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

50 B O OTAN.of carriage for our baggage, and our servants also began to requirerest,after travelling over a country so difficult and rugged as that wehad passed.Murichom consists of about twenty houses, in their structure muchsuperior to any 1 had yet seen in Bootan. They are built of stone,with clay as cement, of a square form, and the wallsnarrowing fromthe foundations to the top. The roof is supported clear of the walls,has a very low pitch, and is composed of fir boards placed lengthwayson cross beams and joists of fir, and confined by large stonesIlaid upon the top.The lower part of the house accommodates hogs,cows, and other animals. The family occupies the first story, to which/ I they ascend by a ladder, composed of one half of a split fir tree ; intothe flat side of which, rude holes are cut at proper distances to serveas steps.The floors are boarded and the doors double ; they turn on pivots,and shut against an upright post in the middle of the doorway. Therooms are lofty, and there is commonly, on one or two sides, a projectingbalcony for the admission of light and air, which aflbrds also a pleasant,place to sit in.The space between the ceiling of the upper apartment and'the roof, is used for a granary or store-room, and serves for a repositoryof fire wood, and other lumber.The village is situated on the top of themountain, crowned with an extensive space of level ground. This wascovered with a rich verdure; and on its borders were many ancientspreading pepul= trees, peaches, and willows.From our windows wecould behold much cultivated land, covered with diflerent sorts of* Ficus indica, Linnai.