Page:The National Geographic Magazine Vol 16 1905.djvu/52

Rh A View of the Palace of the Dalai-Lama from the West

The unequal distribution of wealth and the subservience of poverty to wealth are conspicuous throughout Tibet. There is such little commerce that labor is very cheap, the most expert weaver of native cloth receiving about 8 cents and board per day, while an unskilled woman or man laborer earns only 2 or 3 cents. The highest salary is paid to the Lamas, the prayer readers, who receive 10 cents a day for incessant reading. A house servant almost never receives pay beyond food and meager clothes