140 HEAVY LOADS CARRIED 
slopes, and do much out-of-door work which the Chinese 
women are unable to do. 
A large 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 River can be crossed in the district. 
The loads carried by the coolies are enormous, and run 
from 200 Ibs. to considerably over 300 Ibs., 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 upper 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 medicinal plants. 
