202 OPINIONS ON BUTTERED TEA. 



been not very recently devoted to this service. 

 The officers who had entered with us were not 

 permitted to partake of this repast ; and, but for 

 the honour of it, we would willingly have declined 

 so flattering a distinction." * 



In another part this author states — "Our Ti- 

 betan friends gave a preference to the buttered tea, 

 but we chose an infusion of rice, and drank deeply 

 from a cauldron of it, around which we sat, upon 

 the sod. Our grooms and other humble attendants 

 imitated the example, forming different groups, in 

 whifh their cups and pipes very cheerfully circu- 

 lated." f 



It so happened, however, that this dire aversion 

 to buttered tea was soon converted into an opposite 

 feeling ; and, finally, Capt. Turner acknowledged in 

 these words — " That habit had not only rendered 

 this composition agreeable to our tastes, but ex- 

 perience most fully proved that warm liquids, at 

 all times, contribute to alleviate the sensation of 

 fatigue. I was never more disposed to praise the 

 comfortable practice of the country, having con- 

 stantly observed that the first object of attention 

 with every man at the end of a long journey is to 

 procure himself a dish of hot tea." J 



It may here be remarked that Mr. Turner's dis- 

 gust, no doubt, arose simply from a feeling of dis- 

 appointment or incompatibility often experienced 



* Turner's Embassy to the Teshoo Lama, p. 69. 

 t lb. p. 180. % lb. p. 195. 



