SIKHIM AND BHUTAN
officiates as head of the monastery, as genial and hospitable as of old. We passed a night there, and returned to Poonakha through lovely scenery, along a road with oak, walnut, and wild pear-trees on both sides, and quantities of bracken and wild roses.
On Christmas Day the post came in most opportunely with our letters, and later the Maharaja and council arrived with their followers to be photographed. It is a great pity that in the photographs the colouring of the group does not come out, as that was the most effective part of the picture. The council were in bright-coloured silk robes, each with his crimson shawl of office; standard-bearers in gaily striped bokus; fighting men with swords, leather shields, and brightly polished steel helmets ornamented with colours; archers with bows and arrows, gun-carriers with all kinds of strange weapons, and many others, all quaintly and picturesquely dressed.
Later in the day we distributed doles to the poor in the neighbourhood. More than a thousand turned up, a most quiet and orderly crowd, who waited with the greatest patience each for his turn. I had them marshalled in double lines, sitting on the ground, and Rennick and Campbell passed down the lines, giving each person a four-anna bit. Even the babies were made to hold out their hands, though the parent speedily seized the coin. We brought an unusual Christmas Day to a close with a dinner-party, followed by a magic-lantern exhibition, at which the Maharaja and council were our guests; and with this entertainment the ceremonies attending the Maharaja’s installation came to an end, and the following day our party was broken up. I sent Campbell back to Chumbi with the escort, while Rennick and Hyslop returned to India viâ the Buxa route.
I remained behind, at the urgent request of the new Maharaja and his council, to discuss with them many projects and schemes for the welfare and improvement of the country. These covered a large area—schools and
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