s) in Tibet. But from the information of the Catholic
missionaries in Eastern Tibet, who have come into closest contact with the
sect, it appears to be now in a state of great decadence, "oppressed by
the Lamas of other sects, the _Peunbo_ (Bonpo) think only of shaking off
the yoke, and getting deliverance from the vexations which the smallness
of their number forces them to endure." In June, 1863, apparently from
such despairing motives, the Lamas of Tsodam, a Bonpo convent in the
vicinity of the mission settlement of Bonga in E. Tibet, invited the Rev.
Gabriel Durand to come and instruct them. "In this temple," he writes,
"are the _monstrous idols_ of the sect of Peunbo; horrid figures, whose
features only Satan could have inspired. They are disposed about the
enclosure according to their power and their seniority. Above the pagoda
is a loft, the nooks of which are crammed with all kinds of diabolical
trumpery; little idols of wood or copper, hideous masques of men and
animals, superstitious Lama vestments, drums, trumpets of human bones,
sacrificial vessels, in short, all the utensils with which the devil's
servants in Tibet honour their master. And what will become of it all? The
Great River, whose waves roll to Martaban (the Lu-kiang or Salwen), is not
more than 200 or 300 paces distant.... Besides the infernal paintings on
the walls, eight or nine monstrous idols, seated at the inner end of the
pagoda, were calculated by their size and aspect to inspire awe. In the
middle was _Tamba-Shi-Rob_, the great doctor of the sect of the Peunbo,
squatted with his right arm outside his red scarf, and holding in his left
the vase of knowledge.... On his right hand sat _Keumta-Zon-bo_, 'the All-
Good,' ... with ten hands and three heads, one over the other.... At his
right is _Dreuma_, the most celebrated goddess of the sect. On the left of
Tamba-Shi-Rob was another goddess, whose name they never could tell me. On
the left again of this anonymous goddess appeared _Tam-pla-mi-ber_,... a
monstrous dwarf environed by flames and his head garnished with a diadem
of skulls. _He trod with one foot on the head of Shakia-tupa_ [_Shakya
Thubba_, i.e. 'the Mighty Shakya,' the usual Tibetan appellation of Sakya
Buddha himself].... The idols are made of a coarse composition of mud and
stalks kneaded together, on which they put first a coat of plaster and
then various colours, or even silver or gold.... _Four oxen would scarcely
have been able