DE-BUNG M O N A ST E R Y 175
which are characteristic of the plain in which Lhasa
lies. Immediately afterwards the road ascends the
stony spur, and dropping quickly on the other side
follows the contour of a recess in the hills before the
last point is reached and De-bung Monastery is clearly
seen.
De-bung, 'the home of all the misplaced political
intrigue of Tibet, lies in tightly-packed tiers of houses
far up into the stony amphitheatre made by a recess in
the hills. From a distance it is a somewhat imposing
object ; the very compactness with which it has gathered
into itself, without a straggler far or near, the dormitories
and chapels needed for nearly 8,000 monks is, in itself,
a striking thing. In the middle the golden Chinese
roofs of the great gompa shine above the friezes of
maroon and brown yak hair curtains, whereby the
golden badges hang. For the rest De-bung presents but
few features of interest. It is like every other monastery
in Tibet. Once inside it there is nothing to see which
differentiates it from the Palkhor choide, from the
Potala, from Tse-chen, from Dong-tse, from a dozen
more. But all the same, in this monastery of De-bung
there has been for some years, and there still is, hatched
all the trouble which the present Dalai Lama has
brought upon his country and his faith.
Not far from it on the eastern side of the amphitheatre,
and so hidden from the sight of Lhasa, in a small
tree-clad ravine through which a fresh stream tumbles
among its boulders, lies the house and temple of the chief
wizard of Tibet— the Na-chung Chos-kyong. This building
is finished with mere beauty and luxury than any
other in Tibet, and a full description of it is reserved for
a later chapter.