SOME JOURNEYS IN BHUTAN 



377 



accompanied our party so far, but this 

 was too much for him. He said he had 

 been in many bad places, but never such 

 a bad one as this, and he turned back to 

 where the mules were waiting. Natives, 

 as a rule, have good heads and do not 

 mind bad roads, so that speaks for itself. 



Across the gorge a rope of little col- 

 ored prayer-flags was stretched, which 

 fluttered out prayers for the benefit of 

 those who had put them up, and this 

 added to the picturesqueness of the scene. 



On reaching the top of our ladder-like 

 path a monk presented us each with a 

 draught of beautifully ice-cold water in 

 a gourd from a holy spring, and 1 can 

 imagine it being much appreciated on a 

 hot day. 



The most holy shrine, the sanctuary 

 round which all the other buildings have 

 sprung up, was situated in a cave. The 

 cave is not large, and in it was a gilded 

 chorten filled with small images of 

 Buddha in copper gilt, each seated on a 

 lotus and many of very good design. 

 The other buildings were for the most 

 part ordinary temples, with frescoed 

 walls and altars, with butter-lamps and 

 incense burning, and in the principal one 

 there was a very fine brass Buddha of 

 more than life size, surrounded by his 

 satellites. There were also some unu- 

 sually good specimens of dorjcs (thun- 

 derbolts) and pur pas (daggers), both of 

 which are used in the temple services. 



They were supposed to be of holy ori- 

 gin and to be found among the solid rocks 

 near the shrine; but I could see none, 

 although the Bya-gha Jongpen's son, a 

 nephew of the Tongsa, had taken one 

 away a few weeks previously. My serv- 

 ants were very anxious to secure one of 

 these treasures, and climbed to an almost 

 inaccessible point in the rocks in search 

 of them, but without success. 



In the center of the gorge, perched 

 upon a tiny ledge, there was a hermit's 

 dwelling, which could only be reached by 

 -climbing a perpendicular notched pole 

 about 40 feet high. It looked diminutive 

 against the enormous precipice (p. 378) 

 and dreary and uninviting, with long 

 icicles hanging from the roof, and we 

 did not attempt to visit it. We, however, 



climbed to the top of the precipice to visit 

 the monastery of Sang-tog-peri, which 

 was most picturesquely situated on a pro- 

 jecting spur, with a flne old oak over- 

 hanging the entrance. It reminded me 

 of some of the Japanese temples in Kioto, 

 in the way the natural features of the 

 ground had been utilized to beautify the 

 entrance. 



There was a lovely view from this 

 point. Around us on all sides were spurs, 

 with other monasteries and nunneries, 

 but they were all more or less difficult of 

 access and our time would not admit of 

 further delay ; so we were obliged to re- 

 turn, leaving them unvisited. It was a 

 place that would take days to explore 

 and would well repay the trouble, espe- 

 cially to an artist in search of the beauti- 

 ful and unusual. 



Feeding mules with eggs 



From Dug-gye the route to Paro ran 

 down the valley, with monasteries perched 

 on every prominent hill. On reaching 

 Paro we found our camp, as usual, ready 

 pitched for us (see page 384). 



In the afternoon, while wandering- 

 round the camp, which was very well laid 

 out, I watched the curious Bhutanese 

 custom of feeding mules with eggs, which 

 I had never come across elsewhere. All 

 our mules, as well as those belonging to 

 Ugyen Kazi and to the penlops, each had 

 a ration of two or three raw eggs. The 

 eggs were broken into a horn, the mule's 

 head held up, and the contents of the 

 horn poured down the animal's throat ; 

 and, strange to say, they seemed to like 

 the unnatural food. The Bhutanese al- 

 ways give this to their animals when they 

 have any extra hard work to do, and say 

 it keeps them in excellent condition ; and 

 certainly all their mules were in first-rate 

 condition. 



Paro is a very large and striking build- 

 ing, protected on the one side by the 

 River Pa-chu, spanned by a substantial 

 bridge on the cantilever principle, covered 

 with a roof to protect the timber (see 

 pages 385-387). The only entrance is 

 from the hillside above the third story, 

 the lower stories being used entirely as 

 storehouses for grain, etc. 



