The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 2 eBook

Mr. Cooper’s Journal, when on the banks of the Kin-sha Kiang, west of Bathang, affords a startling illustration of the persistence of manners in this region:  “At 12h. 30m. we arrived at a road-side house, near which was a grove of walnut-trees; here we alighted, when to my surprise I was surrounded by a group of young girls and two elderly women, who invited me to partake of a repast spread under the trees....  I thought I had stumbled on a pic-nic party, of which the Tibetans are so fond.  Having finished, I lighted my pipe and threw myself on the grass in a state of castle-building.  I had not lain thus many seconds when the maidens brought a young girl about 15 years old, tall and very fair, placed her on the grass beside me, and forming a ring round us, commenced to sing and dance.  The little maid beside me, however, was bathed in tears.  All this, I must confess, a little puzzled me, when Philip (the Chinese servant) with a long face, came to my aid, saying, ’Well, Sir, this is a bad business ... they are marrying you.’ Good heavens! how startled I was.”  For the honourable conclusion of this Anglo-Tibetan idyll I must refer to Mr. Cooper’s Journal. (See the now published Travels, ch. x.)

NOTE 5.—­All this is clearly meant to apply only to the rude people towards the Chinese frontier; nor would the Chinese (says Richthofen) at this day think the description at all exaggerated, as applied to the Lolo who occupy the mountains to the south of Yachaufu.  The members of the group at p. 47, from Lieutenant Garnier’s book, are there termed Man-tzu; but the context shows them to be of the race of these Lolos. (See below, pp. 60, 61.) The passage about the musk animal, both in Pauthier and in the G.T., ascribes the word Gudderi to the language “of that people,” i.e. of the Tibetans.  The Geog.  Latin, however, has “lingua Tartarica,” and this is the fact.  Klaproth informs us that Guderi is the Mongol word.  And it will be found (Kuderi) in Kovalevski’s Dictionary, No. 2594.  Musk is still the most valuable article that goes from Ta-t’sien-lu to China.  Much is smuggled, and single travellers will come all the way from Canton or Si-ngan fu to take back a small load of it. (Richthofen.)

[1] Indeed Richthofen says that the boundary lay a few (German) miles west
    of Yachau.  I see that Martini’s map puts it (in the 17th century) 10
    German geographical miles, or about 46 statute miles, west of that
    city.

CHAPTER XLVI.

FURTHER DISCOURSE CONCERNING TEBET.

This province, called Tebet, is of very great extent.  The people, as I have told you, have a language of their own, and they are Idolaters, and they border on Manzi and sundry other regions.  Moreover, they are very great thieves.