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building, was a long, well-ventilated fac- 

 tory, where many girls were busy weav- 

 ing silk and cotton fabrics, chiefly the 

 former. The silk was in the main tussar, 

 obtained from Assam and the northern 

 hills. It was altogether a very charming 

 and home-like dwelling, and evidently 

 managed by an excellent and capable 

 housewife in his eldest daughter, who 

 lives with him and superintends his 

 household (see pages 437 and 446). 



On one occasion we breakfasted with 

 him, and were offered several small dishes 

 cooked in Chinese fashion in small cups, 

 with the accompaniment of boiled rice, 

 while in the center of the table was a 

 large dish of various kinds of meat. 

 After breakfast I had to go and witness 

 an archery contest. The distance be- 

 tween the butts was at least 150 yards, 

 and the shooting was much better than 

 what we saw at Poonakha and what Dr. 

 Griffiths writes of. There were two 

 teams, captained respectively by Ugyen 

 Kazi and the Tongsa Donyer, and the 

 former won. 



sir ugyen's personality 



Sir Ugyen took a good deal of trouble 

 to find some books for me, from which I 

 have gathered a fuller account of early 

 Bhutanese history than we have had 

 hitherto. 



His own story is a somewhat pathetic 

 one. As a young man he married an 

 exceedingly lovely girl, to whom he was 

 devotedly attached, but after the birth of 

 their second daughter she died very sud- 

 denly from some unknown cause. The 

 shock was a terrible one to Sir Ugyen. 

 He became seriously ill, and on his re- 

 covery withdrew from all gaiety and 

 found solace in reading and studying the 

 history and legends of his country. As 

 some of his followers described him, he 

 was more than a lama. Sir Ugyen is the 

 only Bhutanese I have come across who 

 takes a real and intelligent interest in 

 general subjects, both foreign and do- 

 mestic, and he neither drinks nor in- 

 dulges in other vices. He made a large 

 collection of books, but unfortunately 

 many of them were destroyed when the 

 Dechen-phodang, near Tashi-cho-jong, 

 was burnt down; while the earthquake 



of 1897, which destroyed all the princi- 

 pal buildings in Bhutan, ruined other 

 archives. 



THE LIFE OP THE WOMEN 



We were also entertained by the Tong- 

 sa's sister and spent several days in an 

 encampment near her house. We here 

 saw what capable housewives the Bhutan 

 ladies are. Everything was done very 

 systematically. In the morning the pro- 

 visions for the day were given out — no 

 easy task, with some hundreds of retain- 

 ers to feed — and the store-rooms re- 

 locked, orders issued, and tasks appointed 

 in spinning, weaving, etc., to be carried 

 out by the large household of women, and 

 it was interesting to see the deference in 

 which these dames are held. 



We were taken to see the Guru Tha- 

 kung Monastery and to lunch at a coun- 

 try house; were shown all the industries 

 of weaving in cotton, wool, and silk; the 

 process of casting of metals, chiefly bells 

 and images ; the making of swords and 

 gold- and silversmith's work. Many 

 pieces turned out by the latter were of 

 exquisite design and finish. It was all 

 most interesting and instructive. 



THE MEN ARE EXCELLENT ARTISANS 



The Bhutanese excel in casting bells, 

 and I have seen some excellent specimens 

 with very fine tones. The composition 

 used for the best bells contains a good 

 deal of silver, but they never make them 

 of any great size, the largest I have seen 

 being probably 24 inches in diameter and 

 of about an equal height. 



In iron-work they are also good ar- 

 tificers, and many of their sword-blades 

 are of excellent manufacture and finish, 

 and are still made from the charcoal iron. 

 The polish they put on them is wonder- 

 ful, and the blades almost look as though 

 they had been silvered. 



Their swords are very handsome weap- 

 ons, with finely finished blades, elabo- 

 rately wrought, silver-handled, inlaid with 

 turquoise and coral, and silver scabbards 

 with gold-washed patterns, attached to 

 handsome leather belts with brightly col- 

 ored silk cords and tassels. Their dag- 

 gers are also very fine, many of them 

 with triangular blades and fluted sides, 



