These Were, Or Had Been, The Abodes Of The
Lamas; Numbers Of Them Now However, As Well As The Mud
Settlements
at their feet, appeared in ruins, and gave no sign of habitation,
beyond having about them a number of
Little flags stuck on long poles,
which fluttered about in the breeze. According to the account of our
interpreter, which had to pass from Thibetian into Hindostanee before
it could clothe itself in English, the cause of this dilapidation
was the state of wealth and ambition at which the Lamas had arrived,
and the consequent interposition of Gulab Singh to take down their
pride and ease them of a little of their wealth, both of which he
accomplished in the style to which he was so partial, by slaughtering
some hundreds of them and reducing their airy habitations to ruins.
At a place called Moulwee we came to a curious block of massive rock
standing close beside the path, with one of the red-topped houses
built into its side. Above this was a colossal figure with four arms,
rudely cut on the face of the rock, and above all was perched an
implement, something after the fashion of a Mrs. Gamp's umbrella of
large proportions, together with sundry sticks and rags, which seem
to be the common style of religious decoration in these parts.
The figure was about eighteen feet high, the lower extremities being
hidden behind the building at the base of the rock. It resembled in
some measure the sculptures occasionally seen among Hindoo temples,
but no one appeared to know anything whatever of its origin or history.
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