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

TIBET. 2,95are not closed with shutters, but black mohair curtains.The principalapartment in the upper story has an opening over it, covered with amoveable shed, which serves the purpose of sometimes admitting lightand air, and, inthe winter season, occasionally, the grateful warmthof the sun.The tops of the walls are adorned with those cylindrical ornamentsI have already described ;some of which are plain, covered with blackcloth, crossed by a white fillet ; whilst others are made of copper,burnished with gold ; and as in this article, they have been very profuse,particularly about the palace, and all the mausoleums, the viewof the monastery, on approaching it from the plain, is brilliant andsplendid.The plain of Teshoo Loomboo, which is perfectly level, is encompassedby rocky hills, on all sides. Its direction is north and south,and its extreme length about fifteen miles ; its southern extremity inbreadth from east to west, may be perhaps, five, or six miles. Itnarrows towards the north, and the rock, upon the southern face ofwhich the monastery is situated, nearly occupies the whole width ofthe valley. The end of the rock approaches so near to the hills thatbound the plain on the east, as to form a narrow defile, which leavesroom only for a road, and the bed of the river Painom-tchieu^ which runsthrough it,and at a small distance beyond, joins the Berhampooter.The fortress of Shigatzee-jeung stands upon a prominent ridge ofthe rock, and commands the pass. There are many openings in thehills that surround this valley, and the public roads cross none ofthem, but wind round their basis, over even ground.As I looked from