LIFE AMONG THE PEOPLE OF EASTERN* TIBET 



321 



Photograph by Dr. A. L,. Shelton 



A YAK CARAVAN WAITING TO BE LOADED 



The Tibetan yak is not only a reliable beast of burden and a provider of good beef, 

 milk and butter, but also furnishes a fine, silky hair which is woven into fabrics. The yak 

 tail is used as a ceremonial fly-switch and is often represented in Indian sculptures. 



The gold and silver fluids in which the 

 characters were written were made by 

 rubbing the precious metals on a rough 

 stone and mixing the powder with glue 

 water. It was one of the most perfect 

 pieces of work I have ever seen. It was 

 destroyed a few years ago by Chinese 

 soldiers who understood nothing of its 

 value. 



As in most of the world's border lands 

 at times, brigandage is rife in Kham, 

 especially among the nomads. Bandits 

 prey both upon other Tibetans and upon 

 the caravans that pass between China and 

 Tibet, and all travelers go armed. 



where: feuds rage 



Until a few years ago, the most formi- 

 dable weapons employed in this part of 

 the world were the old firelocks of local 

 manufacture. More recently, however, 

 many modern firearms have been intro- 

 duced, with the result that the depreda- 

 tions of the outlaws are now much more 

 serious. 



Rough and but partly civilized as these 

 people of eastern Tibet are, it is natural 



that their conceptions of personal and 

 family honor should lead to the blood 

 feuds that rage among folk of similar 

 development throughout the world. A 

 few years ago I had a particularly dra- 

 matic introduction to their custom of 

 "halen," as they call their feuds. 



I was on a mountain road about five 

 days journey to the south of Batang and, 

 with my traveling companions, was ap- 

 proaching a village early one morning. 

 Before we came in sight of the dwellings 

 we saw a large column of smoke rising. 

 Hastening down the mountain side and 

 through some woods, we found that the 

 house of the headman was in ruins and 

 was a mass of flames. 



Soon we came upon a dead man lying 

 in the road. Farther on was the body 

 of a child, which had been run through 

 with a bayonet. We came upon body 

 after body of men and women — twelve in 

 all. 



The story of the devastation, which the 

 excited survivors of the village finally 

 told us, was this : Six or eight years be- 

 fore, the murdered headman had been a 



