BOOTAN, 
138 
immersed in it. Whether the Gylongs have by use surmounted this 
difficulty, and so far blunted their sensations, as to use the bath estab¬ 
lished on the spot, without personal inconvenience, I know not; yet it 
is reported, that none but good and holy men are susceptible of its 
virtues ; the profane who resort hither, being incapable of enjoying its 
medicinal efficacy, or, in other words, supporting its extreme heat. 
The desponding invalid, therefore, is usually compelled to have re¬ 
course to those, who are in a superior degree endowed with holiness, 
“ to propitiate the genii of the well.” 
Our road lay near the river, at the foot of the mountains, winding 
through a verdant valley of unequal width. In general, the moun¬ 
tains terminated with an easy slope; but their sides were divided into 
small beds, for the growth of corn : and they were not incumbered with 
trees. The few which were upon them consisted of pine and fir, 
with some barberry bushes intermixed; and every breeze of wind, 
diffusing the fragrance of the jessamine, gratefully convinced us of its 
presence. 
The palace of Punukka, in its exterior form and appearance, very 
much resembles that of Tassisudon, but is rather more spacious and 
extensive: it has, in the same manner, its citadel and gilded canopy. 
It is situated on the point of a peninsula, washed on both sides, imme¬ 
diately before their junction, by the Matchieu and the Pafchieu. We 
crossed the Patehieu over a covered wooden bridge, and, turning to 
the right, passed through a doorway in a wall, that serves to part the 
court-yard from the Raja’s garden. We proceeded on, and took up 
our residence in a light airy pavilion, belonging to Zempi, erected on 
