LHASA AND CENTRAL TIBET. 731 



their Kingdom, are called Ba(l)-bo. The}- avoid marriage with Tibe- 

 tans, for such ties mean death in their native land, and they therefore 

 remain permanently in Tibet. The Kashmiris, on the contrary, always 

 marry Tibetans, whom they first convert to Mohammedanism, and rear 

 their children in that religion. 



In administrative matters the Chinamen are responsible directly to 

 the Amban, who resides and officiates at the southwest end of the cit}^, 

 near the ruins of the old city wall. The Nepalese and Kashmiris are 

 subject to their elders, who serve as deputies in affairs before the 

 central government of Tibet, with its jurisdiction. The Mongols, 

 about 1,000 of them, are all monks, and only temporary residents, 

 about 15 per cent of their number changing annuall3^ They are dis- 

 tributed over the various monasteries according to their parishes. 

 The Russian subjects among them in 1900 numbered 17, being Buriat 

 Lamas from the region across the Baikal, with one Kalmuk from the 

 Astrakhan government. They are subject to the monastery regulations. 



The social classes are the nobility, the clergy, and the peasantry. 

 The nobility consists of the descendants of former rulers of separate 

 principalities and descendants of the fathers of Dalai Lamas and Pan- 

 chens, who are invested by the Manchu court with the rank of prince 

 of the fifth degree. 



The princes, together with the monasteries and their parishes, are 

 large landowners, and the peasants are serfs to them. The central 

 government, or the Dalai Lama, owns, of course, more land and serfs 

 than the classes named.' 



There is apparently no distinct military caste. Military service 

 accompanies the privilege of special land grants, but we could not 

 secure detailed information a))out it. 



The houses are of stone or unburnt brick, cemented with clay. 

 Most of those in the villages are one story high, while in the cities 

 they are of two or three stories. The windows are Avithout panes, or 

 hung with cotton curtains, though in winter oiled native paper serv^es 

 as protection from the cold. Fireplaces are used only for cooking. 

 The houses have no chimneys, the smoke escaping as l)est it luay 

 through doors and windows, except that houses with upper stories 

 have roof openings that somewhat alleviate the smoke nuisance, though 

 equally a discomfort during rain. The principal fuel is dry manure 

 of horned cattle and yaks. The clothing is of special design, made 

 from native cloth in various colors. The poor classes wear white, the 

 cheapest color; the richer people red and dark red, the soldiers dark 

 blue, and yellow is used b}' higher dignitaries and princes. Women 

 prefer the dark-red cloth. Of course, other colors are also met with. 

 In proportion to their means, the Tib(>tans dress rather elegant!}'. 

 Their jewelry is of gold, silver, corals, diamonds, rubies, pearls, tur- 

 quoise, and other stones. 



