1 58 
BOOTAN. 
my devotions at the sacred shrine of Pootalah*; and, after a residence 
of about fourteen days, returned, in the same manner I went, incognito, 
to Bootan.” I could not but express my surprise, that the independent 
sovereign of an extensive region, who might have commanded every 
accommodation, attention, and respect from the neighbouring powers, 
should thus voluntarily relinquish the prerogative of rank, and submit 
to travel, under every disadvantage, exposed to all sorts of difficulty, 
hardship, and inconvenience. He answered me, that the humble 
character he assumed, best accorded with the purpose of his journey, 
which, to render it meritorious, required some degree of penance ; and 
he hinted at the inconveniences which inevitably arise to the subjects 
of every state, when a chief moves through the country, with a dignity 
and pomp suited to his exalted station. 
As the hour of dinner now approached, we were desirous awhile to 
stroll and look about us, which as soon as the Raja understood, he 
recommended to us to view the inside of his villa, and called a servant 
to attend and shew it to us. On the lower floor we found a superb 
temple, in which some of the Gylongs are perpetually employed in 
reading their sacred writings. The most conspicuous figure in it was 
an immense idol ; it contained also many other gilded images of a 
smaller size. In recesses, upon either side the doorway, tablets of 
the expences, and other circumstances, attending the construction of 
this edifice, were written. Some mythological paintings, and symbols 
of their system of the creation, decorated the walls; and in a large 
hall adjoining, were hung up representations of the city of Lassa, and 
1 The chief monastery and residence of Dalai Lama, near Lassa. 
