At three in the afternoon we asked leave to go to Lupa gyaltsan’s house, where I had a most hearty reception, he and his wife coming to help me dismount from my pony. We were ushered into a newly finished room on the first floor, where was also his chapel. First chang was served, then tea was brought by his daughter, a girl of ten, and the wife placed a wooden bowl filled with tsamba and some pieces of boiled mutton on a little table before us. Then Lupa gyaltsan, taking off his turban, asked me to take sol ja and consider that I was dining in my own house. Shortly after, Ugyen, in accordance with Tibetan custom, made a short speech exhorting Lupa to always inquire after my health during his absence from Tashilhunpo, and to get for me all such articles of food, etc., that I might want. He thanked him for his kindness, and added that, as Lupa and I were old acquaintances, we should behave to each other as [[108]]brothers born of the same mother. So saying, he presented him and his wife with a rupee and a khatag each, putting the coins in their hands and the scarfs round their necks. Ugyen then put a khatag around my servant Lhagpa’s neck, telling him to serve me ever faithfully. Lupa’s daughter, having dressed herself in her gala dress, danced for us and sang a song, first in the Tibetan way, then in the Chinese; she sang also a Chinese song, Lupa accompanying her on the flute (ling-bu). After this Lupa’s wife sang a song, and then wished us a happy new year. We then took leave of our hosts, wishing them also a happy new year.
Having inquired if the observance of this day was a purely Tibetan custom, I gathered from their reply that this was the New Year’s Day according to the Tibetan custom of the pre-Buddhist period. It is the only remnant of ancient Tibetan custom, as far as I know, which has not been displaced by Buddhism.
January 21.—This day was also observed as a holiday by the laity. There were so few persons in the market-place that Ugyen could buy no provisions. The minister graciously insisted that I should take up my quarters in his residence, Puntso khangsar, where he offered me the library with an attached waiting-room and bath-room.
In the evening Nyima-dorje, the oldest son of the Chyag-dso-pa of Dongtse, came and consulted me about his eyes. On the right one I found that a cataract had formed. I told him I was exceedingly sorry I had no medicines with me to suit his case, but that Ugyen was going to Calcutta as soon as he had obtained a passport, and that he would bring back some drugs with him. He then said that it was this passport that had brought him here to speak to the minister about, and that he believed it would be ready in a day or two.
January 22.—I resumed reading English and working sums in arithmetic with the minister. After reading a few lines he turned over the pages of Ganot’s ‘Physics,’ and asked me to explain the diagrams on telegraphy and the camera obscura. He wanted everything explained to him; but, unfortunately for me, I was not myself acquainted with most of the subjects which excited his curiosity. Not prepared to expose my ignorance, I dwelt longer on such questions as I could best explain, and with which I was most familiar; but in spite of all my attempts to evade his inquisitiveness, the shrewd minister gauged me well, and expressed his earnest [[109]]desire to meet such men as I had described to him, Dr. Sircar and my brother, Navin Chandra, to be.
In the afternoon Nyima-dorje brought the lam-yig (passport), and presented it to the minister. We were called in and shown it; but Ugyen disapproved of it, as nothing was said in it of his return journey here, so it was sent back for correction.
January 23.—Crowds of visitors came to receive the minister’s blessing (chyag-wang); among them were many Khalkhas and other Mongols from remote sections of that country. The Khalkhas were introduced by Lobzang Arya, my cook during my first sojourn at Tashilhunpo in 1879, and now a man of standing and elder (gyer-gyan) of the Khalkha Kham-tsan. The minister talked with him in Mongolian, after receiving the pilgrims with much kindness.
January 24.—Early in the morning I was called by the minister, and found a young monk of the Nyagpa Ta-tsang (a Tantrik school)[3] sitting with him. The minister asked me to examine his eyes, which were a little swollen, telling me at the same time that this young man had served him devotedly during his residence at the Nyag-khang, and was deserving of my care. I gave him a few doses of alum lotion to wash his eyes with, and made him promise to walk round the monastery several times a day whenever it was fair weather.
In the afternoon I lunched with the Tung-chen, and we conversed about the high winds which at this season blow every afternoon. He spoke also of the Phagri pass, and told me that the collector of customs (Serpon) there was a friend of his, and that if Ugyen went to Darjiling by the Phagri pass, he could give him a letter of introduction to that officer. I thanked him for his kindness, adding that Ugyen preferred the Lachan pass, as he had a passport from the commander of Shigatse which did not extend to Phagri djong.
January 25.—The minister told me that in certain stellar maps he had examined he saw that figures were given the different constellations, and that he understood these figures really existed in the sky; so, wishing to see them, he had bought a large telescope at much cost. He did not know, however, how to use it, and was most anxious to have a well-illustrated work on astronomy, that he might know what to look for and where to look for it. He also remembered my saying that the regions of the moon, Saturn, and even of the sun, were visible through the telescope, and he was curious to know what [[110]]these luminaries contained, for he had hitherto been under the impression that these celestial bodies were angelic luminaries who, for the excellence of their moral merits, had been promoted to celestial mansions of different heights, thence to shed on us their radiant lustre, and thereby guide all living beings of the earth in the path of dharma.