LADAK. 143 



height about thirty feet, and the workmanship the 

 average of what one sees in Hindostan. A small mud 

 building closes in the lower extremities of this idol, in 

 which is a shrine ; and I found within garlands, and 

 signs of recent worship, some few professors of Hindoo- 

 ism residing close by. The natives call this idol, Mohir 

 Chamba, and say it is of great antiquity ; but to me the 

 chiselling appeared fresh and sharp. This, however, 

 from the hard quality of the stone would be the case for 

 a length of time, especially in this dry climate. There 

 are few Hindoos now in Thibet, Buddhism being the 

 prevailing creed. Many mussulmans are scattered among 

 them. 



Men are now met with wearing pig-tails, Chinese 

 fashion. They have a different cap, too a long bag of 

 black woollen stuff which is turned over, covering the 

 top and one side of the head. The Maltese, if I recollect 

 right, wear one precisely similar. 



Finding no shelter from the sun after breakfast, having 

 halted an hour we continued our route, now downwards, 

 until we descried one or two willows in a hamlet ; for 

 which we made, and glad enough we were to escape the 

 sun's scorching rays, and rest ourselves. We moved on 

 again about two o'clock much too soon ; and, after two or 

 three miles, further grilling, we stopped at Karbo, our halt. 



There are many Buddhist monuments here, rude tombs 

 of mud and loose stones. The principal feature is a thing 

 like a great sugared cake, perhaps intended to represent 

 an urn : adjoining and connected with this is a raised 

 oblong, varying in length some are ten feet, some twenty, 

 others fifty built up of stones, about four feet high, the 

 top flattish, and covered all over with loose flat stones, all 

 sculptured, both in figures and letters. These tombs con- 

 tain the bones of sainted lamas, I believe. They are 



