THE LATE SHABDUNG RIMPOCHES HOUSE AT TA-IyO MONASTERY 



The frescoes and carvings under the eaves are good and the whole of the decoration is well 

 carried out. The bells are cast in Bhutan (see page 428) 



the people, that they should be interested 

 so easily. 



While at Poonakha I procured a speci- 

 men of the takin (Budorcus ta.vicolor 

 whitei), a very rare animal, and I suc- 

 ceeded in bringing a live specimen to Eng- 

 land, which is now in the Zoological Gar- 

 dens, London (see page 417). 



A VISIT TO A BHUTAN HOME 



With the conclusion of the Durbar my 

 official duties came to an end, but the 

 Tongsa (now Sir Ugyen Wang-chuk) 

 begged me to accompany him to his offi- 

 cial residence, the castle at Tongsa, and 

 thence to his private residence and castle 

 at Byagha ; so my party became the pri- 

 vate guests of Sir Ugyen. We were 

 entertained by the most charming and 

 thoughtful of hosts, everything that could 

 conduce to our comfort being done — 

 camps pitched, roads mended, even houses 



built for us to live in; in fact, no host 

 could have done more and few so much. 



After four days' marching, passing en 

 route Angduphodong Jong, we reached 

 Tongsa. On nearing the fort a bevy of 

 singing girls met us below the almost 

 perpendicular approach and sang us into 

 the fort. I was obliged to ride up steep 

 zigzag steps, although I would have much 

 preferred to walk ; but it would not have 

 been considered etiquette for me to arrive 

 on foot (see page 435). 



Sir Ugyen met us in camp with the 

 information that the castle lamas were 

 all ready and eager to finish the dances 

 that on our previous visit had been 

 stopped by rain ; so, after a hasty lunch, 

 I went on to the castle. The dance went 

 off very well, with the dancers in gor- 

 geous dresses of every imaginable color, 

 to the accompaniment of weird tom-toms 

 and huge trumpets, flutes, and cymbals, 



416 



