for it, depends on 

 the stature of the buyer ! 



The sole occupation of the Tangutan is tending 

 cattle ; this is some break to the absolute idleness 

 to which he gives up his whole life. For hours 

 together grown-up men and women and children sit 

 round the hearth doing literally nothing but drink 

 tea, which is as indispensable to them as it is to 

 the Mongols. In the Tangut country, where, in 

 consequence of the Dungan disturbances, the price 

 of brick tea has considerably risen, dried yellow 

 onion heads are used as a substitute, after under- 

 going a process somewhat similar to the preparation 

 of tobacco. This ' tea ' is chiefly manufactured at 

 Tonkir,^ and gets its name from that place. The 

 natives drink large quantities of this nasty decoction, 

 mixed with milk. A tea-kettle is simmering all day 

 long on the hearth, and tea-drinking goes on at least 

 ten times a day, guests being always invited to join. 



Dzamba (barley- meal) is invariably mixed in the 

 tea ; a small quantity being put into a cup half filled 

 with tea, and stirred with the finger, till it thickens 

 into the consistency of paste. To this mess curds are 

 sometimes added by way of a relish, but only by 

 the rich ; the poor have to content themselves with 

 tea and dzamba. This diso'ustine mess is their 



* This town is thirteen miles WNW. of Si-nin;;. [It is evidently 

 the Tang-kcu-eul of Pere Hue, which no doubt is the pronunciation of 

 the Chinese characters representing the name. — Y.] 



