Leh 1 79 



were few, but made up for this by tremendous 

 exertions. The instruments were drums and 

 clarionets, the latter most elaborately made of 

 wood, overlaid with silver and encrusted with 

 turquoises and corals. 



The evening's programme began with a Ladaki 

 dance, in which all the performers were of the 

 fair sex. The coryphe'es, some twenty in number, 

 varied in age from young unmarried girls to 

 agile old dames of sixty and even more. I use 

 the word dance for lack of a better term, but 

 there was little about the performance of what 

 we imagine to have been the art of Terpsichore. 

 The women followed one after another in a 

 circle a stumble followed by a lurch the 

 pace gradually increasing till about " two-step" 

 time was reached. The hands, as in all Eastern 

 dances, were continually in motion usually pick- 

 ing up or proffering flowers, or some such symbolic 

 action. There was also a curious shifting of the 

 cloak from one shoulder to the other, that had, 

 no doubt, some significance. All wore the pictur- 

 esque national costume, a scarlet cloak lined and 

 edged with white sheepskin, and below divided 

 skirts tucked into long Tibetan boots. At the 

 waist, a large round buckle of silver or brass sup- 

 ported a chatelaine of miscellaneous odds and ends. 

 The head - dress consisted of a long triangular 



