The Tibetan element is absent beyond the Kali, i.e. in Kamaon, but in Bussahir it is strong where Tibetans occupy the higher tracts.
Garhwal is a non-regulation district under the N.W. Provinces of British India. It is a country of very great extent, though of small comparative value. Many of the larger rivers of Upper India, and all those which form the origin of the Ganges, have their rise in its mountains, and hold their course through its territory. Sriouggur, the chief town, is on the south bank of the Aleknanda, about 20 miles above its junction with the Bliaginithi at Deo Prague, where a strip of level ground stretches along for 3 or 4 miles, forming the valley known by the same name as.the town. The people of Garhwal are Mot, dwelling in the passes and their neighbourhoods at heights above 6000 feet. The pass-men state that ridges which within the memory of man were covered with forest and pasture lands are now covered with snow, showing the extension of the snow zone. The Bhot here, as elsewhere, is an agriculturist, and is assisted by slaves, who live under the roofs of their masters. The people in the Mann, Niti, Juwar, and Byanse passes are supposed to be immigrants from Tibet who drove out an earlier body of Hindus, and many of the chief families trace their origin to a Tibetan locality. The inhabitants of the Darma pass are said to be a body of Mongol left in Kamaon by Timur. The Darma inter their dead for a time, and in the month Kartik exhume and burn them, but the other pass-men burn their dead on their demise. The Darma practise divination, taking their omens from the warm livers of sheep sacrificed for the purpose. The women of the Darma and Byanse pass dress alike, and these two clans eat the yak, and would eat the cow ; while those of Mann, Niti, and Juwar abstain from beef of all kinds, and look down, as on an inferior caste, on the Darma and Byanse. The Juwar nearest India have the largest trade, and resort to an annual fair in September at Gartogh, the residence of the Lhassa viceroy. These passes are the roads from India to Nari or Gnari, Tibetan provinces of the Chinese empire. The Garhwal people have a passionate love of country and home.
The Bhot of Ladakh is strong, hardy, short, and square, with a decidedly Mongol physiognomy,— by which is meant a flat face, broad cheek, depressed nose, very large ears, oblique and narrow eye curtailed at the corners, black hair, and low stature, their average height being 5 feet 6.1 inches ; the skulls are less Mongolian, having a capacity of 72 cubic inches, 80 cubic inches being a fair capacity for a European.
Towang-raj. —Proceeding from Kokonor to Yunnan, going from north to south, are the Sokpa, the Amdo, who now speak Tibetan ; the Thochu, the Gyarung, and Manyak. These bear the Chinese designation of Sifan or Western Aliens, whilst the Tibetan call them Gyarang-bo. Turning west ward, after passing through the Kham districts of Gyarung and Khwombo, we come to the region of the Takpa and Tak-yul, which is the Tow-ang-raj of the British in India. Of these
the Gymaing are the most important tribe. They reckon 18 banners under 18 chiefs. In Tibetan, Gya ' and Chinese 'Fan ' have the same meaning, viz. foreign or alien.
In Southern Tibet, also, there are numerous scattered Horpa and Sokpa, as there are many Bodpa in Northern Tibet. Po or Pha means man. In Tibetan and several other cognate lan guages, po, pa, is restricted to the male sex, and no, ma, to the female.
The Sok occupy the eastern part, and also the wide adjacent country called Koko-nor and Tangut by Europeans, and Sok•yul by the Tibetans.
The northern part of Tibet, lying beyond the Nyen -chhen - thangla range of mountains, and between it and the Kwan-leun or Konen Lun chain, is occupied by two tribes, the Horpa and Sokpa. The Hor occupy the western part of that region, also a portion of Little Bokharia and of Zangaria, where they are designated Kao-tse by the Chinese, and Uigur or Ighur by themselves. Mr. Hodgson considers them to be Turk.
The eastern part of Tibet, between the elevated lake plateau and the Yun-long mountains, appears to be occupied by Mongol tribes called Sok. This word is said to mean pasture, and to be the root of the term Scythia.
The lake plateau is occupied by Turki tribes called Hor, a term which is said to mean highland.
The Stfan region is from 40 to 60 miles broad ; it is a rugged, mountainous declivity from the lofty plateau of Khum to the low plain of Sze chuen. Within it are the Takpa, and outside are the Gya-mi.
Horsok is a compound word used by the Tibet ans to designate the nomades who occupy the whole northern part of Tibet, viz. that lying beyond the Nyen-ch'hen-thang-la range of moun tains. These two races are the Hor or Horpa and the Sok or Sokpa. The Hor lying on the western half also occupies much of Little Bokharia and Zangaria, and the Sok dwell on the eastern half and the wide adjacent country called Koko-nor and Tangut by Europeans, and Sok-yul by Tibetans. South of the Thang - la chain are numerous scattered families of both tribes, dwelling amongst the Bodpa or Tibetans proper. The Chinese call the Horpa Kao-tse. The Horpa are a Turk race.
The term Kao-tse, used by the Chinese to desig nate the Horpa, is supposed by Mr. Hodgson to be the Khach'he of the Tibetans, literally ' wide mouths.' Mr. Hodgson thinks the Sokpa of the Tibetans the same as the Olet and Kalmuk of Remusat and Klaproth.
The Chakpa or Jagpa and the Drokpa or Brogpa are Bhot occupants of the central part of Northern Tibet. Mr. Hodgson supposed them a mixed race joined together for predatory purposes. They are robber bands between the Horpa and Sokpa, recruiting from the Bodpa (Tibetans proper), Horpa, Sokpa, and Drokpa. The Drokpa also dwell between the Horpa and Sokpa. They are distinct from the Dukpa or Brukpa of Bhutan.