It is not improbable that these semi-civilised immigrants into what is now Tibetan territory were of mixed blood, in which the nomadic Mongol instinct predominated over the stay-at-home feeling of the true Chinaman from the central provinces, who had civilised and absorbed several conquering hordes of the north. However that may be, the subsequent fusion with indigenous tribes has produced a type easily distinguishable from that of Pekin. Tibetan chronicles, written by Buddhist lamas, boldly ascend beyond the fairly well-established date of the coming of Fanni, and recite legends concerning kings from the south. To derive their nation's origin from this quarter would flatter their religious prejudices. The unsatisfying character of these legends, until the stream of them reaches the time and event set forth by the Chinese records, tends to give to the latter a yet greater credence. Nevertheless, the traditions looking toward India, or at least toward Bhutan and Nepal, are not to be wholly neglected. Travel between Tibetan territory and any other is, indeed, hard, but between Central Tibet and Nepal it is easier than with Western China.
It is not improbable that there is something of truth in these stories of southern kings establishing dynasties antedating by several centuries that which was founded by Fanni. There is space enough, and the central (Lhasa) region is separated from the eastern districts by enough physical difficulty to justify the supposition that independent, though inconsiderable, states may have existed in the Tsang valley before Fanni came to the north-east region. His success there may have soon resulted in coali-
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