The Goodland republic., 1899-06-16
ODD CORNER OF EARTH
sAmonE the HImaIayas7 Reveals
Curious Customs Of Strange
Peoples

Curious Customs Of Strange
Peoples
A most amusing part Of Maj L A.
WaddeI's new book, among the Him
aIavas" New Amsterdam Book com
pany), is that which deals with the Gus
toms Of the natives, Nepalese, GOOTkhas
and Lepehas, who abide in the grandest
part Of the grandest mountains in the
world
He tells Of a native beer brewed by
the Lepchas from miIlet and called
murva- The fermented grain is put
into a Jug formed by cutting OF joint
Of the giant bamboo, and this jug is
then filled I'D with hot water. The
liquor is imbibed by slipping it up
through a thin reed like a straw. It is
described as tasting Ike weak whisky
toddy or rum punch, with pleasant
aciditv, and il is milder than English
beer or ale.
It IS the wine Of the country and is
food as much as q drink. The men,
women and children delight to sip IT at
all times from morning till night Even
the priests, or Iamas, are so addicted to
this beverage that they sip 1t in their
temples, and never can travel far with
out an attendant carrying a store Of 1t.
A common sight is to see a monk going
his rounds slipping a jug Of this beer as
a solace to his pessimistic dogma that
'aII life is misery" for he then is able
to contemplate the world with full ap-
PrOval.
An old Lepcha woman once presented
the major with some eggs. He learned
later that a present Of eggs may be en-
barrassing in Silzhim, for it is com
mon way Of proposing marriage, and
the acceptance Of the basket Of eggs by
the object Of ones affections settles the
question.
The sister Of the present rajah or
king Of Sikhim, when she visited Oar
jeeEng for the first time, was 50 caPti-
waited by the charms Of a certain Euro
pean that she wished to marry him.
So when he accepted her present OF
eggs she bluntly asked him TO marry
her, and she was made to understand
only with difficulty that he already had
a wife and could not. according to Euro
pean customs, take another.
The offer Of marriage from a woman
,
the Thibetans. who are mostly pOlyan-
drists- In Sikhimitis usuaIlya a fraternal
pOlvandry-that is to say, the conjOint
husbands are usually brothers. The
practice is that If the eldest brother
marries his wife is the joint wife Of al
the brothers, while If the second broth
er marries then his wife is common only
to the second and younger brothers,
and not 10 the elder. An exception 70
this rule, however, is the present queen
Of SiEhin, who was originally married
TO the younger half-brOther Of the pres
ent king, and she is now the joint wife
OF both. But as the present king re-
joices in the title Of 1.-The Almighty
Necromancer' he probably possesses
special privileges.
The explorer describes how, when he
was about to enter the village Of La
chOOng, his party were met outside Of
the village by a party Of the inhab-
itants, led by the head man, who pre-
sented a scarf and saluted in Thibetan
style, pressing forward his right ear
and putting out his tongue IN his most
polite way. This form Of salutatiOn is
one of the best illustrations possible Of
the kind which Herbert Spencer classes
as expressing the self-surrender Of the
person saluting to the person he sa-
lutes, but it has never been properly de-
scribed. There is no scratching Of the
ear, as stated by Hue and the writer's
following him. In addition to the un-
covering and low bow Of prOstratiOn,
and the abject putting out of the
tongue, the Tibetan presses forward his
left ear. This is in accordance with the
Chinese custom of cutting of the left
ears of all prisoners taken in war and
presenting them to the victorious chief.
The presentation of the scarf Of
white Chinese silk is an essential part
Of Tibetan courtesy. Not only is this
necessary in paying formal visits, but
no favor can be asked Of a superior
without It, and scarfs form the en-
velOpes for all important letters. So
extensively, indeed, are these articles
used IN Tibet that their importation
forms a considerable trade with China
Chicago Times-Herald.