and bitter cold. Above Bakcham the road ascends
still on the river’s left flank. A village is passed in a
mile, which may or may not be the “ Gob-sorg of
the maps. One man of the valley called it Go-tang,
which seems to be a truer rendering of the name. Here
thick native cloth is woven at a loom, which is so far
interesting in that it probably represents an antediluvian
make still constantly and adequately used by
the old ladies of the valley.
The women of Chumbi think a good deal of themselves,
though to the eye of the stranger there seems
very little distinction between the stunted and dirty little
people of one part of Tibet and those of another. The
head-dress used by them is the usual turquoise-studded
aureole of the province of Tsang. The outer and
possibly only garment* is of the same very thick crimson
dun cloth, tied round the waist with a string [and
fastened at the throat with a plain yoke-like hasp of
silver. This dress is generally patched until it is
difficult to say with certainty which part of it is the
original garment, and it is of course open to more
objections than the presence of inanimate dirt alone
presents. The shoes worn reach up to the knee, and
are made of the same dark red cloth, variegated over
the instep by a streak of scarlet extending down to
the toes. Here the plain tanned yak hide encases it.
These shoes are not uncomfortable, though the entire
absence of any heel makes it necessary that a little
practice in them should precede a long or a difficult
tramp, otherwise the Achilles tendon is apt to make a
violent protest. In face, the men and women are
* These ladies seem to use their outer dress as their dessous when tom and worn
beyond decent use. A g ir l at Bolka had apparently two such under-garments.