IIIF Color HighRes
National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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| IIIF Color HighRes |
| In Tibet and Chinese Turkestan : vol.1 |
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Citation Information
POMBOS AND TAXES.
must obey. Unfortunately, Ramzan, like many better men, did not live up to his own theory of duty.
Our daily fare was plain and admitted of little variety. Usually, for a second course, we had a small shape of rice boiled in water, but at this season on these chill altitudes this was almost invariably served half-frozen. One evening Leno sent to ask us to partake of a sweet dish which his cook had prepared, and this, simple as it was, we found a pleasant change. "Halwa" was its name, and it consisted of flour, ghee, and a little sugar.
Our marches here were short, for the transport animals, under-fed and over-worked, were very emaciated. From
the guides we gained much information concerning the
localities, lakes and rivers of this part of the country, and the descriptions we received were afterwards corroborated
by a friendly and intelligent official named Nymget Sring,
to whom we were otherwise indebted for assistance. We observed many indications of good-will on the part of
natives who were not officials, and only the risk of detec-
tion by the Pombos prevented them from giving at any time information and active help. Apart from the special
purpose for which they were employed, our guides were not uncommunicative, and we could occasionally gather fragments relating to their customs or. to the hardships of their daily life.
The Tibetans are poor, and such possessions as they have consist of flocks and herds, yet they are heavily
taxed. One tax, collected by the Pombos, is levied in
money or in kind at the rate of about 50 rupees for every 300 sheep and six yaks which the natives own. It is understood to be the duty of the Pombos to hand over
the proceeds to the Government at Lhasa ; but the Pombos are appointed only for three years, and their pay is little more than nominal, consisting of some tea, cloth, and food, so that they are popularly credited with retain-
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