1848.] Narrative of a Journey to Cho Lagan, fyc. 549 



the " Sarbachyad" country being barren, Jang-tang. These mines are 

 worked in shafts and galleries under ground ; the gold is found in the 

 pure native state (in silicious sandstone (?) or in quartz rock ?) : it un- 

 dergoes no other process than washing and sifting before it enters the 

 market, and after that requires little or no refining. The metal is some- 

 times found in large masses ; the Lama of Gangri is said to have one 

 weighing 5 Nega, i. e. near a seer, and there are problematical stories of 

 other masses of such supernatural size and shape that the Lamas pro- 

 nounced them spiritually dangerous and insisted on their being consigned 

 to earth again. The raw gold grains, as they come from the mines, con- 

 stitute the main part of the heavy currency of this country, in which 

 there is a great dearth of coined money ; that also arising, I believe, from 

 foolish superstitions and state interferences ; of late years our Bhotias 

 have circulated some of the Company's Rupees in Gnari, but so infa- 

 tuated are the people, that they persist in keeping the exchange of this 

 coin down to four timashis, though its intrinsic value is nearer six of 

 them. The Sar Shu, by the Hindustanis called Phetang, is 8 masa, 8 

 or 9 Rupees worth of this gold, tied up in a minute bundle of paper 

 and rag, which passes for money with the trouble of repeated scrutiny 

 and weighment. 



The Government Mail Establishment for conveyance of Dispatches 

 between Gartokh and Lhassa is styled Tarjum, and the same name is 

 applied to the several stations of relay. At each Tarjum, there is a 

 superintendent of some sort, or one or two horsemen, who are furnish- 

 ed, like all the state requisitions in this province, by roster or some 

 equivalent arrangement from the neighbouring villages or Dung. The 

 several stages are from double to treble an ordin ary day's journey for 

 a traveller with cattle, baggage, &c, that 30 or 40 miles, being propor- 

 tioned to what is considered a day's work for a single man and horse, 

 (the horses being poneys, but good ones.) Under ordinary circum- 

 stances, the post travels by day only, and at such a rate as to make 

 one stage daily, sometimes two perhaps. There are no stated times, 

 probably, for the dispatch of the mails, expresses being sent as occasion 

 may require. The establishment is intended for the Government service 

 only : and if private individuals get the use of it, it must be by interest 

 with the Government Officials. There are 22 Tarjum between Gartokh 

 and Lhassa. These places, being about 10 degrees of longitude asun- 



