Page:Journey to Lhasa and Central Tibet.djvu/228

 spectators, the accused person invokes the gods and the demi-gods to bear witness to his statement, and declares that he tells the perfect truth. A copper or iron bowl filled with boiling oil or muddy water is then placed before him, in which two pebbles of the size of an egg, one white and the other black, each enveloped and tied up in a bag, are thrown. The swearer washes his hands first with water, and then with milk, and, having heard read a section of the Law written on a tablet with the blood of a cow slain for the occasion, plunges his hand in the boiling oil or water, and withdraws one of the pebbles. If he takes out the white one without scalding his hand, he is believed to be innocent; but if his hand is scalded, he is considered to be only partially innocent. If he brings out the black stone and gets his hand scalded besides, he is pronounced guilty.

The second form of ordeal is performed by heating a stone ball of the size of an ostrich's egg red hot, and then placing it in an iron vessel. The person taking the oath, having washed his hand in water and milk, seizes the ball and walks with it to a distance of seven, five, or three paces, according as his challenger is of the first, second, or third class of social rank. After this, his hand is enveloped in a white cotton bag, which, in the presence of the spectators, is tied up and sealed. At the end of the third, fifth, or seventh day, the bag is opened and the palm examined. If it is found unscalded, with only a pale yellowish line or stain upon it, the accused is declared innocent; if there appear a blister of the size of a pea, he is thought partly guilty; if three blisters of that size appear, he is considered half guilty; but if his hand be burned all over, he is held guilty of all the charges.

According to the laws of Tibet, the interest on money, grain, or any other commodity is twenty per cent., or one measure for five measures yearly. The courts in a few cases admit contracts at even a higher rate of interest; but those who claim more according to their contract deeds may be punished as usurers, though sometimes their claims are allowed. In urgent cases thirty-three per cent. have been known to have been agreed upon. All contracts are required to be made in writing, attested by witnesses, and duly signed and sealed. The interest must be paid at the end of the year. If the debtor abscond, the witnesses are called upon to make good the loss sustained by the lender; but if he die, or become insolvent, and the