270 



BOOTAN. 



being appropriated to its cultivation ; the terraces above, owing to 

 the inclination, are very narrow, and from the paucity of straw, the 

 crops must, I should infer, be very poor. 



March 22nd. — To-day we took our leave of the Pillo, who received 

 us in a room to the south of the castle. He was friendly enough, 

 but begged for presents unconscionably. He was surrounded by a 

 considerable number of more mean looking persons than ordinary. On 

 the previous meeting he talked openly of being at enmity with the 

 present Deb Rajah, but on this occasion he said little on the subject. 



The castle is an ill-built, and worse arranged building, the windows 

 and loopholes being so placed as to afford every facility for shoot- 

 ing into the air. In a court-yard, several tiger skins brought from the 

 plains, are suspended. 



It now appears that this Pillo, who said previously that the new 

 Deb was never installed, is himself an usurper, previously handing the 

 old Deb from the throne. This latter personage appears to be by far 

 the more popular of the two. The Pillo must now have great in- 

 fluence, as all the posts in his division, are either held by his own 

 sons, or by his more influential servants. The sons by the bye are, so 

 long as they remain in the presence, treated like ordinary servants. 

 Joongar is held by one of his sons, a lad of about eighteen, of plain 

 but pleasing appearance and of good manners. He visited us yester- 

 day, and his newly acquired rank sat easily on him. The old Pillo no 

 doubt owes his rank to his having been the father of the lad chosen 

 to be Dhurma Rajah, he is himself very evidently low-born and low- 

 bred, and compared with the former one, so poor a specimen, that the 

 greater popularity of the former is not to be wondered at. From all 

 we have heard, they are contemptible rulers, as they appear to do 

 nothing but intrigue for power among themselves. Changes are 

 hence excessively frequent, and were they attended with much 

 bloodshed, the country would be depopulated. 



This evening we had ample proof that the Bhootea houses are not 

 water-proof. Heavy showers occurred with thunder and dense clouds 

 from the south-west. 



March 23rd. — We left Tongsa, proceeding through the castle, and 

 thence struck down to the river Mateesun. The descent was very 

 steep, and amounted to about 1,200 feet. The river is crossed by an 

 ordinary bridge, it is a large and violent stream and contains fish, some 

 of which, seen by Blake, were of large size. Crossing this, we conti- 

 nued throughout the remainder of the march, gradually rising along 



