In its setting the monastery has caught something of the spirit of nature. If there is any compensating element in its decadence, it is found in the wild beauty of the rugged mountains, which tower above it from across the valley. Beyond their granite faces lie the trials and tribulations of the outer world; once enclosed within their grey embrace the little ironies of life disappear. The hours are cool and undisturbed. Primeval forests adorn the deep gullies of the ranges; a flood of colour comes from the open spaces where wild flowers are growing and the tints of the woodland foliage disclose an endless variety of green. In the centre of a patch, cleared of its undergrowth and approached by a path winding through deep woods, is Mum-sa-am. This retreat is given over to the twenty nuns who are associated with Shin-ki-sa. I know nothing of their lives, but from the state of their temples, and the roughness and disorder of their surroundings, it did not appear to me that they, any more than the sixty priests, monks, and boys of the lower monastery, find the tenets of Buddha very elevating, or derive much satisfaction from the surrounding scenery. [Illustration: SHIN-KI-SA] The history of our days in the more important monasteries of the Diamond Mountains was uneventful. The anxious care and solicitude of the monks for the welfare of their guests was hourly manifested, and some kindly attention was shown to us at every possible opportunity. Cool and lofty quarters were allotted for our entertainment; the resources of the monastery were placed at our disposal. The Abbot of Chang-an-sa prepared draughts of honey-water and cakes of pine-seeds for our refreshment. Every morning supplies of honey, rice, and flour, and small bundles of fresh vegetables were brought to the table; throughout the day nothing was left undone, which, in the minds of these simple men, would be conducive to our comfort. A deep pool in the tumbling mountain-stream was reserved for our use, and when, in the fresh air of the morning, and again when the cool winds of the evening had tempered the heat of the day, we went to bathe, the Abbot, upon his own initiative, arranged that we should be left in undisturbed possession of the water-hole.