RECORDS OF THE JOURNEY
ated Chinese roofs; those along the front and back walls considerably overtop the others. The centre enclosed by these four buildings, to which there are no inner walls, was two storeys in height and crowned by a quadrangular roof with carved rooftrees with a carved, gilded cone at the summit. Rooms, used for storing various things, ran round the walls of this second storey under the same roof. The fourth wall, over the entrance, was free, admitting the light. On the inside the three walls of this gallery were covered with Buddhist pictures in bright colours and various banners with Buddhist designs. In the body of the temple, much enlarged below, the side-walls were occupied by open cupboards, divided into square compartments, containing a great number of Buddhist books. The Tangut lettering was ornately inscribed on long, narrow, loose leaves, many of them with an artistic border, bound between two wooden boards of the same size and held together by a cord. The red cloaks, headgear, staffs etc. of the lamas lay along the front wall. The middle of the back wall was occupied by images of Buddha with lamps and various small dishes in front of them. On both sides the walls were covered from floor to ceiling by quite a hundred small compartments, screened by curtains, each containing the same little image of Buddha. The place of honour behind the altar was occupied by a bronze »Tsunkoa» (the same in the Yögur and Tangut languages), half a metre in height and swathed in a piece of red cloth. Before him stood »Stonba», also in bronze, but in miniature. On either side Shagdur (Shagtut?) was placed in two slightly different forms and beyond him on the left (from the entrance) »Shatshanrygzyk» and on the right »Stongskö», both in the form of gaudy banners. Still further to the left there was another fine bronze Buddha and some of painted clay, and to the right three bronze Buddhas forming three separate groups. Numbers of banners with pictures of Buddha hung on the walls and were suspended from the cornice between the lower ceiling and the wall of the gallery, their bright colours faded by age. A passage-like smaller hall runs behind the altar, filled with large images and various monsters round all the four walls. The same Stongskö was enthroned in the most prominent place opposite the entrance, richly gilded and of colossal size.
There are about 15 lamas of all ages in the monastery. The younger ones in particular were extremely obliging and friendly, possibly owing to the presence of two soldiers who had been sent from Li Yuan in connection with my visit. The senior lama of the Shera Yögurs only stays here when special festivals have to be observed. At other times he lives 3 days' journey further south in the mountains. He is still a child, growing up under the tutelage of Yögur lamas. He is a child of their tribe and is to succeed their Shke lama who died 8 or 9 years ago. He is now brought to Kanglungsu for festivals that occur every sixth and twelfth moon.
A couple of tombs on the hill-side were marked by poles and stone cairns in memory of some highly respected lamas. When the Yögurs pass them, they dismount and murmur prayers in a subdued voice, but here you never hear the solemn music of the lamas as among the Surgan summun Kalmuks or the Torguts. However, if you wander among the rows of huts, the tinkling of a little bell and a monotonous murmur from inside some house tell you that here, too, the hour of prayer plays a prominent part in the life of the people. The lamas subsist on voluntary contributions for the prayers they say. They
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