ABSTRACT
As Thibet consists of so many provinces, it would be too tedious a task to describe them all; I shall therefore only mention a few salient facts about some of them. To begin with, although I have already written enough about the Great Western Desert, which extends from Cartoa up to Ngnari-Giongar and from thence descends to Toscioá and Retoa, and from Retoa to the province of Zzang-to ( Book 1, Chapter X ), yet I must point out that although this large tract of country has no stable inhabitants, there are a great number of nomad shepherds who roam all over the desert seeking pasture for the vast numbers of horses and mules, and the immense herds of mountain oxen and cows I have described above. These animals belong to the Grand Lamá and to the King. Although it is a vast desert yet a considerable income is derived from the enormous quantity of butter sent to Lhasá, from whence it is distributed to a great part of Thibet. The use of butter is universal in Thibet, as will be seen below. Also, as I have already mentioned, there is a great lake in this desert which yields much gold. After crossing the Desert one reaches the province of Zzang-to and the city of Serchia lying in the shape of a crescent on the slope of a high hill and leading up to a large monastery with many monks, above is a fine fortress. In the plain below is a river with a handsome and well-built bridge, not of iron chains, but built of stone and timber, many houses and some villages. The Governor of the province, with many officials, lives in the town. The other two provinces of this Thibet are Chiee-rong and Kutti, parts of which march with the Kingdom of Nepal.
