402 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



syces and other retainers ; next the body- 

 guard of the Tongsa, about twenty men, 

 dressed in beautiful silks and brocades 

 and each with a yellow scarf. The band 

 and dancers followed immediately in 

 front of myself and my party, and we 

 again were followed by my orderlies and 

 servants, who were all mounted and 

 wearing their scarlet uniforms. On ac- 

 count of the narrow path, the procession 

 had to proceed in single file, and as we 

 gradually wended our way across the 

 bridge w r e must have made a brave show 

 for the country folk, who had flocked out 

 in thousands to watch our arrival. 



In camp waiting to receive me were all 

 the principal Bhutanese officials — the 

 Tongsa Penlop himself (now the king), 

 the Thimbu and Poonakha Jongpens, the 

 Zung Donyer and Deb Zimpon. The 

 first three I had met in Tibet ; the last 

 two at Buxar. 



They greeted me most cordially and 

 condoled with me on the weather, in- 

 quired about our journey, and hoped we 

 had had no great difficulties. Then in a 

 short time, the rain having ceased, they 

 took their departure and left us to settle 

 down in our quarters. For myself a 

 large, comfortable Swiss cottage tent had 

 been pitched; two others with embroid- 

 ered tops, cook-houses and quarters for 

 the followers, together with my own 

 camp equipage, made a very luxurious 

 encampment. 



AN IMPREGNABLE PORTRESS 



I also had a great compliment paid mc, 

 as the Deb Raja's band played in front of 

 us all through the outer courtyard across 

 the river and right into the camp, an 

 honor not even paid the Tongsa Penlop 

 himself beyond the bridge. 



Poonakha, lying between the rivers, is 

 easily supplied with water ; but other 

 forts built on a ridge have some difficulty, 

 and are in many cases, as at Dug-gye, 

 obliged to build sunk passages zigzagging 

 down to the valley and protected by tow- 

 ers at each turning to insure a supply of 

 water in the event of a siege. Where a 

 fort is built on the side of a hill, as at 

 Paro and at Tongsa, protecting towers 

 are always built above it. 



The plan nearly always followed in the 



forts is that of a rough parallelogram 

 divided into courts. The main entrance 

 in Poonakha is approached by a steep 

 fiight of wooden steps about 20 feet in 

 height, which in time of emergency can 

 be easily removed, leading to the gate- 

 way, a massive wooden structure, easily 

 closed and invariably shut at night. 



Through the gateway the first court is 

 reached. The main citadel is situated in 

 this, at the south end, a square building, 

 about 40 feet at the base and 80 feet high, 

 and flanking the court on all sides are the 

 two-storied buildings used as residences 

 by the lay officials. Beyond the citadel 

 there is another court, also surrounded 

 by double-storied dwellings, and in the 

 building dividing this court from the next 

 is the larger Durbar Hall, which stretches 

 across the whole width. Next comes an- 

 other and smaller court, within which, to 

 the south, stands the second and smaller 

 citadel, inclosed by more buildings. 



Beyond comes another court, given up 

 entirely to the Ta-tshang lamas, number- 

 ing about 3,000, the large temple standing 

 in the center. The lamas' cells occupy 

 two sides of the court, the third side 

 overlooking the junction of the rivers. 



Underneath these courts are a few 

 store-rooms for the housing of grain, but 

 the greater part is filled in with earth 

 and rock. 



All the buildings are roofed with shin- 

 gles made of split wood, and in this the 

 great danger, that of fire, lies, as the 

 shingles are easily set alight; but other- 

 wise, in the days of bows and arrows, 

 such forts were practically impregnable, 

 and this one could, if necessary, house 

 6,000 souls or even more. 



A QUAINT CEREMONY 



I spent many days here preparing for 

 the Durbar, which proved of such inter- 

 est that I give a full account of it. Un- 

 fortunately, on the morning of the Dur- 

 bar it rained heavily, but cleared up be- 

 fore the ceremony began. This took 

 place in the Palace of Poonakha, in the 

 large hall. 



When everything was in readiness in 

 the palace, a small procession from camp 

 was formed. Major Rennick and myself, 

 in full-dress uniform, preceded by our 



