An Embassy to the Court of the Teshoo Lama in Tibet - Prajna Quest

;372 TIBET.to contain a greater or less mixture of silver, and as there is but onemine of this metal, known in Europe to be entirely free from it, it is atleast not improbable, that the lead ores of Tibet are rich in silverand that the smelting of them for the silver, the manner of doing whichis totally unknown to the natives, might be attended with very greatadvantage.Here are also mines of cinnabar, which they use for colouring, inpaint, and which contains a great proportion of mercury, that theyknow not how to extract.The copper mines furnish materials for the manufactory of idols,and allthe ornaments disposed about the monasteries, on which gildingisbestowed.A very small quantity of specie, and that of a base standard, iscurventin Tibet. It is the silver coin of Nipal, here termed indermillee;each isin value worth about one-third of a sicca rupee, and they arecut into halves, third parts, and quarters. This, which is the onlymoney, serves to obtain the exigencies of life, but never enters intoimportant contracts in the larger concerns of trade; in all such transactions,the equivalent is made in bullion, that is, talents* of gold andsilver, which bear a value, in proportion to the purity and specificgravity of the metal.The commerce between Tibet and China, is carried on principally ata garrison town, on the western frontier of China, named Sinning, orSilling: thither merchants resort from Tibet with their manufacture, viz.*Tarreema, bearing the shape of the crucible in which the metal is fused, and allowedto cool.