other precious stones. Although she belongs to one of the richest and noblest families in Tsang (Ulterior Tibet), besides being connected with the family from which the Tashi lama has sprung, yet she does not feel it beneath her dignity to keep the accounts of the inn and superintend the work of the servants.
December 15.—To-day was the twenty-fifth of the tenth Tibetan moon, and one of the greatest holidays of the Gelugpa Church, being the anniversary of the death of Tsongkhapa. It is known as Gadan namchoi. In every chapel new torma[1] of tsamba take the place of the old ones, which are now thrown away.
Late in the afternoon the Mongol monk Lobzang tanzing, to whom I have previously referred, came to pay me his respects, and presented me a long khatag and the carcass of a large sheep. He had only a few days before been released from a two-months' imprisonment, under suspicion of being implicated in a case of forgery, and had been repeatedly flogged. His tutor had been sentenced to three years of imprisonment, and had been sent to the prison of Khamba djong.
In the evening the monks of Tashilhunpo busied themselves illuminating their chapels. Hundreds of butter-lamps were tastefully placed in rows on the roof of every building in the lamasery. The Government supplies butter to every house in the town and to every resident monk, to enable them to contribute towards the illumination. From the roof of my house I saw the illuminations to great advantage. The fantastic roofs of the four tombs (gyophig) of the Tashi lamas were beautifully lit up. The mitre-shaped spires, the upturned eaves of the temple looked most gorgeous, and resembled the illuminated tajiahs in a mohurum procession in India. The great monastery of Tashilhunpo, situated as it is at the foot of a hill, presented a magnificent appearance. For an hour the illumination was beautiful, but towards 7.30 o'clock the wind began to blow a gale, and had soon extinguished all the lights and driven me into my house shivering with cold.
One of the newly incarnated lamas of Tashilhunpo, who had just arrived from the province of Tu-khan, in Eastern Tibet,[2] took advantage
- ↑ A torma is a small cone varying in height from a few inches to a foot and more, made of tsamba, butter, sugar, etc. Sometimes the surface is coloured, and some tormas are of great size. They are placed on the front of the altars in rows, and are propitiatory offering's. On the celebration of this feast, cf. J.R.A.S., vol. xxiii (1891). p. 214.—(W. R.)
- ↑ Tu-Kham is probably Stud Khams, or "Upper Khamdo"—in all probability Dérgé is meant.—(W. R.)
