730 LHASA AND CENTRAL TIBET. 



in scjualls and large drops, and in Ma}' and June were frequently 

 accompanied Avitli hail. The clouds generally moved from west to 

 east. 



Temperature o})servations were recorded at dawn, 1 p. m., and 9 

 p. m. for two hundred and thirty-live da3\s. The average morning- 

 temperature was 41.45^ ¥.; 1 p. m., 58.33° F.; 9 p. m./ 48.65° F. 

 December was the coldest month, with an average morning tempera- 

 ture of 18.3° F. ; noon, 34.5° F., and evening, 26.8° F; and June was 

 the warmest month, with average morning temperature 58.6° F. ; 

 noon, 73° F., and evening (53.3° F. The large rivers are entirely free 

 of ice in winter, but the small ones are covered by a thin crust. The 

 soil freezes onh^ at the surface. 



The total population of Tibet has been estimated from the fantastic 

 33.000,000 down to 3,500,000, or even 2,500,000. The most reliable 

 evidence indicates that Central Tibet has not more than about 1,000,000 

 inhabitants. Reliable statistics of the whole population were not 

 obtainable, but it is certainly not verj^ great, for the many narrow 

 liver valleys between high, rocky mountains are unfit for agriculture 

 and could not sustain many inhal)ltants. Besides, the numerous 

 unmarried ascetic ecclesiastics of both sexes, and epidemics of small- 

 pox and other fatal diseases against which the Tibetans are almost 

 defenseless, not only retard an increase, but would appear to gradu- 

 ally decrease the country's growth. More than 10 per cent of the 

 population of Lhasa and neighboring monasteries died of smallpox in 

 1900. Further evidence of the limited Tibetan population appears 

 from the fact that only about 20,000 monks from all the monasteries 

 in the vicinity gather at the so-called "great Monlam of Lhasa." 

 This, remember, in the center of Lamaism, where the principal sanc- 

 tuaries and the higher Tszanite schools are located, which to a consid- 

 erable extent are supported b}^ the government! The native Tibetans 

 call tliemselves Bo(d)-pa, and it is also customary to refer to people 

 according to the names of particular regions. Thus the inhabitants 

 of Tsang are called "Tsang-pa," etc. The floating population of the 

 cities is composed of Chinamen, Ncpalesc, Kashmiris, and Mongols. 



Most of the Chinamen, especially the emigrants from Ssu-ch'uan, are 

 emploA'ed in the garrison camps of the large cities, while those engaged 

 in commerce transact their small trade with the local inhabitants, 

 principalh' the women * * " . 



The Nepalese and Kashmiris, about equal in numbers, are merchants 

 almost exclusively, though a few of the former are artisans. Accord- 

 ing to tradition the Nepalese were for a long time the architects of the 

 temples, the scidptors of the Buddha statues, and the ikon painters of 

 Tibet, and they are still the most expert cloth dyers, and are skillful as 

 gold and silver smiths, from small trinkets to the gilt roofs of temples. 

 The Buddhist Nepalese, in distinction from the ruling caste, Gurka, in 



