TIBET* 
295 
are not closed with shutters, but black mohair curtains. The principal 
apartment in the upper story has an opening over it, covered with a 
moveable shed, which serves the purpose of sometimes admitting light 
and air, and, in the winter season, occasionally, the grateful warmth 
of the sun. 
The tops of the walls are adorned with those cylindrical ornaments 
I have already described; some of which are plain, covered with black 
cloth, crossed by a white fillet ; whilst others are made of copper, 
burnished with gold ; and as in this article, they have been very pro¬ 
fuse, particularly about the palace, and all the mausoleums, the view 
of the monastery, on approaching it from the plain, is brilliant and 
splendid. 
The plain of Teshoo Loomboo, which is perfectly level, is encom¬ 
passed by rocky hills, on all sides. Its direction is north and south, 
and its extreme length about fifteen miles ; its southern extremity in 
breadth from east to west, may be perhaps, live, or six miles. It 
narrows towards the north, and the rock, upon the southern face of 
which the monastery is situated, nearly occupies the whole width cf 
the valley. The end of the rock approaches so near to the hills that 
bound the plain on the east, as to form a narrow defile, which leaves 
room only for a road, and the bed of the river Painom-tchieu, which runs 
through it, and at a small distance beyond, joins the Berhampooter. 
The fortress of Shigatzee-jeung stands upon a prominent ridge of 
the rock, and commands the pass. There are many openings in the 
hills that surround this valley, and the public roads cross none of 
them, but wind round their basis, over even ground. As I looked from 
