MY FIRST MISSION TO BHUTAN
while, to crown all, where the ridge widened out into broad glades edged with pine-forest, was the equally new summer house of our host. He had terraced and turfed the slope above the castle, and nothing could have been more picturesque than our camping-ground. The view everywhere, both up and down the valley, was lovely. Dr. Griffiths writes: “The country was very beautiful, particularly in the higher elevations”; and at this season, to add to the beauty, primulas, in flower in myriads, clothed whole glades in delicate violet, while above rhododendrons flamed in gorgeous scarlet. He adds: “We saw scarcely any villages, and but very little cultivation.” In direct contradiction to this, I noticed that whole hillsides were being cultivated up to at least 11,000 feet, and I was so struck by the difference that I made inquiries, and found that as recently as thirty years ago, when Sir Ugyen left the valley, a boy of twelve, there was nothing but jungle either here or on the slopes opposite. The land had only been brought into cultivation since the internecine quarrels had ceased some eighteen years ago. So much for stability of government; but even now poverty reigns, and the valley is only prosperous in comparison with more unlucky ones.
A short ride brought us into camp, where Sir Ugyen awaited us. As soon as we had settled down Sir Ugyen’s sister, his two daughters, and a daughter of the Thimbu Jongpen came to add their welcome. The younger ones were rather pretty, unaffected and merry girls, while the sister, although a grandmother, was full of good-nature and showed traces of good looks. They all wore the pretty and distinctive dress, which consists of a long piece of Bhutanese cloth, woven in coloured stripes, draped round the figure, and fastened on the shoulders and confined at the waist by a band of brighter Bhutanese cloth. They also wore many necklaces of large rough beads of coral, turquoise, and amber, and occasionally gold filigree beads and many bangles of gold and silver. Their hair was left
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