294 
TIBET. 
ledge below, and are fashioned above into a cornice, capped with 
masonry. 
This insertion of brush-wood, is from three to four or five feet in 
depth. The ends externally, are made even with great care, so that, 
at a distance, it is not distinguishable from masonry. It is always 
stained of a deep garnet colour ; the same which the custom of these 
regions has universally adopted, to distinguish places of religious esta¬ 
blishment, and which, when contrasted with the white walls, produces, 
in the appearance of their towns, a very pleasing effect. Of this pecu¬ 
liarity, which is often met with in Tibet, I could never obtain a satis¬ 
factory account ; and whether it proceeds from an economical use of 
the materials of masonry; or was designed to lessen the weight of the 
superstructure; or to admit the snow, upon a sudden thaw, more 
expeditiously to percolate and pass off, than through small spouts, 
which might be liable to be clogged, I cannot determine. Had I seen 
it only in frontier towns, and posts of strength, I should have sus¬ 
pected, that, in a country where fire arms were not in use, it might 
have been intended as a shreen, to shelter the besieged ; or perhaps, to 
retain the darts and arrows of the assailants, and prevent their being 
collected again, as they might easily be, if they were suffered to recoil 
from a solid wall. 
If such, indeed, were the original design, it is not now avowed : and 
since the necessity has ceased, it is as well forgotten, and the contriv¬ 
ance is more esteemed, under the pacific character of an ornamental 
decoration. All the houses have windows, of which the centre, or 
principal one, projects beyond the walls, and forms a balcony; they 
