302 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES. 



Yellow River. The country was several times overrun by 

 Chinghiz-Khan, and on the last occasion (1227) he died 

 in this country. The name is still, we see, in use among 

 the Mongols, but it seems often to be applied to the whole 

 of Tibet. There is something requiring further elucida- 

 tion about this double application of the name. The 

 Tangutans of Prejevalsky are those Eastern Tibetans who 

 are called by the Chinese Si-fan, or ' Western Barbarians.' 

 They inhabit the district of Koko-nor, and extend also 

 along the western borders of Szechwan.' 



The Sifan are divided in the Chinese accounts of the 

 frontier states into Black Sifan (probably the Kara-Tangiit 

 of Prejevalsky) and Yellow Sifan ; the former being derived 

 from their custom of using tents made of black yak-hair 

 cloth. The Yellow are stated always to have a prince at 

 their head who becomes a cleric and wears the yellow robe. 

 Sifan seems, undoubtedly, often to be employed in Chinese 

 for people of the Tibetan race generally ; and I suspect 

 these Yellow Sifan are simply the Tibetans of Tibet, under 

 the Grand Lama, whilst the Black Sifan are the nomadic 

 people of Tangut. 



The language of the vocabulary given by Prejevalsky 

 at pp. 136-138 is evidently Tibetan. And this agrees with 

 what is said in the Chinese papers translated by Grosier : 

 ' The language of Tibet is almost the same as that of 

 the people called Sifan, and differs only in the meaning 

 attached to certain words, and in some peculiarities of 

 pronunciation.' ^ 



The difficulties of Tibetan spelling, and other uncer- 

 tainties of transcription by ear, render it hard for any- 

 one but an expert to make a thorough comparison. But 

 the following examples will show that the language is 

 Tibetan : — 



' Kovalefsky gives ' Tant^hout ; Ch. Sifan .... pays situe avi 

 nord et к I'occident de Chen-si province chinoise ; ' but also ' Tanghoiit- 

 Ichi, connaisseur de la langue Tangoutaine {tibetame).' Delia Penna 

 speaks of Tibet as being called ' Kingdom of Tangut.' 



"^ Desc. Gen. de la Chine; 1785. 410. pp. 150-152. 



