TEMPLES ON THE MOUNTAIN 219 
the frightful precipice into the clouds upon which it 
appears, their bodies as a rule falling upon an inaccessible 
spur covered with forest, perhaps a mile or more below. 
There were a good number of pilgrims on the moun- 
tain at the time of my visit, but the principal time for 
pilgrimages is in the autumn, after all the harvest work 
is completed, which is about the end of September. 
All the temples are built of wood with tiled roofs, and 
many have a barnlike appearance, but most of them 
are fairly rich in idols and incense jars. They have, as 
a rule, bells, some of great size, and many of them have 
been damaged by fires, which appear to be very fre- 
quent. Isaw the ruins of several temples that had been 
recently destroyed. When a bell has been rendered 
useless it is thrown outside, and no further care appears 
to be taken of it. There must be many hundreds of 
tons of bronze and bell metal laying about uncared for 
and unsheltered, going to ruin on the mountain. The 
ruin of the bronze temple at the summit has been men- 
tioned before. No one seems to take the trouble to 
gather the valuable metal together for recasting or any 
other purpose. When a temple has been burned, it is 
nearly always rebuilt, the trees on the mountain being 
allowed to be used for this purpose and also for the 
priest’s firewood, but for no other purpose; the place, 
therefore, is not likely to be ever denuded of its timber. 
