THE TEMPLE OF KUM-BUM 1189 
of their brows polished the boards with their hard horny 
hands. Around him were a number of images of less holy 
deities, each enshrined in his gavo, a sort of open cabinet 
or sentry - box, with ornamental panelling. Five lamps 
were burning immediately in front of Tsung Kaba, and in 
front of them again, but on the ground, stood half-a-dozen 
decorated jolas, each a yard high, i.e. vessels of brass, in 
shape resembling drinking- cups, which contained divers 
eatables, such as rice, flour, tsamba (mutton fat mixed with 
barley meal), water, tea, etc., all offerings to the god. 
Each jola was covered with a wooden lid, with a hole in it, 
so that you could see what it contained. On each of these 
receptacles there was a lamp burning ; all which added to 
the mystic effect. 
The image of Tsung Kaba was surrounded by rows of 
pillars making a square ; and affixed to the capitals of the 
front row was a rectangular shield, slightly tilted towards 
the doors, and inscribed with four Chinese letter-signs in 
gold on a dark background. The effect was remarkably 
artistic. They told me the inscription signified, that that 
temple was the home of Edsin Khan, Emperor of China. 
Rows of shelves or framework, containing innumerable 
volumes of the Buddhist scriptures, were ranged on each 
side of the god and along the walls of the temple, that 
is to say, a vast number of narrow strips of parchment 
enclosed between two loose boards. The place was in 
fact a veritable museum ; and I was astonished to find so 
many interesting curiosities collected out there in the 
wilderness, and found myself eagerly desiring to purloin 
the entire collection and carry it off home with me. 
This temple of Sirkang was encircled by a multitude 
of similar temples, though without golden roofs. Their 
walls sheltered a host of more or less gigantic idols, with 
gilded faces and hands, dressed in handsome and costly 
robes, and with lamps burning in front of them. 
One temple, Tsuggchin-dugun, which stood in the 
middle of a series of courtyards, was surrounded on 
every side by colonnades, under which were a number of 
cylindrical korlehs or prayer-wheels, fixed between two rows 
