Rotherhithe, Jan. 21. 1851.
_Lama Beads_ (Vol. iii., p. 115.).--It is a pretty bold assertion that Lama
beads are derived from the Lamas of Asia. _Lamma_, according to Jamieson,
is simply the Scotch for _amber_. He says _Lamertyn steen_ means the same
in Teutonic. I do not find it in Wachter's _Lexicon_.
Your correspondent's note is a curious instance of the inconvenience of
half quotation. He says the Lamas are an order of priests among the Western
Tartars. I was surprised at this, since their chief strength, as everybody
knows, is in Thibet. On referring to Rees's _Cyclopaedia_, I found that the
words are taken from thence; but they are not wrong there, since, by the
context they have reference to China.