Tibetan Woman using a Sling for throwing Stones
They possess a long barrel, not always perfectly straight nor cylindrical; they are smooth-bore, the explosion being caused by a primitive fuse attachment which, when lighted by means of a flint and steel, applies the fire to a small cup of gunpowder at the side of the barrel. They have a peep-hole [[159]]sight, but this is absolutely devoid of mathematical accuracy, and the bullets and gunpowder used by the Tibetans are home-made and of inferior quality. Pebbles, or small pieces of iron, are frequently used for ammunition. A movable prop is necessary in order to enable the long weapon to be held in a horizontal position, and this should in a way facilitate accurate shooting. Apart from the various faults of the matchlocks themselves, an additional difficulty arises in Tibet even when firing with more perfected weapons. Shooting at great altitudes, it may be pointed out, involves special sighting of one’s rifle; the variation in the trajectory of a projectile being considerable, at 15,000 or 16,000 feet above sea-level, owing chiefly to the rarefied air. The clearness of the atmosphere also prevents the correct estimate of range. For instance, with my ·256 Mannlicher rifle, with the usual sight at 100 yards, it was necessary at that altitude to aim about a foot lower than the target in order to make a bull’s eye.
When people get to high elevations for the first time, and until they have the cause explained to them, or learn it for themselves, this is a constant puzzle, and frequently leads to the condemnation of a good weapon. [[160]]
It must be said for the Tibetan that his eye is generally fairly accurate and his hand steady, and with bows and arrows I have seen some archers make quite creditable performances. These are, however, now looked upon as obsolete weapons by the natives. The soldiers as well as civilians are armed with matchlocks.
Men and women in Tibet are extremely skilful in the use of a rope sling, which they always carry about their person, and with which they can fling stones long distances with great precision. It is not uncommon, as I have said, to see them strike in this manner a picked recalcitrant sheep in a large flock, or a distant yak which they want to drive to camp. Even children, through constant practice, are adepts at stone-throwing.
Tibetan Games. Stone-Throwing
All over Asia, as we have seen, is found the ancient custom of “stone-fighting,” either as a sport or to settle disputes between factions; and although in Tibet these combats do not assume such gigantic proportions as in Corea, for instance, where thousands of combatants are engaged in fierce fights, still in the Forbidden Land, too, there is plenty of scope for broken skulls and bruises. The battles are generally fought between the male members of two or more rival families, [[161]]and seldom between large factions or guilds, except in big towns such as Lhassa or Shigatz, where these stone fights occasionally assume alarming proportions. They are undoubtedly a speedy and practical method of settling controversies among rival families, besides affording some considerable amusement and excitement to the gathered crowd of spectators watching the progress of the combat well out of range of the missiles.
Stone-throwing in a different form, as a sport, is indulged in on festive occasions by young men. Some large rocks, more or less spherical, and some 30 to 50 lbs. in weight, being collected, and the participants in the game having divested themselves of their heavy coats, which are left hanging from their waistbands, the rocks are lifted and swung over the head and flung some considerable distance, often ten or twelve yards, either into an appropriate hole or near a mark-stone. This exercise generally takes place near a mani wall, such as is represented in the illustration in this book. Another form of the same game consists in kicking to or near a particular spot a small stone with the instep of one’s foot, swinging one’s stiffened leg as if it were a golf-club.
Wrestling is one of the few other sports noticeable [[162]]in Tibet. It is, however, not commonly indulged in, and is done according to no rules. It is, in fact, in the “catch as catch can” style, with additional biting and vicious kicking until the victor can firmly hold the helpless vanquished flat under him.