The express couriers, or te-tsi, on the road between Lhasa and China are dressed in tight blue-coloured gowns, the tape fastenings of which are tied on their heads, and the knot sealed. They are required to subsist daily on five hen’s eggs, five cups of plain tea, a pound of corn-flour, half a pound of rice, and a quarter-pound of lean meat.[26] They are forbidden to take much salt, and are strictly forbidden to eat onions, garlic, red pepper, butter, or milk. At midnight they are allowed to sleep in a sitting posture for three hours, after which they are awakened by the keeper of the stage-house. It is said that these couriers are in the habit of taking certain medicines to give them the power of endurance against fatigue.[27] The letters are enclosed in a yellow bag, which the courier carries on his back, generally using some soft feathers to keep it from coming into contact with his person. They get relays of ponies at the end of every five lebor.[28] Arriving at a stage-house, they fire a gun as a notice to the keeper of the next postal stage to make ready a post-pony. At every such stage a relay of five ponies is usually kept ready. The courier is allowed to change his dress once a week.[29]
A special class of trained men are employed on this service. The distance between the Tibetan capital and Peking is divided into a [[186]]hundred and twenty gya-tsug, or postal stages, of about 80 to 90 lebor each. This distance of nearly 10,000 lebor is required to be traversed in seventy-two days. Couriers are generally allowed a delay of five days, but when they exceed that they are punished. On occasions of very great importance and urgency the express rate to Peking is thirty-six days.[30] During the last affray between the junior Amban and the people of Shigatse the express took a month and a half to reach Peking.
As regards the administration of justice and the laws of Tibet, the following peculiarities may be noted: Both parties in a suit make written statements of their case, and these briefs are read in court.
The judge has the evidence, depositions, and his decision written down, three copies of the latter being given to the parties concerned. Then he states the law fee (tim tég) and the engrossing fee (myug-rin), both of which vary with the importance of the case, and are borne by both parties to the suit.
The death punishment is only inflicted in certain cases of dacoity (chagpa), when those convicted are sewed in leather bags and thrown into a river.
Offences of a less heinous nature are dealt with by banishment to the borders, whipping, imprisonment, or fines.[31]
Nothing can be more horrible and loathsome than a Tibetan jail. There are some dungeons in an obscure village two days’ journey up the river from Tashilhunpo, where life convicts are sent for confinement. The prisoner having been placed in a cell, the door is removed and the opening filled up with stone masonry, only one small aperture, about six inches in diameter, being left, through which the unhappy creature is supplied with his daily food. There are also a few small holes left open on the roof, through which the guards and the jailor empty every kind of filth into the cell. Some prisoners have lived for two years under this horrible treatment, while others, more fortunate, die in a few months.[32] [[187]]
In cases of murder, there are four fines to be paid by the murderer: first, “blood-money” (tong jal); second, a sum for funeral ceremonies for the benefit of the slain; third, a fine to the State; and fourth, a peace offering to the family and friends of the murdered person. These fines vary from, the weight of the body of the slain in gold, to five ounces of silver, or the equivalent in kind. Should these fines not be paid, the murderer is thrown into prison.
When the murderer is insane, or a minor, aged less than eight years, the relatives or friends are only required to pay the funeral expenses of the victim; the same rule applies if any one is killed by a horse, yak, or other animal, the owner paying the funeral expenses of the person killed.
When a husband kills his wife, or a master his servant, he is required to pay the usual fine to the State and the funeral expenses.