Page:Journey to Lhasa and Central Tibet.djvu/140

 (sol-tab), the heat from which kept the library dry and warm. There was but one window, about four feet square, in my room, through which I could see the Nartang hills.

At 9 o’clock breakfast was announced, when the Nyerpa conducted me to the minister’s presence. Tea was served me in a pretty china cup, and Kachan gopa brought me a bowl of tsamba and a few slices of boiled mutton, and, noticing my difficulty in making dough of the tsamba and tea after the Tibetan fashion, took it from me and mixed it himself, twirling the cup on the palm of his hand, and mixing the flour and tea with his forefinger.

In the dining-room there was a parrot lately presented to the minister by the Chyan-dso shar of Tashilhunpo, and a small saffron plant raised from some seed brought from Kashmir. This plant throve well, I was told, but yielded no saffron.

After breakfast I returned to my studies, and, with the permission of the minister, commenced a search for Sanskrit books in his library. At noon the cook placed on an earthenware stove near me a pot of steaming tea, and in the afternoon he filled it again. I was told it was injurious to drink cold water; Tibetans very seldom drink it; the laymen quench their thirst with draughts of cold fermented barley liquor (chang), and lamas with hot tea.

As the minister, on account of his vows, was debarred from eating in the afternoon, evening, or night, he desired me to take my supper with the secretary; so when the lamp was lighted I went downstairs, and sat gossiping in the kitchen with him.

January 30.—To-day I discovered three Sanskrit works written in the Tibetan character. They were the Kavyadarsha, by Acharya Sri Dandi; the Chandra Vyakarana, by Chandra Gomi; and the Sarasvat Vyakarana, by Acharya Ami. I was transported with joy when I saw that they contained explanations in Tibetan.

In the afternoon I showed Sri Dandi’s work to the minister, who, to my surprise, was able to give me more information concerning him than I had expected, and he had committed the entire work to memory. "Dandi," he said, "must have lived a thousand and more years ago, for this work was translated into Tibetan by one of the Sakya hierarchs who lived about six hundred years ago, and it is probable that the work was not very new when it came to be known in this country."

January 31.—Preparations for the new year’s ceremonies now