Gunsa safely and without the loss of any of his
baggage.
Jai Chand comes from a hill family of good reputation,
is quite a young man, and combines with
pleasant, quiet manners a fluent knowledge of the
Tibetan tongue, and altogether he appeared to nje
to be the right man for the post. I could do but
very little to help him on his way, with the exception
of giving letters of introduction, and handing over to
him the remaining presents, including brooches, rings,
etc., which had been brought as gifts for the Tibetans
on the road.
The whole of this jewellery was hardly worth five
pounds, but the glittering handfuls of Parisian diamond
rings and gilt chains so worked on the imagination
of the coolies who saw the transaction, that fabulous
stories as to the immense wealth we possessed soon
became common talk in the villages of the Sutlej
Valley. These things had originally belonged to Mr.
Wilton, and had been intended as presents for the
Chinese during his journey to Pekin, but when that
was abandoned, everything had been handed over to
our expedition.
For presents, cheap jewellery is almost useless in
Tibet, for the priests are not allowed to wear any
ornaments, and the people know very well whether
the stones are real or not, and whether the metal is
plated. Scarlet broadcloth, scarves, knives and suchlike
things, are far more appreciated and take up
but little extra space. If room is very precious
to the traveller, the bulkier of these articles can be
dispensed with and turquoise ornaments taken in
place. This is the only form of jewellery popular
amongst the people at large, and which is valued
above its intrinsic worth. The rough stones are
bought at the fairs held in the country and conveyed
by the Indian merchants to Amritsar and Delhi,
where they are mounted in gold and silver, and afterwards
reimported. Practically every matrix originally
comes from Tibet, but though inquiries were made
at all the more important places, no information
could be obtained as to the situation of the mines.
The Phari people obtain their supply from Calcutta
Shigatse from Lhasa, Lhasa from China and Leh, and
Leh from Lhasa, whilst at many other places the peop e
merely said that they did not know where the stones
came from, that they had had theirs for years, and
that none were to be found in their district or anywhere
near. Despite these unsatisfactory answers, the
consensus of opinion leads one to believe that they
exist in the greatest numbers in the country situated
between Lhasa and the western border of China.
The newspapers proved so engrossing, that, before
and after dinner, conversation was decidedly spasmodic,
as each one searched for and announced those details
which were to him of special interest. All were
naturally eager as to the progress of the war
though little of importance had occurred, and Port
Arthur was still uncaptured.
Late that night another visitor arrived, m the
person of the dzongpon who had detained Jai Chand.
Ignorance was pleaded with regard to the clauses^ of
the Treaty, and as it was quite possible that he had
not been officially informed, we had to extend to him
our forgiveness. His home, a double-storeyed house
looked upon by the natives as a fort, was at Tsaparang,
on the Sutlej, a few miles below Tooling. Ram bmgh
had visited the place, but was not much impressed
either by its strength or internal comfort. About
1 Or Chabrang.