Page:Journey to Lhasa and Central Tibet.djvu/233

 CHAPTER VIII.

bells of the Jo khang were ringing and the great trumpets of Tangye-ling were summoning the lamas to early morning service, when, on June 13, I took from the roof of our house a last look at the gilded spires and red walls of Potala, and started out for Tashilhunpo. I noticed near our lodgings a number of women drawing water from a well in rawhide buckets. The water of Lhasa is excellent, and both abundant and very near the surface, most of the wells being not over four feet deep; and this is the reason for the belief that the town is over a subterranean lake.

Arriving at the foot of Chagpori, on the summit of which is the College of Surgeons of Tibet, I got off my horse and ascended the hill, as I had promised to visit an old doctor known as Amchi Rivola, who was afflicted with cataract. On the way up I was met by one of the Amchi’s pupils, who presented me with a khatag. I was led into a nice room containing a few neatly-finished tables, on one of which was a cup full of delicate rose-coloured tea of the most delicious aroma. The ceiling was covered with silk, and satin hangings hid the walls, on which hung also pictures of the god of medicine and his attendants.

Amchi Rivola soon made his appearance, a man of commanding looks and heavily built. He was the Principal of the Vaidurya Ta-tsan of Chagpori, and physician to the regent. He expressed his pleasure at seeing me, and said he had heard me most kindly spoken of by the Lhacham Phala, and he would be greatly pleased if I would