Q. Nepal lies between India and Tibet, among the Himalayan Mountains. The tallest mountain in the world, Mount Everest, is in Nepal, and there are several mountains nearly as high. When mountaineers try to climb Mount Everest, they take the help of the Sherpas, the strong and hardy people who live in these mountains, to carry heavy loads and to act as guides.
A long time ago, the Sherpas crossed over the mountains from Tibet and made their homes along the southern slopes of the Himalayas in Nepal.
Some Sherpa families have three houses, one house in the lower hills, one a little higher, and one further up. The houses are in small village groups of about forty or fifty. Round each group of houses there are cultivated fields, usually built in the shape of terraces right up the hillsides. In the highest fields the Sherpas grow potatoes; In the lower fields they grow barley; and turnips, garlic and other vegetables in the lower ones. They also graze their yaks on the higher mountain slopes in the summer and on the lower slopes in the winter. Yaks are very hardy, large cattle with thick, hairy blackish-brown coats and long horns. The Sherpas use them for almost everything they need. They ride them, plough with them, and use them to carry their goods. The hairy wool of these animals is made into cloth and their skins into leather boots and tents. The yaks also provide milk, fat and meat. Their dung is dried and used as fuel instead of wood or coal.
Q. What things are yaks not used for?