Page:Sikhim and Bhutan.djvu/398

 in a most artistic manner with elaborate stitches of all kinds. Many of them are veritable works of art.

Another industry in which the Bhutanese excel is basket-work and fine matting made from split cane. The baskets are beautifully woven of very finely split cane, and some of the lengths are coloured to form a pattern. They are made in two circular pieces, rounded top and bottom, and the two pieces fit so closely and well that they can be used to carry water. They are from six to fifteen inches in diameter, and the Bhutanese use them principally to carry cooked rice and food. They also make much larger and stronger baskets, very much in the shape of a mule-pannier, and these are used in a similar way for pack-animals.

The mats are also very finely woven of the same material, with a certain amount of the split cane dyed to form patterns. They are delightfully fine and soft, so flexible that they can be rolled up into quite a small space, and very durable, and can be got in almost any size up to about sixteen feet square, and even larger if they are required.

Possibly the excellence of the work produced in Bhutan owes much to the feudal system which still prevails there. Each Penlop and Jongpen has his own workmen amongst his retainers, men who are not paid by the piece, and are not obliged either to work up to time or to work if the spirit is not in them, and consequently they put their souls into what they do, with the result that some pieces of splendid individuality and excellent finish are still made. No two pieces are ever quite alike, and each workman leaves his impress on his work.

The same ought to apply to Tibet, but I have seen no work from Tibet which can compare in any way with that from Bhutan. Possibly the environments of Tibet are not conducive to such excellence; the people are more servile and less independent, a condition always detrimental to good work of any kind. Metal-work in Tibet is of the same description as that in Sikhim and Bhutan, and is all made in the same way, but any specimens I have seen are inferior