国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

like Tabo, I had, however, to select among hundreds of inscriptions and objects of art,
those which were of real value for the study of Tibetan history and art, which meant a
close examination of many objects and records in a badly lighted place. When, finally,
the most interesting had been decided upon, the second part of our work, photography, and
copying in writing as well as in colours, began. Considering the very great difficulties
he had to encounter, I must say that Pindi Lal achieved wonders with his camera. But
the little light that entered this hall through a minute hole in the ceiling was not suffi-
cient for the lamas, whom I set to work on the paintings and wall inscriptions. Then
we thought of our small supply of candles and by giving three of them to our helpmates,
we made three Tibetan hearts happier than they had ever been. None of them had
apparently ever possessed a candle, and now think of the grand sport they had,
working in a dark corner of the temple with a real European candle by their side. No
Maharaja could have taken greater pride in the electric light newly introduced into his
capital.

Within the walled enclosure about the temples, there are many mchod-rten, and
several of them have frescoes inside. There is also a botanical curiosity in this court ; for
here we find the only apricot trees existing in the barren and cold country of Spiti which
is separated by a girdle of deserts from all the neighbouring territories of Tibet, Ladakh,
Lahul, and Bashalr.

The next morning, when we had left Tabo, I found on our march to the village of
Phog (map Pok), the beforementioned votive inscription of the times of the Tsaparang
king on a mani wall outside the village. On the other bank of the Spiti river, we saw
the large monastery of Nathang with many terraced fields round about it, some under
cultivation, but most of them bare. The monastery is built in three stories, the one
above always a little narrower than the one below it, like a pyramid of three steps,
thus reminding me of the Alchi (and also of the mTho-lding) monastery. Nathang also
is said to have been founded in the days, when the Tabo monastery was built. During
summer, there is not a single lama residing in it.

In the village of Phog, I met with Mr. Cargill of the Public Works Department,
who was on tour through these outlying districts examining the bridges. He invited me
to dinner, and I spent a very pleasant evening with him.

On the 31st July, we arrived at Drangkhar called Brang-mkhar or Grong-mkhor in
inscriptions (Plate XIX, a). The monastery of this town, the capital of Spiti, is called
Lha-'od-pai-dgon-pa. Lha-'od seems to be the local pronunciation of Zla-'od, the name of
a famous lama who was born in 1121, according to the Reu-mig. Zla-'od-pa would then
mean "a follower of Zla-'od." He is apparently the founder or renovator of the
monastery which now belongs to the Gelugpa order. The monks assert that it was not
only of earlier origin than the Tabo monastery, but also earlier than the times of
Srong-btsan-sgam-po. They have, however, nothing to show of really ancient relics.
They explain this fact by stating that the monastery was plundered many times, lastly
during the Dogra war, which is in agreement with my History of Western Tibet. Traces
of the ravages of that war may be plainly seen in all the monasteries of Spiti which we
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