BOOTAN. 
155 
precipitated the camp equipage to the foot of the rock, to the total 
destruction of all its frangible contents. 
This was an irreparable loss, aggravated by the prospect before us, 
of receding still further from the possibility of supplying its place ; 
of necessity we were obliged to submit, and accept the use of such 
miserable substitutes, as the custom of these regions offered. Not a 
syllable was said to the Raja of what had happened; for we knew not 
but death, might have been the reward of the author of this ruin. 
Having ascended to the gates of the villa, we did not enter it; but, 
turning to the left, found the Raja seated in a pavilion erected upon 
the edge of a deep precipice, which it partly overhung, commanding 
a beautiful prospect of the valley, the castle, and the river, with many 
populous settlements, distributed over the surrounding mountains. 
There was a large level space in front, completely covered with a 
smooth and verdant turf : various sorts of trees grew on the superior 
eminences ; firs, the barberry, rhododendron, vaccinium, and the 
mountain ash. The mansion stood upon the right ; on the left was a 
row of wooden cages, containing a number of huge dogs, tremendously 
fierce, strong, and noisy. They were natives of Tibet; and whether 
savage by nature, or soured by confinement, they were so impetu¬ 
ously furious, that it was unsafe, unless the keepers were near, even to 
approach their dens. 
Below the pavilion, we looked down upon a bed of flowers, consisting 
of a selection from the most shewy of the hardy species ; hollyhocks, 
sun-flowers, African marigolds, nasturtiums, poppies, and a few 
weakly larkspurs. The rose appears to be not in its proper climate, 
X 
