I20 STINGINESS ; UNCLEANLINESS ; TRADE; 



chief food, but little meat being eaten. Even the 

 rich Tangutan, owner of several thousand head of 

 cattle, will not kill a sheep or yak for his own use, 

 and is so mean and stingy that he \\\\\ deny himself 

 a piece of meat if by so doing he can save a Ian of 

 silver, Tangutans, like Mongols, will eat carrion, 

 and with a relish too. Next to tea and dzamba, 

 their favourite food is tarik, i.e. boiled sour skimmed 

 milk, which is to be found in every tent ; the wealthier 

 classes also make a kind of cheese of curds and 

 butter, which is considered a great delicacy. 



The Tangutans are disgustingly dirty, and never 

 wash the bowls out of which they eat ; the cups out 

 •of which they drink are merely rinsed out after use, 

 and replaced in the bosom where vermin swarm ; 

 lliev never wash the cow-teats before milkinof, and 

 they pour the milk into the filthiest of utensils ; their 

 churn is a piece of raw sheepskin fastened to the end 

 of a stick, with wool and dirt adhering. 



With few exceptions they are no agriculturists, 

 obtaining their supplies of dzamba from Tonkir, a 

 trade centre of some importance. Hither they drive 

 their cattle and carry their skins and wool to barter 

 in exchange for dzamba, tobacco, daba (cotton cloth), 

 Chinese boots, &c., the price of every article being 

 fixed according to the number of sheep it would 

 fetch. 



They are as distinct from the Mongols in charac- 

 ter as they are in a])pearance. They are superior 

 to tlie latter in com-age, tMiergy, and intelligence, 

 especial])' to tlie Mongols oi Koko-norand Tsaidam. 



