1850.] Notes about Winds, Storms fyc. in Thibet. 459 



water "Chii-la." The god of earth " Sahila-mu." There are no 

 temples to, or images of, the spirit of the winds, but he is worshipped, 

 and propitiatory offerings are made to him. All sicknesses are sup- 

 posed to proceed from the gods of the four elements, or to be influenced 

 by them, viz. earth, air or wind, fire, and water ; and they are propi- 

 tiated accordingly with reference to the ailment. The spirit of the 

 winds is invoked in all affections of the breathing or chest ; the god 

 of fire in fevers and inflammations ; the " Chula" in all affections of 

 the fluids, such as dropsy, retention of urine, hemorrhages ; and the 

 god of earth in diseases of the solids, such as rheumatism, tumours, &c. 

 In other diseases not distinctly referable to any one of these four deities, 

 or to the elements over which they preside, the Lamas are first con- 

 sulted, and as they may indicate, so is the deity to be worshipped. 



Sacrifices are not performed in any part of Thibet, either to deities 

 or demons. The propitiatory offerings are merely balls of flour, and 

 water, and are cast away, when offered. Storms always begin in the 

 West, and blow from the same quarter all through, changing only a 

 little to the South or North. They are not supposed to be at all 

 influenced in their occurrences by the time of the moon, as they occur 

 at all periods of her increase and decline. It cannot be ascertained 

 how often they occur in the year, as periodical gales like our equi- 

 noctial ones in India, seem not to be reckoned on ; but once in 5, 7, or 

 9 years, there are many tremendous storms in Thibet, accompanied by 

 heavy snow, when great loss of life is sustained. These storms are 

 called " Kang-mo-chi." There was one in January, 1847, in the 

 district of Dingcham.* They are accompanied by hail when they 

 occur in the spring. Travellers and horses are suddenly over- 

 whelmed in the snow storms from the enormous drift. This occurs 

 principally at the passes of the Himalaya, and sometimes in cross- 

 ing the Kariila, and Kambola ranges. They are generally pre- 

 ceded by peculiar appearances of the clouds which experienced tra- 

 vellers know at once, and no one else can distinguish. My informant 

 experienced one of these storms and describes it as follows,f "I 

 was fortunately in a house when it commenced ; it lasted two days 

 and two nights ; it was most violent during the day, and moderated 

 each night about 11 or 12 o'clock, going on again from daylight with 

 increased intensity until noon when it was at its worst, and about two 

 * See preceding letter. f On the 19th January, 1847. 



