AN EXPLORATION OF EASTERN BHUTAN
Tengay-Ling, Regent of Tibet. Tengay-Ling was accused of practising sorcery on the Delai Lama, and consequently seized, and later put to death, while his brother, Norbu Sring, a layman, was also cruelly killed. His widow, Dekila, who was famous throughout Tibet for her beauty, and is a member of the highly respectable Doring family of Lhasa, and some relation to the Maharani of Sikhim, was arrested on the same charge, and, after being cruelly scourged through Lhasa, was condemned to imprisonment for life in Tuwa-jong. She is said to be even now in chains in a cell on the outskirts of the Jong, and had I known beforehand I should have made an effort to see the unfortunate woman and ascertain if nothing could be done for her. The man who volunteered this information had heard of the release of several State prisoners, and especially of the cases of my Lachung men and the friend of Sarat Chunder Das, during the Lhasa Expedition, and seemed to think the Indian Government might extend a helping hand; but I am afraid the only, and very unlikely, chance for the poor lady might have been my personal influence with the Jongpen; and even then he was responsible to the authorities at Lhasa for her safe custody, and could not, I fear, on his own initiative have done anything for her.
About two miles below Tuwa-jong the valley opens out; so far it is a deep-cut gorge, impossible to traverse except during the winter months, when temporary bridges are thrown across the stream which save many miles in actual distance and many thousands of feet in ascent and descent, but of course at this time of the year I had to follow the longer route. On leaving the Jong the road runs along the bottom of the valley—cultivated wherever water can be found for irrigation, but elsewhere a typical Tibetan valley, an arid wilderness of stone and sand, hot, bare, and dusty, with a howling wind always blowing, making it very unpleasant. The ride up this unprepossessing valley in the face of the afternoon sun was a
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