216 
TIBET. 
courage had been equal to his size, to fight a lion. He kept me at bay 
with a most clamorous bark, and 1 was a good deal startled at first; but 
recollecting their cowardly disposition, I stood still; for having once 
had one in my possession, I knew that they were fierce only, when 
they perceived themselves feared. If I had attempted to run, he pro¬ 
bably would have flown upon me, and torn me in pieces, before any 
one could have come to my rescue. Some person came out of the 
house, and he was soon silenced. 
If Bootan, compared with Bengal, exhibits a vast contrast of country 
and climate, there is no nearer analogy between Tibet and Bootan. 
Bootan presents to the view, nothing but the most mishapen irregu¬ 
larities ; mountains covered with eternal verdure, and rich with abun¬ 
dant forests of large and lofty trees. Almost every favourable aspect of 
them, coated with the smallest quantity of soil, is cleared and adapted 
to cultivation, by being shelved into horizontal beds: not a slope or 
narrow slip of land between the ridges, lies unimproved. There is 
scarcely a mountain, whose base is not washed by some rapid torrent, 
and many of the loftiest, bear populous villages, amidst orchards, and 
other plantations, on their summits and oil their sides. It combines 
in its extent, the most extravagant traits of rude nature and labo¬ 
rious art. 
Tibet, on the other hand, strikes a traveller, at first sight, as one 
of the least favoured countries under heaven, and appears to be in 
a great measure incapable of culture. It exhibits only low rocky 
hills, without any visible vegetation, or extensive arid plains, both 
of the most stern and stubborn aspect, promising full as little as they 
