static fury, trying with his brethren who
shall make the greatest noise.

[Picture: Interior of Buddhist Temple]

The interior of the temple is usually filled with ornaments, statues, and
pictures, illustrating the life of Buddha, and the various
transmigrations of the more illustrious Lamas. Vases in copper, shining
like gold, of the size and form of teacups, are placed in great numbers
on a succession of steps, in the form of an amphitheatre, before the
idols. It is in these vases that the people deposit their offerings of
milk, butter, Mongol wine, and meal. The extremities of each step
consist of censers, in which are ever burning aromatic plants, gathered
on the sacred mountains of Thibet. Rich silk stuffs, covered with tinsel
and gold embroidery, form, on the heads of the idols, canopies from which
hang pennants and lanterns of painted paper or transparent horn.

The Lamas are the only artists who contribute to the ornament and
decoration of the temples. The paintings are quite distinct from the
taste and the principles of art as understood in Europe. The fantastical
and the grotesque predominate inside and out, both in carvings and
statuary, and the personages represented, with the exception of Buddha,
have generally a monstrous and satanic aspect. The clothes seem never to
have been made for the persons upon whom they are placed. The idea given
is that of broken limbs concealed beneath awkward garments.

Amongst these Lama paintings, however, you sometimes come across
specimens by no means destitute of beauty. One day, during a visit in
the kingdom of Gechekten to the great temple called _Alton-Somne_ (Temple
of Gold), we saw a picture which struck us with astonishment. It was a
large piece representing, in the centre, Buddha seated on a rich carpet.
Around this figure, which was of life size, there was a sort of glory,
composed of miniatures, allegorically expressing the Thousand Virtues of
Buddha. We could scarcely withdraw ourselves from this picture,
remarkable as it was, not only for the purity and grace of the design,
but also for the expression of the faces and the splendour of the
colouring. All the personages seemed full of life. We asked an old
Lama, who was attending us over the place, what he knew about this
admirable work. "Sirs," said he, raising his joined hands to his
forehead in token of respect, "this picture is a treasure of the remotest
antiquity; it compreh