there has not been for some years, but the system
of an enrolled militia still continues, and men are
liable to service at a moment’s notice and, when
called, are bound to appear mounted with gun and
spear. The militia is not infrequently called out
for the suppression of dacoity, or for the pursuit of
dacoits and recapture of stolen property. The danger
from dacoits is a real one in Tibet. These dacoits
or Jykpas are a lawless body of men, with their hand
against every man and every man’s hand against
them; but so great is the power they have, and so
great is the terror that their name inspires, that there
appears to be no systematic attempt made to put
them down. They rob Tibetan officials, Bhotia or
Lhasan merchants, and pilgrims of every country,
and have no respect for the person or the property
of any. They come to the trading-posts and engage
in trade, they enter the holiest shrines and offer prayer,
and give the richest gifts to the monasteries, and yet
no hand is put forth to arrest them or bring them to
justice. Occasionally, after some more than ordinarily
brutal act of violence, the militia is called out to inflict
some form of summary punishment; but apart
from this no organised attempt is made to suppress
them, and unquestionably, as the country is opened up
to trade and pilgrimage, this special evil will have
to be dealt with in a firm manner. The winter quarters
of the Garphans are at a place called Gargunsa,
situated two to three days journey from Gartok in a
northerly direction on the Gartung-Chu, a main branch
of the Indus. The whole population of Gartok
migrates to this spot in the winter months, and there
are to be found here many substantially built houses,
a contrast to the few that exist at Gartok.
Just as the Viceroys of Gartok are supreme in civil
affairs, so the Khanpo at Totling, also called Toling,
which lies south-west of Gartok, is the Archbishop
in all spiritual matters for the entire province. He
ranks in honour officially with the Urgu Gong, or
YAKS *. LEFT HAND ONE IS SADDLED PREPARATORY TO BEING LOADED :
BIGHT HAND ONE HAS BEEN LOADED
Supreme Viceroy, and in universal respect he takes
even a higher place. When he visits Gartok, as he did
in 1904 by special request to offer prayers and work
enchantments for the confusion of our expedition
to Lhasa, the Garphans rise at his approach. The
Khanpo, like the civil governors, occupies his post
for a term of three years and is a native of Lhjtsa,
or the neighbourhood, but, unlike the Garphans, he
is never permitted to send a subordinate to represent
him; he must be present in Totling in person. He
further has a certain territory over which he exercises
absolute authority, and he is in no case subject to the