D I S A P P O I N T I N G I N T E R I O R 283
the summit, resplendent with vermilion and combining
natural beauty with architectural charm.” It is a pity
that this magnificent building should have proved to
be so disappointing inside. We discovered that the
outside of the Potala and the inside of the Jo-kang
are by far the most interesting things in Lhasa. But, to
continue, it is curious, that while the interior of the
Potala is indistinguishable from the interiors of a score
of other large Tibetan lamaseries, the Jo-kang has
actually no outside at all. To this latter building I
The Potala from the east, near Ramoche.
shall return later. In the Potala there are passages
and halls by miles and scores. Here and there in a
chapel burns a grimy butter lamp before a tarnished
and dirty image. Here and there the passage widens
us a flight of stairs breaks the monotony of grimy
walls. The sleeping cells of the monks are cold, bare,
and dirty. The actual room in which the Treaty
was signed was of fair size:—six hundred were easily
accommodated in it— and hangings and screens made
a brave show for the moment, but for the rest, the
Potala is a never-ending labyrinth of corridors and courts