extensive plateau, varied, however, by considerable abrupt inequalities, than for any other circumstance. The valleys, of great extent, formed by the bleak and barren eminences in question, generally extend east and west. From the appearance of its surface, the country would seem nearly incapable of culture. Naked rocky hills, and plains as arid and gloomy as they are extensive, both without almost any visible vegetation, form the physical appearance of Thibet. The mountains referred to as stretching along the southern and western frontiers of Thibet, are thought to correspond with the Imaus or Hemodus of the ancients; and the Himalaya range, so ably described by Mr. Baillie Fraser, form a part of them. For a minute account of this celebrated chain, we refer to our article HINDOSTAN; but we may mention here that Dwawalagiri or the white mountain, the highest peak of the Himmaleh range, is estimated at 26,862 feet above the level of the sea. Thibet abounds with many similar ranges, but of incomparably inferior elevation. The most celebrated rivers in Asia take their rise in the elevated and mountainous country which we are describing, namely, the Indus, Ganges, Burhampooter, "the river of Brahma," belonging to Hindostan; the Irrawady, the May-kian and Meinam, flowing through the Eastern Peninsula; and the Hoang-ho and the Yang-tsi-kiang, the two largest rivers in China. Whether the streams that flow through Siberia and Western Tartary have their origin in the country under review, or in the contiguous plateau, named the Desert of Cobi, or where the boundary lies between the two territories, our geographical knowledge is too limited to enable us to ascertain. The lakes of this country, though little known, are represented by geographers as numerous. The largest is the Terkiri, about 70 miles long and 25 broad. We shall afterwards speak of a considerable one, which produces tincal or crude borax. The lake of Yambro is represented as a large ditch or canal, 5 miles broad, surrounding an island about 100 miles in diameter. Within a range of 300 miles, toward the north and west of Terkiri, there are twentythree lakes which have no outlet, or which flow one into the other. We remark, among others, to the north-east of Thibet, the Hoho-nor, or Koho-nor, of great extent, in a very elevated situation, which has no outlet. These lakes are frozen in winter to a great depth. (Malte Brun, II. 14.)

The climate cannot be supposed to be very genial. It is indeed the reverse, to an extent altogether unknown in any other country of a corresponding latitude. "At 28° 18' of north latitude, not far from the torrid zone, the wind," says Captain Turner, "was violently high in the month of September, and so sharp, that we dared not expose our faces to its fury: the want of caution on the preceding day had left on our faces sad memorials of its keen rudeness; and we now rode muffled up in such a manner that we could but just breathe." Such also is the intensity of frost in this quarter, that animals exposed in the open fields are not unfrequently found dead, with their head absolutely split by its force. On the summits of the hills, VOL XVIII. PART I.

springs are often seen arrested in their fall by frost, and converted into solid monuments of ice, firmly fixed till the heat of summer dissolve them. Some of them are of prodigious bulk and altitude, resembling immense columns, contributing, with the universal nakedness of both hills and valleys, to impress on the mind of the traveller an indelible conviction of the bleakness of the region, and the severity of the climate. The inhabitants, at such a crisis, are not unfrequently forced to seek refuge in sheltered valleys and hollows, or in the cliffs of the rocks. It may also be stated, as a proof of the severity of the cold, that the Thibetians kill their meat, chiefly mutton, in the beginning of winter, and expose it to the action of the air; owing to which process (by which all the juices are completely dried up, and the whole becomes one uniformly stiffened substance) it is preserved quite fresh till the end of the season. This extreme cold, however, is confined to the three middle months of winter, which lasts double that time, namely from October till March. The rainy season commences in June, and continues without interruption for three months; which period constitutes summer.

Under such circumstances, Thibet cannot be supposed to be a very salubrious country. Disease, indeed, is very prevalent. Coughs, colds, and rheumatism, as might be expected, are common. Liver and bowel complaints, and fevers, are less general. Small-pox is a disease so dreaded, that when it appears in a village, the healthy have been known to desert it, and leave the affected unattended. Glandular swellings in the throat, like the goitres of Switzerland, are also prevalent in some districts. (For an account of the nature and cure of this disease, see SwITZERLAND.)

From the inclement nature of the climate, agriculture has not arrived at great perfection in Thibet. In truth, physical disadvantages, in this respect, seem to be insuperable. So violent are the winds in winter, that, on the approach of that season, the inhabitants cover their lowlands with water, with a view to have them encrusted with ice, to prevent their being stripped of their soil by the storm. Tillage, therefore, cannot be begun till the ice disappears. Their mode of thrashing farther shows the rude state in which agriculture is placed. "When the corn," says Turner, "is sufficiently hardened, a number of cattle are brought, a circle is cleared, and they are driven in a ring round a centre, to tread the grain from the ear, as fast as it is thrown under their feet." (p. 354.) Their species of grain seems to be confined to wheat, pease, and barley. The cold, however, is sometimes so intense that the crops cannot arrive at maturity; and they are made use of as fodder for the cattle during the depth of winter.

Nor, under such circumstances, can their pasture be expected to be good. It is really bad in the extreme. The rainy season gives rise to a scanty herbage, which, on the approach of dry or winter weather, immediately withers, and, on being rubbed between the fingers, crumbles into dust: yet large droves of cattle feed upon it; for it is a sin<

D

gular fact, that animals, ranging in a state of nature, prefer such food to the exuberant herbage of milder climates.

Notwithstanding the inclemency of the climate and the general sterility of the soil, Thibet teems with animal life, and can boast of some species peculiar to itself. Of these latter, one of the most striking and least known to Europeans is the muskdeer or la, in the language of the country. This animal," to use the words of Captain Turner, "is about the height of a moderately sized hog, which in the figure of its body it much resembles. It has a small head, a thick and round hind-quarter, no scut, and extremely delicate limbs. The greatest singularity in this animal is the sort of hair with which it is covered, which is prodigiously copious, between two and three inches long, and grows erect all over the body, lying smooth only where it is short, viz. on the head, ears, and legs. Such roughness is found to consist more of the nature of feathers than of hair; or rather it resembles the porcupine's quill; yet it is thin, flexible, not straight, but undulated. The musk is a secretion formed in a little bag or tumour, resembling a wen, situated at the navel, and is found only in the male. The musk-deer is the property of the state, and is hunted only by the permission of government. It cannot be domesticated. It delights in intense cold, and is always found in places bordering on snow. It has never been seen in any other country but Thibet and Tartary; and when taken from its own climate, it gradually dwindles and dies." (Ib. p. 200-1.) The Thibetian breed of sheep is very valuable. Flocks of them are numerous; they are of a small size, with black heads and legs; their wool is soft, and their flesh almost the only kind used in Thibet, and which being preserved, as before stated, by being exposed to the action of cold, is pronounced by Captain Turner to form the finest mutton in the world. They are used as beasts of burden; they carry from twelve to twenty pounds; and whole flocks of them are occasionally employed in this capacity. Their skins, which are commonly cured with the wool on, form the winter dress of the natives and of travellers. The fleece of the lambs is of exquisite softness, and brings a great price, particularly in Tartary and China, being used in these countries for lining clothes and as fur. The bull of Thibet, called also the yak of Tartary, is the last species of animal peculiar to this climate, which here requires a minute description. It is about the size of one of the English breed, but so hairy that its fleeces flow down so far as the knee, and sometimes trails on the ground; so that not a joint or a muscle is seen. These bulls are of all colours, but black and white predominate. They do not low like the cattle of England, but make a grunting noise scarcely audible. They pasture in the coldest parts of the country. They are never employed in agriculture, but are used as beasts of burden. Their tails, known by the name of chowries, are used in India to drive away insects, or as an ornament upon horses and elephants. The horses of Thibet, which are extremely docile, are small like our ponies. There are some beasts of prey, as the tiger and the

ounce. The lakes abound with wild geese, ducks, teal, storks, and cranes. We have, as yet, obtained no knowledge respecting the fish and insects of this singular country. Of the goats of Thibet, an account may be found under the article SHAWL-GOAT, in Vol. xvii. p. 101.

Nor is the mineral kingdom of Thibet much less important than the animal, which we have just described. Gold is very common, both in the form of gold-dust and in masses and veins. The adhering stone is generally flint or quartz; and Dr. Saunders sometimes saw a half-formed impure sort of precious stone in the mass. There are mines of lead, copper, and iron. The Thibetians work cinnabar mines, which abound in quicksilver; and they know how to employ that metal as a specific, as in Europe. Rock-salt is also common. There are no coal mines; but as this useful species of fuel is abundant in some parts of China bordering on Thibet, it may, ere long, it is probable, be found to exist also in that latter country. But the most singular product of this country is tincal or crude borax. Tincal, the nature and production of which we have only hitherto," says Dr. Saunders, "been able to guess at, is now well known; and Thibet, from which we are supplied, contains it in inexhaustible abundance. It is a fossil, and is found deposited or formed in the bed of a lake; and those who go to collect it, dig it up in large masses, which they afterwards break into small pieces, for the convenience of carriage, exposing it to the air to dry. Tincal is used in Thibet for soldering, and to promote the fusion of gold and silver. (Turner, p. 406; or Phil. Transactions, v. lxxix.)

The Thibetians can hardly be said to engage in any kind of manufactures. Most of their exportable products they sell in a raw state. Shawls, to a limited degree, and a coarse species of woollen stuff for their own use, form their chief, if not their only manufacture. Nor, unless coal is found in abundance, will they ever be a manufacturing people, on account of their want of fuel. The dung of animals forms at present their principal fuel. But though manufacturing industry is at so low an ebb with them, the products of the country are so peculiar and valuable, that their commerce is very considerable. Their chief exports are the hair of the shawlgoat, which they send in a raw state generally to Cashmere; musk, tincal, gold-dust, rock-salt, skins, coarse woollens, the manufacture of Thibet, to the inhabitants of Tartary, China, and Bootan. The imports consist of silk, cottons, English broad cloths, bullion, trinkets, such as snuff-boxes, knives, scissors, optical glasses, and the spices and aromatics of Bengal. But the Chinese, to whom Thibet is virtually a vassal, have of late forbidden all intercourse between that country and Bengal: they have also excluded foreign merchants from Thibet.

The population of Thibet has not been ascertained, as no census has ever been taken, and the knowledge acquired by strangers has not been sufficient for supplying the defect. The Chinese estimate it at 33,000,000, a number far exceeding the truth. Half a million has been conjectured as nearer the reality. But certainly, from the barren nature of

the country, and the thinness of its inhabitants, the number cannot exceed three millions, of which the men form more than a half. The men are generally stout, with a little of the Tartaric features; the women of a ruddy brown complexion.

The Thibetians have been described as "gentle, humane, and hospitable. Without being servilely officious, they are always obliging; the higher ranks are unassuming, the inferior respectful in their behaviour." (Ib. p. 350.) They are so charitable that the country is overrun with beggars, some of them from other countries, attracted thither by the character of the people. The Thibetians, however, are indolent, not ingenious nor ambitious, rude and contented with little. Their houses are formed of stone, but are mean and uncomfortable. The luxury of bedsteads they know not; their bed consists of a mattress spread on the floor, and being rolled up during the day serves as a seat. The castes of Hindostan are unknown in Thibet. Presenting a silk scarf forms an essential part of the ceremonial of salutation. If persons of equal rank meet, an exchange takes place; if a superior is approached, he holds out his hand to receive the scarf, and a similar one is thrown across the shoulders of the inferior, by the hand of an attendant, at the moment of his dismission. This practice, of which the origin and meaning have been lost, obtains in various countries of central Asia.

Some singular customs prevail among them. The ceremony of marriage, for example, is peculiar. Their courtships, says Captain Turner, are carried on with little art, and are quickly brought to a conclusion. The elder brother of a family, to whom the choice belongs, when enamoured of a damsel, makes his proposal to the parents. If his suit is approved and the offer accepted, the parents, with their daughter, repair to the suitor's house, where the male and female acquaintances of both parties meet, and spend three days in music, dancing, and every kind of festivity. At the expiry of this time, the marriage is completed. In these ceremonies, the priest has no share. Mutual consent is the only bond of union; but dissolution of marriage may take place by the agreement of the parties; but in such a case a second alliance on either side is forbidden. But these are not the most peculiar circumstances respecting marriage. Polygamy is allowed, in a sense different from that which obtains in any other country. The wife is allowed a plurality of husbands. The elder brother of a family possesses the privilege of choosing a wife, but after marriage she becomes the common property of all the brothers, whatever be their number.

Their burials are not less singular than their marriages. Inhumation is unknown among them; and the practice of the Thibetians, in this respect, is in direct opposition to that of other nations. In Thibet no attention is paid, or reverence is shown, to the remains of the dead. The body is exposed

in the open air, and allowed to be devoured by dogs and carnivorous birds. Sometimes it is cast into the nearest river. The body of the sovereign Lama, however, is treated with high respect. It is preserved in a shrine, looked upon as sacred, and visited with religious awe. That of an inferior Lama is burnt, and the ashes preserved with great care in little hollow images of metal.

But probably the religion of the people under review is their most interesting feature. Thibet is the chief seat of that faith which prevails throughout the wide extent of Tartary, and among all the nations east of the Burhampooter. It is an offspring of Budhism, and is supposed to have been derived from Hindostan, to the religion of which country it still bears, in its outward form, a striking resemblance. The spiritual head of the faith in question is styled the Lama, or Grand Lama, a term signifying priest, and is analogous to the word pope, among the Roman Catholics. According to the theogony of Thibet, there is no demise of the Grand Lama; a metempsychosis takes place, and the same divine soul, it is believed, eternally subsists in the supreme pontiff, though under different human forms, which he deigns successively to assume. The Lama of Thibet is acknowledged, and is reverenced as the head of the church, by all those nations in central and eastern Asia to which we have already referred. There is in Thibet a consecrated priesthood, who must lead a life of celibacy, set apart for the sacred office. Monasteries and nunneries are abundant, and are similar to those in Popish countries.*

The Grand Lama, while he is the spiritual head, is also the civil ruler of Thibet. But his civil power is merely nominal, and Thibet enjoys only the shadow of independence. The Lama, in order to devote himself more fully to spiritual things, was always in the habit of appointing a tipa or secular regent; but this office, as shall be immediately more fully shown, is now in the hands of the Chinese, who may be said virtually to govern the country in question. Of the laws of Thibet, we have little information, but they are supposed to resemble those of Hindostan. It has been supposed that the Thibetians cannot raise an army of more than 50,000 men. Owing to their poverty, their revenue cannot be very ample.

The language of Thibet bears a striking resemblance to the Chinese, but, like the European tongues, it reads from left to right. Printing, which was early introduced, is performed not by movable types, but by means of set forms, composed of wood, as in China (Vide PRINTING.) Fibrous roots of a small shrub serve the purposes of paper; and the leaves of a book, when finished, are loosely put together and placed between two equal slips of wood as covers. The character which is employed for printed works is called uchen, and bears some analogy to the Sanscrit: that used for

correspondence and the more ordinary business is termed umin. The Thibetian writings are said to be no where equalled for obscurity: but of the real nature of their literature, if such a term is applicable to them, scarcely any thing is known. Captain Turner found the Thibetians acquainted with the satellites of Jupiter and the ring of Saturn, and the existence of the planets. They were acquainted also with the game of chess; and the rules and movements which they adopted are those which obtain in Europe. Their year is lunar, and the month consists of 29 days. Their knowledge of history and geography is extremely limited.

According to the official Chinese geography, Thibet contains sixteen towns; but most of them, properly speaking, are only villages in the neighbourhood of some monastery or temple. Lassa is the capital, situated on a plane near the centre of the kingdom. It is the seat of government, and is crowded with noble and royal personages, who come from various parts of Asia to pay homage, and of fer gifts to their earthly divinity. Within seven miles of it is Patala, "the holy mountain, on which is the temple of the Grand Lama. Ascardo or Eskeidon is the capital of Little Thibet. Other towns are unknown.

Of the history of this country scarcely any thing is known. It is mentioned by the ancients, under the vague name of Scythia extra Imaum. Marco Polo did not enter the country, but he gives a curious, and not very inaccurate description of it under the name of Tebeth. Lamaism was established about the beginning of the eighth century; but the remote situation of the country, and the quiet nature of the succession of the Lamas, afford no materials for history; at least none interesting to Europeans. The Chinese, by interfering in some intestine commotions, obtained the ascendancy in 1720. But this ascendancy became more ample towards the end of last century. In 1792, Thibet was overrun by the Nepaulese; but the Chinese interposed, defeated the invaders in several actions, and extorted from them an ignominious peace. This established on a firm foundation the Chinese influence in Thibet. The country submitted to the rule of a governor sent from China; and a constant communication is maintained between the two nations. The Chinese, however, most cordially recognize the spiritual sovereignty of the Lama, and even nominally his civil authority, though in truth this latter is solely in their own hands. The Chinese, as by their timid and jealous policy they excluded foreign merchants from the country, have, as previously mentioned, forbidden all intercourse between it and Bengal, to the great disadvantage of both countries. Bootan is tributary to Thibet; and Little Thibet, which at one time seems to have been an independent territory, now forms an integral part of the country, of which we now conclude the account.

For some incidental notices respecting Thibet, see Voyages per Pallas; Descriptions Geograph. de la Chine et de la Tartarie Chinoise, par Du Halde, and other works; but the best and only fall account is contained in Turner's Account of an Embassy to

the Court of the Teshoo Lama, in 1783, published in 1800. See also Murray's Hist. Acc. of Discoveries and Travels in Asia. (T. M.)

THIRSK, a borough and market town of England in Yorkshire, on the rivulet Coatbech, which runs through the town, and is crossed by two stone bridges. It consists of two parallel streets, united with a third, and contains some handsome and modern houses. The church, which stands on an eminence, is a handsome Gothic building, admired both for its external and internal ornaments. There are also churches for the calvinists, quakers, and methodists. Old Thirsk sends two members to parliament, who are elected by fifty burghers. The manufactures are coarse linens, white and black hardens, sackings, &c. The moat and rampart of its ancient castle still remain. Old Thirsk consists of a long range of cottages, and two squares of cottages. In one of these squares, called Haum (Elm) Green, stands a venerable elm, under whose shade. the members of parliament are elected. It was on this spot that the earl of Northumberland is said to have been beheaded by the mob in the reign of Henry VII. Population of the borough and township, in 1521, 564 houses, 577 families, and 2533 inhabitants. See Beauties of England and Wales, vol. xvi. p. 281.

THOMAS, ST. an island on the coast of Africa, and in the gulf of Guinea. It is about 30 miles from N. to S. and about 15 miles broad, and situated under the line, the equator passing five or six miles to the N.N.W. of its northern extremity. There is a lofty mountain in its centre, from which the rivulets flow in all directions, and which, according to captain Sabine, is about 7000 feet high. The island is composed of a compact and heavy basaltic rock, covered by a rich soil, principally of vegetable composition, and is thickly wooded in every part. Rice and millet are the principal grains that are cultivated, and yams and other roots are used in place of bread. Sugar is exported in great quantities. The town of Povoacom, on the east side of the island, contains 700 houses, and is defended by several forts. It has good water, and abounds in excellent live stock, particularly in hogs, which are fattened on sugar canes. The ascent of the central mountain is practicable. East Long. 6° 25'. Captain Sabine found the latitude of the mansion house of Fernandille, in Man of War bay, to be 0° 24′ 41.2 north. See Captain Sabine's Pendulum Experiments, p. 33, &c.

THOMAS, ST. a Danish West India island, and the chief of the Virgin islands. It is about 18 miles in circumference. It has a safe and commodious harbour, in the centre of which there is a small fort. The town, which is about 50 or 60 yards to the west of the harbour, consists of a long street, at the end of which is the Danish factory, with commodious warehouses. The houses, which are one story, are mostly of brick. On the right side of the factory is the Brandenburg quarter, containing two small streets. This island carries on a considerable trade. When in the possession of Great Britain, its exports amounted to £800,000, and its imports to above £300,000. Sugar and tobacco are

GIA.

THOMSON, JAMES, author of "the Seasons," &c. was born on the 22d of September, (N. S.) 1700, at Ednam, Roxburghshire, a village about two miles from Kelso, delightfully situated on the Eden, from which it derives its name. His father, the Rev. Thomas Thomson, was minister of the parish of Ednam, in the Scottish Established Church, and is said by Murdoch, in his life of our poet, to have been highly respected for his piety and his diligence in the pastoral duty. He is several times mentioned, however, in that curious and scarce book, "Kirkwood's Plea with the Kirk," in his official character, as a member of the church courts, in a strain of irony and sarcasm, in which many of his brethren share. That ingenious and clever, but rash and somewhat coarse writer, had smarted under the long process to which he had been subjected; and having gained his plea, through the favour of the Scottish Privy Council, he does not spare his former prosecutors and judges. The maiden name of the mother of the poet was Beatrix Trotter, daughter of Mr. Alexander Trotter of Widehope, in the parish of Morebattle, Roxburghshire, though Murdoch, the intimate friend and earliest biographer of the poet, and several others who have copied the error, call her Hume. She was one of the co-heiresses of the small estate of Widehope, which now belongs to the Marquis of Tweeddale. The father of Thomson removed from the pastoral charge of Ednam, when James was little more than two years of age, to that of the parish of Southdean, a few miles south from Jedburgh, where he continued to perform his ministerial duties till the time of his decease. Of this change of his residence, his biographers, probably ignorant of the fact, take no notice; though the affectionate bard, who was alive alike to the perception of rural beauty and the charms of moral sentiment, refers, in his "Seasons," to Tweed, which runs along the southern part of the parish of Ednam, as his "pure parent stream," and also to the "sylvan Jed," near which the years of his boyhood and early youth were passed.

He received the usual school education at the county town of Jedburgh. The school was then

taught in an eastern aisle of the fine old Abbey, and some traditionary anecdotes connected with this part of his history still remain. From school, he was sent to the College of Edinburgh, where, in the second session of his course, his studies were painfully interrupted by the illness of his father, whom he tenderly loved, but whom he was not so fortunate as to see alive, though he is said to have hasthat filial duty could dictate. His sorrow on occatened to his manse in the country with all the speed sion of his father's death was deep and lasting. and worth made her beloved and respected by her His now widowed mother, whose talents, piety, family and friends, appears, from certain letters written to her by her son, to have been a severe sufferer under this domestic calamity; but though cast down, she was not in despair. By the advice inheritance which belonged to her, and removed of her friends, she mortgaged her share of the small with her family to Edinburgh, where she resided during her son James's college studies; and, after his removal to London, to the time of her decease. Thomson had been early designed to follow the profession of his father, as a clergyman of the Church of Scotland. But there is strong reason to think that divinity was not at any time his favourite study. Like Ovid and Pope, "he spoke in numbers for the numbers came." He cared so little, however, about the early productions of his muse, that he consigned them to the flames each newyear's day, and wrote occasional verses on their destruction.

He was, nevertheless, enrolled among the students of divinity, under Dr. Hamilton, senior, the professor of that science in Edinburgh. In the first of the prescribed exercises which he delivered in the Divinity Hall, as the class-room is called, and which exercise is believed to have been a lecture on the 8th Psalm, he indulged so much in a strain of poetic illustration and gorgeous phraseology, that the learned professor thought it his duty, in criticizing the production of his pupil, to censure him for his exuberance of ornament, and to counsel him to prefer in future the path of sober reasoning and scriptural illustration to the more flowery, but less becoming mazes of fancy. This critique seems to have been the immediate cause of his renouncing studies which had no charms for him, and to have determined him forthwith to seek distinction in his more favourite pursuits, and in a different and wider sphere. Yet, among the predisposing causes which led him to the adoption of this important change in the fortune of his life, it is curious to remark, that he had been previously distinguished by the notice and kindness of Sir William Bennet of Grubet, at whose romantic residence of Marlefield, near the banks of the Kail and Teviot, he passed many pleasant days. This gentleman, distinguished as the friend and patron of Allan Ramsay, is remembered as a man of elegant literature, a scholar, and a wit. It is still more worthy of remark, that he enjoyed the unwearied attention and kindness of the Rev. Robert Riccaltoun of Hobkirk, incorrectly called Riccarton, by Murdoch and others, a co-presbyter and friend of his father. Mr. Riccaltoun was a man not only of great theo.