bet to sell
their merchandise.

The military stations which the court of Peking has established in the
states of the Tale-Lama were at one time maintained and managed by the
joint authorities of Sse-Tchouen and Yun-Nan. This combination having
been, for a long time, the source of dissensions and quarrels between the
Mandarins of the two provinces, it was determined that the viceroy of
Sse-Tchouen should be sole director of the Chinese resident in Thibet.

Tsiamdo presents the appearance of an ancient town in decay; its large
houses, constructed with frightful irregularity, are scattered confusedly
over a large tract, leaving on all sides unoccupied ground or heaps of
rubbish. Except a few buildings of later date, all the rest bear the
stamp of great antiquity. The numerous population you see in the
different quarters of the town are dirty, uncombed, and wallow in
profound idleness.

We could not divine what were the means of existence of the inhabitants
of Tsiamdo; they are without arts, industry, and, we may add, almost
without agriculture. The environs of the town present, generally
speaking, nothing but sands, unfavourable to the cultivation of corn.
They grow, however, some poor crops of barley, but these are, doubtless,
insufficient for the supply of the country. Possibly musk, skins of wild
beasts, rhubarb, turquoises, and gold-dust, provide the population with
the means of a petty commerce, and thus with the necessaries of life.

Although Tsiamdo is not a place remarkable for its luxury or elegance,
you admire there a large and magnificent Lamasery standing towards the
west, on an elevated platform which commands the rest of the town. It is
inhabited by about 2,000 Lamas, who, instead of each having his small
house, as in the other Buddhic monasteries, live all together in the
large buildings, with which the principal temple is surrounded. The
sumptuous decorations that ornament this temple make it regarded as one
of the finest and most wealthy in Thibet. The Lamasery of Tsiamdo has
for its ecclesiastical superior a Houtouktou Lama, who is at the same
time temporal sovereign of the whole province of Kham.

Five lis from Tsiamdo, towards the frontiers of China, there is a town
called Djaya, which, with the countries dependent on it, is subject to a
Grand Lama, bearing the title of Tchaktchouba. This Lamanesque dignity
is somewhat inferior to that of Houtouktou. At the time we were in
Thibet, there a