could not swallow it;[1] but we managed, after a while, to make some in our own room. Shortly after Tsing-ta came in, bringing a pair of rugs, two cushions, and two little tables he had borrowed at the Bangye-shag. He had also an invitation from the Lhacham to visit her in the afternoon.
Having shaved and donned my lama costume and goggles, we started for Bangye-shag, which was about a mile from our lodgings. Most of the shops we saw were kept by Kashmiris, Nepalese, or Chinese; the Tibetan ones were few and poorly supplied.
Bangye-shag is a lofty, flat-roofed stone building with two large gateways. The ground floor is used as storerooms and quarters for the amlas or retainers of the Phala estates. The beams, the cornices, as also the window-frames, are painted red; a few of the windows have a little pane of glass in them, but most of them are covered with paper. On reaching the second floor, the Lhacham’s maids (shetama) greeted me most kindly, and insisted on my taking a cup or two of tea, after which they led me to her ladyship’s room, where, taking off my hat, I presented her a visiting scarf (jadar) and a piece of gold of about a dzo weight.[2] Making motion to one of her maids to present me a scarf, she kindly wished me welcome ("Chyag-peb nang chig, Pundib la"), and bade me take a seat ("Pundib la, shu dang shag, shu dang shag"). After conversing with her a while about my recent illness, and telling her of the kindness of the Dorje Phagmo, that merciful Lady of the Lake to whom I owe my life, I took my leave and returned home.
June 1.—June 1 is the holiest day of the year, saga dawa,[3] the day of the Buddha's nirvãna, and incense was burnt on every hilltop, in every shrine, chapel, lamasery, and house in or near Lhasa. Men, women, and children hastened to the sacred shrine of Kyil-khording (or Jo khang, as it is commonly called), to do puja to the Jo-vo ("Lord Buddha") and obtain his blessing. All carried in their hands bundles of incense-sticks, bowls of butter, and khatag of all sizes and qualities. Our fellow-lodgers went with the rest, calling at my room on the way out, and in a short time we also joined the crowd.
- ↑ Mutton fat is a common substitute for butter in tea among the Tibetans, and is not always used as a pis aller, but in preference to butter.—(W. R.)
- ↑ A dzo is a tenth of an ounce (sang), or about two-thirds of a rupee in weight. In India its equivalent is a tola.—(W. R.)
- ↑ The Buddha's death is said to have occurred on the 15th of the 4th month, which only occasionally falls on June 1.—(W. R.)
