Geological and Statistical Account of the [Jan. 



meal a day being considered sufficient for his subsistence. The food 

 is cooked by some of the scholars of the Kioum, or by the newly ini- 

 tiated of the sect ; and those Phoongrees who are desirous of maintain- 

 ing a character for peculiar abstinence, will not even express a desire 

 to satisfy the claims of hunger, however pressing they maybe ; waiting 

 patiently until such time as food may be presented to them by some 

 inmate of the Kioum : with these are many other observances, all en- 

 joining an uninterrupted course of humiliation and abstinence. 



Some of these monasteries are very large, and contain a great many 

 monks, as well as the boys whose education they superintend. They 

 are erected by the villagers, and supply such accommodation as is re- 

 quired. In a remote part of the interior of the Kioum is an image of 

 Gautama. Before this image the Phoongrees prostrate themselves 

 twice a day, and never leave the building without making an obeisance, 

 and intimating their intention to the Routoo : a similar duty is performed 

 on their return. This image is composed of more or less costly mate- 

 rials, according to circumstances. In some Kioums I have seen the 

 Phraa entirely covered with gold or silver leaf; in others again, it is of 

 wood or stone, with little or no ornament whatever. Flowers, rice, and 

 parched grain are the offerings generally made at the shrine of Gau- 

 tama, either by officiating priests, or any of the laity, as a religious ob- 

 servance, and for the attainment of some particular object of desire. 



The assumption of the monastic garb is voluntary ; the person who 

 expresses a wish to become a Phoongree is admitted into the convent 

 (without regard to country, or the religion he may formerly have 

 professed), provided he stipulates his readiness to conform to the 

 Buddhist observances in matters of faith and discipline, and there 

 exists no impediment (such as his having a family to support, or his not 

 having obtained the permission of his parents, &c), to his abandon- 

 ment of earthly pursuits ; sickness, deformity, and a bad character 

 are also sufficient causes for rejection. Should none of these obstacles 

 present themselves, the candidate is admitted into the Kioum, and attired 

 in the prescribed dress, enters upon the duties of a Phoongree. If, as 

 is generally the case, his age shall not have exceeded 15 years, he is 

 appointed to the performance of the menial duties, and gradually initi- 

 ated in the peculiar tenets of the sect, until he shall have arrived at the 

 age of 20 years, the time appointed for confirmation. 



It is not uncommon for a Phoongree to devote only a certain period 

 of his life to the duties of the convent, returning to the world so soon as 

 that term of religious abstinence shall have expired. These Phoongrees 

 are generally young men, who are desirous of assuming the monastic 

 garb, either from a religious feeling, or for the purpose of performing 



