LIFE AMONG THE PEOPLE OF EASTERN TIBET 



207 



Photograph by Dr. A. L,. Shelton 



THE GOVERNOR OP LOWER KHAM, HIS WIFE AND PIPER 



This piper was brought down from Chiamdo, a ten days' journey, for the entertainment 

 of the American physician and his family. The Tibetans have adopted the Scottish bagpipes 

 as their national military instrument. It was startling to hear the piper playing "The Cock 

 of the North," "The Campbells are Coming," and "The Drunken Piper." He played with 

 great skill, for the Tibetan instructors have learned their music in India (see page 293). 



cestry of the Tibetans. This is probably 

 due in large part to the rigid exclusion of 

 men of science and other travelers. The 

 Tibetans themselves dismiss the subject 

 with hopeless fairy tales and legends. 

 One of these has it that the progenitors 

 of the race were "a she-devil of the 

 Himalayas" and an ape from the plains 

 of Hindustan. 



To the lay observer there is no resem- 

 blance whatever between the Tibetans and 



the Chinese, nor are they similar to the 

 Malayans. In features and character- 

 istics they resemble the American Indians 

 more nearly, perhaps, than any other dis- 

 tinct type, although in color and other 

 characteristic features there is an indica- 

 tion that they may have sprung from the 

 original Mongol people. 



Many of the people of Kham are no- 

 mads, who tend their flocks of sheep and 

 yak as they graze over the uplands, and 



