140 HEAVY LOADS CARRIED 



slopes, and do muc-li out-of-door work which the Chinese 

 women are unable to do. 



A lar^e quantity of tea comes into Ta-tsien-lu, 

 principally from Ya-chow-fu. It is of a very coarse 

 description, and is made up in slabs about forty inches 

 long, nine wide, and three and a half thick, weighing 

 perhaps twelve to fifteen pounds each, and are wrapped 

 in matting. They are carried by coolies, who travel by 

 way of the Lu-ting bridge, this being the only place 

 where the Tung Eiver can be crossed in the district. 

 The loads carried by the coolies are enormous, and run 

 from 200 lbs. to considerably over 300 lbs., the slabs 

 of tea being packed on a light wooden frame, and 

 reaching high above the coolie's head, the frame having 

 two rope loops at the upj^er end, through which the 

 arms are passed. A T stick is always carried, and 

 when resting, the weight of the burden is taken by the 

 top of the stick, the bottom being on the ground. 

 Bishop Biet showed me an iron safe about two feet 

 high that had been carried from Ya-chow by one man. 

 At Ta-tsien-lu the slabs of tea are cut up into so-called 

 bricks, which are then packed in hide and taken by the 

 caravans to all parts of Tibet. Tobacco and salt are 

 also taken by the caravans, having been first imported 

 from China, and they bring from Tibet for export to 

 the East, hides, deer-horns, musk and medi(jinal plants. 



