1853.] Notes upon a Tour in the Sihkim Ilimalayah Mountains. 629 



the high winds that sometimes sweep across these mountains with 

 resistless force. Chanachelling is a monstery for women, but since 

 the llajah's disgraceful conduct towards Drs. Campbell and Hooker 

 when travelling in his country — which, together with the Rajah's 

 refusal to deliver up his Dewan, the principal instigator in the 

 outrage, and on which account the two Morung Purgunnahs lying 

 at the foot of the hills and yielding a yearly revenue of 23,000 

 rupees, and that portion of the hills now known as the Darjeeling 

 Territory, and for which the Eajah received 3,000 per annum from 

 the British Government, were confiscated from the Rajah, — the 

 yearly allowance hitherto granted by the Durbar to the Goompa has 

 been stopped, and we found that all the nuns had gone over the 

 snows to Choombi in Tibet, leaving one Lama in charge of the vast 

 house, its library, images and religious furniture. The interior of 

 the house was as curious as its exterior. The portico at the entrance 

 of the Goompa has the walls painted with a series of figures larger 

 than life in the true Chinese style ; — bright colours, bad perspective 

 and extravagant action. The drawings represent Chinese officers 

 of various grades bringing in frantic haste presents, such as strings 

 of precious stones and other rare articles to a group of images in an 

 inner room, the figures are so painted that they appear hastening 

 into the room where a grand idol sits, flanked on either side by 

 smaller images. The eyes of one of the mandarins or high officers 

 were so painted that they really looked as if they were about to 

 spring out of their sockets. The tension of the eye-ball was remark- 

 ably well-painted. The flowing drapery, the armour, faces and jewels 

 upon the figures' were all very well and minutely painted. 



In the praying room up stairs, thirty-six feet long by thirty 

 broad, were arranged round the book-cases for the reception of the 

 books of prayers of which I counted 86 volumes bound in silk and 

 each labelled upon three slips of various coloured Chinese satins. 

 The roof of the room is supported upon six handsomely carved and 

 painted wooden pillars, carved in a truly Chinese manner ; down 

 the eastern side of the room were ranged eight curiously carved side- 

 tables behind which in recesses were seated twelve gods, five feet 

 in height and painted so as to resemble life. Immediately to the 

 left of the altar which was divested of most of its ornaments, was a 



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