Institutions of the Inhabitants ofBoutan, 517 



soon repaired. About the middle of September the wet season ends, and 

 the weather continues fine till November, when the snow begins to fall and 

 to whiten the mountains. The Bouteas then put on their blankets and 

 boots, and the Rajah and his attendants retire from Tacissudon to a milder 

 climate in the valley of Ponaka, which must be during the winter months 

 a charming residence. The whole face of the country would be found at 

 this time to wear the most curious and interesting aspect, and to afford 

 scenes for a painter in a style truly sublime, but of which words could 

 convey but a very inadequate idea. 



To call this a mountainous country merely would not sufficiently distin- 

 guish it from others of a like denomination, nor give a proper impression of 

 its true character, when that term is understood to imply an intermixture 

 of hills and valleys. But if a country of mountains be an intelligible phrase, 

 it may with great justice be applied to Boutan, or at least to that part of it 

 through which I have travelled. 



Vol. II. 3 X 



