BOOTANi 
91 
comprehended within the thickness of the wall. The other, the grand 
entrance, is on the east front, which is ascended by a flight of stone 
steps. Even with these we entered a spacious gateway, having two 
massy doors, fortified with knobs of iron, which stand above the sur¬ 
face of the wood; a large bar of timber, sliding within the masonry, 
serves to secure them when shut. We passed through this gateway, 
and came opposite to the central square building, which I must call 
the citadel; and this is the habitation of the supreme Lama. It con¬ 
tains also the chief of their idols, Mahamoonie, amidst a multitude of 
others of inferior note. Both to the right and left, the way leads to 
spacious squares, paved with flat stones, and to the apartments of the 
Lama. The citadel is connected with the western angle; and there is 
•* 
a communication from the varanda, or covered gallery, which adjoins 
to it. The citadel is a very lofty buildiqg, being no less than seven 
stories high, each from fifteen to eighteen feet; it is covered over 
with a roof of a low pitch, composed of fir timbers, sheathed with 
boards of deal, which project on each side a great way beyond the 
walls; from the centre, there rises a square piece of masonry, which 
supports a canopy of copper, richly gilt; and this is supposed to be 
immediately over the great idol, Mahamoonie. Lam’ Rimbochay, the 
present Daeb Raja, lives upon the fourth floor from the ground; above 
that, there are two other stories; and the seventh ladder leads to the 
temple of Mahamoonie, which is covered with the gilded canopy. 
We now left the citadel, to take a view of the rest of the building, 
and found the east, west, and south angles, exactly corresponding with 
each other, in having apartments on the ground floor appropriated for 
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