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DESOLATION
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approached by a path winding through deep woods, is Mum-sa-am. This retreat is given over to the twenty nuns who are associated with Shin-ki-sa. I know nothing of their lives, but from the state of their temples, and the

SHIN-KI-SA

roughness and disorder of their surroundings, it did not appear to me that they, any more than the sixty priests, monks, and boys of the lower monastery, find the tenets of Buddha very elevating, or derive much satisfaction from the surrounding scenery.

The history of our days in the more important monasteries of the Diamond Mountains was uneventful. The anxious care and solicitude of the monks for the welfare of their guests was hourly manifested, and some kindly attention was shown to us at every possible opportunity. Cool and lofty quarters were allotted for our entertainment; the resources of the monastery were placed at our disposal. The Abbot of Chang-an-sa prepared draughts of honey-water and cakes