place them, when evening approaches, at a certain distance from their quarters, with a fire lighted around them, when, by the action of the heat, they burst with a tremendous explosion. The noise is so loud as to be heard at the distance of two miles, which has the effect of terrifying the wild beasts and making them fly from the neighbourhood. The merchants also provide themselves with iron shackles, in order to fasten the legs of their horses, which would otherwise, when alarmed by the noise, break their halters and run away; and, from the neglect of this precaution, it has hap¬ pened that many owners have lost their cattle. Thus you travel for twenty days through a desolated country, finding neither inns nor provisions, unless perhaps once in three or four days, when you take the opportunity of replenishing your stock of necessaries. At the end of that period you begin to discover a few castles and strong towns, built upon rocky heights, or upon the summits of mountains, and gradually enter an inhabited and cultivated district, where there is no longer any danger from beasts of prey.

A scandalous custom, which could only proceed from the blindness of idolatry, prevails amongst the people of these parts, who are disinclined to marry young women so long as they are in their virgin state, but require, on the contrary, that they should have had previous commerce with many of the other sex; and this, they assert, is pleasing to their deities, and that a woman who has not had the company of men is worthless.2 Accordingly, upon the arrival of a caravan3 of merchants, and as soon as they have set up their tents for the night, those mothers who have marriageable

1 The very loud explosion of burning bamboos is well known to those who have witnessed the conflagration of a village or a bazaar, in countries where the buildings are of that material. What most resembles it is the irregular but incessant firing of arms of all descriptions, during a night of public rejoicing, in England.

2 P. Martini, speaking of the province of Yun-nan, which adjoins to that of Tibet, says of its inhabitants: "Personne n'epousoit de fille parmi eux, qu'un autre n'eust eu premièrement sa compagnie: ce sont les paroles de nostre auteur Chinois."-P. 196.

3 This is the second instance in the course of the work of the employ ment of the word "caravan," taken from the Persian kurwân, and adopted into most European languages. (See book ii. chap. xviii.) The Arabic term, which we might have thought more likely to have been introduced by the Crusaders, is kúfilah.

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daughters conduct them to the place, and each, contending for a preference, entreats the strangers to accept of her daughter and enjoy her society so long as they remain in the neighbourhood. Such as have most beauty to recommend them are of course chosen, and the others return home disappointed and chagrined, whilst the former continue with the travellers until the period of their departure. They then restore them to their mothers, and never attempt to carry them away. It is expected, however, that the merchants should make them presents of trinkets, rings, or other complimentary tokens of regard, which the young women take home with them. When, afterwards, they are designed for marriage, they wear all these ornaments about the neck or other part of the body, and she who exhibits the greatest number of them is considered to have attracted the attention of the greatest number of men, and is on that account in the higher estimation with the young men who are looking out for wives; nor can she bring to her husband a more acceptable portion than a quantity of such gifts. At the solemnization of her nuptials, she accordingly makes a display of them to the assembly, and he regards them as a proof that their idols have rendered her lovely in the eyes of men. From thenceforward no person can dare to meddle with her who has become the wife of another, and this rule is never infringed. These idolatrous people are treacherous and cruel, and holding it no crime or turpitude to rob, are the greatest thieves in the world.2 They subsist by the chase and by fowling, as well as upon the fruits of the earth.

Here are found the animals that produce the musk, and such is the quantity, that the scent of it is diffused over the whole country. Once in every month the secretion takes

1 Such is the depravity of human nature, that not only the moral but the instinctive principle may be subdued by the thirst of gain or the cravings of appetite. In his journey through Cooch Bahar on the road to Tibet, Turner observes that "nothing is more common than to see a mother dress up her child, and bring it to market, with no other hope, no other view than to enhance the price she may procure for it." -Embassy to Tibet, p. 11.

2 This thievish character may have belonged to the Si-fan, who border on the Chinese provinces (as it has belonged to most borderers), but travellers describe the manners of the people of Tibet Proper as particularly ingenuous and honest,

2

place, and it forms itself, as has already been said, into a sort of imposthume, or boil full of blood, near the navel; and the blood thus issuing, in consequence of excessive repletion, becomes the musk. Throughout every part of this region the animal abounds, and the odour generally prevails. They are called gudderi in the language of the natives, and are taken with dogs. These people use no coined money, nor even the paper money of the grand khan, but for their currency employ coral. Their dress is homely, being of leather, undressed skins, or of canvas. They have a language peculiar to the province of Thebeth, which borders on Manji. This was formerly a country of so much importance as to be divided into eight kingdoms, containing many cities and castles. Its rivers, lakes, and mountains are numerous. the rivers gold-dust is found in very large quantities. Not

In

1 With respect to the supposed lunar influence on the secretion of musk, Strahlenberg informs us that it is not at all times of the same strength, but "is best in summer, in rutting time, and at the full of the moon."-P. 340.

2 The word gudderi, or any other approaching to it, is not to be found in the vocabularies we have of the languages of Tartary. In the northern parts, according to Bell, the animal is named kaberda, or kabardyn according to Strahlenberg; and Kirkpatrick, in his account of Nepaul, names it kastoora. It is not indeed improbable that gudderi or gadderi (as it is written in the Latin text) may be a corruption of the Persian word kastûri, which is the common term for the drug in every part of the East, and would be used by the Mahometan merchants even on the borders of China.

3 It may not appear likely that the valuable red coral produced in the Mediterranean should have been carried to the borders of China in sufficient quantity to be there made use of as currency; nor is it a substance so readily divisible as to be convenient for the purpose; but of its general use in the way of ornament ample proof is furnished by Tavernier. It is remarkable that to the present day the people of Tibet have no coinage of their own, but are supplied with a currency by their neighbours of Nepal.

Several of the streams which take their rise in the eastern parts of Tibet, and by their junctions form the great rivers of China, yield much gold, which is collected from their beds in grains or small lumps. This is principally remarked of the Kin-sha-kiang. "De tant de rivières qu'on voit sur la carte," says Du Halde, "on ne peut dire quelles sont celles qui fournissent tout l'or qui se transporte à la Chine

.. Il faut qu'on en trouve dans les sables de plusieurs de ces rivières: il est certain que la grande rivière Kin-cha-kiang qui entre dans la province d'Yun-nan, en charie beaucoup dans son sable, car son nom signifie, fleuve à sable d'or." (Tom. iv. p. 470.) "Les Tou-fan,

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only is the coral, before mentioned, used for money, but the women also wear it about their necks, and with it ornament their idols. There are manufactures of camlet and of gold cloth, and many drugs are produced in the country that have not been brought to ours. These people are necromancers, and by their infernal art perform the most extraordinary and delusive enchantments that were ever seen or heard of. They cause tempests to arise, accompanied with flashes of lightning and thunderbolts, and produce many other miraculous effects. They are altogether an ill-conditioned race. They have dogs of the size of asses,2 strong enough to hunt all sorts of wild beasts, particularly the wild oxen, which are called beyamini,3 and are extremely large and fierce. Some of the best laner falcons are bred here, and also sakers, very swift of flight, and the natives have good sport with them. This province of Thebeth is subject to the grand khan, as well as all the other kingdoms and provinces that have been mentioned. Next to this is the province of Kaindu.

appellés Nan-mo, ont une rivière qui porte le nom de Ly-nieou, dans laquelle il se trouve beaucoup d'or."-Mém. conc. les Chinois, tom. xiv. p. 183.

1 În describing the manners of a certain people in the Ava or Birmah country, Dr. F. Buchanan observes that "some of the women wore rich strings of coral round their necks."-Syme's Embassy, p. 465.

2 This may appear to be an exaggeration, but other travellers describe the dogs of Tibet as of an uncommon size. "On the left," says Turner, was a row of wooden cages, containing a number of huge dogs, tremendously fierce, strong, and noisy. They were natives of Tibet; and whether savage by nature, or soured by confinement, they were so impetuously furious, that it was unsafe, unless the keepers were near, even to approach their dens." And in another place, "The instant I entered the gate, to my astonishment, up started a huge dog, big enough, if his courage had been equal to his size, to fight a lion." (Embassy to Tibet, pp. 155-215.) Under this sanction our author must stand excused of hyperbole, although some other accounts do not convey an idea of the same magnitude. "One of them," says Captain Raper, was a remarkably fine animal, as large as a good-sized Newfoundland dog, with very long hair and a head resembling a mastiff's. His tail was of an amazing length, like the brush of a fox, and curled half-way over his back. He was however so fierce that he would allow no stranger to approach him."-Asiat. Res. vol. xi. p. 529.

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3 For an account of this animal, the bos grunniens, see before, p. 143, notes and 2. Of the word beyamini (which does not occur either in the Latin or the Italian epitomes) I can discover no trace. It may be a corruption of brahmini. The animal is said to be called yak in Tartary, chowri in Tibet, and suragai in Hindustan.

ន

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

OF THE PROVINCE OF KAIN-DU.

KAIN-DU is a western province, which was formerly subject to its own princes; but, since it has been brought under the dominion of the grand khan, it is ruled by the governors whom he appoints. We are not to understand, however, that it is situated in the western part (of Asia), but only that it lies westward with respect to our course from the northeastern quarter. Its inhabitants are idolaters. It contains many cities and castles, and the capital city, standing at the commencement of the province, is likewise named Kain-du.1 Near to it there is a large lake of salt water, in which are found abundance of pearls, of a white colour, but not round.2 So great indeed is the quantity, that, if his majesty permitted every individual to search for them, their value would become trifling; but the fishery is prohibited to all who do not obtain his licence. A mountain in the neighbourhood yields the turquoise stone, the mines of which cannot be worked without the same permission.

The inhabitants of this district are in the shameful and odious habit of considering it no mark of disgrace that those who travel through the country should have connexion with their wives, daughters, or sisters; but, on the contrary, when strangers arrive, each householder endeavours to conduct one of them home with him, and, giving up all the females of the family to him, leaves him in the situation of master of the house, and takes his departure. And while the stranger is

1 The city that in point of situation and other circumstances appears to answer best to this description of Kain-du, is Yung-ning-tu, which stands on the western side of the Ya-long-kiang, in about latitude 28°; although from some resemblance of sound we might rather suppose it to be Li-kiang-tu, a city at no great distance from the former, but standing on the western side of the Kin-sha-kiang, above its junction with the former river.

2 I do not find it elsewhere asserted that the lake near Yung-ning-tu yields pearls, but they are enumerated by Martini amongst the valuable productions of that part of China: "On tire encore de cette province des rubis, des saphirs, des agathes avec plusieurs pierres précieuses, et des perles." (P. 194.) The fishery of pearls in a river of Eastern Tartary is noticed by many writers.