1849.] Journal of a trip to Sikim. 535 



cabinet the image of a Lama sits enshrined. These images are gilded, 

 and hold a blue bowl, called Soongjup, in the right hand. The cabinets 

 are handsomely painted in gold, vermilion, and blue, and had a very- 

 good effect. The volumes were of the usual kind, 2 feet long 9 inches 

 broad, and 9 inches thick, composed of loose leaves rolled up in cloth, 

 and two carved wooden boards strapped over them for binding. 



Next to the Goombas, the " Place of Tombs" is the most interesting 

 object at Tassiding. 



It lies at the south end of the terrace, and contains 26 Chaityas or 

 funeral monuments, of various sizes, all built of stone, with a little clay 

 mortar, and in excellent order. The centre of the group of tombs is 

 occupied by the largest of them, which is a fine looking, and well pro- 

 portioned monument. The basement is 27 feet square, and rises by 

 4 steps. From the top of this platform springs the shaft, which is 

 about 4 feet high, and is surmounted by a cornice projecting 4 feet j 

 over this is a second shaft which tapers by 5 steps, and resting on this 

 is what may be called the bowl of the Chaitya. It is in some instances 

 a hemisphere, but much more frequently is a truncated oval. From 

 out of the bowl rises the Pinnacle, which is 4-sided, and tapers to a 

 point, or is occasionally surmounted by a wooden apex representing a 

 Lunar crescent with the sun's orb in the centre. The height of this 

 Chaitya, which has a basement of 27 feet square, may be 25 feet. Near 

 it is the monument of the heir apparent of Sikim, who died in 1841, 

 and was not a Lama. At Pomiongchi, the Chaitya built to the memory 

 of a great ally of mine, the Badong Kaji, was 'pointed out to me. It 

 was hi all respects the same as others built in honor of holy Lamas, 

 and I believe that these monuments to the laity share the veneration 

 that is accorded to those of the priesthood. Chaityas and Mendongs 

 in Sikim, on the road and elsewhere, are always passed on the right 

 hand. 



On the north side of Tassiding, and close to the summit, there are 

 some rocky crevices which emit heated air ; at 5 p. m., the external air 

 was at 51° of Faht., in one of these crevices it was 64°. 



January 1st, 1849. — Pomiongchi Goomba. — We left Suneek at 8 

 a. m., after an hour's steep descent in a N. "W. direction we reached the 

 Ratong river, which we crossed by a very ricketty bamboo bridge, like 

 the one over the Rungeet below Tassiding. Both banks of the Ratong 



