On These
Occasions The Handsomest Are Chosen, And Those Who Are Rejected Return Home
Sorrowful And Disappointed.
The strangers are not permitted to carry away
any of these willing damsels, but must restore them faithfully to
Their
parents; and at parting the girl requires some toy or small present, which
she may shew as a token of her condition; and she who can produce the
greatest number of such favours has the greatest chance of being soon and
honourably married. When a young woman dresses herself out to the best
advantage, she hangs all the favours she may have received from her
different lovers about her neck, and the more acceptable she may have been
to many such transitory lovers, so much the more is she honoured among her
countrymen. But after marriage they are never suffered to have intercourse
with strangers, and the men of the country are very cautious of giving
offence to each other in this matter.
The people of this country are idolaters, who live by hunting, yet
cultivate the ground, and are much addicted to stealing, which they account
no crime; they are clothed in the skins of wild beasts, or in coarse hempen
garments, having no money, not even the paper money of the khan, but they
use pieces of coral instead of money. Their language is peculiar to
themselves. The country of which we now speak belongs to Thibet, which is a
country of vast extent, and has been some time divided into eight kingdoms,
in which are many cities and towns, with many mountains, lakes, and rivers,
in some of which gold is found.
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