An Embassy to the Court of the Teshoo Lama in Tibet - Prajna Quest

100 BOOTAN.frame is hung up till the sheet is nearly dry : it is then taken oS, and1 suspendedupon lines. The paper thus prepared is of a much strongerjtexture, than that of any other country with which I am acquainted,as it is capable of being woven, when gilt by way of ornament, intothe texture of silk and satins, to which use I have seen it frequentlyapplied in the manufactures of China.The season of the rains, in these regions, is remarkably moderate;there are frequent showers, but none of those heavy torrents whichaccompany the monsoon to the southward in Bengal ;so that we wereseldom interrupted in our exercise both morning and evening ; andthe weather continued so temperate, that we were occasionally abroad,even at this season, during every hour of the day, without experiencingany inconvenience from the heat of the sun.An equal exposure, in thesame parallel of latitude, inthe low lands, would, most certainly, nothave been hazarded with impunity.Notwithstanding the quantity ofstagnant water, confined upon the fields around us, to sustain theadvancing crops, and the abundant vegetation, both on the hills andevery part of the valley, which philosophers pronounce to be infalliblesources of bad air, yet we cannot with justice, question the salubrity ofthis situation.During our journey and residence among these mountains, we lostbut one man by sickness, and his death could not fairly be imputed tothe climate. I thought him a bad subject in the beginning. He wasimmoderately addicted to the use of opium ; and its inebriating quality,had given to his features that heated^ wild, and fixed appearance,which commonly distinguishes those who intemperately use it.In the