I have never [says Risley] heard it assigned to a scarcity of women, and there is no reason to believe that the proportion of the sexes in Sikkim and Tibet is not fairly equal. Religious zeal, however, encourages professed celibacy especially among the men, and according to Mr. Earle "superfluous women become nuns or prostitutes or remain single."2

2Risleyn/an/an/an/an/an/a, , 212.