The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-12-08
THE MONGOLS OF Tibet
IN SOME RESPECTS THEY ARE ST.
PERIOR To NATIVE THIBETANs.
Although Dwelling I'm Tents, They
Cannot Always BE Considered
Nomadic-Their Religion.

I"Among the Farthest People" Copyright by
W. c. J. Reidl
A forced march OF twelve hours brought
US shortly after nightfan TO the important
village Of Tcha-Siba, the chief trading CEN
ter of the district of eastern HochOt, COM
ing under the jurisdiction of the authorities
of Lan-Chou, and paying regular taxes TO
the Chinese government, which maintains
here an amban or governor. Settled viii
lagos are more numerous than farther
west, within a radius of ten miles from
Tcha-Siba there being no less than five
important settlements of nearly equal size.
and containing each three of four hundred
inhabitants, all landholders or traders, the
occupation Of grazing resting in the hands
of the nomads. The latter, however, are
but nomads in name; though they live in
tents and hold aloof from the villagers they
never wander far from the district. They
have numerous herds Of very fine Sheep,
, with remarkably white wool, and although
possessing fewer horned cattle than the
rowing tribes. have excellent horses, some
asses, and many good mules. The agricul-
tural and industrial Importance of this dis
trict is considerable; its inhabitants carry
on an extensive trade with the large pre-
f~ectural cities. whittier they export wool
and hides, and receive in exchange tea,
cloth, guns. agricultural implements and
other necessities. Lying as it does midway
between the country of the rowing bar
barians' and the large cities, this town
likewise serves as the medium for the in
terchange of commercial traffic between
these two extremes. The commodities which
the merchants of an-C and G
dispatch TO Hochot and the country of the
upper Hoang-Ho are transported to these
villages on the edge of the nomad territory,
where in turn they are disseminated to the
natives of the latter district over the small
trade routes. Most of this traffic beyond
Tcha-Siba is i~ntrusted TO the hands of the
nomads themselves, who receive a tribute
for this service, a species of indemnity
given TO them by agreement, that is a more
or less arbitrary compromise, for if the
merchants were to neglect TINS prudent pre-
caution, their caravans would be pillaged
by these barbarians, who even under the
present arrangement do not hesitate to sud
denly enrich themselves by appropriating
the goods intrusted to their care when the
inclination prompts or opportunity presents
itself.
THEY ARE POLYGAMISTS.
The natives of Tha-Siba and, in general,
all the Salar tribes around Ho-Chou, are
addicted to polygamy. Many of the prin-
cipal men have three or four wives. and
to these add slaves or concubines; the lat
ter are employed, in addition to their
household duties, in vending merchandise
in the streets, such as butter, tea, etc.
These women are very neatly dressed
their costume consists of d long cousabbee.
or gown, of cloth, reaching to the ankles,
like that worn by the men, except that it
has not large sleeves-and among them
many faces of extreme comeliness may be
seen. Great care is taken in the manner
of dressing the hair, the principal tress,
which is about an inch thick. comes from
the back to the front Of the head, and is
terminated by a piece of comedian or am
Der of a round form and concave in the
center; they put a little cushion under the
tress to support it, and add 10 that orna-
ment several other trinket made of imita-
ton amber or coral. and bits Of cornelian
like that just mentioned. The women of
the richer class have always a great num-
Der of glass beads about their necks and
in their ears, and in addition many wear
silver bracelets and ankle rings of plated
steel. These are made in the country and.
instead of being round, like the bracelets,
are fiat, about four inches broad, and have
curious designs engraved on them. The
slave trade is here carried on openly. and
during our stay at Tha-Siba we saw a man
who was parading about the streets two
women whom he was anxious to dispose of.
These women were not young, but their
master, TO give them the appearance of an
age better suited to the market, had dressed
them in the most elaborate fashion. They
wore fine red gowns, large silver earrings
and each had two or three necklaces of
the SAM metal. They did not appear in
the least mortified at being exhibited in
the streets for sale. but manifested an in
difference easily accounted for by the
degradation to which they had been re-
duced and their total ignorance of the
rights of mankind
I found the Mongol women much cleaner
and more industrious thar the Thibetans.
They dress like the latter in old rags when
not decked out for their promenades in the
streets, when they are the acme of fashion.
but it must be said to their credit that they
take care TO wash them and likewise be-
lieve that water should be applied to their
bodies. That they are practical as we'll
as ornamenta is proved by the fact that
they superintend all the household con-
Germs, prepare the food, take care of the
sheep, and have, besides, the labOrious
task of looking after the financial affairs
of their lords and masters. In fact, MANY
of the local brokers for the Chinese trad
ers are women, who are possessed of a
shrewdness and commercial keenness