Tibet, especially the central part, is a country of lakes, in this respect resembling Cobdo. The largest, Tengkiri-nor, situated in the midst of stupendous mountains, about one hundred and ten miles northwest of H’lassa, is over a hundred miles long and about thirty wide. The region north of it contains many isolated lakes, most of them salt. Two of the largest, the Bouka and Kara, are represented as connected with the River Nu. Lake Khamba-la, Yamoruk or Yarbrokyu, sometimes called Palti, from a town on its northern shore, is a large lake south of H’lassa, remarkable for its ring shape, the centre being filled by a large island, around which its waters flow in a channel thirty miles or more in width. On the island is a nunnery, called the Palace of the Holy Sow, said to be the finest in the country. In Balti or Little Tibet are many sheets of water, the largest of which, the Yik and Paha, are connected by a river flowing through a marshy country. A long succession of lakes fill one of the basins in Katsche, suggesting the former existence of another Aral Sea. The sacred lakes of Manasarowa and Ravan-hrad (Mapam-dalai and Langga-nor, of the Chinese) form the headwaters of the Sutlej.
CLIMATE, FOOD AND PRODUCTIONS.
The climate of Tibet is characterized by its purity and excessive dryness. The valleys are hot, notwithstanding their proximity to snow-capped mountains; from May to October the sky is clear in the table-lands, and in the valleys the moisture and temperature are favorable to vegetation, the harvest being gathered before the gales and snows set in, after October. The effects of the air resemble or are worse than those of the kamsín in Egypt. The trees wither, and their leaves may be ground to powder between the fingers; planks and beams break, and the inhabitants cover the timbers and wood-work of their houses with coarse cotton, in order to preserve them against the destructive saccidity. The timber neither rots nor is worm-eaten. Mutton, exposed to the open air, becomes so dry that it may be powdered like bread; when once dried it is preserved during years. This flesh-bread is a common food in Tibet. The carcass of the animal, divested of its skin and viscera, is placed where the frosty air will have free access to it, until all the juices of the body dry up, and the whole becomes one stiffened mass. No salt is used, nor does it ever become tainted, and is eaten without any further dressing or cooking; the natives eat it at all periods after it is frozen, and prefer the fresh to that which has been kept some months. The food called jamba is prepared by cooking brick tea during several hours, then adding butter and salt, and stirring the mixture until it becomes a thick broth. When eaten the stuff is served in wooden bowls, and a plentiful supply of roasted barley-meal poured in, the whole being kneaded by the hands and devoured in the shape of dough pellets.
Domesticated Yak.
The productions of Tibet consist of domestic animals, cattle, horses, pigs; some wild animals, such as the white-breasted argali, orongo-antelope, ata-dzeren, wolf, and steppe-fox; and few plants or forests, presenting a strong contrast with Nípal and Butan, where vegetable life flourishes more luxuriantly. Sheep and goats are reared in immense flocks, for beasts of burden over the passes, and for their flesh, hair, and coats. Chiefest among the animals of this mountain land is the yak.[137] The domesticated variety, or long-haired yak, is the inseparable companion and most trusty servant not only of the Tibetans, but of tribes in Cashmere, Ladak, Tangout, and Mongolia, even as far north as Urga. It is a cross-breed, or mule from the yak bull and native cow, which alone is hardy enough for these elevated regions.[138] These creatures are of the same size as our cattle, strong, sure-footed and possessed of extraordinary endurance; they retain, however, something of their wild nature, even after long domestication, and must be carefully treated, especially when being loaded and unloaded. They thrive best in hilly countries, well watered and covered with grass—the two last being indispensable. The hair is black or black and white, seldom entirely white. One sort is without horns, and when crossed with the cow bears sterile males, or females which are fertile for one generation. As to the wild yak of Tibet, a traveller says: “This handsome animal is of extraordinary size and beauty, measuring, when grown, eleven feet in length, exclusive of its bushy tail, which is three feet long; its height at the hump is six feet; girth around the body eleven feet, and its weight ten or eleven hundred weight. The head is adorned with ponderous horns, two feet nine inches long, and one foot four inches in circumference at the root. The body is covered with thick, black hair, which in the old males assumes a chestnut color on the back and upper parts of the sides, and a deep fringe of black hair hangs down from the flanks. The muzzle is partly gray, and the younger males have marks of the same color on the upper part of the body, whilst a narrow, silvery-gray stripe runs down the centre of the back. The hair of young yaks is much softer than that of older ones; they are also distinguishable by their smaller size, and by handsomer horns, with the points turned up. The females are much smaller than the males, and not nearly so striking in appearance; their horns are shorter and lighter, the hump smaller, and the tail and flanks not nearly as hairy.”[139] This animal is useful for its milk, flesh, and wool, as well as for agricultural purposes and travel.
ANIMALS OF TIBET.
There is comparatively little agriculture. The variety of wild animals, birds, and fishes, is very great; among them the musk deer, feline animals, eagles, and wild sheep, are objects of the chase. The brute creation are generally clothed with an abundance of fine hair or wool; even the horses have a shaggier coat than is granted to bears in more genial climes. The Tibetan mastiff is one of the largest and fiercest of its race, almost untamable, and unknown out of its native country. The musk deer is clothed with a thick covering of hair two or three inches long, standing erect over the whole body; the animal resembles a hog in size and form, having, however, slender legs. The Tibetan goat affords the shawl wool, so highly prized for the manufacture of garments.[140]