AN EXPLORATION OF EASTERN BHUTAN
of the way in preference to riding even my sure-footed mule. The alignment, however, was good, and just below the Yuto-la, to the north, there were some fine downs and very good views; but these grassy uplands were infested by ticks, and it was necessary to stop frequently to pick them off the dogs, for they absolutely swarmed in hundreds, and even occasionally attacked us.
A lama who came to pay his respects proved to be unusually intelligent, and gave me a good deal of information regarding routes, &c. From the Yuto-la the road led for some way through oak and rhododendron woods, until the village of Rungthung was passed, when the last five miles wound along a bare, steep hill-slope, and I was glad to get to my destination. The latter part of the march was very hot, and the only shade to be found was behind an occasional chorten, where I sat down and drank quantities of murwa sent by the Tongsa; but the full force of the afternoon sun was very trying. At the Jong I was met by the Jongpen. The usual form of touching a wand was gone through, and I was installed in his own room.
The Jong at Tashigong is particularly well situated on a ridge between two rivers, the Dongma-chhu and the Gamdi-chhu, and is constructed after the Bhutanese fashion, with courtyards and citadels. It has a fine temple, with an unusually large pair of tusks supporting the altar, and fittings in excellent metalwork. I was lodged in the Jongpen’s own room, facing south. It was a fine, lofty room, but there was a peculiarly pungent and disagreeable smell, which I discovered came from stores of dried mutton and rancid butter kept under the floor. I asked the Jongpen to remove them, and when he had done so the surroundings were quite pleasant, as the room itself was perfectly clean. He had the skins of some very fine tigers, which he told me had been shot during the last cold weather, and that every year several tigers come up the valley and work havoc amongst the cattle, so large rewards are given for their destruction.
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