girdle, are their only property; but they are always
received by the Mongol families with kindness and honour; they often
remain in one tent for several days, and on their departure are supplied
with cheese, wine, tea, and so on, to support them on their way. These
poet-singers, who remind us of the minstrels and rhapsodists of Greece,
are also very numerous in China; but they are, probably, no where so
numerous or so popular as in Thibet.

The day after the festival, the sun had scarcely risen, when a little boy
presented himself at the entrance of our tent, carrying in one hand a
wooden vessel full of milk, and in the other hand a rude rush basket, in
which were some new cheese and some butter. He was followed soon after
by an old Lama, attended by a Tartar who had on his shoulder a large bag
of fuel. We invited them all to be seated. "Brothers of the West," said
the Lama, "accept these trifling presents from my master." We bowed in
token of thanks, and Samdadchiemba hastened to prepare some tea, which we
pressed the Lama to stay and partake of. "I will come and see you this
evening," said he; "but I cannot remain at present; for I have not set my
pupil the prayer he has to learn this morning." The pupil in question
was the little boy who had brought the milk. The old man then took his
pupil by the hand, and they returned together to their tent.

The old Lama was the preceptor of the family, and his function consisted
in directing the little boy in the study of the Thibetian prayers. The
education of the Tartars is very limited. They who shave the head, the
Lamas, are, as a general rule, the only persons who learn to read and
pray. There is no such thing throughout the country as a public school.
With the exception of a few rich Mongols, who have their children taught
at home, all the young Lamas are obliged to resort to the Lamaseries,
wherein is concentrated all that exists in Tartary, of arts, or sciences,
or intellectual industry. The Lama is not merely a priest; he is the
painter, poet, sculptor, architect, physician; the head, heart, and
oracle of the laity. The training of the young Mongols, who do not
resort to the Lamaseries, is limited, with the men, to perfecting the use
of the bow and arrow and matchlock, and to their obtaining a thorough
mastery of equestrianism. When a mere infant the Mongol is weaned, and
as soon as he is strong enough he is stuck upon a horse's back behind a
man, the anim