ANOTHER VIEW OE TONGSA JONG, SHOWING OUTLYING FORTS, TERRACES, AND 



IRRIGATING PIPES 



against which water is directed from a 

 chute; the end is shod with iron and re- 

 volves in an iron socket driven by the 

 force of the stream. With each revolu- 

 tion the prayers are believed to be prayed 

 for the benefit of the builder of that par- 

 ticular wheel and count so much to his 

 credit. 



They are very easily kept in order ; but 

 probably because only construction and 

 not preservation is a work of merit in the 

 Buddhist religion, no one seems to take 

 the trouble to clear out the watercourses 

 or to mend a broken flapper, and conse- 

 quently most of them were at a standstill. 



It is a delightfully easy method of 

 praying, and some enormous wheels have 

 been erected. One at Lamteng, in the 

 Lachen Valley in Sikkim, contains no less 

 than four tons of printed paper, and 

 measures about 9 feet in height by 4^ 

 feet in diameter ; but these very large 



ones are seldom worked by water-power, 

 and generally have a crank on the lever 

 end of the shaft, which any one anxious 

 to pray has only to turn, while a bell 

 sounding automatically at each revolu- 

 tion records the number of prayers re- 

 peated. 



THE king's private home 



We stayed here a few days and then 

 went on to Byagha. This visit to Byagha, 

 which lasted 12 days, was really the most 

 enjoyable part of the expedition, for we 

 were received as honored guests by Sir 

 Ugyen in his private capacity ; and inter- 

 esting and imposing as the ceremonies 

 had been at Poonakha, these few days at 

 Byagha gave us a much deeper insight 

 into the life and customs of the Bhutan- 

 ese, as our intercourse with our host was 

 quite free and untrammeled. 



An easy descent brought us to an open- 



421 



