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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/6476.txt b/6476.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..343c335 --- /dev/null +++ b/6476.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12882 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Himalayan Journals, V1, by J. D. Hooker + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Himalayan Journals, V1 + +Author: J. D. Hooker + +Release Date: September, 2004 [EBook #6476] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on December 19, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HIMALAYAN JOURNALS, V1 *** + + + + +Scanned by Derek Thompson drthom@ihug.co.nz + + + + + + +HIMALAYAN JOURNALS +or +NOTES OF A NATURALIST + +IN BENGAL, THE SIKKIM AND NEPAL HIMALAYAS, +THE KHASIA MOUNTAINS, etc. + +JOSEPH DALTON HOOKER, M.D., R.N., F.R.S. + +Volume I + +First published 1854 + +To CHARLES DARWIN, F.R.S., etc. +These volumes are dedicated, +by his affectionate friend, +J.D. HOOKER +Kew, Jan. 12th, 1854 + +------------------------- + +PREFACE + +HAVING accompanied Sir James Boss on his voyage of discovery to the +Antarctic regions, where botany was my chief pursuit, on my return I +earnestly desired to add to my acquaintance with the natural history +of the temperate zones, more knowledge of that of the tropics than I +bad hitherto had the opportunity of acquiring. My choice lay between +India and the Andes, and I decided upon the former, being principally +influenced by Dr. Falconer, who promised me every assistance which +his position as Superintendent of the H.E.I.C. Botanic Garden at +Calcutta, would enable hum to give. He also drew my attention to the +fact that we were ignorant even of the geography of the central and +eastern parts of these mountains, while all to the north was involved +in a mystery equally attractive to the traveller and the naturalist. + +On hearing of the kind interest taken by Baron Humboldt in my +proposed travels, and at the request of my father (Sir William +Hooker), the Earl of Carlisle (then Chief Commissioner of Woods and +Forests) undertook to represent to Her Majesty's Government the +expediency of securing my collections for the Royal Gardens at Kew; +and owing to the generous exertions of that nobleman, and of the late +Earl of Auckland (then First Lord of the Admiralty), my journey +assumed the character of a Government mission, £400 per annum being +granted by the Treasury for two years. + +I did not contemplate proceeding beyond the Himalaya and Tibet, when +Lord Auckland desired that I should afterwards visit Borneo, for the +purpose of reporting on the capabilities of Labuan, with reference to +the cultivation of cotton, tobacco, sugar, indigo, spices, +guttapercha, etc. To this end a commission in the navy (to which +service I was already attached) was given me, such instructions were +drawn up as might facilitate my movements in the East, and a suitable +sum of money was placed at my disposal. + +Soon after leaving England, my plans became, from various causes, +altered. The Earl of Auckland* [It is with a melancholy satisfaction +that I here record the intentions of that enlightened nobleman. +The idea of turning to public account what was intended as a +scientific voyage, occurred to his lordship when considering my +application for official leave to proceed to India; and from the hour +of my accepting the Borneo commission with which he honoured me, he +displayed the most active zeal in promoting its fulfilment. +He communicated to me his views as to the direction in which I should +pursue my researches, furnished me with official and other +information, and provided me with introductions of the most essential +use.] was dead; the interest in Borneo had in a great measure +subsided; H.M.S. "Maeander," to which I had been attached for service +in Labuan, had left the Archipelago; reports of the unhealthy nature +of the coast had excited alarm; and the results of my researches in +the Himalaya had proved of more interest and advantage than had been +anticipated. It was hence thought expedient to cancel the Borneo +appointment, and to prolong my services for a third year in India; +for which purpose a grant of £300 (originally intended for defraying +the expense of collecting only, in Borneo) was transferred as salary +for the additional year to be spent in the Himalaya. + +The portion of the Himalaya best worth exploring, was selected for me +both by Lord Auckland and Dr. Falconer, who independently recommended +Sikkim, as being ground untrodden by traveller or naturalist. +Its ruler was, moreover, all but a dependant of the British +government, and it was supposed, would therefore be glad to +facilitate my researches. + +No part of the snowy Himalaya eastward of the northwest extremity of +the British possessions had been visited since Turner's embassy to +Tibet in 1789; and hence it was highly important to explore +scientifically a part of the chain which, from its central position, +might be presumed to be typical of the whole range. The possibility +of visiting Tibet, and of ascertaining particulars respecting the +great mountain Chumulari,* [My earliest recollections in reading are +of "Turner's Travels in Tibet," and of "Cook's Voyages." The account +of Lama worship and of Chumulari in the one, and of Kerguelen's Land +in the other, always took a strong hold on my fancy. It is, +therefore, singular that Kerguelen's Land should have been the first +strange country I ever visited (now fourteen years ago), and that in +the first King's ship which has touched there since Cook's voyage, +and whilst following the track of that illustrious navigator in south +polar discovery. At a later period I have been nearly the first +European who has approached Chumulari since Turner's embassy.] which +was only known from Turner's account, were additional inducements to +a student of physical geography; but it was not then known that +Kinchinjunga, the loftiest known mountain on the globe, was situated +on my route, and formed a principal feature in the physical geography +of Sikkim. + +My passage to Egypt was provided by the Admiralty in H.M. +steam-vessel "Sidon," destined to convey the Marquis of Dalhousie, +Governor-General of India, thus far on his way. On his arrival in +Egypt, his Lordship did me the honour of desiring me to consider +myself in the position of one of his suite, for the remainder of the +voyage, which was performed in the "Moozuffer," a steam frigate +belonging to the Indian Navy. My obligations to this nobleman had +commenced before leaving England, by his promising me every facility +he could command; and he thus took the earliest opportunity of +affording it, by giving me such a position near himself as ensured me +the best reception everywhere; no other introduction being needed. +His Lordship procured my admission into Sikkim, and honoured me +throughout my travels with the kindest encouragement. + +During the passage out, some days were spent in Egypt, at Aden, +Ceylon, and Madras. I have not thought it necessary to give here the +observations made in those well-known countries; they are detailed in +a series of letters published in the "London Journal of Botany," as +written for my private friends. Arriving at Calcutta in January, I +passed the remainder of the cold season in making myself acquainted +with the vegetation of the plains and hills of Western Bengal, south +of the Ganges, by a journey across the mountains of Birbhoom and +Behar to the Soane valley, and thence over the Vindhya range to the +Ganges, at Mirzapore, whence I descended that stream to Bhaugulpore; +and leaving my boat, struck north to the Sikkim Himalaya. This +excursion is detailed in the "London Journal of Botany," and the +Asiatic Society of Bengal honoured me by printing the meteorological +observations made during its progress. + +During the two years' residence in Sikkim which succeeded, I was laid +under obligations of no ordinary nature to Brian H. Hodgson, Esq., +B.C.S., for many years Resident at the Nepal Court; whose guest I +became for several months. Mr. Hodgson's high position as a man of +science requires no mention here; but the difficulties he overcame, +and the sacrifices he made, in attaining that position, are known to +few. He entered the wilds of Nepal when very young, and in +indifferent health; and finding time to spare, cast about for the +best method of employing it: he had no one to recommend or direct a +pursuit, no example to follow, no rival to equal or surpass; he had +never been acquainted with a scientific man, and knew nothing of +science except the name. The natural history of men and animals, in +its most comprehensive sense, attracted his attention; he sent to +Europe for books, and commenced the study of ethnology and zoology. +His labours have now extended over upwards of twenty-five years' +residence in the Himalaya. During this period he has seldom had a +staff of less than from ten to twenty persons (often many more), of +various tongues and races, employed as translators and collectors, +artists, shooters, and stuffers. By unceasing exertions and a +princely liberality, Mr. Hodgson has unveiled the mysteries of the +Boodhist religion, chronicled the affinities, languages, customs, and +faiths of the Himalayan tribes; and completed a natural history of +the animals and birds of these regions. His collections of specimens +are immense, and are illustrated by drawings and descriptions taken +from life, with remarks on the anatomy,* [In this department he +availed himself of the services of Dr. Campbell, who was also +attached to the Residency at Nepal, as surgeon and assistant +political agent.] habits, and localities of the animals themselves. +Twenty volumes of the Journals, and the Museum of the Asiatic Society +of Bengal, teem with the proofs of his indefatigable zeal; and +throughout the cabinets of the bird and quadruped departments of our +national museum, Mr. Hodgson's name stands pre-eminent. A seat in the +Institute of France, and the cross of the Legion of Honour, prove the +estimation in which his Boodhist studies are held on the continent of +Europe. To be welcomed to the Himalaya by such a person, and to be +allowed the most unreserved intercourse, and the advantage of all his +information and library, exercised a material influence on the +progress I made in my studies, and on my travels. When I add that +many of the subjects treated of in these volumes were discussed +between us, it will be evident that it is impossible for me to divest +much of the information thus insensibly obtained, of the appearance +of being the fruits of my own research. + +Dr. Campbell, the Superintendent of Dorjiling, is likewise the +Governor-General's agent, or medium of communication between the +British Government and the Sikkim Rajah; and as such, invested with +many discretionary powers. In the course of this narrative, I shall +give a sketch of the rise, progress, and prospects of the Sanatarium, +or Health-station of Dorjiling, and of the anomalous position held by +the Sikkim Rajah. The latter circumstance led indirectly to the +detention of Dr. Campbell (who joined me in one of my journeys) and +myself, by a faction of the Sikkim court, for the purpose of +obtaining from the Indian Government a more favourable treaty than +that then existing. This mode of enforcing a request by _douce +violence_ and detention, is common with the turbulent tribes east +of Nepal, but was in this instance aggravated by violence towards my +fellow-prisoner, through the ill will of the persons who executed the +orders of their superiors, and who had been punished by Dr. Campbell +for crimes committed against both the British and Nepalese +governments. The circumstances of this outrage were misunderstood at +the time; its instigators were supposed to be Chinese; its +perpetrators Tibetans; and we the offenders were assumed to have +thrust ourselves into the country, without authority from our own +government, and contrary to the will of the Sikkim Rajah; who was +imagined to be a tributary of China, and protected by that nation, +and to be under no obligation to the East Indian government. + +With regard to the obligations I owe to Dr. Campbell, I confine +myself to saying that his whole aim was to promote my comfort, and to +secure my success, in all possible ways. Every object I had in view +was as sedulously cared for by him as by myself: I am indebted to his +influence with Jung Bahadoor* [It was in Nepal that Dr. Campbell +gained the friendship of Jung Bahadoor, the most remarkable proof of +which is the acceding to his request, and granting me leave to visit +the eastern parts of his dominions; no European that I am aware of, +having been allowed, either before or since, to travel anywhere +except to and from the plains of India and valley of Katmandu, in +which the capital city and British residency are situated.] for the +permission to traverse his dominions, and to visit the Tibetan passes +of Nepal. His prudence and patience in negotiating with the Sikkim +court, enabled me to pursue my investigations in that country. My +journal is largely indebted to his varied and extensive knowledge of +the people and productions of these regions. + +In all numerical calculations connected with my observations, I +received most essential aid from John Muller, Esq., Accountant of the +Calcutta Mint, and from his brother, Charles Muller, Esq., of Patna, +both ardent amateurs in scientific pursuits, and who employed +themselves in making meteorological observations at Dorjiling, where +they were recruiting constitutions impaired by the performance of +arduous duties in the climate of the plains. I cannot sufficiently +thank these gentlemen for the handsome manner in which they +volunteered me their assistance in these laborious operations. +Mr. J. Muller resided at Dorjiling during eighteen months of my stay +in Sikkim, over the whole of which period his generous zeal in my +service never relaxed; he assisted me in the reduction of many +hundreds of my observations for latitude, time, and elevation, +besides adjusting and rating my instruments; and I can recall no more +pleasant days than those thus spent with these hospitable friends. + +Thanks to Dr. Falconer's indefatigable exertions, such of my +collections as reached Calcutta were forwarded to England in +excellent order; and they were temporarily deposited in Kew Gardens +until their destination should be determined. On my return home, my +scientific friends interested themselves in procuring from the +Government such aid as might enable me to devote the necessary time +to the arrangement, naming, and distributing of my collections, the +publication of my manuscripts, etc. I am in this most deeply indebted +to the disinterested and generous exertions of Mr. L. Horner, Sir +Charles Lyell, Dr. Lindley, Professor E. Forbes, and many others; and +most especially to the Presidents of the Royal Society (the Earl of +Rosse), of the Linnean (Mr. R. Brown), and Geological (Mr. Hopkins), +who in their official capacities memorialized in person the Chief +Commissioner of Woods and Forests on this subject; Sir William Hooker +at the same time bringing it under the notice of the First Lord of +the Treasury. The result was a grant of £400 annually for three years. + +Dr. T. Thomson joined me in Dorjiling in the end of 1849, after the +completion of his arduous journeys in the North-West Himalaya and +Tibet, and we spent the year 1850 in travelling and collecting, +returning to England together in 1851. Having obtained permission +from the Indian Government to distribute his botanical collections, +which equal my own in extent and value, we were advised by all our +botanical friends to incorporate, and thus to distribute them. The +whole constitute an Herbarium of from 6000 to 7000 species of Indian +plants, including an immense number of duplicates; and it is now in +process of being arranged and named, by Dr. Thomson and myself, +preparatory to its distribution amongst sixty of the principal public +and private herbaria in Europe, India, and the United States +of America. + +For the information of future travellers, I may state that the total +expense of my Indian journey, including outfit, three years and a +half travelling, and the sending of my collections to Calcutta, was +under £2000 (of which £1200 were defrayed by government), but would +have come to much more, had I not enjoyed the great advantages I have +detailed. This sum does not include the purchase of books and +instruments, with which I supplied myself, and which cost about £200, +nor the freight of the collections to England, which was paid by +Government. Owing to the kind services of Mr. J. C. Melvill, +Secretary of the India House, many small parcels of seeds, etc., were +conveyed to England, free of cost; and I have to record my great +obligations and sincere thanks to the Peninsular and Oriental Steam +Navigation Company, for conveying, without charge, all small parcels +of books, instruments and specimens, addressed to or by myself. + +It remains to say something of the illustrations of this work. +The maps are from surveys of my own, made chiefly with my own +instruments, but partly with some valuable ones for the use of which +I am indebted to my friend Captain H. Thuillier, Deputy +Surveyor-General of India, who placed at my disposal the resources of +the magnificent establishment under his control, and to whose +innumerable good offices I am very greatly beholden. + +The landscapes, etc. have been prepared chiefly from my own drawings, +and will, I hope, be found to be tolerably faithful representations +of the scenes. I have always endeavoured to overcome that tendency to +exaggerate heights, and increase the angle of slopes, which is I +believe the besetting sin, not of amateurs only, but of our most +accomplished artists. As, however, I did not use instruments in +projecting the outlines, I do not pretend to have wholly avoided this +snare; nor, I regret to say; has the lithographer, in all cases, been +content to abide by his copy. My drawings will be considered tame +compared with most mountain landscapes, though the subjects comprise +some of the grandest scenes in nature. Considering how conventional +the treatment of such subjects is, and how unanimous artists seem to +be as to the propriety of exaggerating those features which should +predominate in the landscape, it may fairly be doubted whether the +total effect of steepness and elevation, especially in a mountain +view, can, on a small scale, be conveyed by a strict adherence to +truth. I need hardly add, that if such is attainable, it is only by +those who have a power of colouring that few pretend to. In the list +of plates and woodcuts I have mentioned the obligations I am under to +several friends for the use of drawings, etc. + +With regard to the spelling of native names, after much anxious +discussion I have adopted that which assimilates most to the English +pronunciation. For great assistance in this, for a careful revision +of the sheets as they passed through the press, and for numerous +valuable suggestions throughout, I am indebted to my +fellow-traveller, Dr. Thomas Thomson. + +CONTENTS. + +CHAPTER I. + +Sunderbunds vegetation -- Calcutta Botanic Garden -- Leave for +Burdwan -- Rajah's gardens and menagerie -- Coal-beds, geology, and +plants of -- Lac insect and plant -- Camels -- Kunker -- Cowage -- +Effloresced soda on soil -- Glass, manufacture of -- Atmospheric +vapours -- Temperature, etc. -- Mahowa oil and spirits -- Maddaobund +-- Jains -- Ascent of Paras-nath -- Vegetation of that mountain. + +CHAPTER II. + +Doomree -- Vegetation of table-land -- Lieutenant Beadle -- Birds -- +Hot springs of Soorujkoond -- Plants near them -- Shells in them -- +Cholera-tree -- Olibanum -- Palms, form of -- Dunwah pass -- Trees, +native and planted -- Wild peacock -- Poppy fields -- Geography and +geology of Behar and Central India -- Toddy-palm -- Ground, +temperature of -- Baroon -- Temperature of plants -- Lizard -- Cross +the Soane -- Sand, ripple-marks on -- Kymore hills -- Ground, +temperature of -- Limestone -- Rotas fort and palace -- Nitrate of +lime -- Change of climate -- Lime stalagmites, enclosing leaves -- +Fall of Soane -- Spiders, etc. -- Scenery and natural history of +upper Soane valley -- _Hardwickia binata_ -- Bhel fruit -- +Dust-storm -- Alligator -- Catechu -- _Cochlospermum_ -- +Leaf-bellows -- Scorpions -- Tortoises -- Florican -- Limestone +spheres -- Coles -- Tiger-hunt -- Robbery. + +CHAPTER III. + +Ek-powa Ghat -- Sandstones -- Shahgunj -- Table-land, elevation, etc. +-- Gum-arabic -- Mango -- Fair -- Aquatic plants -- Rujubbund -- +Storm -- False sunset and sunrise -- Bind hills -- Mirzapore -- +Manufactures, imports, etc. -- Climate -- Thuggee -- Chunar -- +Benares -- Mosque -- Observatory -- Sar-nath -- Ghazeepore -- +Rose-gardens -- Manufactory of attar -- Lord Cornwallis' tomb -- +Ganges, scenery and natural history of -- Pelicans -- Vegetation -- +Insects -- Dinapore -- Patna -- Opium godowns and manufacture -- +Mudar, white and purple -- Monghyr islets -- Hot springs of +Seetakoond -- Alluvium of Ganges -- Rocks of Sultun-gunj -- +Bhaugulpore -- Temples of Mt. Manden -- Coles and native tribes -- +Bhaugulpore rangers -- Horticultural gardens. + +CHAPTER IV. + +Leave Bhaugulpore -- Kunker -- Colgong -- Himalaya, distant view of +-- Cosi, mouth of -- Difficult navigation -- Sand-storms -- +Caragola-Ghat -- Purnea -- Ortolans -- Mahanuddy, transport of +pebbles, etc. -- Betel-pepper, cultivation of -- Titalya -- Siligoree +-- View of outer Himalaya -- Terai -- Mechis -- Punkabaree -- Foot of +mountains -- Ascent to Dorjiling -- Cicadas -- Leeches -- Animals -- +Kursiong, spring vegetation of -- Pacheem -- Arrive at Dorjiling -- +Dorjiling, origin and settlement of -- Grant of land from Rajah -- +Dr. Campbell appointed superintendent -- Dewan, late and present -- +Aggressive conduct of the latter -- Increase of the station -- Trade +-- Titalya fair -- Healthy climate for Europeans and children -- +Invalids, diseases prejudicial to. + +CHAPTER V. + +View from Mr. Hodgson's of range of snowy mountains -- Their extent +and elevation -- Delusive appearance of elevation -- Sinchul, view +from and vegetation of -- Chumulari -- Magnolias, white and purple -- +_Rhododendron Dalhousiae, arboreum_ and _argentium_ -- Natives of +Dorjiling -- Lepchas, origin, tradition of flood, morals, dress, +arms, ornaments, diet -- Cups, origin and value -- Marriages -- +Diseases -- Burial -- Worship and religion -- Bijooas -- Kumpa Rong, +or Arrat -- Limboos, origin, habits, language, etc. -- Moormis -- +Magras -- Mechis -- Comparison of customs with those of the natives +of Assam, Khasia, etc. + +CHAPTER VI. + +Excursion from Dorjiling to Great Rungeet -- Zones of vegetation -- +Tree-ferns -- Palms, upper limit of -- Leebong, tea plantations -- +Ging -- Boodhist remains -- Tropical vegetation -- Pines -- Lepcha +clearances -- Forest fires -- Boodhist monuments -- Fig -- +Cane-bridge and raft over Rungeet -- Sago-palm -- India-rubber -- Yel +Pote -- Butterflies and other insects -- Snakes -- Camp -- +Temperature and humidity of atmosphere -- Junction of Teesta and +Rungeet -- Return to Dorjiling -- Tonglo, excursion to -- Bamboo, +flowering -- Oaks -- _Gordonia_ -- Maize, hermaphrodite flowered +-- Figs -- Nettles -- Peepsa -- Simonbong, cultivation at -- European +fruits at Dorjiling-Plains of India. + +CHAPTER VII. + +Continue the ascent of Tonglo -- Trees -- Lepcha construction of hut +-- Simsibong -- Climbing-trees -- Frogs -- Magnolias, etc. -- Ticks +-- Leeches -- Cattle, murrain amongst -- Summit of Tonglo -- +Rhododendrons -- _Skimmia_ -- Yew -- Rose -- Aconite -- Bikh +poison -- English genera of plants -- Ascent of tropical orders -- +Comparison with south temperate zone -- Heavy rain -- Temperature, +etc. -- Descent -- Simonbong temple -- Furniture therein -- +Praying-cylinder -- Thigh-bone trumpet -- Morning orisons -- Present +of Murwa beer, etc. + +CHAPTER VIII. + +Difficulty in procuring leave to enter Sikkim -- Obtain permission to +travel in East Nepal -- Arrangements -- Coolies -- Stores -- Servants +-- Personal equipment -- Mode of travelling -- Leave Dorjiling -- +Goong ridge -- Behaviour of Bhotan coolies -- Nepal frontier -- Myong +valley -- Ilam -- Sikkim massacre -- Cultivation -- Nettles -- Camp +at Nanki on Tonglo -- Bhotan coolies run away -- View of Chumulari -- +Nepal peaks to west -- Sakkiazong -- _Buceros_ -- Road to +Wallanchoon -- Oaks -- Scarcity of water -- Singular view of +mountain-valleys -- Encampment -- My tent and its furniture -- +Evening occupations -- Dunkotah-Cross ridge of Sakkiazong -- Yews -- +Silver-firs-View of Tambur valley -- Pemmi river -- Pebbly terraces +-- Geology -- Holy springs -- Enormous trees -- _Luculia +gratissima_ -- Khawa river, rocks of -- Arrive at Tambur -- +Shingle and gravel terraces -- Natives, indolence of -- Canoe ferry +-- Votive offerings -- Bad road -- Temperature, etc. -- Chingtam +village, view from -- Mywa river and Guola -- House -- Boulders -- +Chain-bridge -- Meepo, arrival of -- Fevers. + +CHAPTER IX. + +Leave Mywa -- Suspension bridge -- Landslips -- Vegetation -- Slope +of river-bed -- Bees' nests -- Glacial phenomena -- Tibetans, +clothing, ornaments, amulets, salutation, children, dogs -- Last +Limboo village, Taptiatok -- Beautiful scenery -- Tibet village of +Lelyp -- _Opuntia -- Edgeworthia -- Crab-apple_ -- Chameleon and +porcupine -- Praying-machine -- _Abies Brunoniana_ -- European +plants -- Grand scenery -- Arrive at Wallanchoon -- Scenery around -- +Trees -- Tibet houses -- Manis and Mendongs -- Tibet household -- +Food -- Tea-soup -- Hospitality -- Yaks and Zobo, uses and habits of +-- Bhoteeas -- Yak-hair tents -- Guobah of Walloong -- Jatamansi -- +Obstacles to proceeding-Climate and weather -- Proceed -- +Rhododendrons, etc. -- Lichens -- _Poa annua_ and Shepherd's +purse -- Tibet camp -- Tuquoroma -- Scenery of pass -- Glaciers and +snow -- Summit -- Plants, woolly, etc. + +CHAPTER X. + +Return from Wallanchoon pass -- Procure a bazaar at village -- Dance +of Lamas -- Blackening face, Tibetan custom of -- Temple and convent +-- Leave for Kanglachem pass -- Send part of party back to Dorjiling +-- Yangma Guola -- Drunken Tibetans -- Guobah of Wallanchoon -- Camp +at foot of Great Moraine -- View from top -- Geological speculations +-- Height of moraines -- Cross dry lake-bed -- Glaciers -- More +moraines -- Terraces -- Yangma temples -- Jos, books and furniture -- +Peak of Nango -- Lake -- Arrive at village -- Cultivation -- Scenery +-- Potatos -- State of my provisions -- Pass through village -- +Gigantic boulders -- Terraces -- Wild sheep -- Lake-beds -- Sun's +power -- Piles of gravel and detritus -- Glaciers and moraines -- +Pabuk, elevation of -- Moonlight scene -- Return to Yangma -- +Temperature, etc. -- Geological causes of phenomena in valley -- +Scenery of valley on descent. + +CHAPTER XI. + +Ascend to Nango mountain -- Moraines -- Glaciers -- Vegetation -- +_Rhododendron Hodgsoni_ -- Rocks -- Honey-combed surface of snow +-- Perpetual snow -- Top of pass -- View -- Elevation -- Geology -- +Distance of sound -- Plants -- Temperature -- Scenery -- Cliffs of +granite and hurled boulders -- Camp -- Descent -- Pheasants -- Larch +-- Himalayan pines -- Distribution of Deodar, note on -- +Tassichooding temples -- Kambachen village -- Cultivation -- Moraines +in valley, distribution of -- Picturesque lake-beds, and their +vegetation -- Tibetan sheep and goats -- _Cryptogramma crispa_ +-- Ascent to Choonjerma pass -- View of Junnoo -- Rocks of its summit +-- Misty ocean -- Nepal peaks -- Top of pass -- Temperature, and +observations -- Gorgeous sunset -- Descent to Yalloong valley -- +Loose path -- Night scenes -- Musk deer. + +CHAPTER XII. + +Yalloong valley -- Find Kanglanamo pass closed -- Change route for +the southward -- _Picrorhiza_ -- View of Kubra -- +_Rhododendron Falconeri_ -- Yalloong river -- Junction of gneiss +and clay-slate -- Cross Yalloong range -- Yiew -- Descent -- Yew -- +Vegetation -- Misty weather -- Tongdam village -- Khabang -- Tropical +vegetation -- Sidingbah mountain -- View of Kinchinjunga -- +Yangyading village -- Slopes of hills, and courses of rivers -- +Khabili valley -- Ghorkha Havildar's bad conduct -- Ascend Singalelah +-- Plague of ticks -- Short commons -- Cross Islumbo pass -- Boundary +of Sikkim -- Kulhait valley -- Lingcham -- Reception by Kajee -- Hear +of Dr. Campbell's going to meet Rajah -- Views in valley -- Leave for +Teesta river -- Tipsy Kajee -- Hospitality -- Murwa beer -- Temples +-- _Acorus Calamus_ -- Long Mendong -- Burning of dead -- +Superstitions -- Cross Great Rungeet -- Boulders, origin of -- +Purchase of a dog -- Marshes -- Lamas -- Dismiss Ghorkhas -- Bhoteea +house -- Murwa beer. + +CHAPTER XIII. + +Raklang pass -- Uses of nettles -- Edible plants -- Lepcha war -- +Do-mani stone -- Neongong -- Teesta valley -- Pony, saddle, etc. -- +Meet Campbell -- Vegetation and scenery -- Presents -- Visit of Dewan +-- Characters of Rajah and Dewan -- Accounts of Tibet -- Lhassa -- +Siling -- Tricks of Dewan -- Walk up Teesta -- Audience of Rajah -- +Lamas -- Kajees -- Tchebu Lama, his character and position -- Effects +of interview -- Heir-apparent -- Dewan's house -- Guitar -- Weather +-- Fall of river -- Tibet officers -- Gigantic trees -- Neongong lake +-- Mainom, ascent of -- Vegetation -- Camp on snow -- Silver-firs -- +View from top -- Kinchin, etc. -- Geology -- Vapours -- Sunset effect +-- Elevation -- Temperature, etc. -- Lamas of Neongong -- Temples -- +Religious festival Bamboo, flowering -- Recross pass of Raklang -- +Numerous temples, villages, etc. -- Domestic animals -- Descent to +Great Rungeet. + +CHAPTER XIV. + +Tassiding, view of and from -- Funereal cypress -- Camp at Sunnook -- +Hot vapours -- Lama's house -- Temples, decorations, altars, idols, +general effect -- Chaits -- Date of erection -- Plundered by Ghorkas +-- Cross Ratong -- Ascend to Pemiongehi -- Relation of river-beds to +strike of rocks -- Slopes of ravines -- Pemiongehi, view of -- +Vegetation -- Elevation -- Temple, decorations, etc. -- Former +capital of Sikkim -- History of Sikkim -- Nightingales -- Campbell +departs -- Tchonpong -- _Edgeworthia_ -- Cross Rungbee and +Ratong -- Hoar-frost on plantains -- Yoksun -- Walnuts -- View -- +Funereal cypresses -- Doobdi -- Gigantic cypresses -- Temples -- +Snow-fall -- Sikkim, etc. -- Toys. + +CHAPTER XV. + +Leave Yoksun for Kinchinjunga -- Ascend Ratong valley -- +Salt-smuggling over Ratong -- Landslips -- Plants -- Buckeem -- +Blocks of gneiss -- Mon Lepcha -- View -- Weather -- View from Gubroo +-- Kinchinjunga, tops of -- Pundimcliff -- Nursing -- Vegetation of +Himalaya -- Coup d'oeil of Jongri -- Route to Yalloong -- Arduous +route of salt-traders from Tibet -- Kinchin, ascent of -- Lichens -- +Surfaces sculptured by snow and ice -- Weather at Jongri -- Snow -- +Shades for eyes. + +CHAPTER XVI. + +Ratong river below Mon Lepcha -- Ferns -- Vegetation of Yoksun, +tropical -- _Araliaceae_, fodder for cattle -- Rice-paper plant +-- Geology of Yoksun -- Lake -- Old temples -- Funereal cypresses -- +Gigantic chart -- Altars -- Songboom -- Weather -- Catsuperri -- +Velocity of Ratong -- Worship at Catsuperri lake -- Scenery -- Willow +-- Lamas and ecclesiastical establishments of Sikkim -- Tengling -- +Changachelling temples and monks -- Portrait of myself on walls -- +Block of mica-schist -- Lingcham Kajee asks for spectacles -- +Hee-hill -- Arrive at Little Rungeet -- At Dorjiling -- Its deserted +and wintry appearance. + +CHAPTER XVII. + +Dispatch collections -- Acorns -- Heat -- Punkabaree -- Bees -- +Vegetation -- Haze -- Titalya -- Earthquake -- Proceed to Nepal +frontier -- Terai, geology of -- Physical features of Himalayan +valleys -- Elephants, purchase of, etc. -- River-beds -- Mechi river +-- Return to Titalya -- Leave for Teesta -- Climate of plains -- +Jeelpigoree -- Cooches -- Alteration in the appearance of country by +fires, etc. -- Grasses -- Bamboos -- Cottages -- Rajah of Cooch Behar +-- Condition of people -- Hooli festival -- Ascend Teesta -- Canoes +-- Cranes -- Forest -- Baikant-pore -- Rummai -- Religion -- Plants +at foot of mountains -- Exit of Teesta -- Canoe voyage down to +Rangamally -- English genera of plants -- Birds -- Beautiful scenery +-- Botanizing on elephants -- Willow -- Siligoree -- Cross Terai -- +Geology -- Iron -- Lohar-ghur -- Coal and sandstone beds -- Mechi +fisherman -- Hailstorm -- Ascent to Kursiong -- To Dorjiling -- +Vegetation -- Geology -- Folded quartz-beds -- Spheres of feldspar -- +Lime deposits. + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + +LITHOGRAPHIC VIEWS. + +Fig. I. The Dhak, _Butea frondosa,_ and _Cochlospermum +gossypium,_ with the Kymore Hills in the background. p.53 +Fig. II. View of Kinchinjunga from Mr. Hodgson's bungalow at +Dorjiling, from a sketch by W. Tayler, Esq., B.C.S. Frontispiece. +Fig. III. From Chingtam, looking up the Tambur Valley. p.196 +Fig. VI. Nango mountain, from the summit of the great moraine in +Yangma Valley, looking eastward. p.232 +Fig. V. Junnoo mountain from the Choonjerma Pass. p.264 + +WOOD ENGRAVINGS. + +Fig. 1. Old tamarind trees. p.17 +Fig. 2. Crossing the Soane River above Tura, with the Kymore Hills in +the background. p.47 +Fig. 3. Equatorial sun-dial, Benares Observatory. p.74 +Fig. 4. Equinoctial sun-dial, Benares Observatory. p.75 +Fig. 5. Azimuth circle, Benares Observatory. p.76 +Fig. 6. Monghyr on the Ganges. p.88 +Fig. 7. Punkabaree, Sikkim Terai, and Balasun River. The trees in the +foreground are _Araliaceae._ p.105 +Fig. 8. Lepcha girl and Boodhist priest. From a sketch by Miss +Colvile. p.129 +Fig. 9. _Pinus longifolia,_ in the great Rungeet Valley. p.148 +Fig. 10. Construction of a cane suspension-bridge. p.149 +Fig. 11. Lepcha boy carrying a bamboo water-vessel. From a sketch by +Miss Colvile. p.156 +Fig. 12. Amulet usually worn by Lepchas. p.161 +Fig. 13. Trunk-like root of _Wightia gigantea,_ ascending a +tree, which its stout rootlets clasp. p.164 +Fig. 14. Interior of Boodhist temple at Simonbong. p.172 +Fig. 15. Trumpet made of a human thigh-bone. p.173 +Fig. 16. Tibetan amulet set with turquoises. p.176 +Fig. 17. Head of Tibet Mastiff. From a sketch taken in the zoological +gardens by C. Jenyns, Esq. p.203 +Fig. 18. View on the Tambur River, with _Ambies brunoniana_. +p.207 +Fig. 19. Wallanchoon village, East Nepal. p.210 +Fig. 20. Head of a Tibetan demon. From a model in the possession of +Captain H. Strachey. p.226 +Fig. 21. Ancient moraines surrounding the lower lake-bed in the +Yangma valley (looking west). p.234 +Fig. 22. Second lake-bed in the Yangma valley, with Nango mountain, +(looking east). p.237 +Fig. 23. Diagram of the terraces and glacial boulders, etc., at the +fork of the Yangma valley (looking north-west up the valley). The +terraces are represented as much too level and angular, and the +boulders too large, the woodcut being intended as a diagram rather +than as a view. p.242 +Fig. 24. View of the head of the Yangma valley, and ancient moraines +of debris, which rise in confused hills several hundred feet above +the floor of the valley below the Kanglachem pass (elevation 16,000 +feet). p.245 +Fig. 25. Skulls of _Ovis ammon._ Sketched by J. E. Winterbottom, +Esq. p.249 +Fig. 26. Ancient moraines, in which small lake-beds occur, in the +Kambachen valley (elevation 11,400 feet). p.260 +Fig. 21. Brass box to contain amulets, from Tibet. p.270 +Fig. 23. Pemiongchi goompa (or temple) with Chaits in the foreground. +p.286 +Fig. 29. Costumes of Sikkim lamas and monks, with the bell, mani, +dobje, and trident. p.291 +Fig. 30. The Do-mani stone, with gigantic Tibetan characters. p.294 +Fig. 31. Implements of worship in the Sikkim temples. p.314 +Fig. 32. Chaits at Tassiding, with decayed funereal cypresses. p.316 +Fig. 33. Vestibule of temple at Tassiding. p.319 +Fig. 34. Southern temple, at Tassiding. p.320 +Fig. 35. Middle temple, at Tassiding, with mounted yaks. p.321 +Fig. 36. Chair, altar, and images in the great temple at Tassiding. +p.322 +Fig. 37. Ground-plan of southern temple at Tassiding. p.323 +Fig. 38. Interior of temple at Pemiongchi, the walls covered with +allegorical paintings. p.329 +Fig. 39. Doobdi temple, with young and old funereal cypress. p.337 +Fig. 40. Summit of Kinchinjunga, with Pundim on the right; its black +cliff traversed by white granite veins. p.347 +Fig. 41. Image of Maitrya, the coming Boodh. p.357 +Fig. 42. Stone altar, and erection for burning juniper ashes. p.361 +Fig. 43. Facsimile of the vermilion seal of the Dhurma Rajah of +Bhotan, head of the Dookpa sect of Boodhists. Opposite p.372 +Fig. 44. A Mech, native of the Sikkim Terai. Sketched by Miss +Colvile. p.406 +Fig. 45. Mech pocket-comb (of wood). p.408 + + +HIMALAYAN JOURNALS. + +CHAPTER I. + +Sunderbunds vegetation -- Calcutta Botanic Garden -- Leave for +Burdwan -- Rajah's gardens and menagerie -- Coal-beds, geology, and +plants of -- Lac insect and plant -- Camels -- Kunker -- Cowage -- +Effloresced soda on soil -- Glass, manufacture of -- Atmospheric +vapours -- Temperature, etc. -- Mahowa oil and spirits -- Maddaobund +-- Jains -- Ascent of Paras-nath -- Vegetation of that mountain. + +I left England on the 11th of November, 1847, and performed the +voyage to India under circumstances which have been detailed in the +Introduction. On the 12th of January, 1848, the "Moozuffer" was +steaming amongst the low swampy islands of the Sunderbunds. +These exhibit no tropical luxuriance, and are, in this respect, +exceedingly disappointing. A low vegetation covers them, chiefly made +up of a dwarf-palm (_Phoenix paludosa_) and small mangroves, with a +few scattered trees on the higher bank that runs along the water's +edge, consisting of fan-palm, toddy-palm, and _Terminalia._ Every now +and then, the paddles of the steamer tossed up the large fruits of +_Nipa fruticans,_ a low stemless palm that grows in the tidal waters +of the Indian ocean, and bears a large head of nuts. It is a plant of +no interest to the common observer, but of much to the geologist, from +the nuts of a similar plant abounding in the tertiary formations at +the mouth of the Thames, and having floated about there in as great +profusion as here, till buried deep in the silt and mud that now forms +the island of Sheppey.* [Bowerbank "On the Fossil Fruits and Seeds of +the Isle of Sheppey," and Lyell's "Elements of Geology," 3rd ed. p. +201.] + +Higher up, the river Hoogly is entered, and large trees, with +villages and cultivation, replace the sandy spits and marshy jungles +of the great Gangetic delta. A few miles below Calcutta, the scenery +becomes beautiful, beginning with the Botanic Garden, once the +residence of Roxburgh and Wallich, and now of Falconer,--classical +ground to the naturalist. Opposite are the gardens of Sir Lawrence +Peel; unrivalled in India for their beauty and cultivation, and +fairly entitled to be called the Chatsworth of Bengal. A little +higher up, Calcutta opened out, with the batteries of Fort William in +the foreground, thundering forth a salute, and in a few minutes more +all other thoughts were absorbed in watching the splendour of the +arrangements made for the reception of the Governor-General of India. + +During my short stay in Calcutta, I was principally occupied in +preparing for an excursion with Mr. Williams of the Geological +Survey, who was about to move his camp from the Damooda valley +coal-fields, near Burdwan, to Beejaghur on the banks of the Soane, +where coal was reported to exist, in the immediate vicinity of +water-carriage, the great desideratum of the Burdwan fields. + +My time was spent partly at Government-House, and partly at Sir +Lawrence Peel's residence. The former I was kindly invited to +consider as my Indian home, an honour which I appreciate the more +highly, as the invitation was accompanied with the assurance that I +should have entire freedom to follow my own pursuits; and the +advantages which such a position afforded me, were, I need not say, +of no ordinary kind. + +At the Botanic Gardens I received every assistance from Dr. +McLelland,* [Dr. Falconer's _locum tenens,_ then in temporary +charge of the establishment.] who was very busy, superintending the +publication of the botanical papers and drawings of his friend, the +late Dr. Griffith, for which native artists were preparing copies on +lithographic paper. + +Of the Gardens themselves it is exceedingly difficult to speak; the +changes had been so very great, and from a state with which I had no +acquaintance. There had been a great want of judgment in the +alterations made since Dr. Wallich's time, when they were celebrated +as the most beautiful gardens in the east, and were the great object +of attraction to strangers and townspeople. I found instead an +unsightly wilderness, without shade (the first requirement of every +tropical garden) or other beauties than some isolated grand trees, +which had survived the indiscriminate destruction of the useful and +ornamental which had attended the well-meant but ill-judged attempt +to render a garden a botanical class-book. It is impossible to praise +too highly Dr. Griffith's abilities and acquirements as a botanist, +his perseverance and success as a traveller, or his matchless +industry in the field and in the closet; and it is not wonderful, +that, with so many and varied talents, he should have wanted the eye +of a landscape-gardener, or the education of a horticulturist. +I should, however, be wanting in my duty to his predecessor, and to +his no less illustrious successor, were these remarks withheld, +proceeding, as they do, from an unbiassed observer, who had the +honour of standing in an equally friendly relation to all parties. +Before leaving India, I saw great improvements, but many years must +elapse before the gardens can resume their once proud pre-eminence. + +I was surprised to find the Botanical Gardens looked upon by many of +the Indian public, and even by some of the better informed official +men, as rather an extravagant establishment, more ornamental than +useful. These persons seemed astonished to learn that its name was +renowned throughout Europe, and that during the first twenty years +especially of Dr. Wallich's superintendence, it had contributed more +useful and ornamental tropical plants to the public and private +gardens of the world than any other establishment before or since.* +[As an illustration of this, I may refer to a Report presented to the +government of Bengal, from which it appears that between January, +1836, and December, 1840, 189,932 plants were distributed gratis to +nearly 2000 different gardens.] I speak from a personal knowledge of +the contents of our English gardens, and our colonial ones at the +Cape, and in Australia, and from an inspection of the ponderous +volumes of distribution lists, to which Dr. Falconer is daily adding. +The botanical public of Europe and India is no less indebted than the +horticultural to the liberality of the Hon. East India Company, and +to the energy of the several eminent men who have carried their views +into execution.* [I here allude to the great Indian herbarium, +chiefly formed by the staff of the Botanic Gardens under the +direction of Dr. Wallich, and distributed in 1829 to the principal +museums of Europe. This is the most valuable contribution of the kind +ever made to science, and it is a lasting memorial: of the princely +liberality of the enlightened men who ruled the counsels of India in +those days. No botanical work of importance has been published since +1829, without recording its sense of the obligation, and I was once +commissioned by a foreign government, to purchase for its national +museum, at whatever cost, one set of these collections, which was +brought to the hammer on the death of its possessor. I have heard it +remarked that the expense attending the distribution was enormous, +and I have reason to know that this erroneous impression has had an +unfavourable influence upon the destination of scarcely less valuable +collections, which have for years been lying untouched in the cellars +of the India House. I may add that officers who have exposed their +lives and impaired their health in forming similar ones at the orders +and expense of the Indian government, are at home, and thrown upon +their own resources, or the assistance of their scientific brethren, +for the means of publishing and distributing the fruits of their +labours.] The Indian government, itself, has already profited largely +by these gardens, directly and indirectly, and might have done so +still more, had its efforts been better seconded either by the +European or native population of the country. Amongst its greatest +triumphs may be considered the introduction of the tea-plant from +China, a fact I allude to, as many of my English readers may not be +aware that the establishment of the tea-trade in the Himalaya and +Assam is almost entirely the work of the superintendents of the +gardens of Calcutta and Seharunpore. + +From no one did I receive more kindness than from Sir James Colvile, +President of the Asiatic Society, who not only took care that I +should be provided with every comfort, but presented me with a +completely equipped palkee, which, for strength and excellence of +construction, was everything that a traveller could desire. +Often _en route_ did I mentally thank him when I saw other +palkees breaking down, and travellers bewailing the loss of those +forgotten necessaries, with which his kind attention had +furnished me. + +I left Calcutta to join Mr. Williams' camp on the 28th of January, +driving to Hoogly on the river of that name, and thence following the +grand trunk-road westward towards Burdwan. The novelty of +palkee-travelling at first renders it pleasant; the neatness with +which every thing is packed, the good-humour of the bearers, their +merry pace, and the many more comforts enjoyed than could be expected +in a conveyance _horsed by men_, the warmth when the sliding +doors are shut, and the breeze when they are open, are all fully +appreciated on first starting, but soon the novelty wears off, and +the discomforts are so numerous, that it is pronounced, at best, a +barbarous conveyance. The greedy cry and gestures of the bearers, +when, on changing, they break a fitful sleep by poking a torch in +your face, and vociferating "Bucksheesh, Sahib;" their discontent at +the most liberal largesse, and the sluggishness of the next set who +want bribes, put the traveller out of patience with the natives. +The dust when the slides are open, and the stifling heat when shut +during a shower, are conclusive against the vehicle, and on getting +out with aching bones and giddy head at the journey's end, I shook +the dust from my person, and wished never to see a palkee again. + +On the following morning I was passing through the straggling +villages close to Burdwan, consisting of native hovels by the road +side, with mangos and figs planted near them, and palms waving over +their roofs. Crossing the nearly dry bed of the Damooda, I was set +down at Mr. M'Intosh's (the magistrate of the district), and never +more thoroughly enjoyed a hearty welcome and a breakfast. + +In the evening we visited the Rajah of Burdwan's palace and +pleasure-grounds, where I had the first glimpse of oriental +gardening: the roads were generally raised, running through rice +fields, now dry and hard, and bordered with trees of Jack, Bamboo, +_Melia, Casuarina,_ etc. Tanks were the prominent features: +chains of them, full of Indian water-lilies, being fringed with rows +of the fan-palm, and occasionally the Indian date. Close to the house +was a rather good menagerie, where I saw, amongst other animals, a +pair of kangaroos in high health and condition, the female with young +in her pouch. Before dark I was again in my palkee, and hurrying +onwards. The night was cool and clear, very different from the damp +and foggy atmosphere I had left at Calcutta. On the following morning +I was travelling over a flat and apparently rising country, along an +excellent road, with groves of bamboos and stunted trees on either +hand, few villages or palms, a sterile soil, with stunted grass and +but little cultivation; altogether a country as unlike what I had +expected to find in India as well might be. All around was a dead +flat or table-land, out of which a few conical hills rose in the +west, about 1000 feet high, covered with a low forest of dusky green +or yellow, from the prevalence of bamboo. The lark was singing +merrily at sunrise, and the accessories of a fresh air and dewy grass +more reminded me of some moorland in the north of England than of the +torrid regions of the east. + +At 10 p.m. I arrived at Mr. Williams' camp, at Taldangah, a dawk +station near the western limit of the coal basin of the Damooda +valley. His operations being finished, he was prepared to start, +having kindly waited a couple of days for my arrival. + +Early on the morning of the last day of January, a motley group of +natives were busy striking the tents, and loading the bullocks, +bullock-carts and elephants: these proceeded on the march, occupying +in straggling groups nearly three miles of road, whilst we remained +to breakfast with Mr. F. Watkins, Superintendent of the East India +Coal and Coke Company, who were working the seams. + +The coal crops out at the surface; but the shafts worked are sunk +through thick beds of alluvium. The age of these coal-fields is quite +unknown, and I regret to say that my examination of their fossil +plants throws no material light on the subject. Upwards of thirty +species of fossil plants have been procured from them, and of these +the majority are referred by Dr. McLelland* [Reports of the +Geological Survey of India. Calcutta, 1850.] to the inferior oolite +epoch of England, from the prevalence of species of _Zamia, +Glossopteris,_ and _Taeniopteris._ Some of these genera, +together with _Vertebraria_ (a very remarkable Indian fossil), +are also recognised in the coal-fields of Sind and of Australia. +I cannot, however, think that botanical evidence of such a nature is +sufficient to warrant a satisfactory reference of these Indian +coal-fields to the same epoch as those of England or of Australia; in +the first place the outlines of the fronds of ferns and their +nervation are frail characters if employed alone for the +determination of existing genera, and much more so of fossil +fragments: in the second place recent ferns are so widely +distributed, that an inspection of the majority affords little clue +to the region or locality they come from: and in the third place, +considering the wide difference in latitude and longitude of +Yorkshire, India, and Australia, the natural conclusion is that they +could not have supported a similar vegetation at the same epoch. +In fact, finding similar fossil plants at places widely different in +latitude, and hence in climate, is, in the present state of our +knowledge, rather an argument against than for their having existed +cotemporaneously. The _Cycadeae,_ especially, whose fossil +remains afford so much ground for geological speculations, are far +from yielding such precise data as is supposed. Species of the order +are found in Mexico, South Africa, Australia, and India, some +inhabiting the hottest and dampest, and others the driest climates on +the surface of the globe; and it appears to me rash to argue much +from the presence of the order in the coal of Yorkshire and India, +when we reflect that the geologist of some future epoch may find as +good reasons for referring the present Cape, Australian, or Mexican +Flora to the same period as that of the Lias and Oolites, when the +_Cycadeae_ now living in the former countries shall +be fossilised. + +Specific identity of their contained fossils may be considered as +fair evidence of the cotemporaneous origin of beds, but amongst the +many collections of fossil plants that I have examined, there is +hardly a specimen, belonging to any epoch, sufficiently perfect to +warrant the assumption that the species to which it belonged can be +again recognised. The botanical evidences which geologists too often +accept as proofs of specific identity are such as no botanist would +attach any importance to in the investigation of existing plants. +The faintest traces assumed to be of vegetable origin are habitually +made into genera and species by naturalists ignorant of the +structure, affinities and distribution of living plants, and of such +materials the bulk of so-called systems of fossil plants is composed. + +A number of women were here employed in making gunpowder, grinding +the usual materials on a stone, with the addition of water from the +Hookah; a custom for which they have an obstinate prejudice. +The charcoal here used is made from an _Acacia_: the Seiks, I +believe, employ _Justicia Adhatoda,_ which is also in use all +over India: at Aden the Arabs prefer the _Calotropis_, probably +because it is most easily procured. The grain of all these plants is +open, whereas in England, closer-grained and more woody trees, +especially willows, are preferred. + +The jungle I found to consist chiefly of thorny bushes, Jujube of two +species, an _Acacia_ and _Butea frondosa,_ the twigs of the +latter often covered with lurid red tears of Lac, which is here +collected in abundance. As it occurs on the plants and is collected +by the natives it is called Stick-lac, but after preparation +Shell-lac. In Mirzapore, a species of _Celtis_ yields it, and +the Peepul very commonly in various parts of India. The elaboration +of this dye, whether by the same species of insect, or by many from +plants so widely different in habit and characters, is a very curious +fact; since none have red juice, but some have milky and +others limpid. + +After breakfast, Mr. Williams and I started on an elephant, following +the camp to Gyra, twelve miles distant. The docility of these animals +is an old story, but it loses so much in the telling, that their +gentleness, obedience, and sagacity seemed as strange to me as if I +had never heard or read of these attributes. The swinging motion, +under a hot sun, is very oppressive, but compensated for by being so +high above the dust. The Mahout, or driver, guides by poking his +great toes under either ear, enforcing obedience with an iron goad, +with which he hammers the animal's head with quite as much force as +would break a cocoa-nut, or drives it through his thick skin down to +the quick. A most disagreeable sight it is, to see the blood and +yellow fat oozing out in the broiling sun from these great punctures! +Our elephant was an excellent one, when he did not take obstinate +fits, and so docile as to pick up pieces of stone when desired, and +with a jerk of the trunk throw them over his head for the rider to +catch, thus saving the trouble of dismounting to geologise! + +Of sights on the road, unfrequented though this noble line is, there +were plenty for a stranger; chiefly pilgrims to Juggernath, most on +foot, and a few in carts or pony gigs of rude construction. +The vehicles from the upper country are distinguished by a far +superior build, their horses are caparisoned with jingling bells, and +the wheels and other parts are bound with brass. The kindness of the +people towards animals, and in some cases towards their suffering +relations, is very remarkable, and may in part have given origin to +the prevalent idea that they are less cruel and stern than the +majority of mankind; but that the "mild" Hindoo, however gentle on +occasion, is cruel and vindictive to his brother man and to animals, +when his indolent temper is roused or his avarice stimulated, no one +can doubt who reads the accounts of Thuggee, Dacoitee, and poisoning, +and witnesses the cruelty with which beasts of burthen are treated. +A child carrying a bird, kid, or lamb, is not an uncommon sight, and +a woman with a dog in her arms is still more frequently seen. +Occasionally too, a group will bear an old man to see Juggernath +before he dies, or a poor creature with elephantiasis, who hopes to +be allowed to hurry himself to his paradise, in preference to +lingering in helpless inactivity, and at last crawling up to the +second heaven only. The costumes are as various as the religious +castes, and the many countries to which the travellers belong. +Next in wealth to the merchants, the most thriving-looking wanderer +is the bearer of Ganges' holy water, who drives a profitable trade, +his gains increasing as his load lightens, for the further he wanders +from the sacred stream, the more he gets for the contents of his jar. + +Of merchandise we passed very little, the Ganges being still the high +road between north-west India and Bengal. Occasionally a string of +camels was seen, but, owing to the damp climate, these are rare, and +unknown east of the meridian of Calcutta. A little cotton, clumsily +packed in ragged bags, dirty, and deteriorating every day, even at +this dry season, proves in how bad a state it must arrive at the +market during the rains, when the low wagons are dragged through +the streams. + +The roads here are all mended with a curious stone, called Kunker, +which is a nodular concretionary deposit of limestone, abundantly +imbedded in the alluvial soil of a great part of India.* [Often +occurring in strata, like flints.] It resembles a coarse gravel, each +pebble being often as large as a walnut, and tuberculated on the +surface: it binds admirably, and forms excellent roads, but +pulverises into a most disagreeable impalpable dust. + +A few miles beyond Taldangah we passed from the sandstone, in which +the coal lies, to a very barren country of gneiss and granite rocks, +upon which the former rests; the country still rising, more hills +appear, and towering far above all is Paras-nath, the culminant +point, and a mountain whose botany I was most anxious to explore. + +The vegetation of this part of the country is very poor, no +good-sized trees are to be seen, all is a low stunted jungle. +The grasses were few, and dried up, except in the beds of the +rivulets. On the low jungly hills the same plants appear, with a few +figs, bamboo in great abundance, several handsome _Acanthaceae_; a +few _Asclepiadeae_ climbing up the bushes; and the Cowage plant, now +with over-ripe pods, by shaking which, in passing, there often falls +such a shower of its irritating microscopic hairs, as to make the +skin tingle for an hour. + +On the 1st of February, we moved on to Gyra, another insignificant +village. The air was cool, and the atmosphere clear. The temperature, +at three in the morning, was 65 degrees, with no dew, the grass only +61 degrees°. As the sun rose, Parasnath appeared against the clear +grey sky, in the form of a beautiful broad cone, with a rugged peak, +of a deeper grey than the sky. It is a remarkably handsome mountain, +sufficiently lofty to be imposing, rising out of an elevated country, +the slope of which, upward to the base of the mountain, though +imperceptible, is really considerable; and it is surrounded by lesser +hills of just sufficient elevation to set it off. The atmosphere, +too, of these regions is peculiarly favourable for views: it is very +dry at this season; but still the hills are clearly defined, without +the harsh outlines so characteristic of a moist air. The skies are +bright, the sun powerful; and there is an almost imperceptible haze +that seems to soften the landscape, and keep every object in +true perspective. + +Our route led towards the picturesque hills and values in front. +The rocks were all hornblende and micaceous schist, cut through by +trap-dykes, while great crumbling masses (or bosses) of quartz +protruded through the soil. The stratified rocks were often exposed, +pitched up at various inclinations: they were frequently white with +effloresced salts, which entering largely into the composition tended +to hasten their decomposition, and being obnoxious to vegetation, +rendered the sterile soil more hungry still. There was little +cultivation, and that little of the most wretched kind; even +rice-fields were few and scattered; there was no corn, or gram +(_Ervum Lens_), no Castor-oil, no Poppy, Cotton, Safflower, or other +crops of the richer soils that flank the Ganges and Hoogly; a very +little Sugar-cane, Dhal (_Cajana_), Mustard, Linseed, and Rape, the +latter three cultivated for their oil. Hardly a Palm was to be seen; +and it was seldom that the cottages could boast of a Banana, +Tamarind, Orange, Cocoa-nut or Date. The Mahowa (_Bassia latifolia_) +and Mango were the commonest trees. There being no Kunker in the soil +here, the roads were mended with angular quartz, much to the +elephants' annoyance. + +We dismounted where some very micaceous stratified rock cropped out, +powdered with a saline efflorescence.* [An impure carbonate of soda. +This earth is thrown into clay vessels with water, which after +dissolving the soda, is allowed to evaporate, when the remainder is +collected, and found to contain so much silica, as to be capable of +being fused into glass. Dr. Boyle mentions this curious fact (Essay +on the Arts and Manufactures of India, read before the Society of +Arts, February 18, 1852), in illustration of the probably early epoch +at which the natives of British India were acquainted with the art of +making glass. More complicated processes are employed, and have been +from a very early period, in other parts of the continent.] Jujubes +(_Zizyphus_) prevailed, with the _Carissa carandas_ (in fruit), a +shrub belonging to the usually poisonous family of Dog-banes +(_Apocyneae_); its berries make good tarts, and the plant itself +forms tolerable hedges. + +The country around Fitcoree is rather pretty, the hills covered with +bamboo and brushwood, and as usual, rising rather suddenly from the +elevated plains. The jungle affords shelter to a few bears and +tigers, jackals in abundance, and occasionally foxes; the birds seen +are chiefly pigeons. Insects are very scarce; those of the locust +tribe being most prevalent, indicative of a dry climate. + +The temperature at 3 a.m.. was 65 degrees; at 3 p.m. 82 degrees; and +at 10 p.m., 68 degrees, from which there was no great variation +during the whole time we spent at these elevations. The clouds were +rare, and always light and high, except a little fleecy spot of +vapour condensed close to the summit of Paras-nath. Though the nights +were clear and starlight, no dew was deposited, owing to the great +dryness of the air. On one occasion, this drought was so great during +the passage of a hot wind, that at night I observed the wet-bulb +thermometer to stand 20.5 degrees below the temperature of the air, +which was 66 degrees; this indicated a dew-point of 11.5 degrees, or +54.5 degrees below the air, and a saturation-point of 0.146; there +being only 0.102 grains of vapour per cubic foot of air, which latter +was loaded with dust. The little moisture suspended in the atmosphere +is often seen to be condensed in a thin belt of vapour, at a +considerable distance above the dry surface of the earth, thus +intercepting the radiation of heat from the latter to the clear sky +above. Such strata may be observed, crossing the hills in ribbonlike +masses, though not so clearly on this elevated region as on the +plains bounding the lower course of the Soane, where the vapour is +more dense, the hills more scattered, and the whole atmosphere more +humid. During the ten days I spent amongst the hills I saw but one +cloudy sunrise, whereas below, whether at Calcutta, or on the banks +of the Soane, the sun always rose behind a dense fog-bank. + +At 9.30 a.m. the black-bulb thermometer rose in the sun to 130 +degrees. The morning observation before 10 or 11 a..m. always gives a +higher result than at noon, though the sun's declination is so +considerably less, and in the hottest part of the day it is lower +still (3.30 p.m. 109 degrees), an effect no doubt due to the vapours +raised by the sun, and which equally interfere with the photometer +observations. The N.W. winds invariably rise at about 9 a.m. and blow +with increasing strength till sunset; they are due to the rarefaction +of the air over the heated ground, and being loaded with dust, the +temperature of the atmosphere is hence raised by the heated +particles. The increased temperature of the afternoon is therefore +not so much due to the accumulation of caloric from the sun's rays, +as to the passage of a heated current of air derived from the much +hotter regions to the westward. It would be interesting to know how +far this N.W. diurnal tide extends; also the rate at which it gathers +moisture in its progress over the damp regions of the Sunderbunds. +Its excessive dryness in N.W. India approaches that of the African +and Australian deserts; and I shall give an abstract of my own +observations, both in the vallies of the Soane and Ganges, and on the +elevated plateaus of Behar and of Mirzapore.* [See Appendix A.] + +On the 2nd of February we proceeded to Tofe-Choney, the hills +increasing in height to nearly 1000 feet, and the country becoming +more picturesque. We passed some tanks covered with _Villarsia_, and +frequented by flocks of white egrets. The existence of artificial +tanks so near a lofty mountain, from whose sides innumerable +water-courses descend, indicates the great natural dryness of the +country during one season of the year. The hills and vallies were +richer than I expected, though far from luxuriant. A fine _Nauclea_ +is a common shady tree, and _Bignonia indica_, now leafless, but with +immense pods hanging from the branches. _Acanthaceae_ is the +prevalent natural order, consisting of gay-flowered _Eranthemums, +Ruellias, Barlerias,_ and such hothouse favourites.* [Other plants +gathered here, and very typical of the Flora of this dry region, were +_Linum trigynum, Feronia elephantum, Aegle marmelos, Helicteres +Asoca, Abrus precatorius, Flemingia_; various _Desmodia, Rhynchosiae, +Glycine,_ and _Grislea tomentosa_ very abundant, _Conocarpus +latifoliusa, Loranthus longiflorus,_ and another species; +_Phyllanthus Emblica,_ various _Convolvuli, Cuscuta,_ and several +herbaceous _Compositae._] + +This being the most convenient station whence to ascend Paras-nath, +we started at 6 a.m. for the village of Maddaobund, at the north base +of the mountain, or opposite side from that on which the grand +trunk-road runs. After following the latter for a few miles to the +west, we took a path through beautifully wooded plains, with +scattered trees of the Mahowa (_Bassia latifolia_), resembling +good oaks: the natives distil a kind of arrack from its fleshy +flowers, which are also eaten raw. The seeds, too, yield a concrete +oil, by expression, which is used for lamps and occasionally +for frying. + +Some villages at the west base of the mountain occupy a better soil, +and are surrounded with richer cultivation; palms, mangos, and the +tamarind, the first and last rare features in this part of Bengal, +appeared to be common, with fields of rice and broad acres of flax +and rape, through the latter of which the blue _Orobanche indica_ +swarmed. The short route to Maddaobund, through narrow rocky vallies, +was impracticable for the elephants, and we had to make a very +considerable detour, only reaching that village at 2 p.m. All the +hill people we observed were a fine-looking athletic race; they +disclaimed the tiger being a neighbour, which every palkee-bearer +along the road declares to carry off the torch-bearers, torch and +all. Bears they said were scarce, and all other wild animals, but a +natural jealousy of Europeans often leads the natives to deny the +existence of what they know to be an attraction to the proverbially +sporting Englishman. + +Illustration - OLD TAMARIND TREES. + +The site of Maddaobund, elevated 1230 feet, in a clearance of the +forest, and the appearance of the snow-white domes and bannerets of +its temples through the fine trees by which it is surrounded, are +very beautiful. Though several hundred feet above any point we had +hitherto reached, the situation is so sheltered that the tamarind, +peepul, and banyan trees are superb. A fine specimen of the latter +stands at the entrance to the village, not a broadheaded tree, as is +usual in the prime of its existence, but a mass of trunks irregularly +throwing out immense branches in a most picturesque manner; the +original trunk is apparently gone, and the principal mass of root +stems is fenced in. This, with two magnificent tamarinds, forms a +grand clump. The ascent of the mountain is immediately from the +village up a pathway worn by the feet of many a pilgrim from the most +remote parts of India. + +Paras-nath is a mountain of peculiar sanctity, to which circumstance +is to be attributed the flourishing state of Maddaobund. The name is +that of the twenty-third incarnation of Jinna (Sanscrit "Conqueror"), +who was born at Benares, lived one hundred years, and was buried on +this mountain, which is the eastern metropolis of Jain worship, as +Mount Aboo is the western (where are their libraries and most +splendid temples). The origin of the Jain sect is obscure, though its +rise appears to correspond with the wreck of Boodhism throughout +India in the eleventh century. The Jains form in some sort a +transition-sect between Boodhists and Hindoos, differing from the +former in acknowledging castes, and from both in their worship of +Paras-nath's foot, instead of that of Munja-gosha of the Boodhs, or +Vishnoo's of the Hindoos. As a sect of Boodhists their religion is +considered pure, and free from the obscenities so conspicuous in +Hindoo worship; whilst, in fact, perhaps the reverse is the case; +but the symbols are fewer, and indeed almost confined to the feet of +Paras-nath, and the priests jealously conceal their esoteric +doctrines. + +The temples, though small, are well built, and carefully kept. +No persuasion could induce the Brahmins to allow us to proceed beyond +the vestibule without taking off our shoes, to which we were not +inclined to consent. The bazaar was for so small a village large, and +crowded to excess with natives of all castes, colours, and provinces +of India, very many from the extreme W. and N.W., Rajpootana, the +Madras Presidency, and Central India. Numbers had come in good cars, +well attended, and appeared men of wealth and consequence; while the +quantities of conveyances of all sorts standing about, rather +reminded me of an election, than of anything I had seen in India. + +The natives of the place were a more Negro-looking race than the +Bengalees to whom I had previously been accustomed; and the curiosity +and astonishment they displayed at seeing (probably many of them for +the first time) a party of Englishmen, were sufficiently amusing. +Our coolies with provisions not having come up, and it being two +o'clock in the afternoon, I having had no breakfast, and being +ignorant of the exclusively Jain population of the village, sent my +servant to the bazaar, for some fowls and eggs; but he was mobbed for +asking for these articles, and parched rice, beaten flat, with some +coarse sugar, was all I could obtain; together with sweetmeats so +odiously flavoured with various herbs, and sullied with such +impurities, that we quickly made them over to the elephants. + +Not being able to ascend the mountain and return in one day, +Mr. Williams and his party went back to the road, leaving Mr. Haddon +and myself, who took up our quarters under a tamarind-tree. + +In the evening a very gaudy poojah was performed. The car, filled +with idols, was covered with gilding and silk, and drawn by noble +bulls, festooned and garlanded. A procession was formed in front; and +it opened into an avenue, up and down which gaily dressed +dancing-boys paced or danced, shaking castanets, the attendant +worshippers singing in discordant voices, beating tom-toms, cymbals, +etc. Images (of Boodh apparently) abounded on the car, in front of +which a child was placed. The throng of natives was very great and +perfectly orderly, indeed, sufficiently apathetic: they were +remarkably civil in explaining what they understood of their +own worship. + +At 2 p.m., the thermometer was only 65 degrees, though the day was +fine, a strong haze obstructing the sun's rays; at 6 p.m., 58 +degrees; at 9 p.m., 56 degrees, and the grass cooled to 49 degrees. +Still there was no dew, though the night was starlight. + +Having provided doolies, or little bamboo chairs slung on four men's +shoulders, in which I put my papers and boxes, we next morning +commenced the ascent; at first through woods of the common trees, +with large clumps of bamboo, over slaty rocks of gneiss, much +inclined and sloping away from the mountain. The view from a ridge +500 feet high was superb, of the village, and its white domes half +buried in the forest below, the latter of which continued in sight +for many miles to the northward. Descending to a valley some ferns +were met with, and a more luxuriant vegetation, especially of +_Urticeae._ Wild bananas formed a beautiful, and to me novel +feature in the woods. + +The conical hills of the white ants were very abundant. The structure +appears to me not an independent one, but the debris of clumps of +bamboos, or of the trunks of large trees, which these insects have +destroyed. As they work up a tree from the ground, they coat the bark +with particles of sand glued together, carrying up this artificial +sheath or covered way as they ascend. A clump of bamboos is thus +speedily killed; when the dead stems fall away, leaving the mass of +stumps coated with sand, which the action of the weather soon +fashions into a cone of earthy matter. + +Ascending again, the path strikes up the hill, through a thick forest +of Sal (_Vateria robusta_) and other trees, spanned with cables +of scandent _Bauhinia_ stems. At about 3000 feet above the sea, +the vegetation becomes more luxuriant, and by a little stream I +collected five species of ferns and some mosses,--all in a dry state, +however. Still higher, _Clematis, Thalictrum,_ and an increased +number of grasses are seen; with bushes of _Verbenaceae_ and +_Compositae._ The white ant apparently does not enter this +cooler region. At 3500 feet the vegetation again changes, the trees +all become gnarled and scattered; and as the dampness also increases, +more mosses and ferns appear. We emerged from the forest at the foot +of the great ridge of rocky peaks, stretching E. and W. three or four +miles. Abundance of a species of berberry and an _Osbeckia_ +marked the change in the vegetation most decidedly, and were frequent +over the whole summit, with coarse grasses, and various bushes. + +At noon we reached the saddle of the crest (alt. 4230 feet), where +was a small temple, one of five or six which occupy various +prominences of the ridge. The wind, N.W., was cold, the temp. 56 +degrees. The view was beautiful, but the atmosphere too hazy: to the +north were ranges of low wooded hills, and the course of the Barakah +and Adji rivers; to the south lay a flatter country, with lower +ranges, and the Damooda river, its all but waterless bed snowy-white +from the exposed granite blocks with which its course is strewn. +East and west the several sharp ridges of the mountain itself are +seen; the western considerably the highest. Immediately below, the +mountain flanks appear clothed with impenetrable forest, here and +there interrupted by rocky eminences; while to the north the grand +trunk road shoots across the plains, like a white thread, as straight +as an arrow, spanning here and there the beds of the mountain +torrents. + +On the south side the vegetation was more luxuriant than on the +north, though, from the heat of the sun, the reverse might have been +expected. This is owing partly to the curve taken by the ridge being +open to the south, and partly to the winds from that quarter being +the moist ones. Accordingly, trees which I had left 3000 feet below +in the north ascent, here ascended to near the summit, such as figs +and bananas. A short-stemmed palm (_Phoenix_) was tolerably +abundant, and a small tree (_Pterospermum_) on which a species +of grass grew epiphytically; forming a curious feature in the +landscape. + +The situation of the principal temple is very fine, below the saddle +in a hollow facing the south, surrounded by jungles of plantain and +banyan. It is small, and contains little worthy of notice but the +sculptured feet of Paras-nath, and some marble Boodh idols; +cross-legged figures with crisp hair and the Brahminical cord. +These, a leper covered with ashes in the vestibule, and an +officiating priest, were all we saw. Pilgrims were seen on various +parts of the mountain in very considerable numbers, passing from one +temple to another, and generally leaving a few grains of dry rice at +each; the rich and lame were carried in chairs, the poorer walked. + +The culminant rocks are very dry, but in the rains may possess many +curious plants; a fine _Kalanchoe_ was common, with the berberry, a +beautiful _Indigofera,_ and various other shrubs; a _Bolbophyllum_ +grew on the rocks, with a small _Begonia,_ and some ferns. There were +no birds, and very few insects, a beautiful small _Pontia_ being the +only butterfly. The striped squirrel was very busy amongst the rocks; +and I saw a few mice, and the traces of bears. + +At 3 p.m., the temperature was 54 degrees, and the air deliciously +cool and pleasant. I tried to reach the western peak (perhaps 300 +feet above the saddle), by keeping along the ridge, but was cut off +by precipices, and ere I could retrace my steps it was time to +descend. This I was glad to do in a doolie, and I was carried to the +bottom, with only one short rest, in an hour and three quarters. +The descent was very steep the whole way, partly down steps of sharp +rock, where one of the men cut his foot severely. The pathway at the +bottom was lined for nearly a quarter of a mile with sick, halt, +maimed, lame, and blind beggars, awaiting our descent. It was truly a +fearful sight, especially the lepers, and numerous unhappy victims +to elephantiasis. + +Though the botany of Paras-nath proved interesting, its elevation was +not accompanied by such a change from the flora of its base as I had +expected. This is no doubt due to its dry climate and sterile soil; +characters which it shares with the extensive elevated area of which +it forms a part, and upon which I could not detect above 300 species +of plants during my journey. Yet, that the atmosphere at the summit +is more damp as well as cooler than at the base, is proved as well by +the observations as by the vegetation;* [Of plants eminently typical +of a moister atmosphere, I may mention the genera _Bolbophyllum, +Begonia, Aeginetia, Disporum, Roxburghia, Panax, Eugenia, Myrsine, +Shorea, Millettia,_ ferns, mosses, and foliaceous lichens; which +appeared in strange association with such dry-climate genera as +_Kalanchoe, Pterospermum,_ and the dwarf-palm, _Phoenix._ Add to this +list the _Berberis asiatica, Clematis nutans, Thalictrum +glyphocarpum,_ 27 grasses, _Cardamine,_ etc., and the mountain top +presents a mixture of the plants of a damp hot, a dry hot, and of a +temperate climate, in fairly balanced proportions. The prime elements +of a tropical flora were however wholly wanting on Paras-nath, where +are neither Peppers, _Pothos, Arum,_ tall or climbing palms, +tree-ferns, _Guttiferae,_ vines, or laurels.] and in some respects, +as the increased proportion of ferns, additional epiphytal orchideous +plants, _Begonias,_ and other species showed, its top supported a +more tropical flora than its base. + +CHAPTER II. + +Doomree -- Vegetation of table-land -- Lieutenant Beadle -- Birds -- +Hot springs of Soorujkoond -- Plants near them -- Shells in them -- +Cholera-tree -- Olibanum -- Palms, form of -- Dunwah Pass -- Trees, +native and planted -- Wild peacock -- Poppy fields -- Geography and +geology of Behar and Central India -- Toddy-palm -- Ground, +temperature of -- Barroon -- Temperature of plants -- Lizard -- Cross +the Soane -- Sand, ripple marks on -- Kymore hills -- Ground, +temperature of -- Limestone -- Rotas fort and palace -- Nitrate of +lime -- Change of climate -- Lime stalagmites, enclosing leaves -- +Fall of Soane -- Spiders, etc. -- Scenery and natural history of +upper Soane valley -- _Hardwickia binata_ -- Bhel fruit -- +Dust-storm -- Alligator -- Catechu -- _Cochlospermum_ -- +Leaf-bellows -- Scorpions -- Tortoises -- Florican -- Limestone +spheres -- Coles -- Tiger-hunt -- Robbery. + +In the evening we returned to our tamarind tree, and the next morning +regained the trunk road, following it to the dawk bungalow of +Doomree. On the way I found the _Caesalpinia paniculuta,_ a +magnificent climber, festooning the trues with its dark glossy +foliage and gorgeous racemes of orange blossoms. Receding from the +mountain, the country again became barren: at Doomree the hills were +of crystalline rocks, chiefly quartz and gneiss; no palms or large +trees of any kind appeared. The spear-grass abounded, and a +detestable nuisance it was, its long awns and husked seed working +through trowsers and stockings. + +_Balanites_ was not uncommon, forming a low thorny bush, with +_Aegle marmelos_ and _Feronia elephantum._ Having rested +the tired elephant, we pushed on in the evening to the next stage, +Baghoda, arriving there at 3 a.m., and after a few hours' rest, I +walked to the bungalow of Lieutenant Beadle, the surveyor of roads, +sixteen miles further. + +The country around Baghoda is still very barren, but improves +considerably in going westward, the ground becoming hilly, and the +road winding through prettily wooded vallies, and rising gradually to +1446 feet. _Nauclea cordifolia,_ a tree resembling a young +sycamore, is very common; with the Semul (_Bombax_), a very +striking tree from its buttressed trunk and gaudy scarlet flowers, +swarming with birds, which feed from its honeyed blossoms. + +At 10 a.m. the sun became uncomfortably hot, the thermometer being +77 degrees, and the black-bulb thermometer 137 degrees. I had lost my +hat, and possessed no substitute but a silken nightcap; so I had to +tie a handkerchief over my head, to the astonishment of the +passers-by. Holding my head down, I had little source of amusement +but reading the foot-marks on the road; and these were strangely +diversified to an English eye. Those of the elephant, camel, buffalo +and bullock, horse, ass, pony, dog, goat, sheep and kid, lizard, +wild-cat and pigeon, with men, women, and children's feet, naked and +shod, were all recognisable. + +It was noon ere I arrived at Lieutenant Beadle's, at Belcuppee (alt. +1219 feet), glad enough of the hearty welcome I received, being very +hot, dusty, and hungry. The country about his bungalow is very +pretty, from the number of wooded hills and large trees, especially +of banyan and peepul, noble oak-like Mahowa (_Bassia_), _Nauclea,_ +Mango, and _Ficus infectoria._ These are all scattered, however, and +do not form forest, such as in a stunted form clothes the hills, +consisting of _Diospyros, Terminalia, Gmelina, Nauclea parvifolia, +Buchanania,_ etc. The rocks are still hornblende-schist and granite, +with a covering of alluvium, full of quartz pebbles. Insects and +birds are numerous, the latter consisting of jays, crows, doves, +sparrows, and maina (_Pastor_); also the _Phoenicophaus tristis_ +("Mahoka" of the natives), with a note like that of the English +cuckoo, as heard late in the season. + +I remained two days with Lieutenant Beadle, enjoying in his society +several excursions to the hot springs, etc. These springs (called +Soorujkoond) are situated close to the road, near the mouth of a +valley, in a remarkably pretty spot. They are, of course, objects of +worship; and a ruined temple stands close behind them, with three +very conspicuous trees--a peepul, a banyan, and a white, +thick-stemmed, leafless _Sterculia,_ whose branches bore dense +clusters of greenish foetid flowers. The hot springs are four in +number, and rise in as many ruined brick tanks about two yards +across. Another tank, fed by a cold spring, about twice that size, +flows between two of the hot, only two or three paces distant from +one of the latter on either hand. All burst through the gneiss rocks, +meet in one stream after a few yards, and are conducted by bricked +canals to a pool of cold water, about eighty yards off. + +The temperatures of the hot springs were respectively 169 degrees, +170 degrees, 173 degrees, and 190 degrees; of the cold, 84 degrees at +4 p.m., and 75 degrees at 7 a.m. the following morning. The hottest +is the middle of the five. The water of the cold spring is sweet but +not good, and emits gaseous bubbles; it was covered with a green +floating _Conferva._ Of the four hot springs, the most copious +is about three feet deep, bubbles constantly, boils eggs, and though +brilliantly clear, has an exceedingly nauseous taste. This and the +other warm ones cover the bricks and surrounding rocks with a thick +incrustation of salts. + +_Confervae_ abound in the warm stream from the springs, and two +species, one ochreous brown, and the other green, occur on the +margins of the tanks themselves, and in the hottest water; the brown +is the best Salamander, and forms a belt in deeper water than the +green; both appear in broad luxuriant strata, wherever the temp. is +cooled down to 168 degrees, and as low as 90 degrees. Of flowering +plants, three showed in an eminent degree a constitution capable of +resisting the heat, if not a predilection for it; these were all +_Cyperaceae,_ a _Cyperus_ and an _Eleocharis,_ having their roots in +water of 100 degrees, and where they are probably exposed to greater +heat, and a _Fimbristylis_ at 98 degrees; all were very luxuriant. +From the edges of the four hot springs I gathered sixteen species of +flowering plants, and from the cold tank five, which did not grow in +the hot. A water-beetle, _Colymbetes_(?) and _Notonecta,_ abounded in +water at 112 degrees, with quantities of dead shells; frogs were very +lively, with live shells, at 90 degrees, and with various other water +beetles. Having no means of detecting the salts of this water, I +bottled some for future analysis.* [For an account of the +_Confervae,_ and of the mineral constituents of the waters, etc. see +Appendix B.] + +On the following day I botanized in the neighbourhood, with but poor +success. An oblique-leaved fig climbs the other trees, and generally +strangles them: two epiphytal _Orchideae_ also occur on the latter, +_Vanda Roxburghii_ and an _Oberonia._ Dodders (_Cuscuta_) of two +species, and _Cassytha,_ swarm over and conceal the bushes with their +yellow thread-like stems. + +I left Belcuppee on the 8th of February, following Mr. Williams' +camp. The morning was clear and cold, the temperature only 56 +degrees. We crossed the nearly dry broad bed of the Burkutta river, a +noble stream during the rains, carrying along huge boulders of +granite and gneiss. Near this I passed the Cholera-tree, a famous +peepul by the road side, so called from a detachment of infantry +having been attacked and decimated at the spot by that fell disease; +it is covered with inscriptions and votive tokens in the shape of +rags, etc. We continued to ascend to 1360 feet, where I came upon a +small forest of the Indian Olibanum (_Boswellia thurifera_), +conspicuous from its pale bark, and spreading curved branches, leafy +at their tips; its general appearance is a good deal like that of the +mountain ash. The gum, celebrated throughout the East, was flowing +abundantly from the trunk, very fragrant and transparent. The ground +was dry, sterile, and rocky; kunker, the curious formation mentioned +at Chapter 1, appears in the alluvium, which I had not elsewhere seen +at this elevation. + +Descending to the village of Burshoot, we lost sight of the +_Boswellia,_ and came upon a magnificent tope of mango, banyan, +and peepul, so far superior to anything hitherto met with, that we +were glad to choose such a pleasant halting-place for breakfast. +There are a few lofty fan-palms here too, great rarities in this soil +and elevation: one, about eighty feet high, towered above some +wretched hovels, displaying the curious proportions of this tribe of +palms: first, a short cone, tapering to one-third the height of the +stem, the trunk then swelling to two-thirds, and again tapering to +the crown. Beyond this, the country again ascends to Burree (alt. +1169 feet), another dawk bungalow, a barren place, which we left on +the following morning. + +So little was there to observe, that I again amused myself by +watching footsteps, the precision of which in the sandy soil was +curious. Looking down from the elephant, I was interested by seeing +them all in _relief,_ instead of _depressed,_ the slanting +rays of the sun in front producing this kind of mirage. Before us +rose no more of those wooded hills that had been our companions for +the last 120 miles, the absence of which was a sign of the nearly +approaching termination of the great hilly plateau we had been +traversing for that distance. + +Chorparun, at the top of the Dunwah pass, is situated on an extended +barren flat, 1320 feet above the sea, and from it the descent from +the table-land to the level of the Soane valley, a little above that +of the Ganges at Patna, is very sudden. The road is carried zizgag +down a rugged hill of gneiss, with a descent of nearly 1000 feet in +six miles, of which 600 are exceedingly steep. The pass is well +wooded, with abundance of bamboo, _Bombax, Cassia, Acacia,_ and +_Butea,_ with _Calotropis,_ the purple Mudar, a very handsome +road-side plant, which I had not seen before, but which, with the +_Argemone Mexicana,_ was to be a companion for hundreds of miles +farther. All the views in the pass are very picturesque, though +wanting in good foliage, such as _Ficus_ would afford, of which I did +not see one tree. Indeed the rarity of the genus (except +_F. infectoria_) in the native woods of these hills, is very +remarkable. The banyan and peepul always appear to be planted, as do +the tamarind and mango. + +Dunwah, at the foot of the pass, is 620 feet above the sea, and +nearly 1000 below the mean level of the highland I had been +traversing. Every thing bears here a better aspect; the woods at +the foot of the hills afforded many plants; the bamboo +(_B. stricta_) is green instead of yellow and white; a little +castor-oil is cultivated, and the Indian date (low and stunted) +appears about the cottages. + +In the woods I heard and saw the wild peacock for the first time. +Its voice is not to be distinguished from that of the tame bird in +England, a curious instance of the perpetuation of character under +widely different circumstances, for the crow of the wild jungle-fowl +does not rival that of the farm-yard cock. + +In the evening we left Dunwah for Barah (alt. 480 feet), passing over +very barren soil, covered with low jungle, the original woods having +apparently been cut for fuel. Our elephant, a timid animal, came on a +drove of camels in the dark by the road-side, and in his alarm +insisted on doing battle, tearing through the thorny jungle, +regardless of the mahout, and still more of me: the uproar raised by +the camel-drivers was ridiculous, and the danger to my barometer +imminent. + +We proceeded on the 11th of February to Sheergotty, where Mr. +Williams and his camp were awaiting our arrival. Wherever cultivation +appeared the crops were tolerably luxuriant, but a great deal of the +country yielded scarcely half-a-dozen kinds of plants to any ten +square yards of ground. The most prevalent were _Carissa carandas, +Olax scandens,_ two _Zizyphi,_ and the ever-present _Acacia +Catechu._ The climate is, however, warmer and much moister, for I +here observed dew to be formed, which I afterwards found to be usual +on the low grounds. That its presence is due to the increased amount +of vapour in the atmosphere I shall prove: the amount of radiation, +as shown by the cooling of the earth and vegetation, being the same +in the elevated plain and lower levels.* [See Appendix C.] + +The good soil was very richly cultivated with poppy (which I had not +seen before), sugar-cane, wheat, barley, mustard, rape, and flax. +At a distance a field of poppies looks like a green lake, studded +with white water-lilies. The houses, too, are better, and have tiled +roofs; while, in such situations, the road is lined with trees. + +A retrospect of the ground passed over is unsatisfactory, as far as +botany is concerned, except as showing how potent are the effects of +a dry soil and climate during one season of the year upon a +vegetation which has no desert types. During the rains probably many +more species would be obtained, for of annuals I scarcely found +twenty. At that season, however, the jungles of Behar and Birbhoom, +though far from tropically luxuriant, are singularly unhealthy. + +In a geographical point of view the range of hills between Burdwan +and the Soave is interesting, as being the north-east continuation of +a chain which crosses the broadest part of the peninsula of India, +from the Gulf of Cambay to the junction of the Ganges and Hoogly at +Rajmahal. This range runs south of the Soane and Kymore, which it +meets I believe at Omerkuntuk;* [A lofty mountain said to be +7000-8000 feet high.] the granite of this and the sandstone of the +other, being there both overlaid with trap. Further west again, the +ranges separate, the southern still betraying a nucleus of granite, +forming the Satpur range, which divides the valley of the Taptee from +that of the Nerbudda. The Paras-nath range is, though the most +difficult of definition, the longer of the two parallel ranges; +the Vindhya continued as the Kymore, terminating abruptly at the Fort +of Chunar on the Ganges. The general and geological features of the +two, especially along their eastern course, are very different. +This consists of metamorphic gneiss, in various highly inclined beds, +through which granite hills protrude, the loftiest of which is +Paras-nath. The north-east Vindhya (called Kymore), on the other +hand, consists of nearly horizontal beds of sandstone, overlying +inclined beds of non-fossiliferous limestone. Between the latter and +the Paras-nath gneiss, come (in order of superposition) shivered and +undulating strata of metamorphic quartz, hornstone, hornstone- +porphyry, jaspers, etc. These are thrown up, by greenstone I believe, +along the north and north-west boundary of the gneiss range, and are +to be recognised as forming the rocks of Colgong, of Sultangunj, and +of Monghyr, on the Ganges, as also various detached hills near Gyah, +and along the upper course of the Soane. From these are derived the +beautiful agates and cornelians, so famous under the name of Soane +pebbles, and they are equally common on the Curruckpore range, as on +the south bank of the Soane, so much so in the former position as to +have been used in the decoration of the walls of the now ruined +palaces near Bhagulpore. + +In the route I had taken, I had crossed the eastern extremity alone +of the range, commencing with a very gradual ascent, over the +alluvial plains of the west bank of the Hoogly, then over laterite, +succeeded by sandstone of the Indian coal era, which is succeeded by +the granite table-land, properly so called. A little beyond the coal +fields, the table-land reaches an average height of 1130 feet, which +is continued for upwards of 100 miles, to the Dunwah pass. Here the +descent is sudden to plains, which, continuous with those of the +Ganges, run up the Soane till beyond Rotasghur. Except for the +occasional ridges of metamorphic rocks mentioned above, and some +hills of intruded greenstone, the lower plain is stoneless, its +subjacent rocks being covered with a thicker stratum of the same +alluvium which is thinly spread over the higher table-land above. +This range is of great interest from its being the source of many +important rivers,* [The chief rivers from this, the great watershed +of western Bengal, flow north-west and south-east; a few +comparatively insignificant streams running north to the Ganges. +Amongst the former are the Rheru, the Kunner, and the Coyle, which +contribute to the Soane; amongst the latter, the Dammooda, Adji, and +Barakah, flow into the Hoogly, and the Subunrika, Braminee, and +Mahanuddee into the Bay of Bengal.] and of all those which water the +country between the Soane, Hoogly, and Ganges, as well as from its +deflecting the course of the latter river, which washes its base at +Rajmahal, and forcing it to take a sinuous course to the sea. In its +climate and botany it differs equally from the Gangetic plains to the +north, and from the hot, damp, and exuberant forests of Orissa to the +south. Nor are its geological features less different, or its +concomitant and in part resultant characters of agriculture and +native population. Still further west, the great rivers of the +peninsula have their origin, the Nerbudda and Taptee flowing west to +the gulf of Cambay, the Cane to the Jumna, the Soane to the Ganges, +and the northern feeders of the Godavery to the Bay of Bengal. + +On the 12th of February, we left Sheergotty (alt. 463 feet), crossing +some small streams, which, like all else seen since leaving the +Dunwah Pass, flow N. to the Ganges. Between Sheergotty and the Soane, +occur many of the isolated hills of greenstone, mentioned above, +better known to the traveller from having been telegraphic stations. +Some are much impregnated with iron, and whether for their colour, +the curious outlines of many, or their position, form quaint, and in +some cases picturesque features in the otherwise tame landscape. + +The road being highly cultivated, and the Date-palm becoming more +abundant, we encamped in a grove of these trees. All were curiously +distorted; the trunks growing zigzag, from the practice of yearly +tapping the alternate sides for toddy. The incision is just below the +crown, and slopes upwards and inwards: a vessel is hung below the +wound, and the juice conducted into it by a little piece of bamboo. +This operation spoils the fruit, which, though eaten, is small, and +much inferior to the African date. + +At Mudunpore (alt. 440 feet) a thermometer, sunk 3 feet 4 inches in +the soil, maintained a constant temperature of 71.5 degrees, that of +the air varying from 77.5 degrees, at 3 p.m., to 62 at daylight the +following morning; when we moved on to Nourunga (alt. 340 feet), +where I bored to 3 feet 8 inches with a heavy iron jumper through an +alluvium of such excessive tenacity, that eight natives were employed +for four hours in the operation. In both this and another hole, +4 feet 8 inches, the temperature was 72 degrees at 10 p.m.; and on +the following morning 71.5 degrees in the deepest hole, and +70 degrees in the shallower: that of the external air varied from +71 degrees at 3 p.m., to 57 degrees at daylight on the following +morning. At the latter time I took the temperature of the earth near +the surface, which showed, surface 53 degrees, 1 inch 57 degrees, +2 inches 58 degrees, 4 inches 62 degrees, 7 inches 64 degrees. + +The following day we marched to Baroon (alt. 345 feet) on the +alluvial banks of the Soane, crossing a deep stream by a pretty +suspension bridge, of which the piers were visible two miles off, so +level is the road. The Soane is here three miles wide, its nearly dry +bed being a desert of sand, resembling a vast arm of the sea when the +tide is out: the banks are very barren, with no trees near, and but +very few in the distance. The houses were scarcely visible on the +opposite side, behind which the Kymore mountains rise. The Soane is a +classical river, being now satisfactorily identified with the +Eranoboas of the ancients.* [The etymology of Eranoboas is +undoubtedly _Hierrinia Vahu_ (Sanskrit), the golden-armed. +Sons is also the Sanskrit for gold. The stream is celebrated for its +agates (Soane pebbles), which are common, but gold is not now +obtained from it.] + +The alluvium is here cut into a cliff, ten or twelve feet above the +bed of the river, and against it the sand is blown in naked +_dunes._ At 2 p.m., the surface-sand was heated to 110 degrees +where sheltered from the wind, and 104 degrees in the open bed of the +river. To compare the rapidity and depth to which the heat is +communicated by pure sand, and by the tough alluvium, I took the +temperature at some inches depth in both. That the alluvium absorbs +the heat better, and retains it longer, would appear from the +following, the only observations I could make, owing to the tenacity +of the soil. + +2 p.m. +Surface 104 degrees +22.5 inches 93 degrees +5 inches 88 degrees +Sand at this depth 78 degrees. +5 a.m. +Surface 51 degrees +28 inches 68 degrees + +Finding the fresh milky juice of _Calotropis_ to be only +72 degrees, I was curious to ascertain at what depth this +temperature was to be obtained in the sand of the river-bed, where +the plant grew. + +Surface 104.5 degrees, +1 inch 102 degrees, +2 inches 94 degrees, +2.5 inches 90 degrees, +3.5 inches 85 degrees (Compact), +8 inches 73 degrees (Wet), +15 inches 72 degrees (Wet). + +The power this plant exercises of maintaining a low temperature of 72 +degrees, though the main portion which is subterraneous is surrounded +by a soil heated to between 90 degrees and 104 degrees, is very +remarkable, and no doubt proximately due to the rapidity of +evaporation from the foliage, and consequent activity in the +circulation. Its exposed leaves maintained a temperature of 80 +degrees, nearly 25 degrees cooler than the similarly exposed sand and +alluvium. On the same night the leaves were cooled down to 54 +degrees, when the sand had cooled to 51 degrees. Before daylight the +following morning the sand had cooled to 43 degrees, and the leaves +of the _Calotropis_ to 45.5 degrees. I omitted to observe the +temperature of the sap at the latter time; but the sand at the same +depth (15 inches) as that at which its temperature and that of the +plant agreed at mid-day, was 68 degrees. And assuming this to be the +heat of the plant, we find that the leaves are heated by solar +radiation during the day 8 degrees, and cooled by nocturnal +radiation, 22.5 degrees. + +Mr. Theobald (my companion in this and many other rambles) pulled a +lizard from a hole in the bank. Its throat was mottled with scales of +brown and yellow. Three ticks had fastened on it, each of a size +covering three or four scales: the first was yellow, corresponding +with the yellow colour of the animal's belly, where it lodged, the +second brown, from the lizard's head; but the third, which was +clinging to the parti-coloured scales of the neck, had its body +parti-coloured, the hues corresponding with the individual scales +which they covered. The adaptation of the two first specimens in +colour to the parts to which they adhered, is sufficiently +remarkable; but the third case was most extraordinary. + +During the night of the 14th of February, I observed a beautiful +display, apparently of the Aurora borealis, an account of which will +be found in the Appendix. + +_February_ 15.--Our passage through the Soane sands was very +tedious, though accomplished in excellent style, the elephants +pushing forward the heavy waggons of mining tools with their +foreheads. The wheels were sometimes buried to the axles in sand, and +the draught bullocks were rather in the way than otherwise. + +The body of water over which we ferried, was not above 80 yards wide. +In the rains, when the whole space of three miles is one rapid flood, +10 or 12 feet deep, charged with yellow sand, this river must present +an imposing spectacle. I walked across the dry portion, observing the +sand-waves, all ranged in one direction, perpendicular to that of the +prevailing wind, accurately representing the undulations of the +ocean, as seen from a mast-head or high cliff. As the sand was finer +or coarser, so did the surface resemble a gentle ripple, or an +ocean-swell. The progressive motion of the waves was curious, and +caused by the lighter particles being blown over the ridges, and +filling up the hollows to leeward. There were a few islets in the +sand, a kind of oases of mud and clay, in laminae no thicker than +paper, and these were at once denizened by various weeds. Some large +spots were green with wheat and barley-crops, both suffering +from smut. + +We encamped close to the western shore, at the village of Dearee +(alt. 330 feet); it marks the termination of the Kymore Hills, along +whose S.E. bases our course now lay, as we here quitted the grand +trunk road for a rarely visited country. + +On the 16th we marched south up the river to Tilotho (alt. 395 feet), +through a rich and highly cultivated country, covered with indigo, +cotton, sugar-cane, safflower, castor-oil, poppy, and various grains. +Dodders (_Cuscuta_) covered even tall trees with a golden web, +and the _Capparis acuminata_ was in full flower along the road +side. Tilotho, a beautiful village, is situated in a superb grove of +Mango, Banyan, Peepul, Tamarind, and _Bassia._ The Date or +toddy-palm and fan-palm are very abundant and tall: each had a pot +hung under the crown. The natives climb these trunks with a hoop or +cord round the body and both ancles, and a bottle-gourd or other +vessel hanging round the neck to receive the juice from the +stock-bottle, in this aerial wine-cellar. These palms were so lofty +that the climbers, as they paused in their ascent to gaze with wonder +at our large retinue, resembled monkeys rather than men. Both trees +yield a toddy, but in this district they stated that that from the +_Phoenix_ (Date) alone ferments, and is distilled; while in +other parts of India, the _Borassus_ (fan-palm) is chiefly +employed. I walked to the hills, over a level cultivated country +interspersed with occasional belts of low wood; in which the pensile +nests of the weaver-bird were abundant, but generally hanging out of +reach, in prickly _Acacias._ + +The hills here present a straight precipitous wall of horizontally +stratified sandstone, very like the rocks at the Cape of Good Hope, +with occasionally a shallow valley, and a slope of debris at the +base, densely clothed with dry jungle. The cliffs are about 1000 feet +high, and the plants similar to those at the foot of Paras-nath, but +stunted: I climbed to the top, the latter part by steps or ledges of +sandstone. The summit was clothed with long grass, trees of +_Diospyros_ and _Terminalia,_ and here and there the +_Boswellia._ On the precipitous rocks the curious white-barked +_Sterculia foetida_ "flung its arms abroad," leafless, and +looking as if blasted by lightning. + +A hole was sunk here again for the thermometers, and, as usual, with +great labour; the temperatures obtained were-- +Air. +9 p.m. 64.5 degrees +5.30 a.m. 58.5 degrees +4 feet 6 inches, under good shade of trees +9 p.m. 77 degrees +11 p.m. 76 degrees +5.30 a.m. 76 degrees + +This is a very great rise (of 4 degrees) above any of those +previously obtained, and certainly indicates a much higher mean +temperature of the locality. I can only suppose it due to the +radiation of heat from the long range of sandstone cliff, exposed to +the south, which overlooks the flat whereon we were encamped, and +which, though four or five miles off, forms a very important feature. +The differences of temperature in the shade taken on this and the +other side of the river are 2.75 degrees higher on this side. + +On the 17th we marched to Akbarpore (alt. 400. feet), a village +overhung by the rocky precipice of Rotasghur, a spur of the Kymore, +standing abruptly forward. + +The range, in proceeding up the Soane valley, gradually approaches +the river, and beds of non-fossiliferous limestone are seen +protruding below the sandstone and occasionally rising into rounded +hills, the paths upon which appear as white as do those through the +chalk districts of England. The overlying beds of sandstone are +nearly horizontal, or with a dip to the N.W.; the subjacent ones of +limestone dip at a greater angle. Passing between the river and a +detached conical hill of limestone, capped with a flat mass of +sandstone, the spur of Rotas broke suddenly on the view, and very +grand it was, quite realising my anticipations of the position of +these eyrie-like hill-forts of India. To the left of the spur winds +the valley of the Soane, with low-wooded hills on its opposite bank, +and a higher range, connected with that of Behar, in the distance. +To the right, the hills sweep round, forming an immense and +beautifully wooded amphitheatre, about four miles deep, bounded with +a continuation of the escarpment. At the foot of the crowned spur is +the village of Akbarpore, where we encamped in a Mango tope;* [On the +24th of June, 1848, the Soane rose to an unprecedented height, and +laid this grove of Mangos three feet under water.] it occupies some +pretty undulating limestone hills, amongst which several streams flow +from the amphitheatre to the Soane. + +During our two days' stay here, I had the advantage of the society of +Mr. C. E. Davis, who was our guide during some rambles in the +neighbourhood, and to whose experience, founded on the best habits of +observation, I am indebted for much information. At noon we started +to ascend to the palace, on the top of the spur. On the way we passed +a beautiful well, sixty feet deep, and with a fine flight of steps to +the bottom. Now neglected and overgrown with flowering weeds and +creepers, it afforded me many of the plants I had only previously +obtained in a withered state; it was curious to observe there some of +the species of the hill-tops, whose seeds doubtless are scattered +abundantly over the surrounding plains, and only vegetate where they +find a coolness and moisture resembling that of the altitude they +elsewhere affect. A fine fig-tree growing out of the stone-work +spread its leafy green branches over the well mouth, which was about +twelve feet square; its roots assumed a singular form, enveloping two +sides of the walls with a beautiful net-work, which at _high-water +mark_ (rainy season), abruptly divides into thousands of little +brushes, dipping into the water which they fringe. It was a pretty +cool place to descend to, from a temperature of 80 degrees above, to +74 degrees at the bottom, where the water was 60 degrees; and most +refreshing to look, either up the shaft to the green fig shadowing +the deep profound, or along the sloping steps through a vista of +flowering herbs and climbing plants, to the blue heaven of a +burning sky. + +The ascent to Rotas is over the dry hills of limestone, covered with +a scrubby brushwood, to a crest where are the first rude and ruined +defences. The limestone is succeeded by the sandstone cliff cut into +steps, which led from ledge to ledge and gap to gap, well guarded +with walls and an archway of solid masonry. Through this we passed on +to the flat summit of the Kymore hills, covered with grass and +forest, intersected by paths in all directions. The ascent is about +1200 feet--a long pull in the blazing sun of February. The turf +consists chiefly of spear-grass and _Andropogon muricatus,_ the +kus-kus, which yields a favourite fragrant oil, used as a medicine in +India. The trees are of the kinds mentioned before. A pretty +octagonal summer-house, with its roof supported by pillars, occupies +one of the highest points of the plateau, and commands a superb view +of the scenery before described. From this a walk of three miles +leads through the woods to the palace. The buildings are very +extensive, and though now ruinous, bear evidence of great beauty in +the architecture: light galleries, supported by slender columns, long +cool arcades, screened squares and terraced walks, are the principal +features. The rooms open out upon flat roofs, commanding views of the +long endless table-land to the west, and a sheer precipice of 1000 +feet on the other side, with the Soane, the amphitheatre of hills, +and the village of Akbarpore below. + +This and Beejaghur, higher up the Soane, were amongst the most +recently reduced forts, and this was further the last of those +wrested from Baber in 1542. Some of the rooms are still habitable, +but the greater part are ruinous, and covered with climbers, both of +wild flowers and of the naturalised garden plants of the adjoining +shrubbery; the _Arbor-tristis,_ with _Hibiscus, Abutilon,_ +etc., and above all, the little yellow-flowered _Linaria +ramosissima,_ crawling over every ruined wall, as we see the +walls of our old English castles clothed with its congener +_L. Cymbalaria._ + +In the old dark stables I observed the soil to be covered with a +copious evanescent efflorescence of nitrate of lime, like soap-suds +scattered about. + +I made Rotas Palace 1490 feet above the sea, so that this table-land +is here only fifty feet higher than that I had crossed on the grand +trunk road, before descending at the Dunwah pass. Its mean +temperature is of course considerably (4 degrees) below that of the +valley, but though so cool, agues prevail after the rains. +The extremes of temperature are less marked than in the valley, which +becomes excessively heated, and where hot winds sometimes last for a +week, blowing in furious gusts. + +The climate of the whole neighbourhood has of late changed +materially; and the fall of rain has much diminished, consequent on +felling the forests; even within six years the hail-storms have been +far less frequent and violent. The air on the hills is highly +electrical, owing, no doubt, to the dryness of the atmosphere, and to +this the frequent recurrence of hail-storms may be due. + +The zoology of these regions is tolerably copious, but little is +known of the natural history of a great part of the plateau; a native +tribe, prone to human sacrifices, is talked of. Tigers are common, +and bears are numerous; they have, besides, the leopard, panther, +viverine cat, and civet; and of the dog tribe the pariah, jackal, +fox, and wild dog, called Koa. Deer are very numerous, of six or +seven kinds. A small alligator inhabits the hill streams, said to be +a very different animal from either of the Soane species. + +During our descent we examined several instances of ripple-mark +(fossil waves' footsteps) in the sandstone; they resembled the +fluting of the _Sigillaria_ stems, in the coal-measures, and +occurring as they did here, in sandstone, a little above great beds +of limestone, had been taken for such, and as indications of coal. + +On the following day we visited Rajghat, a steep ghat or pass leading +up the cliff to Rotas Palace, a little higher up the river. We took +the elephants to the mouth of the glen, where we dismounted, and +whence we followed a stream abounding in small fish and aquatic +insects (_Dytisci_ and _Gyrini_), through a close jungle, +to the foot of the cliffs, where there are indications of coal. +The woods were full of monkeys, and amongst other plants I observed +_Murraya exotica,_ but it was scarce. Though the jungle was so +dense, the woods were very dry, containing no Palm, _Adroideae,_ +Peppers, _Orchideae_ or Ferns. Here, at the foot of the red +cliffs, which towered imposingly above, as seen through the tree +tops, are several small seams of coaly matter in the sandstone, with +abundance of pyrites, sulphur, and copious efflorescences of salts of +iron; but no coal. The springs from the cliffs above are charged with +lime, of which enormous tuff beds are deposited on the sandstone, +full of impressions of the leaves and stems of the surrounding trees, +which, however, I found it very difficult to recognize, and could not +help contrasting this circumstance with the fact that geologists, +unskilled in botany, see no difficulty in referring equally imperfect +remains of extinct vegetables to existing genera. In some parts of +their course the streams take up quantities of the efflorescence, +which they scatter over the sandstones in a singular manner. + +At Akbarpore I had sunk two thermometers, one 4 feet 6 inches, the +other 5 feet 6 inches; both invariably indicated 76 degrees, the air +varying from 56 degrees to 79.5 degrees. Dew had formed every night +since leaving Dunwah, the grass being here cooled 12 degrees below +the air. + +On the 19th of February we marched up the Soane to Tura, passing some +low hills of limestone, between the cliffs of the Kymore and the +river. On the shaded riverbanks grew abundance of English genera-- +_Cynoglossum, Veronica, Potentilla, Ranunculus sceleratus, Rumex,_ +several herbaceous _Compositae_ and _Labiatae_; _Tamarix_ formed a +small bush in rocky hillocks in the bed of the river, and in pools +were several aquatic plants, _Zannichellia, Chara,_ a pretty little +_Vallisneria,_ and _Potamogeton._ The Brahminee goose was common +here, and we usually saw in the morning immense flocks of wild geese +overhead, migrating northward. + +Here I tried again the effect of solar and nocturnal radiation on the +sand, at different depths, not being able to do so on the alluvium. + +Noon: +Temperature of air 87 degrees +Surface 110 degrees +1 inch 102 degrees +2 inches 93.5 degrees +4 inches 84 degrees +8 inches 77 degrees (sand wet) +16 inches 76 degrees (sand wet) +Daylight of following morning: +Surface 52 degrees +1 inch 55 degrees +2 inches 58 degrees +4 inches 67 degrees +8 inches 73 degrees (sand wet) +16 inches 74 degrees (sand wet) + +From Tura our little army again crossed the Soane, the scarped cliffs +of the Kymore approaching close to the river on the west side. +The bed is very sandy, and about one mile and a half across. + +The elephants were employed again, as at Baroon, to push the cart: +one of them had a bump in consequence, as large as a child's head, +just above the trunk, and bleeding much; but the brave beast +disregarded this, when the word of command was given by his driver. + +The stream was very narrow, but deep and rapid, obstructed with beds +of coarse agate, jasper, cornelian and chalcedony pebbles. A clumsy +boat took us across to the village of Soanepore, a wretched +collection of hovels. The crops were thin and poor, and I saw no +palms or good trees. Squirrels however abounded, and were busy laying +up their stores; descending from the trees they scoured across a road +to a field of tares, mounted the hedge, took an observation, foraged +and returned up the tree with their booty, quickly descended, and +repeated the operation of reconnoitering and plundering. + +The bed of the river is here considerably above that at Dearee, where +the mean of the observations with those of Baroon, made it about 300 +feet. The mean of those taken here and on the opposite side, at Tura, +gives about 400 feet, indicating a fall of 100 feet in only 40 miles. + +Near this the sandy banks of the Soane were full of martins' nests, +each one containing a pair of eggs. The deserted ones were literally +crammed full of long-legged spiders (_Opilio_), which could be +raked out with a stick, when they came pouring down the cliff like +corn from a sack; the quantities are quite inconceivable. I did not +observe the martin feed on them. + +The entomology here resembled that of Europe, more than I had +expected in a tropical country, where predaceous beetles, at least +_Carabideae_ and _Staphylinideae,_ are generally considered +rare. The latter tribes swarmed under the clods, of many species but +all small, and so singularly active that I could not give the time to +collect many. In the banks again, the round egg-like earthy chrysalis +of the _Sphynx Atropos_ (?) and the many-celled nidus of the +leaf-cutter bee, were very common. + +A large columnar _Euphorbia_ (_E. ligulata_) is common all along the +Soane, and I observed it to be used everywhere for fencing. I had not +remarked the _E. neriifolia_; and the _E. tereticaulis_ had been very +rarely seen since leaving Calcutta. The _Cactus_ is nowhere found; it +is abundant in many parts of Bengal, but certainly not indigenous. + +Illustration --CROSSING THE SOANE, WITH THE KYMORE HILLS IN THE +DISTANCE. + +From this place onwards up the Soane, there was no road of any kind, +and we were compelled to be our own road engineers. The sameness of +the vegetation and lateness of the season made me regret this the +less, for I was disappointed in my anticipations of finding +luxuriance and novelty in these wilds. Before us the valley narrowed +considerably, the forest became denser, the country on the south side +was broken with rounded hills, and on the north the noble cliffs of +the Kymore dipped down to the river. The villages were smaller, more +scattered and poverty-stricken, with the Mahowa and Mango as the +usual trees; the banyan, peepul, and tamarind being rare. The native, +are of an aboriginal jungle race; and are tall, athletic, erect, much +less indolent and more spirited than the listless natives of +the plains. + +_February_ 21.--Started at daylight: but so slow and difficult +was our progress through fields and woods, and across deep gorges +from the hills, that we only advanced five miles in the day; the +elephant's head too was aching too badly to let him push, and the +cattle would not proceed when the draught was not equal. What was +worse, it was impossible to get them to pull together up the inclined +planes we cut, except by placing a man at the head of each of the +six, eight, or ten in a team, and simultaneously screwing round their +tails; when one tortured animal sometimes capsizes the vehicle. +The small carts got on better, though it was most nervous to see them +rushing down the steeps, especially those with our fragile +instruments, etc. + +Kosdera, where we halted, is a pretty place, elevated 440 feet, with +a broad stream front the hills flowing past it. These hills are of +limestone, and rounded, resting upon others of hornstone and jasper. +Following up the stream I came to some rapids, where the stream is +crossed by large beds of hornstone and porphyry rocks, excessively +hard, and pitched up at right angles, or with a bold dip to the +north. The number of strata was very great, and only a few inches or +even lines thick: they presented all varieties of jasper, hornstone, +and quartz of numerous colours, with occasional seams of porphyry or +breccia. The racks were elegantly fringed with a fern I had not +hitherto seen, _Polypodium proliferum,_ which is the only +species the Soane valley presents at this season. + +Returning over the hills, I found _Hardwickia binata,_ a most +elegant leguminous tree, tall, erect, with an elongated coma, and the +branches pendulous. These trees grew in a shallow bed of alluvium, +enclosing abundance of agate pebbles and kunker, the former derived +from the quartzy strata above noticed. + +On the 23rd and 24th we continued to follow up the Soane, first to +Panchadurma (alt. 490 feet), and thence to Pepura (alt. 587 feet), +the country becoming densely wooded, very wild, and picturesque, the +woods being full of monkeys, parrots, peacocks, hornbills, and wild +animals. _Strychnos potatorum,_ whose berries are used to purify +water, forms a dense foliaged tree, 30 to 60 feet high, some +individuals pale yellow, others deep green, both in apparent health. +_Feronia Elephantum_ and _Aegle marmelos_* [The Bhel fruit, lately +introduced into English medical practice, as an astringent of great +effect, in cases of diarrhoea and dysentery.] were very abundant, +with _Sterculia,_ and the dwarf date-palm. + +One of my carts was here hopelessly broken down; advancing on the +spokes instead of the tire of the wheels. By the banks of a deep +gully here the rocks are well exposed: they consist of soft clay +shales resting on the limestone, which is nearly horizontal; and this +again, unconformably on the quartz and hornstone rocks, which are +confused, and tilted up at all angles. + +A spur of the Kymore, like that of Rotas, here projects to the bed of +the river, and was blazing at night with the beacon-like fires of the +natives, lighted to scare the tigers and bears from the spots where +they cut wood and bamboo; they afforded a splendid spectacle, the +flames in some places leaping zig-zag from hill to hill in front of +us, and looking as if a gigantic letter W were written in fire. + +The night was bright and clear, with much lightning, the latter +attracted to the spur, and darting down as it were to mingle its fire +with that of the forest; so many flashes appeared to strike on the +flames, that it is probable the heated air in their neighbourhood +attracted them. We were awakened between 3 and 4 a.m., by a violent +dust-storm, which threatened to carry away the tents. Our position at +the mouth of the gulley formed by the opposite hills, no doubt +accounted for it. The gusts were so furious that it was impossible to +observe the barometer, which I returned to its case on ascertaining +that any indications of a rise or fall in the column must have been +quite trifling. The night had been oppressively hot, with many +insects flying about; amongst which I noticed earwigs, a genus +erroneously supposed rarely to take to the wing in Britain. + +At 8.30 a.m. it suddenly fell calm, and we proceeded to Chanchee +(alt. 500 feet), the native carts breaking down in their passage over +the projecting beds of flinty rocks, or as they burned down the +inclined planes we cut through the precipitous clay banks of the +streams. Near Chanchee we passed an alligator, just killed by two +men, a foul beast, about nine feet long, of the mugger kind. +More absorbing than its natural history was the circumstance of its +having swallowed a child, that was playing in the water as its mother +was washing her utensils in the river. The brute was hardly dead, +much distended by the prey, and the mother was standing beside it. +A very touching group was this: the parent with her hands clasped in +agony, unable to withdraw her eyes from the cursed reptile, which +still clung to life with that tenacity for which its tribe are so +conspicuous; beside these the two athletes leaned on the bloody +bamboo staffs, with which they had all but despatched the animal. + +This poor woman earned a scanty maintenance by making catechu: +inhabiting a little cottage, and having no property but two cattle to +bring wood from the hills, and a very few household chattels; and how +few of these they only know who have seen the meagre furniture of +Danga hovels. Her husband cut the trees in the forest and dragged +them to the hut, but at this time he was sick, and her only boy, her +future stay, it was, whom the beast had devoured. + +This province is famous for the quantity of catechu its dry forests +yield. The plant (_Acacia_) is a little thorny tree, erect, and +bearing a rounded head of well remembered prickly branches. Its wood +is yellow, with a dark brick-red heart, most profitable in January +and useless in June (for yielding the extract). + +Illustration -- SOANE VALLEY AND KYMORE HILLS COCHLOSPERMUM GOSSYPIUM +AND BUTEA FRONDOSA IN FLOWER. + +The _Butea frondosa_ was abundantly in flower here, and a gorgeous +sight. In mass the inflorescence resembles sheets of flame, and +individually the flowers are eminently beautiful, the bright +orange-red petals contrasting brilliantly against the jet-black +velvety calyx. The nest of the _Megachile_ (leaf-cutter bee) was in +thousands in the cliffs, with Mayflies, Caddis-worms, spiders, and +many predaceous beetles. Lamellicorn beetles were very rare, even +_Aphodius,_ and of _Cetoniae_ I did not see one. + +We marched on the 28th to Kota, at the junction of the river of that +name with the Soane, over hills of flinty rock, which projected +everywhere, to the utter ruin of the elephants' feet, and then over +undulating hills of limestone; on the latter I found trees of +_Cochlospermum,_ whose curious thick branches spread out +somewhat awkwardly, each tipped with a cluster of golden yellow +flowers, as large as the palm of the hand, and very beautiful: it is +a tropical Gum-Cistus in the appearance and texture of the petals, +and their frail nature. The bark abounds in a transparent gum, of +which the white ants seem fond, for they had killed many trees. +Of the leaves the curious rude leaf-bellows are made, with which the +natives of these hills smelt iron. Scorpions appeared very common +here, of a small kind, 1.5 inch long; several were captured, and one +of our party was stung on the finger; the smart was burning for an +hour or two, and then ceased. + +At Kota we were nearly opposite the cliffs at Beejaghur, where coal +is reported to exist; and here we again crossed the Soane, and for +the last time. The ford is three miles up the river, and we marched +to it through deep sand. The bed of the river is here 500 feet above +the sea, and about three-quarters of a mile broad, the rapid stream +being 50 or 60 yards wide, and breast deep. The sand is firm and +siliceous, with no mica; nodules of coal are said to be washed down +thus far from the coal-beds of Burdee, a good deal higher up, but we +saw none. + +The cliffs come close to the river on the opposite side, their bases +clothed with woods which teemed with birds. The soil is richer, and +individual trees, especially of _Bombax, Terminalia_ and _Mahowa,_ +very fine; one tree of the _Hardwickia,_ about 120 feet high, was as +handsome a monarch of the forest as I ever saw, and it is not often +that one sees trees in the tropics, which for a combination of beauty +in outline, harmony of colour, and arrangement of branches and +foliage, would form so striking an addition to an English park. + +There is a large break in the Kymore hills here, beyond the village +of Kunch, through which our route lay to Beejaghur, and the Ganges at +Mirzapore; the cliff's leaving the river and trending to the north in +a continuous escarpment flanked with low ranges of rounded hills, and +terminating in an abrupt spur (Mungeesa Peak) whose summit was +covered with a ragged forest. At Kunch we saw four alligators +sleeping in the river, looking at a distance like logs of wood, all +of the short-nosed or mugger kind, dreaded by man and beast; I saw +none of the sharp-shouted (or garial), so common on the Ganges, where +their long bills, with a garniture of teeth and prominent eyes +peeping out of the water, remind one of geological lectures and +visions of _Ichthyosauri._ Tortoises were frequent in the river, +basking on the rocks, and popping into the water when approached. + +On the 1st of March we left the Soane, and struck inland over a rough +hilly country, covered with forest, fully 1000 feet below the top of +the Kymore table-land, which here recedes from the river and +surrounds an undulating plain, some ten miles either way, facing the +south. The roads, or rather pathways, were very bad, and quite +impassable for the carts without much engineering, cutting through +forest, smoothing down the banks of the watercourses to be crossed, +and clearing away the rocks as we best might. We traversed the empty +bed of a mountain torrent, with perpendicular banks of alluvium 30 +feet high, and thence plunged into a dense forest. Our course was +directed towards Mungeesa Peak, the remarkable projecting spur, +between which and a conical hill the path led. Whether on the +elephants or on foot, the thorny jujubes, _Acacias,_ etc. were +most troublesome, and all our previous scratchings were nothing to +this. Peacocks and jungle-fowl were very frequent, the squabbling of +the former and the hooting of the monkeys constantly grating on the +ear. There were innumerable pigeons and a few Floricans (a kind of +bustard--considered the best eating game--bird in India). From the +defile we emerged on an open flat, halting at Sulkun, a scattered +village (alt. 684 feet), peopled by a bold-looking race (Coles)* [The +Coles, like the Danghas of the Rajmahal and Behar hills, and the +natives of the mountains of the peninsula, form one of the aboriginal +tribes of British India, and are widely different people from either +the Hindoos or Mussulmen.] who habitually carry the spear and shield. +We had here the pleasure of meeting Mr. Felle, an English gentleman +employed in the Revenue department; this being one of the roads along +which the natives transport their salt, sugar, etc., from one +province to another. + +In the afternoon, I examined the conical hill, which, like that near +Rotas, is of stratified beds of limestone, capped with sandstone. +A stream runs round its base, cutting through the alluvium to the +subjacent rock, which is exposed, and contains flattened spheres of +limestone. These spheres are from the size of a fist to a child's +head, or even much larger; they are excessively hard, and neither +laminated nor formed of concentric layers. At the top of the hill the +sandstone cap was perpendicular on all sides, and its dry top covered +with small trees, especially of _Cochlospermum._ A few larger +trees of _Fici_ clung to the edge of the rocks, and by forcing +their roots into the interstices detached enormous masses, affording +good dens for bears and other wild animals. From the top, the view of +rock, river, forest, and plain, was very fine, the eye ranging over a +broad flat, girt by precipitous hills;--West, the Kymore or Vindhya +range rose again in rugged elevations; South, flowed the Soane, +backed by ranges of wooded hills, smoking like volcanos with the +fires of the natives;--below, lay the bed of the stream we had left +at the foot of the hills, cutting its way through the alluvium, and +following a deep gorge to the Soane, which was there hidden by the +rugged heights we had crossed, on which the greater part of our camp +might be seen still straggling onwards;--east, and close above us, +the bold spur of Mungeesa shot up, terminating a continuous stretch +of red precipices, clothed with forest along their bases, and over +their horizontal tops. + +From Sulkun the view of the famed fort and palace of Beejaghur is +very singular, planted on the summit of an isolated hill of +sandstone, about ten miles off. A large tree by the palace marks its +site; for, at this distance, the buildings are themselves +undistinguishable. + +There are many tigers on these hills; and as one was close by, and +had killed several cattle, Mr. Felle kindly offered us a chance of +slaying him. Bullocks are tethered out, over-night, in the places +likely to be visited by the brute; he kills one of them, and is from +the spot tracked to his haunt by natives, who visit the stations +early in the morning, and report the whereabouts of his lair. +The sportsman then goes to the attack mounted on an elephant, or +having a roost fixed in a tree, on the trail of the tiger, and he +employs some hundred natives to drive the animal past the +lurking-place. + +On the present occasion, the locale of the tiger was doubtful; but it +was thought that by beating over several miles of country he (or at +any rate, some other game) might be driven past a certain spot. +Thither, accordingly, the natives were sent, who built machans +(stages) in the trees, high out of danger's reach; Mr. Theobald and +myself occupied one of these perches in a _Hardwickia_ tree, and +Mr. Felle another, close by, both on the slope of a steep hill, +surrounded by jungly valleys. We were also well thatched in with +leafy boughs, to prevent the wary beast from espying the ambush, and +had a whole stand of shall arms ready for his reception. + +When roosted aloft, and duly charged to keep profound silence (which +I obeyed to the letter, by falling sound asleep), the word was passed +to the beaters, who surrounded our post on the plain-side, extending +some miles in line, and full two or three distant from us. +They entered the jungle, beating tom-toms, singing and shouting as +they advanced, and converging towards our position. In the noonday +solitude of these vast forests, our situation was romantic enough: +there was not a breath of wind, an insect or bird stirring; and the +wild cries of the men, and the hollow sound of the drums broke upon +the ear from a great distance, gradually swelling and falling, as the +natives ascended the heights or crossed the valleys. After about an +hour and a half, the beaters emerged from the jungle under our +retreat; one by one, two by two, but preceded by no single living +thing, either mouse, bird, deer, or bear, and much less tiger. +The beaters received about a penny a-piece for the day's work; a rich +guerdon for these poor wretches, whom necessity sometimes drives to +feed on rats and offal. + +We were detained three days at Sulkun, from inability to get on with +the carts; and as the pass over the Kymore to the north (on the way +to Mirzapore) was to be still worse, I took advantage of Mr. Felle's +kind offer of camels and elephants to make the best of my way +forward, accompanying that gentleman, _en route,_ to his +residence at Shahgunj, on the table-land. + +Both the climate and natural history of this flat on which Sulkun +stands, are similar to those of the banks of the Soane; the crops are +wretched. At this season the dryness of the atmosphere is excessive: +our nails cracked, and skins peeled, whilst all articles of wood, +tortoiseshell, etc., broke on the slightest blow. The air, too, was +always highly electrical, and the dew-point was frequently 40 degrees +below the temperature of the air. + +The natives are far from honest: they robbed one of the tents placed +between two others, wherein a light was burning. One gentleman in it +was awake, and on turning saw five men at his bedside, who escaped +with a bag of booty, in the shape of clothes, and a tempting strong +brass-bound box, containing private letters. The clothes they dropped +outside, but the box of letters was carried off. There were about a +hundred people asleep outside the tents, between whose many fires the +rogues must have passed, eluding also the guard, who were, or ought +to have been, awake. + +CHAPTER III. + +Ek-powa Ghat -- Sandstones -- Shahgunj -- Table-land, elevation, etc. +-- Gum-arabic -- Mango -- Fair -- Aquatic plants -- Rujubbund -- +Storm -- False sunset and sunrise -- Bind hills -- Mirzapore -- +Manufactures, imports, etc. -- Climate of -- Thuggee -- Chunar -- +Benares -- Mosque -- Observatory -- Sar-nath -- Ghazeepore -- +Rose-gardens -- Manufactory of Attar -- Lord Cornwallis' tomb -- +Ganges, scenery and natural history of -- Pelicans -- Vegetation -- +Insects -- Dinapore -- Patna -- Opium godowns and manufacture -- +Mudar, white and purple -- Monghyr islets -- Hot Springs of Setakoond +-- Alluvium of Ganges -- Rocks of Sultun-gunj -- Bhaugulpore -- +Temples of Mt. Manden -- Coles and native tribes -- Bhaugulpore +rangers -- Horticultural gardens. + +On the 3rd of March I bade farewell to Mr. Williams and his kind +party, and rode over a plain to the village of Markunda, at the foot +of the Ghat. There the country becomes very rocky and wooded, and a +stream is crossed, which runs over a flat bed of limestone, cracked +into the appearance of a tesselated pavement. For many miles there is +no pass over the Kymore range, except this, significantly called +"Ek-powa-Ghat" (one-foot Ghat). It is evidently a _fault,_ or +shifting of the rocks, producing so broken a cliff as to admit of a +path winding over the shattered crags. On either side, the precipices +are extremely steep, of horizontally stratified rocks, continued in +an unbroken line, and the views across the plain and Soane valley, +over which the sun was now setting, were superb. At the summit we +entered on a dead flat plain or table-land, with no hills, except +along the brim of the broad valley we had left, where are some +curious broad pyramids, formed of slabs of sandstone arranged in +steps. By dark we reached the village of Roump (alt. 1090 feet), +beyond the top of the pass. + +On the next day I proceeded on a small, fast, and wofully +high-trotting elephant, to Shahgunj, where I enjoyed Mr. Felle's +hospitality for a few days. The country here, though elevated, is, +from the nature of the soil and formation, much more fertile than +what I had left. Water is abundant, both in tanks and wells, and +rice-fields, broad and productive, cover the ground; while groves of +tamarinds and mangos, now loaded with blossoms, occur at +every village. + +It is very singular that the elevation of this table-land (1100 feet +at Shahgunj) should coincide with that of the granite range of Upper +Bengal, where crossed by the grand trunk road, though they have no +feature but the presence of alluvium in common. Scarce a hillock +varies the surface here, and the agricultural produce of the two is +widely different. Here the flat ledges of sandstone retain the +moisture, and give rise to none of those impetuous torrents which +sweep it off the inclined beds of gneiss, or splintered quartz. +Nor is there here any of the effloresced salts so forbidding to +vegetation where they occur. Wherever the alluvium is deep on these +hills, neither _Catechu, Olibanum, Butea, Terminalia, Diospyros,_ +dwarf-palm, or any of those plants are to be met with, which abound +wherever the rock is superficial, and irrespectively of its +mineral characters. + +The gum-arabic _Acacia_ is abundant here, though not seen below, +and very rare to the eastward of this meridian, for I saw but little +of it in Behar. It is a plant partial to a dry climate, and rather +prefers a good soil. In its distribution it in some degree follows +the range of the camel, which is its constant companion over +thousands of leagues. In the valley of the Ganges I was told that +neither the animal nor plant flourish east of the Soane, where I +experienced a marked change in the humidity of the atmosphere on my +passage down the Ganges. It was a circumstance I was interested in, +having first met with the camel at Teneriffe and the Cape Verd +Islands, the westernmost limit of its distribution; imported thither, +however, as it now is into Australia, where, though there is no +_Acacia Arabica,_ four hundred other species of the genus +are known. + +The mango, which is certainly _the_ fruit of India, (as the +pine-apple is of the Eastern Islands, and the orange of the West,) +was now blossoming, and a superb sight. The young leaves are +purplish-green, and form a curious contrast to the deep lurid hue of +the older foliage; especially when the tree is (which often occurs) +dimidiate, one half the green, and the other the red shades of +colours; when in full blossom, all forms a mass of yellow, diffusing +a fragrance rather too strong and peculiar to be pleasant. + +We passed a village where a large fair was being held, and singularly +familiar its arrangements were to my early associations. The women +and children are the prime customers; for the latter +whirl-you-go-rounds, toys, and sweetmeats were destined; to tempt the +former, little booths of gay ornaments, patches for the forehead, +ear-rings of quaint shapes, bugles and beads. Here as at home, I +remarked that the vendors of these superfluities occupy the +approaches to this Vanity-Fair. As, throughout the East, the trades +are congregated into particular quarters of the cities, so here the +itinerants grouped themselves into little bazaars for each class of +commodity. Whilst I was engaged in purchasing a few articles of +native workmanship, my elephant made an attack on a sweetmeat stall, +demolishing a magnificent erection of barley-sugar, before his +proceedings could be put a stop to. + +Mr. Felle's bungalow (whose garden smiled with roses in this +wilderness) was surrounded by a moat (fed by a spring), which was +full of aquatic plants, _Nymphaea, Damasonium, Villarsia cristata, +Aponogeton,_ three species of _Potamogeton,_ two of _Naias, Chara_ +and _Zannichellia_ (the two latter indifferently, and often together, +used in the refinement of sugar). In a large tank hard by, wholly fed +by rain water, I observed only the _Villarsia Indica,_ no +_Aponogeton, Nymphaea,_ or _Dammonium,_ nor did these occur in any of +the other tanks I examined, which were otherwise well peopled with +plants. This may not be owing to the quality of the water so much as +to its varying quantity in the tank. + +All around here, as at Roump, is a dead flat, except towards the +crest of the ghats which overhang the valley of the Soane, and there +the sandstone rock rises by steps into low hills. During a ride to a +natural tank amongst these rocky elevations, I passed from the +alluvium to the sandstone, and at once met with all the prevailing +plants of the granite, gneiss, limestone and hornstone rocks +previously examined, and which I have enumerated too often to require +recapitulation; a convincing proof that the mechanical properties and +not the chemical constitution of the rocks regulate the distribution +of these plants. + +Rujubbund (the pleasant spot), is a small tarn, or more properly the +expanded bed of a stream, art having aided nature in its formation: +it is edged by rocks and cliffs fringed with the usual trees of the +neighbourhood; it is a wild and pretty spot, not unlike some +birch-bordered pool in the mountains of Wales or Scotland, +sequestered and picturesque. It was dark before I got back, with +heavy clouds and vivid lightning approaching from the south-west. +The day had been very hot (3 p.m., 90 degrees), and the evening the +same; but the barometer did not foretell the coming tempest, which +broke with fury at 7 p.m., blowing open the doors, and accompanied +with vivid lightning and heavy thunder, close by and all round, +though no rain fell. + +In the clear dry mornings of these regions, a curious optical +phenomena may be observed, of a _sunrise_ in the _west,_ and _sunset_ +in the _east._ In either case, bright and well-defined beams rise to +the zenith, often crossing to the opposite horizon. It is a beautiful +feature in the firmament, and equally visible whether the horizon be +cloudy or clear, the white beams being projected indifferently +against a dark vapour or the blue serene. The zodiacal light shines +from an hour or two after sunset till midnight, with singular +brightness, almost equalling the milky way. + +_March_ 7.-Left Shahgunj for Mirzapore, following the road to +Goorawal, over a dead alluvial flat without a feature to remark. +Turning north from that village, the country undulates, exposing the +rocky nucleus, and presenting the usual concomitant vegetation. +Occasionally park-like views occurred, which, where diversified by +the rocky valleys, resemble much the noble scenery of the Forest of +Dean on the borders of Wales; the _Mahowa_ especially +representing the oak, with its spreading and often gnarled branches. +Many of the exposed slabs of sandstone are beautifully waved on the +surface with the _ripple-mark_ impression. + +Amowee, where I arrived at 9 p.m., is on an open grassy flat, about +fifteen miles from the Ganges, which is seen from the neighbourhood, +flowing among trees, with the white houses, domes, and temples of +Mirzapore scattered around, and high above which the dust-clouds were +coursing along the horizon. + +Mr. Money, the magistrate of Mirzapore, kindly sent a mounted +messenger to meet me here, who had vast trouble in getting bearers +for my palkee. In it I proceeded the next day to Mirzapore, +descending a steep ghat of the Bind hills by an excellent road, to +the level plains of the Ganges. Unlike the Dunwah pass, this is +wholly barren. At the foot the sun was intensely hot, the roads +alternately rocky and dusty, the villages thronged with a widely +different looking race from those of the hills, and the whole air of +the outskirts, on a sultry afternoon, far from agreeable. + +Mirzapore is a straggling town, said to contain 100,000 inhabitants. +It flanks the river, and is built on an undulating alluvial bank, +full of kunker, elevated 360 feet above the sea, and from 50 to 80 +above the present level of the river. The vicinity of the Ganges and +its green bank, and the numbers of fine trees around, render it a +pleasing, though not a fine town. It presents the usual Asiatic +contrast of squalor and gaudiness; consisting of large squares and +broad streets, interspersed with acres of low huts and groves of +trees. It is celebrated for its manufactory of carpets, which are +admirable in appearance, and, save in durability, equal to the +English. Indigo seed from Bundelkund is also a most extensive article +of commerce, the best coming from the Doab. For cotton, lac, sugar, +and saltpetre, it is one of the greatest marts in India. The articles +of native manufacture are brass washing and cooking utensils, and +stone deities worked out of the sandstone. + +There is little native vegetation, the country being covered with +cultivation and extensive groves of mango, and occasionally of guava. +English vegetables are abundant and excellent, and the strawberries, +which ripen in March, rival the European fruit in size, but hardly +in flavour. + +During the few days spent at Mirzapore with my kind friend, Mr. C. +Hamilton, I was surprised to find the temperature of the day cooler +by nearly 4 degrees than that of the hills above, or of the upper +part of the Soane valley; while on the other hand the nights were +decidedly warmer. The dewpoint again was even lower in proportion, +(72 degrees) and the climate consequently drier. The atmosphere was +extremely dry and electrical, the hair constantly crackling when +combed. Further west, where the climate becomes still drier, the +electricity of the air is even greater. Mr. Griffith mentions in his +journal that in filling barometer tubes in Affghanistan, he +constantly experienced a shock. + +Here I had the pleasure of meeting Lieutenant Ward, one of the +suppressors of Thuggee (_Thuggee,_ in Hindostan, signifies a +deceiver; fraud, not open force, being employed). This gentleman +kindly showed me the approvers or king's evidence of his +establishment, belonging to those three classes of human scourges, +the Thug, Dakoit, and Poisoner. Of these the first was the Thug, a +mild-looking man, who had been born and bred to the profession: he +had committed many murders, saw no harm in them, and felt neither +shame nor remorse. His organs of observation and destructiveness were +large, and the cerebellum small. He explained to me how the gang +waylay the unwary traveller, enter into conversation with him, and +have him suddenly seized, when the superior throws his own linen +girdle round the victim's neck and strangles him, pressing the +knuckles against the spine. Taking off his own, he passed it round my +arm, and showed me the turn as coolly as a sailor once taught me the +_hangman's knot._ The Thug is of any caste, and from any part +of India. The profession have particular stations, which they +generally select for murder, throwing the body of their victim into +a well. + +The Dakoit (_dakhee,_ a robber) belongs to a class who rob in +gangs, but never commit murder--arson and housebreaking also forming +part of their profession. These are all high-class Rajpoots, +originally from Guzerat; who, on being conquered, vowed vengeance on +mankind. They speak both Hindostanee and the otherwise extinct +Guzerat language; this is guttural in the extreme, and very singular +in sound. They are a very remarkable people, found throughout India, +and called by various names; their women dress peculiarly, and are +utterly devoid of modesty. The man I examined was a short, square, +but far from powerful Nepalese, with high arched eyebrows, and no +organs of observation. These people are great cowards. + +The Poisoners all belong to one caste, of Pasie, or dealers in toddy: +they go singly or in gangs, haunting the travellers' resting-places, +where they drop half a rupee weight of pounded or whole _Datura_ +seeds into his food, producing a twenty-hours' intoxication, during +which he is robbed, and left to recover or sink under the stupifying +effects of the narcotic. He told me that the _Datura_ seed is +gathered without ceremony, and at any time, place, or age of the +plant. He was a dirty, ill-conditioned looking fellow, with no bumps +behind his ears, or prominence of eyebrow region, but a remarkable +cerebellum. + +Though now all but extinct (except in Cuttack), through ten or +fifteen years of unceasing vigilance on the part of Government, and +incredible activity and acuteness in the officers employed, the Thugs +were formerly a wonderfully numerous body, who abstained from their +vocation solely in the immediate neighbourhood of their own villages; +which, however, were not exempt from the visits of other Thugs; so +that, as Major Sleeman says,--"The annually returning tide of murder +swept unsparingly over the whole face of India, from the Sutlej to +the sea-coast, and from the Himalaya to Cape Comorin. One narrow +district alone was free, the Concan, beyond the ghats, whither they +never penetrated." In Bengal, river Thugs replace the travelling +practitioner. Candeish and Rohilkund alone harboured no Thugs as +residents, but they were nevertheless haunted by the gangs. + +Their origin is uncertain, but supposed to be very ancient, soon +after the Mahommedan conquest. They now claim a divine original, and +are supposed to have supernatural powers, and to be the emissaries of +the divinity, like the wolf, the tiger, and the bear. It is only +lately that they have swarmed so prodigiously,--seven original gangs +having migrated from Delhi to the Gangetic provinces about 200 years +ago, and from these all the rest have sprung. Many belong to the most +amiable, intelligent, and respectable classes of the lower and even +middle ranks: they love their profession, regard murder as sport, and +are never haunted with dreams, or troubled with pangs of conscience +during hours of solitude, or in the last moments of life. The victim +is an acceptable sacrifice to the goddess Davee, who by some classes +is supposed to eat the lifeless body, and thus save her votaries the +necessity of concealing it. + +They are extremely superstitious, always consulting omens, such as +the direction in which a hare or jackall crosses the road; and even +far more trivial circumstances will determine the fate of a dozen of +people, and perhaps of an immense treasure. All worship the pickaxe, +which is symbolical of their profession, and an oath sworn on it +binds closer than on the Koran. The consecration of this weapon is a +most elaborate ceremony, and takes place only under certain trees. +They rise through various grades: the lowest are scouts; the second, +sextons; the third are holders of the victims' hands; the highest, +stranglers. + +Though all agree in never practising cruelty, or robbing previous to +murder, never allowing any but infants to escape (and these are +trained to Thuggee), and never leaving a trace of such goods as may +be identified, there are several variations in their mode of +conducting operations; some tribes spare certain castes, others none: +murder of woman is against all rules; but the practice crept into +certain gangs, and this it is which led to their discountenance by +the goddess Davee, and the consequent downfall of the system. +Davee, they say, allowed the British to punish them, because a +certain gang had murdered the mothers to obtain their daughters to be +sold to prostitution. + +Major Sleeman has constructed a map demonstrating the number of +"Bails," or regular stations for committing murder, in the kingdom of +Oude alone, which is 170 miles long by 100 broad, and in which are +274, which are regarded by the Thug with as much satisfaction and +interest as a game preserve is in England: nor are these "bails" less +numerous in other parts of India. Of twenty assassins who were +examined, one frankly confessed to having been engaged in 931 +murders, and the least guilty of the number to 24. Sometimes 150 +persons collected into one gang, and their profits have often been +immense, the murder of six persons on one occasion yielding 82,000 +rupees; upwards of 8000 pounds. + +Of the various facilities for keeping up the system, the most +prominent are, the practice amongst the natives of travelling before +dawn, of travellers mixing freely together, and taking their meals by +the way-side instead of in villages; in the very Bails, in fact, to +which they are inveigled by the Thug in the shape of a +fellow-traveller; money remittances are also usually made by +disguised travellers, whose treasure is exposed at the custom-houses, +and, worst of all, the bankers will never own to the losses they +sustain, which, as a visitation of God, would, if avenged, lead, they +think, to future, and perhaps heavier punishment. Had the Thugs +destroyed Englishmen, they would quickly have been put down; but the +system being invariably practised on a class of people acknowledging +the finger of the Deity in its execution, its glaring enormities were +long in rousing the attention of the Indian Government. + +A few examples of the activity exercised by the suppressors may be +interesting. They act wholly through the information given by +approvers, who are simply king's evidences. Of 600 Thugs engaged in +the murder of 64 people, and the plunder of nearly 20,000 pounds, all +except seventy were captured in ten years, though separated into six +gangs, and their operations continued from 1826 to 1830: +the last party was taken in 1836. And again, between the years 1826 +and 1835, 1562 Thugs were seized, of whom 382 were hanged, and 909 +transported; so that now it is but seldom these wretches are ever +heard of. + +To show the extent of their operations I shall quote an anecdote from +Sleeman's Reports (to which I am indebted for most of the above +information). He states that he was for three years in charge of a +district on the Nerbudda, and considered himself acquainted with +every circumstance that occurred in the neighbourhood; yet, during +that time, 100 people were murdered and buried within less than a +quarter of a mile of his own residence! + +Two hundred and fifty boats full of river Thugs, in crews of fifteen, +infested the Ganges between Benares and Calcutta, during five months +of every year, under pretence of conveying pilgrims. Travellers along +the banks were tracked, and offered a passage, which if refused in +the first boat was probably accepted in some other. At a given signal +the crews rushed in, doubled up the decoyed victim, broke his back, +and threw him into the river, where floating corpses are too numerous +to elicit even an exclamation. + +At Mirzapore I engaged a boat to carry me down the river to +Bhagulpore, whence I was to proceed to the Sikkim-Himalaya. +The vessel, which, though slow and very shabby, had the advantage of +being cooler and more commodious than the handsomer craft. +Its appearance was not unlike that of a floating haystack, or +thatched cottage: its length was forty feet, and breadth fifteen, and +it drew a foot and a half of water: the deck, on which a kind of +house, neatly framed of matting, was erected, was but a little above +the water's edge. My portion of this floating residence was lined +with a kind of reed-work formed of long culms of _Saccharum._ +The crew and captain consisted of six naked Hindoos, one of whom +steered by the huge rudder, sitting on a bamboo-stage astern; the +others pulled four oars in the very bows opposite my door, or tracked +the boat along the riverbank. + +In my room (for cabin I cannot call it) stood my palkee, fitted as a +bed, with mosquito curtains; a chair and table. On one side were +placed all my papers and plants, under arrangement to go home; on the +other, my provisions, rice, sugar, curry-powder, a preserved ham, and +cheese, etc. Around hung telescope, botanical box, dark lantern, +barometer, and thermometer, etc., etc. Our position was often +_ashore,_ and, Hindoo-like, on the lee-shore, going bump, bump, +bump, so that I could hardly write. I considered myself fortunate in +having to take this slow conveyance down, it enabling me to write and +arrange all day long. + +I left on the 15th of March, and in the afternoon of the same day +passed Chunar.* [The first station at which Henry Martyn laboured in +India.] This is a tabular mass of sandstone, projecting into the +river, and the eastern termination of the Kymore range. There is not +a rock between this and the Himalaya, and barely a stone all the way +down the Ganges, till the granite and gneiss rocks of the Behar range +are again met with. The current of the Ganges is here very strong, +and its breadth much lessened: the river runs between high banks of +alluvium, containing much kunker. At Benares it expands into a broad +stream, with a current which during the rains is said to flow eight +miles an hour, when the waters rise 43 feet. The fall hence is 300 +feet to its junction with the Hooghly, viz., one foot to every mile. +My observations made that from Mirzapore to Benares considerably +greater. + +Benares is the Athens of India. The variety of buildings along the +bank is incredible. There are temples of every shape in all stages of +completion and dilapidation, and at all angles of inclination; for +the banks give way so much that many of these edifices are fearfully +out of the perpendicular. + +The famed mosque, built by Aurungzebe on the site of a Hindoo temple, +is remarkable for its two octagonal minarets, 232 feet above the +Ganges. The view from it over the town, especially of the European +Resident's quarter, is fine; but the building itself is deficient in +beauty or ornament: it commands the muddy river with its thousands of +boats, its waters peopled with swimmers and bathers, who spring in +from the many temples, water-terraces, and ghats on the city side: +opposite is a great sandy plain. The town below looks a mass of poor, +square, flat-roofed houses, of which 12,000 are brick, and 16,000 mud +and thatch, through the crowd of which, and of small temples, the eye +wanders in vain for some attractive feature or evidence of the +wealth, the devotion, the science, or the grandeur of a city +celebrated throughout the East for all these attributes. Green +parrots and pigeons people the air. + +The general appearance of an oriental town is always more or less +ruinous; and here the eye is fatigued with bricks and crumbling +edifices, and the ear with prayer-bells. The bright meadows and green +trees which adorn the European Resident's dwelling, some four miles +back from the river, alone relieve the monotony of the scene. +The streets are so narrow that it is difficult to ride a horse +through them; and the houses are often six stories high, with +galleries crossing above from house to house. These tall, gaunt +edifices sometimes give place to clumps of cottages, and a mass of +dusty ruins, the unsavoury retreats of vermin and filth, where the +_Calotropis arborea_ generally spreads its white branches and +glaucous leaves--a dusty plant. Here, too, enormous spiders' webs +hang from the crumbling walls, choked also with dust, and resembling +curtains of coarse muslin, being often some yards across, and not +arranged in radii and arcs, but spun like weaver's woofs. +Paintings, remarkable only for their hideous proportions and want of +perspective, are daubed in vermilion, ochre, and indigo. +The elephant, camel, and porpoise of the Ganges, dog, shepherd, +peacock, and horse, are especially frequent, and so is a running +pattern of a hand spread open, with a blood-red spot on the palm. +A still less elegant but frequent object is the fuel, which is +composed of the manure collected on the roads of the city, moulded +into flat cakes, and stuck by the women on the walls to dry, +retaining the sign-manual of the artist in the impressed form of her +outspread hand. The cognizance of the Rajah, two fish chained +together, appears over the gates of public buildings. + +The hundreds of temples and shrines throughout the city are its most +remarkable feature: sacred bulls, and lingams of all sizes, strewed +with flowers and grains of rice meet the eye at every turn; and the +city's boast is the possession of one million idols, which, of one +kind and another, I can well believe. The great Hindoo festival of +the _Holi_ was now celebrating, and the city more than +ordinarily crowded; throwing red powder (lac and flour), with +rose-water, is the great diversion at a festival more childish by far +than a carnival. + +Through the kindness of Mr. Reade (the Commissioner), I obtained +admission to the Bishishar-Kumardil, the "holiest of holies." It was +a small, low, stone building, daubed with red inside, and swarming +with stone images of Brahminee bulls, and various disgusting emblems. +A fat old Brahmin, naked to the waist, took me in, but allowed no +followers; and what with my ignorance of his phraseology, the clang +of bells and din of voices, I gained but little information. +Some fine bells from Nepal were evidently the lion of the temple. +I emerged, adorned with a chaplet of magnolia flowers, and with my +hands full of _Calotropis_ and _Nyctanthes_ blossoms. +It was a horrid place for noise, smell, and sights. Thence I went to +a holy well, rendered sacred because Siva, when stepping from the +Himalaya to Ceylon, accidentally let a medicine chest fall into it. +The natives frequent it with little basins or baskets of rice, sugar, +etc., dropping in a little of each while they mutter prayers. + +Illustration -- EQUATORIAL-SUNDIAL + +The observatory at Benares, and those at Delhi, Matra on the Jumna, +and Oujein, were built by Jey-Sing, Rajah of Jayanagar, upwards of +200 years ago; his skill in mathematical science was so well known, +that the Emperor Mahommed Shah employed him to reform the calendar. +Mr. Hunter, in the "Asiatic Researches," gives a translation of the +lucubrations of this really enlightened man, as contained in the +introduction to his own almanac. + +Illustration -- EQUINOCTIAL SUN-DIAL. + +Of the more important instruments I took sketches; No. 1, is the +Naree-wila, or Equatorial dial; No. 2, the Semrat-yunta, or +Equinoctial dial; No. 3, an Equatorial, probably a Kranti-urit, or +Azimuth circle.* [Hunter, in As Soc. Researches, 177 (Calcutta); Sir +R. Barker in Phil. Trans., lxvii. 608 (1777); J. L. Williams, Phil. +Trans., lxxxiii. 45 (1793).] Jey-Sing's genius and love of science +seem, according to Hunter, to have descended to some of his family, +who died early in this century, when "Urania fled before the +brazen-fronted Mars, and the best of the observatories, that of +Oujein, was turned into an arsenal and cannon foundry." + +Illustration -- BRASS AZIMUTH CIRCLE + +The observatory is still the most interesting object in Benares, +though it is now dirty and ruinous, and the great stone instruments +are rapidly crumbling away. The building is square, with a central +court and flat roof, round which the astrolabes, etc. are arranged. +A half naked Astronomer-Royal, with a large sore on his stomach, took +me round--he was a pitiful object, and told me he was very hungry. +The observatory is nominally supported by the Rajah of Jeypore, who +doles out a too scanty pittance to his scientific corps. + +In the afternoon Mr. Reade drove me to the Sar-nath, a singular +Boodhist temple, a cylindrical mass of brickwork, faced with stone, +the scrolls on which were very beautiful, and as sharp as if freshly +cut: it is surmounted by a tall dome, and is altogether about seventy +or a hundred feet high. Of the Boodh figures only one remains, the +others having been used by a recent magistrate of Benares in +repairing a bridge over the Goomtee! From this place the Boodhist +monuments, Hindoo temple, Mussulman mosque, and English church, were +all embraced in one _coup d'oeil._ On our return, we drove past +many enormous mounds of earth and brick-work, the vestiges of Old +Benares, but whether once continued to the present city or not is +unknown. Remains are abundant, eighteen feet below the site of the +present city. + +Benares is the Mecca of the Hindoos, and the number of pilgrims who +visit it is incalculable. Casi (its ancient name, signifying +splendid), is alleged to be no part of this world, which rests on +eternity, whereas Benares is perched on a prong of Siva's trident, +and is hence beyond the reach of earthquakes.* [Probably an allusion +to the infrequency of these phenomena in this meridian; they being +common both in Eastern Bengal, and in Western India beyond the +Ganges.] Originally built of gold, the sins of the inhabitants were +punished by its transmutation into stone, and latterly into mud and +thatch: whoever enters it, and especially visits its principal idol +(Siva fossilised) is secure of heaven. + +On the 18th I left Benares for Ghazepore, a pretty town situated on +the north bank of the river, celebrated for its manufacture of +rose-water, the tomb of Lord Cornwallis, and a site of the Company's +stud. The Rose gardens surround the town: they are fields, with low +bushes of the plant grown in rows, red with blossoms in the morning, +all of which are, however, plucked long before midday. The petals are +put into clay stills, with twice their weight of water, and the +produce exposed to the fresh air, for a night, in open vessels. +The unskimmed water affords the best, and it is often twice and even +oftener distilled; but the fluid deteriorates by too much +distillation. The Attar is skimmed from the exposed pans, and sells +at 10 pounds the rupee weight, to make which 20,000 flowers are +required. It is frequently adulterated with sandal-wood oil. + +Lord Cornwallis' mausoleum is a handsome building, modelled by +Flaxman after the Sybil's Temple. The allegorical designs of Hindoos +and sorrowing soldiers with reversed arms, which decorate two sides +of the enclosed tomb, though perhaps as good as can be, are under any +treatment unclassical and uncouth. The simple laurel and oak-leaf +chaplets on the alternating faces are far more suitable +and suggestive. + +_March_ 21.--I left Ghazepore and dropped down the Ganges; the +general features of which are soon described. A strong current four +or five miles broad, of muddy water, flows between a precipitous bank +of alluvium or sand on one side, and a flat shelving one of sand or +more rarely mud, on the other. Sand-banks are frequent in the river, +especially where the great affluents debouche; and there generally +are formed vast expanses of sand, small "Saharas," studded with +stalking pillars of sand, raised seventy or eighty feet high by gusts +of wind, erect, stately, grave-looking columns, all shaft, with +neither basement nor capital, the genii of the "Arabian Nights." +The river is always dotted with boats of all shapes, mine being +perhaps of the most common description; the great square, Yankee-like +steamers, towing their accommodation-boats (as the passengers' +floating hotels are called), are the rarest. Trees are few on the +banks, except near villages, and there is hardly a palm to be seen +above Patna. Towns are unfrequent, such as there are being mere +collections of huts, with the ghat and boats at the bottom of the +bank; and at a respectful distance from the bazaar, stand the neat +bungalows of the European residents, with their smiling gardens, +hedgings and fencings, and loitering servants at the door. A rotting +charpoy (or bedstead) on the banks is a common sight, the "_sola +reliquia_" of some poor Hindoo, who departs this life by the side +of the stream, to which his body is afterwards committed. + +Shoals of small goggled-eyed fish are seen, that spring clear out of +the water; and are preyed upon by terns and other birds; a few +insects skim the surface; turtle and porpoises tumble along, all +forming a very busy contrast to the lazy alligator, sunning his green +and scaly back near the shore, with his ichthyosaurian snout raised +high above the water. Birds are numerous, especially early and late +in the day. Along the silent shore the hungry Pariah dog may be seen +tearing his meal from some stranded corpse, whilst the adjutant-bird, +with his head sunk on his body and one leg tucked up, patiently +awaits his turn. At night the beautiful Brahminee geese alight, one +by one, and seek total solitude; ever since having disturbed a god in +his slumbers, these birds are fated to pass the night in single +blessedness. The gulls and terns, again, roost in flocks, as do the +wild geese and pelicans,--the latter, however, not till after making +a hearty and very noisy supper. These birds congregate by the sides +of pools, and beat the water with violence, so as to scare the fish, +which thus become an easy prey; a fact which was, I believe, first +indicated by Pallas, during his residence on the banks of the Caspian +Sea. Shells are scarce, and consist of a few small bivalves; their +comparative absence is probably due to the paucity of limestone in +the mountains whence the many feeders flow. The sand is pure white +and small-grained, with fragments of hornblende and mica, the latter +varying in abundance as a feeder is near or far away. Pink sand* [I +have seen the same garnet sand covering the bottom of the Himalayan +torrents, where it is the produce of disintegrated gneiss, and whence +it is transported to the Ganges.] of garnets is very common, and +deposited in layers interstratified with the white quartz sand. +Worm-marks, ripple-marks, and the footsteps of alligators, birds and +beasts, abound in the wet sand. The vegetation of the banks consists +of annuals which find no permanent resting-place. Along the sandy +shores the ever-present plants are mostly English, as Dock, a +_Nasturtium, Ranunculus sceleratus, Fumitory, Juncus bufonius,_, +Common Vervain, _Gnaphalium luteo-album,_ and very frequently +_Veronica Anagallise._ On the alluvium grow the same, mixed with +Tamarisk, _Acacia Arabica,_ and a few other bushes. + +Withered grass abounds; and wheat, dhal (_Cajanus_) and gram +(_Cicer arietinum_), _Carthamus,_ vetches, and rice are the +staple products of the country. Bushes are few, except the +universally prevalent Adhatoda and _Calotropis._ Trees, also, +are rare, and of stunted growth; Figs, the _Artocarpus_ and some +_Leguminosa_ prevail most. I saw but two kinds of palm, the +fan-palm, and _Phoenix_: the latter is characteristic of the +driest locality. Then, for the animal creation, men, women, and +children abound, both on the banks, and plying up and down the +Ganges. The humped cow (of which the ox is used for draught) is +common. Camels I occasionally observed, and more rarely the elephant; +poneys, goats, and dogs muster strong. Porpoises and alligators +infest the river, even above Benares. Flies and mosquitos are +terrible pests; and so are the odious flying-bugs,* [Large +Hemipterlus insects, of the genus _Derecteryx._] which insinuate +themselves between one's skin and clothes, diffusing a dreadful +odour, which is increased by any attempt to touch or remove them. +In the evening it was impossible to keep insects out of the boat, or +to hinder their putting the lights out; and of these the most +intolerable was the abovementioned flying-bug. Saucy crickets, too, +swarm, and spring up at one's face, whilst mosquitos maintain a +constant guerilla warfare, trying to the patience no less than to the +nerves. Thick webs of the gossamer spider float across the river +during the heat of the day, as coarse as fine thread, and being +inhaled keep tickling the nose and lips. + +On the 18th, the morning commenced with a dust-storm, the horizon was +about 20 yards off, and ashy white with clouds of sand; the trees +were scarcely visible, and everything in my boat was covered with a +fine coat of impalpable powder, collected from the boundless alluvial +plains through which the Ganges flows. Trees were scarcely +discernible, and so dry was the wind that drops of water vanished +like magic. Neither ferns, mosses, nor lichens grow along the banks +of the Ganges, they cannot survive the transition from parching like +this to the three months' floods at midsummer, when the country is +for miles under water. + +_March_ 23.--Passed the mouth of the Soane, a vast expanse of +sand dotted with droves of camels; and soon after, the wide-spread +spits of sand along the north bank announced the mouth of the Gogra, +one of the vastest of the many Himalayan affluents of the Ganges. + +On the 25th of March I reached Dinapore, a large military station, +sufficiently insalubrious, particularly for European troops, the +barracks being so misplaced that the inmates are suffocated: the +buildings run east and west instead of north and south, and therefore +lose all the breeze in the hottest weather. From this place I sent +the boat down to Patna, and proceeded thither by land to the house of +Dr. Irvine, an old acquaintance and botanist, from whom I received a +most kind welcome. On the road, Bengal forms of vegetation, to which +I had been for three months a stranger, reappeared; likewise groves +of fan and toddy palms, which are both very rare higher up the river; +clumps of large bamboo, orange, _Acacia Sissoo, Melia, Guatteria +longifolia, Spondias mangifera, Odina, Euphorbia pentagona, +neriifolia_ and _trigona,_ were common road-side plants. +In the gardens, Papaw, _Croton, Jatropha, Buddleia, Cookia,_ +Loquat, Litchi, Longan, all kinds of the orange tribe, and the +cocoa-nut, some from their presence, and many from their profusion, +indicated a decided change of climate, a receding from the desert +north-west of India, and its dry winds, and an approach to the damper +regions of the many-mouthed Ganges. + +My main object at Patna being to see the opium Godowns (stores), I +waited on Dr. Corbett, the Assistant-Agent, who kindly explained +everything to me, and to whose obliging attentions I am much indebted. + +The E.I. Company grant licences for the cultivation of the poppy, and +contract for all the produce at certain rates, varying with the +quality. No opium can be grown without this licence, and an advance +equal to about two-thirds of the value of the produce is made to the +grower. This produce is made over to district collectors, who +approximately fix the worth of the contents of each jar, and forward +it to Patna, where rewards are given for the best samples, and the +worst are condemned without payment; but all is turned to some +account in the reduction of the drug to a state fit for market. + +The poppy flowers in the end of January and beginning of February, +and the capsules are sliced in February and March with a little +instrument like a saw, made of three iron plates with jagged edges, +tied together. The cultivation is very carefully conducted, nor are +there any very apparent means of improving this branch of commerce +and revenue. During the N.W., or dry winds, the best opium is +procured, the worst during the moist, or E. and N.E., when the drug +imbibes moisture, and a watery bad solution of opium collects in +cavities of its substance, and is called Passewa, according to the +absence of which the opium is generally prized. + +At the end of March the opium jars arrive at the stores by water and +by land, and continue accumulating for some weeks. Every jar is +labelled and stowed in a proper place, separately tested with extreme +accuracy, and valued. When the whole quantity has been received, the +contents of all the jars are thrown into great vats, occupying a very +large building, whence the mass is distributed, to be made up into +balls for the markets. This operation is carried on in a long paved +room, where every man is ticketed, and many overseers are stationed +to see that the work is properly conducted. Each workman sits on a +stool, with a double stage and a tray before him. On the top stage is +a tin basin, containing opium sufficient for three balls; in the +lower another basin, holding water: in the tray stands a brass +hemispherical cup, in which the ball is worked. To the man's right +hand is another tray, with two compartments, one containing thin +pancakes of poppy petals pressed together, the other a cupful of +sticky opium-water, made from refuse opium. The man takes the brass +cup, and places a pancake at the bottom, smears it with opium-water, +and with many plies of the pancakes makes a coat for the opium. Of +this he takes about one-third of the mass before him, puts it inside +the petals, and agglutinates many other coats over it: the balls are +then again weighed, and reduced or increased to a certain weight if +necessary. At the day's end, each man takes his work to a rack with +numbered compartments, and deposits it in that which answers to his +own number, thence the balls (each being put in a clay cup) are +carried to an enormous drying-room, where they are exposed in tiers, +and constantly examined and turned, to prevent their being attacked +by weevils, which are very prevalent during moist winds, little boys +creeping along the racks all day long for this purpose. When dry, the +balls are packed in two layers of six each in chests, with the +stalks, dried leaves, and capsules of the plant, and sent down to +Calcutta. A little opium is prepared of very fine quality for the +Government Hospitals, and some for general sale in India; but the +proportion is trifling, and such is made up into square cakes. A good +workman will prepare from thirty to fifty balls a day, the total +produce being 10,000 to 12,000 a day; during one working season +1,353,000 balls are manufactured for the Chinese market alone. + +The poppy-petal _pancakes,_ each about a foot radius, are made +in the fields by women, by the simple operation of pressing the fresh +petals together. They are brought in large baskets, and purchased at +the commencement of the season. The liquor with which the pancakes +are agglutinated together by the ball-maker, and worked into the +ball, is merely inspissated opium-water, the opium for which is +derived from the condemned opium, (Passewa,) the washing of the +utensils, and of the workmen, every one of whom is nightly laved +before he leaves the establishment, and the water is inspissated. +Thus not a particle of opium is lost. To encourage the farmers, the +refuse stalks, leaves, and heads are bought up, to pack the balls +with; but this is far from an economical plan, for it is difficult to +keep the refuse from damp and insects. + +A powerful smell of opium pervaded these vast buildings, which Dr. +Corbett* [I am greatly indebted to Mr. Oldfield, the Opium Agent, and +to Dr. Corbett, for a complete set of specimens, implements, and +drawings, illustrating the cultivation and manufacture of Opium. +They are exhibited in the Kew Museum of Economic Botany.] assured me +did not affect himself or the assistants. The men work ten hours a +day, becoming sleepy in the afternoon; but this is only natural in +the hot season: they are rather liable to eruptive diseases, possibly +engendered by the nature of their occupation. + +Even the best East Indian opium is inferior to the Turkish, and owing +to peculiarities of climate, will probably always be so. It never +yields more than five per cent. of morphia, whence its inferiority, +but is as good in other respects, and even richer in narcotine. + +The care and attention devoted to every department of collecting, +testing, manipulating, and packing, is quite extraordinary; and the +result has been an impulse to the trade, beyond what was anticipated. +The natives have been quick at apprehending and supplying the wants +of the market, and now there are more demands for licences to grow +opium than can be granted. All the opium eaten in India is given out +with a permit to licensed dealers, and the drug is so adulterated +before it reaches the retailers in the bazaars, that it does not +contain one-thirtieth part of the intoxicating power that it did +when pure. + +Patna is the stronghold of Mahommedanism, and from its central +position, its command of the Ganges, and its proximity to Nepal +(which latter has been aptly compared to a drawn dagger, pointed at +the heart of India), it is an important place. For this reason there +are always a European and several Native Regiments stationed there. +In the neighbourbood there is little to be seen, and the highly +cultivated flat country is unfavourable to native vegetation. + +The _mudar_ plant (_Calotropis_) was abundant here, but I +found that its properties and nomenclature were far from settled +points. On the banks of the Ganges, the larger, white-flowered, +sub-arboreous species prevailed; in the interior, and along my whole +previous route, the smaller purple-flowered kind only was seen. +Mr. Davis, of Rotas, was in the habit of using the medicine +copiously, and vouched for the cure of eighty cases, chiefly of +leprosy, by the _white mudar,_ gathered on the Ganges, whilst +the purple of Rotas and the neighbourhood was quite inert: +Dr. Irvine, again, used the purple only, and found the white inert. +The European and native doctors, who knew the two plants, all gave +the preference to the white; except Dr. Irvine, whose experience over +various parts of India is entitled to great weight. + +_March_ 29.--Dropped down the river, experiencing a succession +of east and north-east winds during the whole remainder of the +voyage. These winds are very prevalent throughout the month of March, +and they rendered the passage in my sluggish boat sufficiently +tedious. In other respects I had but little bad weather to complain +of: only one shower of rain occurred, and but few storms of thunder +and lightning. The stream is very strong, and its action on the +sand-banks conspicuous. All night I used to hear the falling cliffs +precipitated with a dull heavy splash into the water,--a pretty +spectacle in the day-time, when the whirling current is seen to carry +a cloud of white dust, like smoke, along its course. + +The Curruckpore hills, the northern boundary of the gneiss and +granite range of Paras-nath, are seen first in the distance, and then +throwing out low loosely timbered spurs towards the river; but no +rock or hill comes close to the banks till near Monghyr, where two +islets of rock rise out of the bed of the river. They are of +stratified quartz, dipping, at a high angle, to the south-east; and, +as far as I could observe, quite barren, each crowned with a little +temple. The swarm of boats from below Patna to this place was +quite incredible. + +_April_ 1.--Arrived at Monghyr, by far the prettiest town I had +seen on the river, backed by a long range of wooded hills,--detached +outliers of which rise in the very town. The banks are steep, and +they appear more so owing to the fortifications, which are extensive. +A number of large, white, two-storied houses, some very imposing, and +perched on rounded or conical hills, give a European aspect to +the place. + +Monghyr is celebrated for its iron manufactures, especially of +muskets, in which respect it is the Birmingham of Bengal. Generally +speaking, these weapons are poor, though stamped with the first +English names. A native workman will, however, if time and sufficient +reward be given, turn out a first rate fowling-piece. The inhabitants +are reported to be sad drunkards, and the abundance of toddy-palms +was quite remarkable. The latter, (here the _Phoenix sylvestris,) +I never saw wild, but it is considered to be so in N.W. India; it is +still a doubtful point whether it is the same as the African species. +In the morning of the following day I went to the hot springs of +Seeta-koond (wells of Seeta), a few miles south of the town. + +Illustration -- MONGHYR ON THE GANGES, WITH THE CURROCKPORE HILLS IN +THE DISTANCE. + +The hills are hornstone and quartz, stratified and dipping southerly +with a very high angle; they are very barren, and evidently identical +with those on the south bank of the Soane; skirting, in both cases, +the granite and gneiss range of Paras-nath. The alluvium on the banks +of the Ganges is obviously an aqueous deposit subsequent to the +elevation of these hills, and is perfectly plane up to their bases. +The river has its course through the alluvium, like the Soane. +The depth of the former is in many places upwards of 100 feet, and +the kunker pebbles it contains are often disposed in parallel +undulating bands. It nowhere contains sand pebbles or fossils; +concretions of lime (kunker) alone interrupting its uniform +consistence. It attains its greatest thickness in the valleys of the +Ganges and the Soane, gradually sloping up to the Himalaya and +Curruckpore hills on either flank. It is, however, well developed on +the Kymore and Paras-nath hills, 1200 to 1500 feet above the Ganges +valley, and I have no doubt was deposited in very deep water, when +the relative positions of these mountains to the Ganges and Soane +valleys were the same that they are now. Like every other part of the +surface of India, it has suffered much from denudation, especially on +the above-named mountains, and around their bases, where various +rocks protrude through it. Along the Ganges again, its surface is an +unbroken level between Chunar and the rocks of Monghyr. The origin of +its component mineral matter must be sought in the denudation of the +Himalayas within a very recent geological period. The contrast +between the fertility of the alluvium and the sterility of the +protruded quartzy rocks is very striking, cultivation running up to +these fields of stones, and suddenly stopping. + +Unlike the Soorujkoond hot-springs, those of Seetakoond rise in a +plain, and were once covered by a handsome temple. All the water is +collected in a tank, some yards square, with steps leading down to +it. The water, which is clear and tasteless (temp. 104 degrees), is +so pure as to be exported copiously, and the Monghyr manufactory of +soda-water presents the anomaly of owing its purity to Seeta's +ablutions. + +On my passage down the river I passed the picturesque rocks of +Sultangunj; they are similar to those of Monghyr, but very much +larger and loftier. One, a round-headed mass, stands on the bank, +capped with a triple-domed Mahommedan tomb, palms, and figs. +The other, which is far more striking, rises isolated in the bed of +the river, and is crowned with a Hindoo temple, its pyramidal cone +surmounted with a curious pile of weathercocks, and two little +banners. The current of the Ganges is here very strong, and runs in +deep black eddies between the rocks. + +Though now perhaps eighty or a hundred yards from the shore, the +islet must have been recently a peninsula, for it retains a portion +of the once connecting bank of alluvium, in the form of a short +flat-topped cliff, about thirty feet above the water. Some curious +looking sculptures on the rocks are said to represent Naragur (or +Vishnu), Suree and Sirooj; but to me they were quite unintelligible. +The temple is dedicated to Naragur, and inhabited by Fakirs; it is +the most holy on the Ganges. + +_April_ 5.--I arrived at Bhagulpore, and took up my quarters +with my friend Dr. Grant, till he should arrange my dawk for Sikkim. + +The town has been supposed to be the much-sought Palibothra, and a +dirty stream hard by (the Chundum), the Eranoboas; but Mr. Ravenshaw +has now brought all existing proofs to bear on Patna and the Soane. +It is, like most hilly places in India, S. of the Himalaya, the seat +of much Jain worship; and the temples on Mount Manden,* [For the +following information about Bhagulpore and its neighbourhood, I am +indebted chiefly to Col. Francklin's essay in the Asiatic Researches; +and the late Major Napleton and Mr. Pontet.] a few miles off, are +said to have been 540 in number. At the assumed summer-palaces of the +kings of Palibothra the ground is covered with agates, brought from +the neighbouring hills, which were, in a rough state, let into the +walls of the buildings. These agates perfectly resemble the Soane +pebbles, and they assist in the identification of these flanking +hills with those of the latter river. + +Again, near the hills, the features of interest are very numerous. +The neighbouring mountains of Curruckpore, which are a portion of the +Rajmahal and Paras-nath range, are peopled by tribes representing the +earliest races of India, prior to the invasion of young Rama, prince +of Oude, who, according to the legend, spread Brahminism with his +conquests, and won the hand of King Jannuk's daughter, Seeta, by +bending her father's bow. These people are called Coles, a +middle-sized, strong, very dark, and black-haired race, with thick +lips: they have no vocation but collecting iron from the soil, which +occurs abundantly in nodules. They eat flesh, whether that of animals +killed by themselves, or of those which have died a natural death, +and mix with Hindoos, but not with Mussulmen. There are other tribes, +vestiges of the Tamulian race, differing somewhat in their rites from +these, and approaching, in their habits, more to Hindoos; but all are +timorous and retiring. + +The hill-rangers, or Bhagulpore-rangers, are all natives of the +Rajmahal hills, and form a local corps maintained by the Company for +the protection of the district. For many years these people were +engaged in predatory excursions, which, owing to the nature of the +country, were checked with great difficulty. The plan was therefore +conceived, by an active magistrate in the district, of embodying a +portion into a military force, for the protection of the country from +invasions of their own tribes; and this scheme has answered perfectly. + +To me the most interesting object in Bhagulpore was the Horticultural +Gardens, whose origin and flourishing condition are due to the +activity and enterprise of the late Major Napleton, commander of the +hill-rangers. The site is good, consisting of fifteen acres, that +were, four years ago, an indigo field, but form now a smiling garden. +About fifty men are employed; and the number of seeds and vegetables +annually distributed is very great. Of trees the most conspicuous are +the tamarind, _Tecoma jasminoides, Erythrina, Adansonia, +Bombax,_ teak, banyan, peepul, _Sissoo, Casuarina, Terminalia, +Melia, Bauhinia._ Of introduced species English and Chinese flat +peaches (pruned to the centre to let the sun in), Mangos of various +sorts, _Eugenia Jambos,_ various Anonas, Litchi, Loquat and +Longan, oranges, _Sapodilla_; apple, pear, both succeeding +tolerably; various Cabool and Persian varieties of fruit-trees; figs, +grapes, guava, apricots, and jujube. The grapes looked extremely +well, but they require great skill and care in the management. +They form a long covered walk, with a row of plantains on the W. +side, to diminish the effects of the hot winds, but even with this +screen, the fruit on that side are inferior to that on the opposite +trellis. Easterly winds, again, being moist, blight these and other +plants, by favouring the abundant increase of insects, and causing +the leaves to curl and fall off; and against this evil there is no +remedy. With a clear sky the mischief is not great; under a cloudy +one the prevalence of such winds is fatal to the crop. The white ant +sometimes attacks the stems, and is best checked by washing the roots +with limewater, yellow arsenic, or tobacco-water. Numerous Cerealia, +and the varieties of cotton, sugar-cane, etc. all thrive extremely +well; so do many of our English vegetables. Cabbages, peas, and beans +are much injured by the caterpillars of a _Pontia,_ like our +English "White;" raspberries, currants, and gooseberries will not +grow at all. + +The seeds were all deposited in bottles, and hung round the walls of +a large airy apartment; and for cleanliness and excellence of kind +they would bear comparison with the best seedsman's collection in +London. Of English garden vegetables, and varieties of the Indian +Cerealia, and leguminous plants, Indian corn, millets, rice, etc., +the collections for distribution were extensive. + +The manufacture of economic products is not neglected. Excellent +coffee is grown; and arrow-root, equal to the best West Indian, is +prepared, at 18s. 6d. per bottle of twenty-four ounces, about a +fourth of the price of that article in Calcutta. + +In most respects the establishment is a model of what such +institutions ought to be in India; not only of real practical value, +in affording a good and cheap supply of the best culinary and other +vegetables that the climate can produce, but as showing to what +departments efforts are best directed. Such gardens diffuse a taste +for the most healthy employments, and offer an elegant resource for +the many unoccupied hours which the Englishman in India finds upon +his hands. They are also schools of gardening; and a simple +inspection of what has been done at Bhagulpore is a valuable lesson +to any person about to establish a private garden of his own. + +I often heard complaints made of the seeds distributed from these +gardens not vegetating freely in other parts of India, and it is not +to be expected that they should retain their vitality unimpaired +through an Indian rainy season; but on the other hand I almost +invariably found that the planting and tending had been left to the +uncontrolled management of native gardeners, who with a certain +amount of skill in handicraft are, from habits and prejudices, +singularly unfit for the superintendence of a garden. + + + + CHAPTER IV. + +Leave Bhagulpore -- Kunker -- Colgong -- Himalaya, distant view of -- +Cosi, mouth of -- Difficult navigation -- Sand storms -- +Caragola-Ghat -- Purnea -- Ortolans -- Mahanuddee, transport of +pebbles, etc. -- Betel-pepper, cultivation of -- Titalya -- Siligoree +-- View of outer Himalaya -- Terai -- Mechis -- Punkabaree -- Foot of +mountains -- Ascent to Dorjiling -- Cicadas -- Leeches -- Animals -- +Kursiong, spring vegetation of -- Pacheem -- Arrive at Dorjiling -- +Dorjiling, origin and settlement of -- Grant of land from Rajah -- +Dr. Campbell appointed superintendent -- Dewan, late and present -- +Aggressive conduct of the latter -- Increase of the station -- Trade +-- Titalya fair -- Healtby climate for Europeans and children -- +Invalids, diseases prejudicial to. + +I took as it were, a new departure, on Saturday, April the 8th, my +dawk being laid on that day from Caragola-Ghat, about thirty miles +down the river, for the foot of the Himalaya range and Dorjiling. + +Passing the pretty villa-like houses of the English residents, the +river-banks re-assumed their wonted features the hills receded from +the shore; and steep clay cliffs, twenty to fifty feet high, on one +side, opposed long sandy shelves on the other. Kunker was still most +abundant, especially in the lower bed of the banks, close to the (now +very low) water. The strata containing it were much undulated, but +not uniformly so; horizontal layers over or under-lying the disturbed +ones. At Colgong, conical hills appear, and two remarkable +sister-rocks start out of the river, the same in structure with those +of Sultangunj. A boisterous current swirls round them, strong even at +this season, and very dangerous in the rains, when the swollen river +is from twenty-eight to forty feet deeper than now. We landed +opposite the rocks, and proceeded to the residence of Mr. G. Barnes, +prettily situated on one of the conical elevations characteristic of +the geology of the district. The village we passed through had been +recently destroyed by fire; and nothing but the clay outer walls and +curious-looking partition walls remained, often white-washed and +daubed with figures in red of the palm of the hand, elephant, +peacock, and tiger,--a sort of rude fresco-painting. We did not +arrive till past mid-day, and the boat, with my palkee and servant, +not having been able to face the gale, I was detained till the middle +of the following day. Mr. Barnes and his brother proved most +agreeable companions,--very luckily for me, for it requires no +ordinary philosophy to bear being storm-stayed on a voyage, with the +prospect of paying a heavy demurrage for detaining the dawk, and the +worse one of finding the bearers given to another traveller when you +arrive at the rendezvous. The view from Mr. Barnes' house is very +fine: it commands the river and its rocks; the Rajmahal hills to the +east and south; broad acres of indigo and other crops below; long +lines of palm-trees, and groves of mango, banana, tamarind, and other +tropical trees, scattered close around and in the distance. In the +rainy season, and immediately after, the snowy Himalaya are +distinctly seen on the horizon, fully 170 miles off. Nearly opposite, +the Cosi river enters the Ganges, bearing (considering its short +course) an enormous volume of water, comprising the drainage of the +whole Himalaya between the two giant peaks of Kinchinjunga in Sikkim, +and Gossain-Than in Nepal. Even at this season, looking from Mr. +Barnes' eyrie over the bed of the Ganges, the enormous expanses of +sand, the numerous shifting islets, and the long spits of mud betray +the proximity of some very restless and resistless power. During the +rains, the scene must indeed be extraordinary, when the Cosi lays +many miles of land under water, and pours so vast a quantity of +detritus into the bed of the Ganges that long islets are heaped up +and swept away in a few hours; and the latter river becomes all but +unnavigable. Boats are caught in whirlpools, formed without a +moment's warning, and sunk ere they have spun round thrice in the +eddies; and no part of the inland navigation of India is so dreaded +or dangerous, as the Ganges at its junction with the Cosi. + +Rain generally falls in partial showers at this season, and they are +essential to the well-being of the spring crops of indigo. The stormy +appearance of the sky, though it proved fallacious, was hailed by my +hosts as predicting a fall, which was much wanted. The wind however +seemed but to aggravate the drought, by the great body of sand it +lifted and swept up the valleys, obscuring the near horizon, and +especially concealing the whole delta of the Cosi, where the clouds +were so vast and dense, and ascended so high as to resemble +another element. + +All night the gale blew on, accompanied with much thunder and +lightning, and it was not till noon of the 9th that I descried my +palkee-boat toiling down the stream. Then I again embarked, taking +the lagging boat in tow of my own. Passing the mouths of the Cosi, +the gale and currents were so adverse that we had to bring up on the +sand, when the quantity which drifted into the boat rendered the +delay as disagreeable as it was tedious. The particles penetrated +everywhere, up my nose and down my back, drying my eyelids, and +gritting between my teeth. The craft kept bumping on the banks, and +being both crazy and leaky, the little comfortless cabin became the +refuge of scared rats and cockroaches. In the evening I shared a meal +with these creatures, on some provisions my kind friends had put into +the boat, but the food was so sandy that I had to bolt my supper! + +At night the storm lulled a little, and I proceeded to Caragola Ghat +and took up my dawk, which had been twenty-eight hours expecting me, +and was waiting, in despair of my arrival, for another traveller on +the opposite bank, who however could not cross the river. + +Having accomplished thirty miles, I halted at 9 a..m. on the +following morning at Purnea, quitting it at noon for Kishengunj. +The whole country wore a greener garb than I had seen anywhere south +of the Ganges: the climate was evidently more humid, and had been +gradually becoming so from Mirzapore. The first decided change was a +few miles below the Soane mouth, at Dinapore and Patna; and the few +hygrometrical observations I took at Bhagulpore confirmed the +increase of moisture. The proximity to the sea and great Delta of the +Ganges sufficiently accounts for this; as does the approach to the +hills for the still greater dampness and brighter verdure of Purnea. +I was glad to feel myself within the influence of the long-looked-for +Himalaya; and I narrowly watched every change in the character of the +vegetation. A fern, growing by the roadside, was the first and most +tangible evidence of this; together with the rarity or total absence +of _Butea, Boswellia, Catechu, Grislea, Carissa,_ and all the +companions of my former excursion. + +Purnea is a large station, and considered very unhealthy during and +after the rains. From it the road passed through some pretty lanes, +with groves of planted Guava and a rattan palm (_Calamus_), the first +I had seen. Though no hills are nearer than the Himalaya, from the +constant alteration of the river-beds, the road undulates remarkably +for this part of India, and a jungly vegetation ensues, consisting of +the above plants, with the yellow-flowered Cactus replacing the +Euphorbias, which were previously much more common. Though still 100 +miles distant from the hills, mosses appeared on the banks, and more +ferns were just sprouting above ground. + +The Bamboo was a very different species from any I had hitherto met +with, forming groves of straight trees fifteen to twenty feet high, +thin of foliage, and not unlike poplars. + +Thirty-six miles from Purnea brought me to Kishengunj, when I found +that no arrangements whatever had been made for my dawk, and I was +fairly stranded. Luckily a thoughtful friend had provided me with +letters to the scattered residents along the road, and I proceeded +with one to Mr. Perry, the assistant magistrate of the district,--a +gentleman well known for his urbanity, and the many aids he affords +to travellers on this neglected line of road. Owing to this being +some festival or holiday, it was impossible to get palkee-bearers; +the natives were busy catching fish in all the muddy pools around. +Some of Mr. Perry's own family also were about to proceed to +Dorjiling, so that I had only to take patience, and be thankful for +having to exercise it in such pleasant quarters. The Mahanuddee, a +large stream from the hills, flows near this place, strewing the +surrounding neighbourhood with sand, and from the frequent +alterations in its course, causing endless disputes amongst the +landholders. A kind of lark called an Ortolan was abundant: this is +not, however, the European delicacy of that name, though a migratory +bird; the flocks are large, and the birds so fat, that they make +excellent table game. At this time they were rapidly disappearing; to +return from the north in September. + +I had just got into bed at night, when the bearers arrived; so +bidding a hurried adieu to my kind host, I proceeded onwards. + +_April_ 12.--I awoke at 4 a.m., and found my palkee on the ground, +and the bearers coolly smoking their hookahs under a tree (it was +raining hard): they had carried me the length of their stage, twelve +miles, and there were no others to take me on. I had paid twenty-four +pounds for my dawk, from Caragola to the hills, to which I had been +obliged to add a handsome douceur; so I lost all patience. After +waiting and entreating during several hours, I found the head-man of +a neighbouring village, and by a further disbursement induced six out +of the twelve bearers to carry the empty palkee, whilst I should walk +to the next stage; or till we should meet some others. They agreed, +and cutting the thick and spongy sheaths of the banana, used them for +shoulder-pads: they also wrapped them round the palkee-poles, to ease +their aching clavicles. Walking along I picked up a few plants, and +fourteen miles further on came again to the banks of the Mahanuddee, +whose bed was strewn with pebbles and small boulders, brought thus +far from the mountains (about thirty miles distant). Here, again, I +had to apply to the head-man of a village, and pay for bearers to +take me to Titalya, the next stage (fourteen miles). Some curious +long low sheds puzzled me very much, and on examining them they +proved to be for the growth of Pawn or Betel-pepper, another +indication of the moisture of the climate. These sheds are twenty to +fifty yards long, eight or twelve or so broad, and scarcely five +high; they are made of bamboo, wattled all round and over the top. +Slender rods are placed a few feet apart, inside, up which the Pepper +Vines climb, and quickly fill the place with their deep green glossy +foliage. The native enters every morning by a little door, and +carefully cleans the plants. Constant heat, damp, and moisture, +shelter from solar beams, from scorching heat, and from nocturnal +radiation, are thus all procured for the plant, which would certainly +not live twenty-four hours, if exposed to the climate of this +treeless district. Great attention is paid to the cultivation, which +is very profitable. Snakes frequently take up their quarters in these +hot-houses, and cause fatal accidents. + +Titalya was once a military station of some importance, and from its +proximity to the hills has been selected by Dr. Campbell (the +Superintendent of Dorjiling) as the site for an annual fair, to which +the mountain tribes resort, as well as the people of the plains. The +Calcutta road to Dorjiling by Dinajpore meets, near here, that by +which I had come; and I found no difficulty in procuring bearers to +proceed to Siligoree, where I arrived at 6 a.m. on the 13th. +Hitherto I bad not seen the mountains, so uniformly had they been +shrouded by dense wreaths of vapour: here, however, when within eight +miles of their base, I caught a first glimpse of the outer +range--sombre masses, of far from picturesque outline, clothed +everywhere with a dusky forest. + +Siligoree stands on the verge of the Terai, that low malarious belt +which skirts the base of the Himalaya, from the Sutlej to +Brahma-koond in Upper Assam. Every feature, botanical, geological, +and zoological, is new on entering this district. The change is +sudden and immediate: sea and shore are hardly more conspicuously +different, nor from the edge of the Terai to the limit of perpetual +snow is any botanical region more clearly marked than this, which is +the commencement of Himalayan vegetation. A sudden descent leads to +the Mahanuddee river, flowing in a shallow valley, over a pebbly +bottom: it is a rapid river, even at this season; its banks are +fringed with bushes, and it is as clear and sparkling as a trout +stream in Scotland. Beyond it the road winds through a thick +brushwood, choked with long grasses, and with but few trees, chiefly +of _Acacia, Dalbergia Sissoo,_ and a scarlet fruited _Sterculia._ +The soil is a red, friable clay and gravel. At this season only a few +spring plants were in flower, amongst which a very sweet-scented +_Crinum,_ Asphodel, and a small _Curcuma,_ were in the greatest +profusion. Leaves of terrestrial Orchids appeared, with ferns and +weeds of hot damp regions. I crossed the beds of many small streams: +some were dry, and all very tortuous; their banks were richly clothed +with brushwood and climbers of Convolvulus, Vines, _Hiraea, Leea, +Menispermeae, Cucurbitaceae,_ and _Bignoniaceae._ Their pent-up +waters, percolating the gravel beds, and partly carried off by +evaporation through the stratum of ever-increasing vegetable mould, +must be one main agent in the production of the malarious vapours of +this pestilential region. Add to this, the detention of the same +amongst the jungly herbage, the amount of vapour in the humid +atmosphere above, checking the upward passage of that from the soil, +the sheltered nature of the locality at the immediate base of lofty +mountains; and there appear to me to be here all necessary elements, +which, combined, will produce stagnation and deterioration in an +atmosphere loaded with vapour. Fatal as this district is, and +especially to Europeans, a race inhabit it with impunity, who, if not +numerous, do not owe their paucity to any climatic causes. These are +the Mechis, often described as a squalid, unhealthy people, typical +of the region they frequent; but who are, in reality, more robust +than the Europeans in India, and whose disagreeably sallow complexion +is deceptive as indicating a sickly constitution. They are a mild, +inoffensive people, industrious for Orientals, living by annually +burning the Terai jungle and cultivating the cleared spots; and, +though so sequestered and isolated, they rather court than avoid +intercourse with those whites whom they know to be kindly disposed. + +After proceeding some six miles along the gradually ascending path, I +came to a considerable stream, cutting its way through stratified +gravel, with cliffs on each side fifteen to twenty feet high, here +and there covered with ferns, the little _Oxalis sensitiva,_ and +other herbs. The road here suddenly ascends a steep gravelly hill, +and opens out on a short flat, or spur, from which the Himalaya rise +abruptly, clothed with forest from the base: the little bungalow of +Punkabaree, my immediate destination, nestled in the woods, crowning +a lateral knoll, above which, to east and west, as far as the eye +could reach, were range after range of wooded mountains, 6000 to 8000 +feet high. I here met with the India-rubber tree (_Ficus elastica_); +it abounds in Assam, but this is its western limit. + +From this steppe, the ascent to Punkabaree is sudden and steep, and +accompanied with a change in soil and vegetation. The mica slate and +clay slate protrude everywhere, the former full of garnets. A giant +forest replaces the stunted and bushy timber of the Terai Proper; of +which the _Duabanga_ and _Terminalias_ form the prevailing trees, +with _Cedrela_ and the _Gordonia Wallichii._ Smaller timber and +shrubs are innumerable; a succulent character pervades the bushes and +herbs, occasioned by the prevalence of _Urticeae._ Large bamboos +rather crest the hills than court the deeper shade, and of the latter +there is abundance, for the torrents cut a straight, deep, and steep +course down the hill flanks: the galleys they traverse are choked +with vegetation and bridged by fallen trees, whose trunks are richly +clothed with _Dendrobium Pierardi_ and other epiphytical Orchids, +with pendulous _Lycopodia_ and many ferns, _Hoya, Scitamineae,_ and +similar types of the hottest and dampest climates. + +The bungalow at Punkabaree was good--which was well, as my +luggage-bearers were not come up, and there were no signs of them +along the Terai road, which I saw winding below me. My scanty stock +of paper being full of plants, I was reduced to the strait of +botanising, and throwing away my specimens. The forest was truly +magnificent along the steep mountain sides. The apparently large +proportion of deciduous trees was far more considerable than I had +expected; partly, probably, due to the abundance of the _Dillenia, +Cassia,_ and _Sterculia,_ whose copious fruit was all the more +conspicuous from the leafless condition of the plant. The white or +lilac blossoms of the convolvuluslike _Thunbergia,_ and other +_Acanthaceae_ were the predominant features of the shrubby +vegetation, and very handsome. + +All around, the hills rise steeply five or six thousand feet, clothed +in a dense deep-green dripping forest. Torrents rush down the slopes, +their position indicated by the dipping of the forest into their +beds, or the occasional cloud of spray rising above some more +boisterous part of their course. From the road, at and a little above +Punkabaree, the view is really superb, and very instructive. +Behind (or north) the Himalaya rise in steep confused masses. +Below, the hill on which I stood, and the ranges as far as the eye +can reach east and west, throw spurs on to the plains of India. +These are very thickly wooded, and enclose broad, dead-flat, hot and +damp valleys, apparently covered with a dense forest. Secondary spurs +of clay and gravel, like that immediately below Punkabaree, rest on +the bases of the mountains, and seem to form an intermediate neutral +ground between flat and mountainous India. The Terai district forms a +very irregular belt, scantily clothed, and intersected by innumerable +rivulets from the hills, which unite and divide again on the flat, +till, emerging from the region of many trees, they enter the plains, +following devious courses, which glisten like silver threads. +The whole horizon is bounded by the sea-like expanse of the plains, +which stretch away into the region of sunshine and fine weather, in +one boundless flat. + +In the distance, the courses of the Teesta and Cosi, the great +drainers of the snowy Himalayas, and the recipients of innumerable +smaller rills, are with difficulty traced at this, the dry season. +The ocean-like appearance of this southern view is even more +conspicuous in the heavens than on the land, the clouds arranging +themselves after a singularly sea-scape fashion. Endless strata run +in parallel ribbons over the extreme horizon; above these, scattered +cumuli, also in horizontal lines, are dotted against a clear grey +sky, which gradually, as the eye is lifted, passes into a deep +cloudless blue vault, continuously clear to the zenith; there the +cumuli, in white fleecy masses, again appear; till, in the northern +celestial hemisphere, they thicken and assume the leaden hue of +nimbi, discharging their moisture on the dark forest-clad hills +around. The breezes are south-easterly, bringing that vapour from the +Indian Ocean, which is rarefied and suspended aloft over the heated +plains, but condensed into a drizzle when it strikes the cooler +flanks of the hills, and into heavy rain when it meets their still +colder summits. Upon what a gigantic scale does nature here operate! +Vapours, raised from an ocean whose nearest shore is more than 400 +miles distant, are safely transported without the loss of one drop of +water, to support the rank luxuriance of this far distant region. +This and other offices fulfilled, the waste waters are returned, by +the Cosi and Teesta, to the ocean, and again exhaled, exported, +expended, re-collected, and returned. + +Illustration -- PUNKABAREE BUNGALOW AND BASE OF THE HIMALAYA. + +The soil and bushes everywhere swarmed with large and troublesome +ants, and enormous earthworms. In the evening, the noise of the great +_Cicadae_ in the trees was almost deafening. They burst suddenly into +full chorus, with a voice so harshly croaking, so dissonant, and so +unearthly, that in these solitary forests I could not help being +startled. In general character the note was very similar to that of +other _Cicadae._ They ceased as suddenly as they commenced. On the +following morning my baggage arrived, and, leaving my palkee, I +mounted a pony kindly sent for me by Mr. Hodgson, and commenced a +very steep ascent of about 3000 feet, winding along the face of a +steep, richly-wooded valley. The road zigzags extraordinarily in and +out of the innumerable lateral ravines, each with its water course, +dense jungle, and legion of leeches; the bite of these blood-suckers +gives no pain, but is followed by considerable effusion of blood. +They puncture through thick worsted stockings, and even trousers, +and, when full, roll in the form of a little soft ball into the +bottom of the shoe, where their presence is hardly felt in walking. + +Not only are the roadsides rich in plants, but native paths, cutting +off all the zigzags, run in straight lines up the steepest +hill-faces, and thus double the available means for botanising; and +it is all but impossible to leave the paths of one kind or other, +except for a yard or two up the rocky ravines. Elephants, tigers, and +occasionally the rhinoceros, inhabit the foot of these hills, with +wild boars, leopards, etc.; but none are numerous. The elephant's +path is an excellent specimen of engineering--the opposite of the +native track, for it winds judiciously. + +At about 1000 feet above Punkabaree, the vegetation is very rich, and +appears all the more so from the many turnings of the road, affording +glorious prospects of the foreshortened tropical forests. +The prevalent timber is gigantic, and scaled by climbing +_Leguminosae,_ as _Bauhinias_ and _Robinias,_ which sometimes sheath +the trunks, or span the forest with huge cables, joining tree to +tree. Their trunks are also clothed with parasitical Orchids, and +still more beautifully with Pothos (_Scindapsus_), Peppers, _Gnetum,_ +Vines, Convolvulus, and _Bignoniae._ The beauty of the drapery of the +Pothos-leaves is pre-eminent, whether for the graceful folds the +foliage assumes, or for the liveliness of its colour. Of the more +conspicuous smaller trees, the wild banana is the most abundant, its +crown of very beautiful foliage contrasting with the smaller-leaved +plants amongst which it nestles; next comes a screw-pine (_Pandanus_) +with a straight stem and a tuft of leaves; each eight or ten feet +long, waving on all sides. _Araliaceae,_ with smooth or armed slender +trunks, and _Mappa_-like _Euphorbiaceae,_ spread their long petioles +horizontally forth, each terminated with an ample leaf some feet in +diameter. Bamboo abounds everywhere: its dense tufts of culms, 100 +feet and upwards high, are as thick as a man's thigh at the base. +Twenty or thirty, species of ferns (including a tree-fern) were +luxuriant and handsome. Foliaceous lichens and a few mosses appeared +at 2000 feet. Such is the vegetation of the roads through the +tropical forests of the Outer-Himalaya. + +At about 4000 feet the road crossed a saddle, and ran along the +narrow crest of a hill, the top of that facing the plains of India, +and over which is the way to the interior ranges, amongst which +Dorjiling is placed, still twenty-five miles off. A little below this +a great change had taken place in the vegetation, marked, first, by +the appearance of a very English-looking bramble, which, however, by +way of proving its foreign origin, bore a very good yellow fruit, +called here the "yellow raspberry." Scattered oaks, of a noble +species, with large lamellated cups and magnificent foliage, +succeeded; and along the ridge of the mountain to Kursiong (a dawk +bungalow at about 4800 feet), the change in the flora was complete. + +The spring of this region and elevation most vividly recalled that of +England. The oak flowering, the birch bursting into leaf, the violet, +_Chrysosplenium, Stellaria_ and _Arum, Vaccinium,_ wild strawberry, +maple, geranium, bramble. A colder wind blew here: mosses and lichens +carpeted the banks and roadsides: the birds and insects were very +different from those below; and everything proclaimed the marked +change in elevation, and not only in this, but in season, for I had +left the winter of the tropics and here encountered the spring of the +temperate zone. + +The flowers I have mentioned are so notoriously the harbingers of a +European spring that their presence carries one home at once; but, as +species, they differ from their European prototypes, and are +accompanied at this elevation (and for 2000 feet higher up) with +tree-fern, Pothos, bananas, palms, figs, pepper, numbers of epiphytal +Orchids, and similar genuine tropical genera. The uniform temperature +and humidity of the region here favour the extension of tropical +plants into a temperate region; exactly as the same conditions cause +similar forms to reach higher latitudes in the southern hemisphere +(as in New Zealand, Tasmania, South Chili, etc.) than they do in +the northern. + +Along this ridge I met with the first tree-fern. This species seldom +reaches the height of forty feet; the black trunk is but three or +four in girth, and the feathery crown is ragged in comparison with +the species of many other countries: it is the _Alsophila gigantea,_ +and ascends nearly to 7000 feet elevation. + +Kursiong bungalow, where I stopped for a few hours, is superbly +placed, on a narrow mountain ridge. The west window looks down the +valley of the Balasun river, the east into that of the Mahanuddee: +both of these rise from the outer range, and flow in broad, deep, and +steep valleys (about 4000 feet deep) which give them their respective +names; and are richly wooded from the Terai to their tops. +Till reaching this spur, I had wound upwards along the western slope +of the Mahanuddee valley. The ascent from the spur at Kursiong, to +the top of the mountain (on the northern face of which Dorjiling is +situated), is along the eastern slope of the Balasun. + +From Kursiong a very steep zigzag leads up the mountain, through a +magnificent forest of cbesnut, walnut, oaks, and laurels. It is +difficult to conceive a grander mass of vegetation: the straight +shafts of the timber-trees shooting aloft, some naked and clean, with +grey, pale, or brown bark; others literally clothed for yards with a +continuous garment of epiphytes, one mass of blossoms, especially the +white Orchids _Caelogynes,_ which bloom in a profuse manner, +whitening their trunks like snow. More bulky trunks were masses of +interlacing climbers, _Araliaceae, Leguminosae, Vines,_ and +_Menispermeae,_ Hydrangea, and Peppers, enclosing a hollow, once +filled by the now strangled supporting tree, which had long ago +decayed away. From the sides and summit of these, supple branches +hung forth, either leafy or naked; the latter resembling cables flung +from one tree to another, swinging in the breeze, their rocking +motion increased by the weight of great bunches of ferns or Orchids, +which were perched aloft in the loops. Perpetual moisture nourishes +this dripping forest: and pendulous mosses and lichens are met with +in profusion. + +Two thousand feet higher up, near Mahaldiram (whence the last view of +the plains is gained), European plants appear,--Berberry, _Paris,_ +etc.; but here, night gathered round, and I had still ten miles to go +to the nearest bungalow, that of Pacheem. The road still led along +the eastern slope of the Balasun valley, which was exceedingly steep, +and so cut up by ravines, that it winds in and out of gulleys almost +narrow enough to be jumped across. + +It was very late before I arrived at Pacheem bungalow, the most +sinister-looking rest-house I ever saw, stuck on a little cleared +spur of the mountain, surrounded by dark forests, overhanging a +profound valley, and enveloped in mists and rain, and hideous in +architecture, being a miserable attempt to unite the Swiss cottage +with the suburban gothic; it combined a maximum of discomfort with a +minimum of good looks or good cheer. I was some time in finding the +dirty housekeeper, in an outhouse hard by, and then in waking him. +As he led me up the crazy verandah, and into a broad ghostly room, +without glass in the windows, or fire, or any one comfort, my mind +recurred to the stories told of the horrors of the Hartz forest, and +of the benighted traveller's situation therein. Cold sluggish beetles +hung to the damp walls,--and these I immediately secured. After due +exertions and perseverance with the damp wood, a fire smoked lustily, +and, by cajoling the gnome of a housekeeper, I procured the usual +roast fowl and potatos, with the accustomed sauce of a strong smoky +and singed flavour.* [Since writing the above a comfortable house has +been erected at Senadah, the name now given to what was called +Pacheem Bungalow.] + +Pacheem stands at an elevation of nearly 7300 feet, and as I walked +out on the following morning I met with English looking plants in +abundance, but was too early in the season to get aught but the +foliage of most. _Chryosplenium,_ violet, _Lobelia,_ a small +geranium, strawberry, five or six kinds of bramble, _Arum, Paris, +Convallaria, Stellaria, Rubia, Vaccinium,_ and various _Gnaphalia._ +Of small bushes, cornels, honeysuckles, and the ivy tribe +predominated, with _Symplocos_ and _Skimmia, Eurya,_ bushy brambles, +having simple or compound green or beautifully silky foliage; +_Hypericum,_ Berberry, Hydrangea, Wormwood, _Adamia cyanea, +Viburnum,_ Elder, dwarf bamboo, etc. + +The climbing plants were still _Panax_ or _Aralia, Kadsura, Saurauja, +Hydrangea,_ Vines, _Smilax, Ampelopsis, Polygona,_ and, most +beautiful of all, _Stauntonia,_ with pendulous racemes of lilac +blossoms. Epiphytes were rarer, still I found white and purple +_Caeloynes,_ and other Orchids, and a most noble white Rhododendron, +whose truly enormous and delicious lemon-scented blossoms strewed the +ground. The trees were one half oaks, one quarter Magnolias, and +nearly another quarter laurels, amongst which grew Himalayan kinds of +birch, alder, maple, holly, bird-cherry, common cherry, and apple. +The absence of _Leguminosae was most remarkable, and the most +prominent botanical feature in the vegetation of this region: it is +too high for the tropical tribes of the warmer elevations, too low +for the Alpines, and probably too moist for those of temperate +regions; cool, equable, humid climates being generally unfavourable +to that order. Clematis was rare, and other _Ranunculaceae_ still +more so. _Cruciferae_ were absent, and, what was still more +remarkable, I found very few native species of grasses. Both _Poa +annua_ and white Dutch clover flourished where accidentally +disseminated, but only in artificially cleared spots. Of ferns I +collected about sixty species, chiefly of temperate genera. +The supremacy of this temperate region consists in the infinite +number of forest trees, in the absence (in the usual proportion, at +any rate) of such common orders as _Compositae, Leguminosae, +Cruciferae,_ and _Ranunculaceae,_ and of Grasses amongst +Monocotyledons, and in the predominance of the rarer and more local +families, as those of Rhododendron, Camellia, Magnolia, Ivy, Cornel, +Honeysuckle, Hydrangea, Begonia, and Epiphytic orchids. + +From Pacheem, the road runs in a northerly direction to Dorjiling, +still along the Balasun valley, till the saddle of the great mountain +Sinchul is crossed. This is narrow, stretching east and west, and +from it a spur projects northwards for five or six miles, amongst the +many mountains still intervening between it and the snows. +This saddle (alt. 7400 feet) crossed, one is fairly amongst the +mountains: the plains behind are cut off by it; and in front, the +snows may be seen when the weather is propitious. The valleys on this +side of the mountain run northwards, and discharge their streams into +great rivers, which, coming from the snow, wind amongst the hills, +and debouche into the Teesta, to the east, where it divides Sikkim +from Bhotan. + +Dorjiling station occupies a narrow ridge, which divides into two +spurs, descending steeply to the bed of the Great Rungeet river, up +whose course the eye is carried to the base of the great snowy +mountains. The ridge itself is very narrow at the top, along which +most of the houses are perched, while others occupy positions on its +flanks, where narrow locations on the east, and broader ones on the +west, are cleared from wood. The valleys on either side are at least +6000 feet deep, forest-clad to the bottom, with very few and small +level spots, and no absolute precipice; from their flanks project +innumerable little spurs, occupied by native clearings. + +My route lay along the east flank, overhanging the valley of the +Rungmo river. Looking east, the amphitheatre of hills from the ridge +I had crossed was very fine; enclosing an area some four miles across +and 4000 feet deep, clothed throughout with an impenetrable, dark +forest: there was not one clear patch except near the very bottom, +where were some scattered hamlets of two or three huts each. The rock +is everywhere near the surface, and the road has been formed by +blasting at very many places. A wooded slope descends suddenly from +the edge of the road, while, on the other hand, a bank rises abruptly +to the top of the ridge, alternately mossy, rocky, and clayey, and +presenting a good geological section, all the way along, of the +nucleus of Dorjiling spur, exposing broken masses of gneiss. As I +descended, I came upon the upper limit of the chesnut, a tree second +in abundance to the oak; gigantic, tall, and straight in the trunk. + +I arrived at Dorjiling on the 16th of April; a showery, cold month at +this elevation. I was so fortunate as to find Mr. Charles Barnes +(brother of my friend at Colgong), the sole tenant of a long, +cottage-like building, divided off into pairs of apartments, which +are hired by visitors. It is usual for Europeans to bring a full +establishment of servants (with bedding, etc.) to such stations, but +I had not done so, having been told that there was a furnished hotel +in Dorjiling; and I was, therefore, not a little indebted to Mr. +Barnes for his kind invitation to join his mess. As he was an active +mountaineer, we enjoyed many excursions together, in the two months +and a half during which we were companions. + +Dr. Campbell procured me several active native (Lepcha) lads as +collectors, at wages varying from eight to twenty shillings a month; +these either accompanied me on my excursions, or went by themselves +into the jungles to collect plants, which I occupied myself in +drawing, dissecting, and ticketing: while the preserving of them fell +to the Lepchas, who, after a little training, became, with constant +superintendence, good plant-driers. Even at this season (four weeks +before the setting in of the rains) the weather was very uncertain, +so that the papers had generally to be dried by the fire. + +The hill-station or Sanatarium of Dorjiling owes its origin (like +Simla, Mussooree, etc.) to the necessity that exists in India, of +providing places where the health of Europeans may be recruited by a +more temperate climate. Sikkim proved an eligible position for such +an establishment, owing to its proximity to Calcutta, which lies but +370 miles to the southward; whereas the north-west stations mentioned +above are upwards of a thousand miles from that city. Dorjiling ridge +varies in height from 6500 to 7500 feet above the level of the sea; +8000 feet being the elevation at which the mean temperature most +nearly coincides with that of London, viz., 50 degrees. + +Sikkim was, further, the only available spot for a Sanatarium +throughout the whole range of the Himalaya, east of the extreme +western frontier of Nepal; being a protected state, and owing no +allegiance, except to the British government; which, after the Rajah +had been driven from the country by the Ghorkas, in 1817, replaced +him on his throne, and guaranteed him the sovereignty. Our main +object in doing this was to retain Sikkim as a fender between Nepal +and Bhotan: and but for this policy, the aggressive Nepalese would, +long ere this, have possessed themselves of Sikkim, Bhotan, and the +whole Himalaya, eastwards to the borders of Burmah.* [Of such being +their wish the Nepalese have never made any secret, and they are said +to have asked permission from the British to march an army across +Sikkim for the purpose of conquering Bhotan, offering to become more +peaceable neighbours to us than the Bhotanese are. Such they would +doubtless have proved, but the Nepal frontier is considered broad +enough already.] + +From 1817 to 1828 no notice was taken of Sikkim, till a frontier +dispute occurred between the Lepchas and Nepalese, which was referred +(according to the terms of the treaty) to the British Government. +During the arrangement of this, Dorjiling was visited by a gentleman +of high scientific attainments, Mr. J. W. Grant, who pointed out its +eligibility as a site for a Sanatarium to Lord William Bentinck, then +Governor-General; dwelling especially upon its climate, proximity to +Calcutta, and accessibility; on its central position between Tibet, +Bhotan, Nepal, and British India; and on the good example a +peaceably-conducted and well-governed station would be to our +turbulent neighbours in that quarter. The suggestion was cordially +received, and Major Herbert (the late eminent Surveyor-General of +India) and Mr. Grant were employed to report further on the subject. + +The next step taken was that of requesting the Rajah to cede a tract +of country which should include Dorjiling, for an equivalent in money +or land. His first demand was unreasonable; but on further +consideration he surrendered Dorjiling unconditionally, and a sum of +300 pounds per annum was granted to him as an equivalent for what was +then a worthless uninhabited mountain. In 1840 Dr. Campbell was +removed from Nepal as superintendent of the new station, and was +entrusted with the charge of the political relations between the +British and Sikkim government. + +Once established, Dorjiling rapidly increased. Allotments of land +were purchased by Europeans for building dwelling-houses; barracks +and a bazaar were formed, with accommodation for invalid European +soldiers; a few official residents, civil and military, formed the +nucleus of a community, which was increased by retired officers and +their families, and by temporary visitors in search of health, or the +luxury of a cool climate and active exercise. + +For the first few years matters went on smoothly with the Rajah, +whose minister (or Dewan) was upright and intelligent: but the +latter, on his death, was succeeded by the present Dewan, a Tibetan, +and a relative of the Ranee (or Rajah's wife); a man unsurpassed for +insolence and avarice, whose aim was to monopolise the trade of the +country, and to enrich himself at its expense. Every obstacle was +thrown by him in the way of a good understanding between Sikkim and +the British government. British subjects were rigorously excluded +from Sikkim; every liberal offer for free trade and intercourse was +rejected, generally with insolence; merchandise was taxed, and +notorious offenders, refugees from the British territories, were +harboured; despatches were detained; and the Vakeels, or Rajah's +representatives, were chosen for their insolence and incapacity. +The conduct of the Dewan throughout was Indo-Chinese; assuming, +insolent, aggressive, never perpetrating open violence, but by petty +insults effectually preventing all good understanding. He was met by +neglect or forbearance on the part of the Calcutta government; and by +patience and passive resistance at Dorjiling. Our inaction and +long-suffering were taken for weakness, and our concessions for +timidity. Such has been our policy in China, Siam, and Burmah, and in +each instance the result has been the same. Had it been insisted that +the terms of the treaty should be strictly kept, and had the first +act of insolence been noticed, we should have maintained the best +relations with Sikkim, whose people and rulers (with the exception of +the Dewan and his faction) have proved themselves friendly +throughout, and most anxious for unrestricted communication. + +These political matters have not, however, prevented the rapid +increase of Dorjiling; the progress of which, during the two years I +spent in Sikkim, resembled that of an Australian colony, not only in +amount of building, but in the accession of native families from the +surrounding countries. There were not a hundred inhabitants under +British protection when the ground was transferred; there are now +four thousand. At the former period there was no trade whatever; +there is now a very considerable one, in musk, salt, gold-dust, +borax, soda, woollen cloths, and especially in poneys, of which the +Dewan in one year brought on his own account upwards of 50 into +Dorjiling.* [The Tibetan pony, though born and bred 10,000 to 14,000 +feet above the sea, is one of the most active and useful animals in +the plains of Bengal, powerful and hardy, and when well trained +early, docile, although by nature vicious and obstinate.] The trade +has been greatly increased by the annual fair which Dr. Campbell has +established at the foot of the hills, to which many thousands of +natives flock from all quarters, and which exercises a most +beneficial influence throughout the neighbouring territories. +At this, prizes (in medals, money, and kind) are given for +agricultural implements and produce, stock, etc., by the originator +and a few friends; a measure attended with eminent success. + +In estimating in a sanitory point of view the value of any +health-station, little reliance can be placed on the general +impressions of invalids, or even of residents; the opinion of each +varies with the nature and state of his complaint, if ill, or with +his idiosyncracy and disposition, if well. I have seen prejudiced +invalids rapidly recovering, in spite of themselves, and all the +while complaining in unmeasured terms of the climate of Dorjiling, +and abusing it as killing them. Others are known who languish under +the heat of the plains at one season, and the damp at another; and +who, though sickening and dying under its influence, yet consistently +praise a tropical climate to the last. The opinions of those who +resort to Dorjiling in health, differ equally; those of active minds +invariably thoroughly enjoy it, while the mere lounger or sportsman +mopes. The statistical tables afford conclusive proofs of the value +of the climate to Europeans suffering from acute diseases, and they +are corroborated by the returns of the medical officer in charge of +the station. With respect to its suitability to the European +constitution I feel satisfied, and that much saving of life, health, +and money would be effected were European troops drafted thither on +their arrival in Bengal, instead of being stationed in Calcutta, +exposed to disease, and temptation to those vices which prove fatal +to so many hundreds. This, I have been given to understand, was the +view originally taken by the Court of Directors, but it has never +been carried out. + +I believe that children's faces afford as good an index as any to the +healthfulness of a climate, and in no part of the world is there a +more active, rosy, and bright young community, than at Dorjiling. +It is incredible what a few weeks of that mountain air does for the +India-born children of European parents: they are taken there sickly, +pallid or yellow, soft and flabby, to become transformed into models +of rude health and activity. + +There are, however, disorders to which the climate (in common with +all damp ones) is not at all suited; such are especially dysentery, +bowel complaints, and liver complaints of long standing; which are +not benefited by a residence on these hills, though how much worse +they might have become in the plains is not shown. I cannot hear that +the climate aggravates, but it certainly does not remove them. +Whoever is suffering from the debilitating effects of any of the +multifarious acute maladies of the plains, finds instant relief, and +acquires a stock of health that enables him to resist fresh attacks, +under circumstances similar to those which before engendered them. + +Natives of the low country, and especially Bengalees, are far from +enjoying the climate as Europeans do, being liable to sharp attacks +of fever and ague, from which the poorly clad natives are not exempt. +It is, however, difficult to estimate the effects of exposure upon +the Bengalees, who sleep on the bare and often damp ground, and +adhere, with characteristic prejudice, to the attire of a torrid +climate, and to a vegetable diet, under skies to which these are +least of all adapted. + +It must not be supposed that Europeans who have resided in the plains +can, on their first arrival, expose themselves with impunity to the +cold of these elevations; this was shown in the winter of 1848 and +1849, when troops brought up to Dorjiling were cantoned in +newly-built dwellings, on a high exposed ridge 8000 feet above the +sea, and lay, insufficiently protected, on a floor of loosely laid +planks, exposed to the cold wind, when the ground without was covered +with snow. Rheumatisms, sharp febrile attacks, and dysenteries +ensued, which were attributed in the public prints to the unhealthy +nature of the climate of Dorjiling. + +The following summary of hospital admissions affords the best test of +the healthiness of the climate, embracing, as the period does, the +three most fatal months to European troops in India. Out of a +detachment (105 strong) of H.M. 80th Regiment stationed at Dorjiling, +in the seven months from January to July inclusive, there were +sixty-four admissions to the hospital, or, on the average, 4-1/3 per +cent. per month; and only two deaths, both of dysentery. Many of +these men had suffered frequently in the plains from acute dysentery +and hepatic affections, and many others had aggravated these +complaints by excessive drinking, and two were cases of delirium +tremens. During the same period, the number of entries at Calcutta or +Dinapore would probably have more than trebled this. + + CHAPTER V. + +View from Mr. Hodgson's of range of snowy mountains -- Their extent +and elevation -- Delusive appearance of elevation -- Sinchul, view +from and vegetation of -- Chumulari -- Magnolias, white and purple -- +Rhododendron Dalhousiae, arboreum and argenteum -- Natives of +Dorjiling -- Lepchas, origin, tradition of flood, morals, dress, +arms, ornaments, diet -- cups, origin and value -- Marriages -- +Diseases -- Burial -- Worship and religion -- Bijooas -- Kampa Rong, +or Arratt -- Limboos, origin, habits, language, etc. -- Moormis -- +Magras -- Mechis -- Comparison of customs with those of the natives +of Assam, Khasia, etc. + +The summer, or rainy season of 1848, was passed at or near Dorjiling, +during which period I chiefly occupied myself in forming collections, +and in taking meteorological observations. I resided at Mr Hodgson's +for the greater part of the time, in consequence of his having given +me a hospitable invitation to consider his house my home. The view +from his windows is one quite unparalleled for the scenery it +embraces, commanding confessedly the grandest known landscape of +snowy mountains in the Himalaya, and hence in the world.* [For an +account of the geography of these regions, and the relation of the +Sikkim Himalaya to Tibet, etc., see Appendix.] Kinchinjunga +(forty-five miles distant) is the prominent object, rising 21,000 +feet above the level of the observer out of a sea of intervening +wooded hills; whilst, on a line with its snows, the eye descends +below the horizon, to a narrow gulf 7000 feet deep in the mountains, +where the Great Rungeet, white with foam, threads a tropical forest +with a silver line. + +To the north-west towards Nepal, the snowy peaks of Kubra and Junnoo +(respectively 24,005 feet and 25,312 feet) rise over the shoulder of +Singalelah; whilst eastward the snowy mountains appear to form an +unbroken range, trending north-east to the great mass of Donkia +(23,176 feet) and thence south-east by the fingered peaks of Tunkola +and the silver cone of Chola, (17,320 feet) gradually sinking into +the Bhotan mountains at Gipmoochi (14,509 feet). + +The most eloquent descriptions I have read fail to convey to my +mind's eye the forms and colours of snowy mountains, or to my +imagination the sensations and impressions that rivet my attention to +these sublime phenomena when they are present in reality; and I shall +not therefore obtrude any attempt of the kind upon my reader. +The latter has probably seen the Swiss Alps, which, though barely +possessing half the sublimity, extent, or height of the Himalaya, are +yet far more beautiful. In either case he is struck with the +precision and sharpness of their outlines, and still more with the +wonderful play of colours on their snowy flanks, from the glowing +hues reflected in orange, gold and ruby, from clouds illumined by the +sinking or rising sun, to the ghastly pallor that succeeds with +twilight, when the red seems to give place to its complementary +colour green. Such dissolving-views elude all attempts at +description, they are far too aerial to be chained to the memory, and +fade from it so fast as to be gazed upon day after day, with +undiminished admiration and pleasure, long after the mountains +themselves have lost their sublimity and apparent height. + +The actual extent of the snowy range seen from Mr. Hodgson's windows +is comprised within an arc of 80 degrees (from north 30 degrees west +to north 50 degrees east), or nearly a quarter of the horizon, along +which the perpetual snow forms an unbroken girdle or crest of frosted +silver; and in winter, when the mountains are covered down to 8000 +feet, this white ridge stretches uninterruptedly for more than 160 +degrees. No known view is to be compared with this in extent, when +the proximity and height of the mountains are considered; for within +the 80 degrees above mentioned more than twelve peaks rise above +20,000 feet, and there are none below 15,000 feet, while Kinchin is +28,178, and seven others above 22,000. The nearest perpetual snow is +on Nursing, a beautifully sharp conical peak 19,139 feet high, and +thirty-two miles distant; the most remote mountain seen is Donkia, +23,176 feet high, and seventy-three miles distant; whilst Kinchin, +which forms the principal mass both for height and bulk, is exactly +forty-five miles distant. + +On first viewing this glorious panorama, the impression produced on +the imagination by their prodigious elevation is, that the peaks +tower in the air and pierce the clouds, and such are the terms +generally used in descriptions of similar alpine scenery; but the +observer, if he look again, will find that even the most stupendous +occupy a very low position on the horizon, the top of Kinchin itself +measuring only 4 degrees 31 minutes above the level of the observer! +Donkia again, which is 23,176 feet above the sea, or about 15,700 +above Mr. Hodgson's, rises only 1 degrees 55 minutes above the +horizon; an angle which is quite inappreciable to the eye, when +unaided by instruments.* [These are the apparent angles which I took +from Mr. Hodgson's house (alt. 7300 feet) with an excellent +theodolite, no deduction being made for refraction.] + +This view may be extended a little by ascending Sinchul, which rises +a thousand feet above the elevation of Mr. Hodgson's house, and is a +few miles south-east of Dorjiling: from its summit Chumulari (23,929 +feet) is seen to the north-east, at eighty-four miles distance, +rearing its head as a great rounded mass over the snowy Chola range, +out of which it appears to rise, although in reality lying forty +miles beyond;--so deceptive is the perspective of snowy mountains. +To the north-west again, at upwards of 100 miles distance, a +beautiful group of snowy mountains rises above the black Singalelah +range, the chief being, perhaps, as high as Kinchinjunga, from which +it is fully eighty miles distant to the westward; and between them no +mountain of considerable altitude intervenes; the Nepalese Himalaya +in that direction sinking remarkably towards the Arun river, which +there enters Nepal from Tibet. + +The top of Sinchul is a favourite excursion from Dorjiling, being +very easy of access, and the path abounding in rare and beautiful +plants, and passing through magnificent forests of oak, magnolia, and +rhododendron; while the summit, besides embracing this splendid view +of the snowy range over the Dorjiling spur in the foreground, +commands also the plains of India, with the courses of the Teesta, +Mahanuddee, Balasun and Mechi rivers. In the months of April and May, +when the magnolias and rhododendrons are in blossom, the gorgeous +vegetation is, in some respects, not to be surpassed by anything in +the tropics; but the effect is much marred by the prevailing gloom of +the weather. The white-flowered magnolia (_M. excelsa,_ Wall,) forms +a predominant tree at 7000 to 8000 feet; and in 1848 it blossomed so +profusely, that the forests on the broad flanks of Sinchul, and other +mountains of that elevation, appeared as if sprinkled with snow. +The purple-flowered kind again (_M. Campbellii_) hardly occurs below +8000 feet, and forms an immense, but very ugly, black-barked, +sparingly branched tree, leafless in winter and also during the +flowering season, when it puts forth from the ends of its branches +great rose-purple cup-shaped flowers, whose fleshy petals strew the +ground. On its branches, and on those of oaks and laurels, +_Rhododendron Dalhousiae_ grows epiphytically, a slender shrub, +bearing from three to six white lemon-scented bells, four and a half +inches long and as many broad, at the end of each branch. In the same +woods the scarlet rhododendron (_R. arboreum_) is very scarce, and is +outvied by the great _R. argenteum,_ which grows as a tree forty feet +high, with magnificent leaves twelve to fifteen inches long, deep +green, wrinkled above and silvery below, while the flowers are as +large as those of _R. Dalhousiae,_ and grow more in a cluster. I know +nothing of the kind that exceeds in beauty the flowering branch of +_R. argenteum,_ with its wide spreading foliage and glorious mass +of flowers. + +Oaks, laurels, maples, birch, chesnut, hydrangea, a species of fig +(which is found on the very summit), and three Chinese and Japanese +genera, are the principal features of the forest; the common bushes +being _Aucuba, Skimmia,_ and the curious _Helwingia,_ which bears +little clusters of flowers on the centre of the leaf, like +butcher's-broom. In spring immense broad-leaved arums spring up, with +green or purple-striped hoods, that end in tail-like threads, +eighteen inches long, which lie along the ground; and there are +various kinds of _Convallaria, Paris, Begonia,_ and other beautiful +flowering herbs. Nearly thirty ferns may be gathered on this +excursion, including many of great beauty and rarity, but the +tree-fern does not ascend so high. Grasses are very rare in these +woods, excepting the dwarf bamboo, now cultivated in the open air +in England. + +Before proceeding to narrate my different expeditions into Sikkim and +Nepal from Dorjiling, I shall give a sketch of the different peoples +and races composing the heterogeneous population of Sikkim and the +neighbouring mountains. + +The Lepcha is the aboriginal inhabitant of Sikkim, and the prominent +character in Dorjiling, where he undertakes all sorts of out-door +employment. The race to which he belongs is a very singular one; +markedly Mongolian in features, and a good deal too, by imitation, in +habit; still he differs from his Tibetan prototype, though not so +decidedly as from the Nepalese and Bhotanese, between whom he is +hemmed into a narrow tract of mountain country, barely 60 miles in +breadth. The Lepchas possess a tradition of the flood, during which a +couple escaped to the top of a mountain (Tendong) near Dorjiling. +The earliest traditions which they have of their history date no +further back than some three hundred years, when they describe +themselves as having been long-haired, half-clad savages. At about +that period they were visited by Tibetans, who introduced Boodh +worship, the platting of their hair into pig-tails, and very many of +their own customs. Their physiognomy is however so Tibetan in its +character, that it cannot be supposed that this was their earliest +intercourse with the trans-nivean races: whether they may have +wandered from beyond the snows before the spread of Boodhism and its +civilisation, or whether they are a cross between the Tamulian of +India and the Tibetan, has not been decided. Their language, though +radically identical with Tibetan, differs from it in many important +particulars. They, or at least some of their tribes, call themselves +Rong, and Arratt, and their country Dijong: they once possessed a +great part of East Nepal, as far west as the Tambur river, and at a +still earlier period they penetrated as far west as the Arun river. + +An attentive examination of the Lepcha in one respect entirely +contradicts our preconceived notions of a mountaineer, as he is +timid, peaceful, and no brawler; qualities which are all the more +remarkable from contrasting so strongly with those of his neighbours +to the east and west: of whom the Ghorkas are brave and warlike to a +proverb, and the Bhotanese quarrelsome, cowardly, and cruel. A group +of Lepchas is exceedingly picturesque. They are of short +stature--four feet eight inches to five feet--rather broad in the +chest, and with muscular arms, but small hands and slender wrists.* +[I have seldom been able to insert my own wrist (which is smaller +than the average) into the wooden guard which the Lepcha wears on his +left, as a protection against the bow-string: it is a curved ring of +wood with an opening at one side, through which, by a little +stretching, the wrist is inserted.] The face is broad, flat, and of +eminently Tartar character, flat-nosed and oblique-eyed, with no +beard, and little moustache; the complexion is sallow, or often a +clear olive; the hair is collected into an immense tail, plaited flat +or round. The lower limbs are powerfully developed, befitting genuine +mountaineers: the feet are small. Though never really handsome, and +very womanish in the cast of countenance, they have invariably a +mild, frank, and even engaging expression, which I have in vain +sought to analyse, and which is perhaps due more to the absence of +anything unpleasing, than to the presence of direct grace or beauty. +In like manner, the girls are often very engaging to look upon, +though without one good feature they are all smiles and good-nature; +and the children are frank, lively, laughing urchins. The old women +are thorough hags. Indolence, when left to themselves, is their +besetting sin; they detest any fixed employment, and their foulness +of person and garments renders them disagreeable inmates: in this +rainy climate they are supportable out of doors. Though fond of +bathing when they come to a stream in hot weather, and expert, even +admirable swimmers, these people never take to the water for the +purpose of ablution. In disposition they are amiable and obliging, +frank, humorous, and polite, without the servility of the Hindoos; and +their address is free and unrestrained. Their intercourse with one +another and with Europeans is scrupulously honest; a present is +divided equally amongst many, without a syllable of discontent or +grudging look or word: each, on receiving his share, coming up and +giving the donor a brusque bow and thanks. They have learnt to +overcharge already, and use extortion in dealing, as is the custom +with the people of the plains; but it is clumsily done, and never +accompanied with the grasping air and insufferable whine of the +latter. They are constantly armed with a long, heavy, straight knife,* +[It is called "Ban," and serves equally for plough, toothpick, +table-knife, hatchet, hammer, and sword.] but never draw it on one +another: family and political feuds are alike unheard of amongst them. + +Illustration -- LEPCHA GIRL AND BHOODIST LAMA. + +The Lepcha is in morals far superior to his Tibet and Bhotan +neighbours, polyandry being unknown, and polygamy rare. This is no +doubt greatly due to the conventual system not being carried to such +an excess as in Bhotan, where the ties of relationship even +are disregarded. + +Like the New Zealander, Tasmanian, Fuegian, and natives of other +climates, which, though cold, are moist and equable, the Lepcha's +dress is very scanty, and when we are wearing woollen under-garments +and hose, he is content with one cotton vesture, which is loosely +thrown round the body, leaving one or both arms free; it reaches to +the knee, and is gathered round the waist: its fabric is close, the +ground colour white, ornamented with longitudinal blue stripes, two +or three fingers broad, prettily worked with red and white. When new +and clean, this garb is remarkably handsome and gay, but not showy. +In cold weather an upper garment with loose sleeves is added. A long +knife, with a common wooden handle, hangs by the side, stuck in a +sheath; he has often also a quiver of poisoned arrows and a bamboo* +[The bamboo, of which the quiver is made, is thin and light: it is +brought from Assam, and called Tulda, or Dulwa, by the Bengalees.] +bow across his back. On his right wrist is a curious wooden guard for +the bowstring; and a little pouch, containing aconite poison and a +few common implements, is suspended to his girdle. A hat he seldom +wears, and when he does, it is often extravagantly broad and +flat-brimmed, with a small hemispherical crown. It is made of leaves +of _Scitamineae,_ between two thin plates of bamboo-work, clumsy and +heavy; this is generally used in the rainy weather, while in the dry +a conical one is worn, also of platted slips of bamboo, with broad +flakes of talc between the layers, and a peacock's feather at the +side. The umbrella consists of a large hood, much like the ancient +boat called a coracle, which being placed over the head reaches to +the thighs behind. It is made of platted bamboo, enclosing broad +leaves of _Phrynium._ A group of Lepchas with these on, running along +in the pelting rain, are very droll figures; they look like snails +with their shells on their backs. All the Lepchas are fond of +ornaments, wearing silver hoops in their ears, necklaces made of +cornelian, amber, and turquoise, brought from Tibet, and pearls and +corals from the south, with curious silver and golden charm-boxes or +amulets attached to their necks or arms. These are of Tibetan +workmanship, and often of great value: they contain little idols, +charms and written prayers, or the bones, hair, or nail-parings of a +Lama: some are of great beauty, and highly ornamented. In these +decorations, and in their hair, they take some pride, the ladies +frequently dressing the latter for the gentlemen: thus one may often +see, the last thing at night, a damsel of discreet port, demurely go +behind a young man, unplait his pig-tail, teaze the hair, thin it of +some of its lively inmates, braid it up for him, and retire. +The women always wear two braided pig-tails, and it is by this they +are most readily distinguished from their effeminate-looking +partners, who wear only one.* [Ermann (Travels in Siberia, ii. p. +204) mentions the Buraet women as wearing two tails, and fillets with +jewels, and the men as having one queue only.] When in full dress, +the woman's costume is extremely ornamental and picturesque; besides +the shirt and petticoat she wears a small sleeveless woollen cloak, +of gay pattern, usually covered with crosses, and fastened in front +by a girdle of silver chains. Her neck is loaded with silver chains, +amber necklaces, etc., and her head adorned with a coronet of scarlet +cloth, studded with seed-pearls, jewels, glass beads, etc. The common +dress is a long robe of indi, a cloth of coarse silk, spun from the +cocoon of a large caterpillar that is found wild at the foot of the +hills, and is also cultivated: it feeds on many different leaves, Sal +(_Shorea_), castor-oil, etc. + +In diet, they are gross feeders;* [Dr. Campbell's definition of the +Lepcha's _Flora cibaria,_ is, that he eats, or must have eaten, +everything soft enough to chew; for, as he knows whatever is +poisonous, he must have tried all; his knowledge being wholly +empirical.] rice, however, forming their chief sustenance; it is +grown without irrigation, and produces a large, flat, coarse grain, +which becomes gelatinous, and often pink, when cooked. Pork is a +staple dish: and they also eat elephant, and all kinds of animal +food. When travelling, they live on whatever they can find, whether +animal or vegetable. Fern-tops, roots of _Scitamineae,_ and their +flower-buds, various leaves (it is difficult to say what not), and +fungi, are chopped up, fried with a little oil, and eaten. +Their cooking is coarse and dirty. Salt is costly, but prized; pawn +(Betel pepper) is never eaten. Tobacco they are too poor to buy, and +too indolent to grow and cure. Spices, oil, etc. are relished. + +They drink out of little wooden cups, turned from knots of maple, or +other woods; these are very curious on several accounts; they are +very pretty, often polished, and mounted with silver. Some are +supposed to be antidotes against poison, and hence fetch an enormous +price; they are of a peculiar wood, rarer and paler-coloured. I have +paid a guinea for one such, hardly different from the common sort, +which cost but 4d. or 6d. MM. Huc and Gabet graphically allude to +this circumstance, when wishing to purchase cups at Lhassa, where +their price is higher, as they are all imported from the Himalaya. +The knots from which they are formed, are produced on the roots of +oaks, maples, and other mountain forest trees, by a parasitical +plant, known to botanists, as _Balanophora_. + +Their intoxicating drink, which seems more to excite than to debauch +the mind, is partially fermented. Murwa grain (_Eleusine Coracana_). +Spirits are rather too strong to be relished raw, and when a glass of +wine is given to one of a party, he sips it, and hands it round to +all the rest. A long bamboo flute, with four or six burnt holes far +below the month-hole, is the only musical instrument I have seen in +use among them. When travelling, and the fatigues of the day are +over, the Lepchas will sit for hours chatting, telling stories, +singing in a monotonous tone, or blowing this flute. I have often +listened with real pleasure to the simple music of this rude +instrument; its low and sweet tones are singularly Aeolian, as are +the airs usually played, which fall by octaves: it seems to harmonize +with the solitude of their primaeval forests, and he must have a dull +ear who cannot draw from it the indication of a contented mind, +whether he may relish its soft musical notes or not. Though always +equipped for the chase, I fancy the Lepcha is no great sportsman; +there is little to be pursued in this region, and he is not driven by +necessity to follow what there is. + +Their marriages are contracted in childhood, and the wife purchased +by money, or by service rendered to the future father-in-law, the +parties being often united before the woman leaves her parents' roof, +in cases where the payment is not forthcoming, and the bridegroom +prefers giving his and his wife's labour to the father for a stated +period in lieu. On the time of service expiring, or the money being +paid up, the marriage is publicly celebrated by feasting and riot. +The females are generally chaste, and the marriage-tie is strictly +kept, its violation being heavily punished by divorce, beating, +slavery, etc. In cases of intermarriage with foreigners, the children +belong to the father's country. All the labours of the house, the +field, and march, devolve on the women and children, or slaves if +they have them. + +Small-pox is dreaded, and infected persons often cruelly shunned: a +suspicion of this or of cholera frequently emptying a village or town +in a night. Vaccination has been introduced by Dr. Pearson, and it is +much practised by Dr. Campbell; it being eagerly sought. Cholera is +scarcely known at Dorjiling, and when it has been imported thither +has never spread. Disease is very rare amongst the Lepchas; and +ophthalmic, elephantiasis, and leprosy, the scourges of hot climates, +are rarely known. Goitre prevails,* [May not the use of the head +instead of the shoulder-strap in carrying loads be a predisposing +cause of goitre, by inducing congestion of the laryngeal vessels? +The Lepcha is certainly far more free from this disease than any of +the tribes of E. Nepal I have mixed with, and he is both more idle +and less addicted to the head-strap as a porter. I have seen it to be +almost universal in some villages of Bhoteeas, where the head-strap +alone is used in carrying in both summer and winter crops; as also +amongst the salt-traders, or rather those families who carry the salt +from the passes to the Nepalese villages, and who very frequently +have no shoulder-straps, but invariably head-bands. I am far from +attributing all goitre, even in the mountains, to this practice, but +I think it is proved, that the disease is most prevalent in the +mountainous regions of both the old and new world, and that in these +the practice of supporting enormous loads by the cervical muscles is +frequent. It is also found in the Himalayan sheep and goats which +accompany the salt-traders, and whose loads are supported in +ascending, by a band passing under the throat.] though not so +conspicuously as amongst. Bhoteeas, Bhotanese, and others. Rheumatism +is frequent, and intermittent fevers, with ague; also violent and +often fatal remittents, almost invariably induced by sleeping in the +hot valleys, especially at the beginning and end of the rains. +The European complaints of liver and bowel disease are all but +unknown. Death is regarded with horror. The dead are burnt or buried, +sometimes both; much depending on custom and position. Omens are +sought in the entrails of fowls, etc., and other vestiges of their +savage origin are still preserved, though now gradually disappearing. + +The Lepchas profess no religion, though acknowledging the existence +of good and bad spirits. To the good they pay no heed; "Why should +we?" they say, "the good spirits do us no harm; the evil spirits, who +dwell in every rock, grove, and mountain, are constantly at mischief, +and to them we must pray, for they hurt us." Every tribe has a +priest-doctor; he neither knows nor attempts to practise the healing +art, but is a pure exorcist; all bodily ailments being deemed the +operations of devils, who are cast out by prayers and invocations. +Still they acknowledge the Lamas to be very holy men, and were the +latter only moderately active, they would soon convert all the +Lepchas. Their priests are called "Bijooas": they profess mendicancy, +and seem intermediate between the begging friars of Tibet, whose +dress and attributes they assume, and the exorcists of the aboriginal +Lepchas: they sing, dance (masked and draped like harlequins), beg, +bless, curse, and are merry mountebanks; those that affect more of +the Lama Boodhist carry the "Mani," or revolving praying machine, and +wear rosaries and amulets; others again are all tatters and rags. +They are often employed to carry messages, and to transact little +knaveries. The natives stand in some awe of them, and being besides +of a generous disposition, keep the wallet of the Bijooa always full. + +Such are some of the prominent features of this people, who inhabit +the sub-Himalayas, between the Nepalese and Bhotan frontiers, at +elevations of 3000 to 6000 feet. In their relations with us, they are +conspicuous for their honesty, their power as carriers and +mountaineers, and their skill as woodsmen; for they build a +waterproof house with a thatch of banana leaves in the lower, or of +bamboo in the elevated regions, and equip it with a table and +bedsteads for three persons, in an hour, using no implement but their +heavy knife. Kindness and good humour soon attach them to your person +and service. A gloomy-tempered or morose master they avoid, an unkind +one they flee. If they serve a good hills-man like themselves, they +will follow him with alacrity, sleep on the cold, bleak mountain +exposed to the pitiless rain, without a murmur, lay down the heavy +burden to carry their master over a stream, or give him a helping +hand up a rock or precipice--do anything, in short, but encounter a +foe, for I believe the Lepcha to be a veritable coward.* [Yet, during +the Ghorka war, they displayed many instances of courage: when so +hard pressed, however, that there was little choice of evils.] It is +well, perhaps, he is so: for if a race, numerically so weak, were to +embroil itself by resenting the injuries of the warlike Ghorkas, or +dark Bhotanese, the folly would soon lead to destruction. + +Before leaving the Lepchas, it may be worth mentioning that the +northern parts of the country, towards the Tibet frontier, are +inhabited by Sikkim Bhoteeas* [Bhote is the general name for Tibet +(not Bhotan), and Kumpa is a large province, or district, in that +country. The Bhotanese, natives of Bhotan, or of the Dhurma country, +are called Dhurma people, in allusion to their spiritual chief, the +Dhurma Rajah. They are a darker and more powerful race, rude, +turbulent, and Tibetan in language and religion, with the worst +features of those people exaggerated. The various races of Nepal are +too numerous to be alluded to here: they are all described in various +papers by Mr. Hodgson, in the "Journal of the Asiatic Society of +Bengal." The Dhurma people are numerous at Dorjiling; they are often +runaways, but invariably prove more industrious settlers than the +Lepchas. In the Himalaya the name Bhotan is unknown amongst the +Tibetans; it signifies literally (according to Mr. Hodgson) the end +of Bhote, or Tibet, being the eastern extreme of that country. +The Lepchas designate Bhotan as Ayeu, or Aieu, as do often the +Bhotanese themselves. Sikkim, again, is called Lhop, or Lho', by the +Lepchas and Bhotanese.] (or Kumpas), a mixed race calling themselves +Kumpa Rong, or Kumpa Lepchas; but they are emigrants from Tibet, +having come with the first rajah of Sikkim. These people are more +turbulent and bolder than the Lepchas, and retain much of their +Tibetan character, and even of that of the very province from which +they came; which is north-east of Lhassa, and inhabited by robbers. +All the accounts I have received of it agree with those given by +MM. Huc and Gabet. + +Next to the Lepchas, the most numerous tribe in Sikkim is that of the +Limboos (called "Chung" by the Lepchas); they abound also in East +Nepal, which they once ruled, inhabiting elevations from 2000 feet to +5000 feet. They are Boodhists, and though not divided into castes, +belong to several tribes. All consider themselves as the earliest +inhabitants of the Tambur Valley, though they have a tradition of +having originally emigrated from Tibet, which their Tartar +countenance confirms. They are more slender and sinewy than the +Lepchas, and neither plait their hair nor wear ornaments; instead of +the ban they use the Nepal curved knife, called "cookree," while for +the striped kirtle of the Lepcha are substituted loose cotton +trousers and a tight jacket; a sash is worn round the middle, and on +the head a small cotton cap. When they ruled over East Nepal, their +system was feudal; and on their uniting against the Nepalese, they +were with difficulty dislodged from their strongholds. They are said +to be equally brave and cruel in battle, putting the old and weak to +the sword, carrying the younger to slavery, and killing on the march +such captives as are unable to proceed. Many enlist at Dorjiling, +which the Lepchas never do; and the rajah of Nepal employs them in +his army, where, however, they seldom obtain promotion, this being +reserved for soldiers of Hindoo tribes. Latterly Jung Bahadur levied +a force of 6000 of them, who were cantoned at Katmandoo, where the +cholera breaking out, carried off some hundreds, causing many +families who dreaded conscription to flock to Dorjiling. Their habits +are so similar to those of the Lepchas, that they constantly +intermarry. They mourn, burn, and bury their dead, raising a mound +over the corpse, erecting a headstone, and surrounding the grave with +a little paling of sticks; they then scatter eggs and pebbles over +the ground. In these offices the Bijooa of the Lepchas is employed, +but the Limboo has also priests of his own, called "Phedangbos," who +belong to rather a higher order than the Bijooas. They officiate at +marriages, when a cock is put into the bridegroom's hands, and a hen +into those of the bride; the Phedangbo then cuts off the birds' +heads, when the blood is caught on a plantain leaf, and runs into +pools from which omens are drawn. At death, guns are fired, to +announce to the gods the departure of the spirit; of these there are +many, having one supreme head, and to them offerings and sacrifices +are made. They do not believe in metempsychosis. + +The Limboo language is totally different from the Lepcha; with less +of the _z_ in it, and more labials and palatals, hence more pleasing. +Its affinities I do not know; it has no peculiar written character, +the Lepcha or Nagri being used. Dr. Campbell, from whom I have, +derived most of my information respecting these people, was +informed,* [See "Dorjiling Guide," p. 89. Calcutta, 1845.] on good +authority, that they had once a written language, now lost; and that +it was compounded from many others by a sage of antiquity. The same +authority stated that their Lepcha name "Chung" is a corruption of +that of their place of residence; possibly the "Tsang" province +of Tibet. + +The Moormis are the only other native tribe remaining in any numbers +in Sikkim, except the Tibetans of the loftier mountains (whom I shall +mention at a future period), and the Mechis of the pestilential +Terai, the forests of which they never leave. The Moormis are a +scattered people, respecting whom I have no information, except from +the authority quoted above. They are of Tibetan origin, and called +"Nishung," from being composed of two branches, respectively from the +districts of Nimo and Shung, both on the road between Sikkim and +Lhassa. They are now most frequent in central and eastern Nepal, and +are a pastoral and agricultural people, inhabiting elevations of 4000 +to 6000 feet, and living in stone houses, thatched with grass. +They are a large, powerful, and active race, grave, very plain in +features, with little hair on the face. Both their language and +religion are purely Tibetan. + +The Magras, a tribe now confined to Nepal west of the Arun, are +aborigines of Sikkim, whence they were driven by the Lepchas westward +into the country of the Limboos, and by these latter further west +still. They are said to have been savages, and not of Tibetan origin, +and are now converted to Hindooism. A somewhat mythical account of a +wild people still inhabiting the Sikkim mountains, will be alluded +to elsewhere. + +It is curious to observe that these mountains do not appear to have +afforded refuge to the Tamulian* [The Tamulians are the Coles, +Dangas, etc., of the mountains of Central India and the peninsula, +who retired to mountain fastnesses, on the invasion of their country +by the Indo-Germanic conquerors, who are now represented by the +Hindoos.] aborigines of India proper; all the Himalayan tribes of +Sikkim being markedly Mongolian in origin. It does not, however, +follow that they are all of Tibetan extraction; perhaps, indeed, none +but the Moormis are so. The Mechi of the Terai is decidedly +Indo-Chinese, and of the same stock as the savage races of Assam, the +north-east and east frontier of Bengal, Arracan, Burmah, etc. Both +Lepchas and Limboos had, before the introduction of Lama Boodhism +from Tibet, many features in common with the natives of Arracan, +especially in their creed, sacrifices, faith in omens, worship of +many spirits, absence of idols, and of the doctrine of +metempsychosis. Some of their customs, too, are the same; the form of +their houses and of some of their implements, their striped garments, +their constant and, dexterous use of the bamboo for all utensils, +their practice of night-attacks in war, of using poisoned arrows only +in the chase, and that of planting "crow-feet" of sharp bamboo stakes +along the paths an enemy is expected to follow. Such are but a few +out of many points of resemblance, most of which struck me when +reading Lieutenant Phayre's account of Arracan,* ["Journal of the +Asiatic Society of Bengal."] and when travelling in the districts of +Khasia and Cachar. + +The laws affecting the distribution of plants, and the lower animals, +materially influence the migrations of man also; and as the botany, +zoology, and climate of the Malayan and Siamese peninsula advance far +westwards into India, along the foot of the Himalaya, so do also the +varieties of the human race. These features are most conspicuously +displayed in the natives of Assam, on both sides of the Burrampooter, +as far as the great bend of that river, beyond which they gradually +disappear; and none of the Himalayan tribes east of that point +practise the bloody and brutal rites in war that prevail amongst the +Cookies, Khasias, Garrows, and other Indo-Chinese tribes of the +mountain forests of Assam, Eastern Bengal, and the Malay peninsula. + +I have not alluded to that evidence of the extraction of the Sikkim +races, which is to be derived from their languages, and from which we +may hope for a clue to their origin; the subject is at present under +discussion, and involved in much obscurity. + +That six or seven different tribes, without any feudal system or +coercive head, with different languages and customs, should dwell in +close proximity and in peace and unity, within the confined territory +of Sikkim, even for a limited period, is an anomaly; the more +especially when it is considered that except for a tincture of the +Boodhist religion among some few of the people, they are all but +savages, as low in the scale of intellect as the New Zealander or the +Tahitian, and beneath those races in ingenuity and skill as +craftsmen. Wars have been waged amongst them, but they were neither +sanguinary nor destructive, and the fact remains no less remarkable, +that at the period of our occupying Dorjiling, friendship and +unanimity existed amongst all these tribes; from the Tibetan at +14,000 feet, to the Mechi of the plains; under a sovereign whose +temporal power was wholly unsupported by even the semblance of arms, +and whose spiritual supremacy was acknowledged by very few. + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +Excursion from Dorjiling to Great Rungeet -- Zones of vegetation -- +Tree-ferns -- Palms, upper limit of -- Leebong, tea plantations -- +Ging -- Boodhist remains -- Tropical vegetation -- Pines -- Lepcha +clearances -- Forest fires -- Boodhist monuments -- Fig -- Cane +bridge and raft over Rungeet -- Sago-palm -- India-rubber -- Yel Pote +-- Butterflies and other insects -- Snakes -- Camp -- Temperature and +humidity of atmosphere -- Junction of Teesta and Rungeet -- Return to +Dorjiling -- Tonglo, excursion to -- Bamboo flowering -- Oaks -- +Gordonia -- Maize, hermaphrodite flowered -- Figs -- Nettles -- +Peepsa -- Simonbong, cultivation at -- European fruits at Dorjiling +-- Plains of India. + + A very favourite and interesting excursion from Dorjiling is to the +cane bridge over the Great Rungeet river, 6000 feet below the +station. To this an excellent road has been cut, by which the whole +descent of six miles, as the crow flies, is easily performed on +pony-back; the road distance being only eleven miles. The scenery is, +of course, of a totally different description from that of Sinchul, +or even of the foot of the hills, being that of a deep +mountain-valley. I several times made this trip; on the excursion +about to be described, and in which I was accompanied by Mr. Barnes, +I followed the Great Rungeet to the Teesta, into which it flows. + +In descending from Dorjiling, the zones of vegetation are well marked +between 6000 and 7000 feet by--1. The oak, chesnut, and Magnolias, +the main features from 7000 to 10,000 feet.--2. Immediately below +6,500 feet, the tree-fern appears (_Alsophila gigantea,_ Wall.), a +widely-distributed plant, common to the Himalaya, from Nepal eastward +to the Malayan peninsula, Java, and Ceylon.--3. Of palms, a species +of _Calamus,_ and _Plectocomia,_ the "Rhenoul" of the Lepchas. The +latter, though not a very large plant, climbs lofty trees, and +extends about 40 yards through the forest; 6,500 feet is the upper +limit of palms in the Sikkim Himalaya, the Rhenoul alone attaining +this elevation.*--4. [Four other _Calami_ range between 1000 and 6000 +feet on the outer hills, some of them being found forty miles distant +from the plains of India. The other palms of Sikkim are, "Simong" +(_Caryota urens_); it is rare, and ascends to nearly 5000 feet. +_Phoenix_ (probably _P. acaulis,_ Buch.), a small, stemless species, +which grows on the driest soil in the deep valleys; it is the +"Schaap" of the Lepchas, who eat the young seeds, and use the +feathery fronds as screens in hunting. _Wallichia oblongifolia,_ the +"Ooh" of the Lepchas, who make no use of it; Dr. Campbell and myself, +however, found that it is an admirable fodder for horses, who prefer +it to any other green food to be had in these mountains. _Areca +gracilis_ and _Licuala peltata_ are the only other palms in Sikkim; +but _Cycas pectinata,_ with the India-rubber fig, occurs in the +deepest and hottest valleys--the western limit of both these +interesting plants. Of _Pandanus_ there is a graceful species at +elevations of 1000 to 4000 feet ("Borr," Lepcha).] The fourth +striking feature is a wild plantain, which ascends to nearly the same +elevation ("Lukhlo," Lepcha). This is replaced by another, and rather +larger species, at lower elevations; both ripen austere and small +fruits, which are full of seeds, and quite uneatable; that commonly +grown in Sikkim is an introduced stock (nor have the wild species +ever been cultivated); it is very large, but poor in flavour, and +does not bear seeds. The zones of these conspicuous plants are very +clearly defined, and especially if the traveller, standing on one of +the innumerable spurs which project from the Dorjiling ridge, cast +his eyes up the gorges of green on either hand. + +At 1000 feet below Dorjiling a fine wooded spur projects, called +Leebong. This beautiful spot is fully ten degrees warmer than Mr. +Hodgson's house, and enjoys considerably more sunshine; peaches and +English fruit-trees flourish extremely well, but do not ripen fruit. +The tea-plant succeeds here admirably, and might be cultivated to +great profit, and be of advantage in furthering a trade with Tibet. +It has been tried on a large scale by Dr. Campbell at his residence +(alt. 7000 feet), but the frosts and snow of that height injure it, +as do the hailstorms in spring. + +Below Leebong is the village of Ging, surrounded by steeps, +cultivated with maize, rice, and millet. It is rendered very +picturesque by a long row of tall poles, each bearing a narrow, +vertically elongated banner, covered with Boodhist inscriptions, and +surmounted by coronet-like ornaments, or spear-heads, rudely cut out +of wood, or formed of basket-work, and adorned with cotton fringe. +Ging is peopled by Bhotan emigrants, and when one dies, if his +relations can afford to pay for them, two additional poles and flags +are set up by the Lamas in honour of his memory, and that of Sunga, +the third member of the Boodhist Trinity. + +Below this the _Gordonia_ commences, with _Cedrela toona,_ and +various tropical genera, such as abound near Punkabaree. The heat and +hardness of the rocks cause the streams to dry up on these abrupt +hills, especially on the eastern slope, and the water is therefore +conveyed along the sides of the path, in conduits ingeniously made of +bamboo, either split in half, or, what is better, whole, except at +the septum, which is removed through a lateral hole. The oak and +chesnut of this level (3000 feet), are both different from those +which grow above, as are the brambles. The _Arums_ are replaced by +_Caladiums. Tree-ferns cease below 4000 feet, and the large bamboo +abounds. + +At about 2000 feet, and ten miles distant from Dorjiling, we arrived +at a low, long spur, dipping down to the bed of the Rungeet, at its +junction with the Rungmo. This is close to the boundary of the +British ground, and there is a guard-house, and a sepoy or two at it; +here we halted. It took the Lepchas about twenty minutes to construct +a table and two bedsteads within our tent; each was made of four +forked sticks, stuck in the ground, supporting as many side-pieces, +across which were laid flat split pieces of bamboo, bound tightly +together by strips of rattan palm-stem. The beds were afterwards +softened by many layers of bamboo-leaf, and if not very downy, they +were dry, and as firm as if put together with screws and joints. + +This spur rises out of a deep valley, quite surrounded by lofty +mountains; it is narrow, and covered with red clay, which the natives +chew as a cure for goitre. North, it looks down into a gully, at the +bottom of which the Rungeet's foamy stream winds through a dense +forest. In the opposite direction, the Rungmo comes tearing down from +the top of Sinchul, 7000 feet above; and though its roar is heard, +and its course is visible throughout its length, the stream itself is +nowhere seen, so deep does it cut its channel. Except on this, and a +few similarly hard rocky hills around, the vegetation is a mass of +wood and jungle. At this spot it is rather scanty and dry, with +abundance of the _Pinus longifolia_ and Sal. The dwarf date-palm +(_Phoenix acaulis_) also, was very abundant. + +The descent to the river was exceedingly steep, the banks presenting +an impenetrable jungle. The pines on the arid crests of the hills +around formed a remarkable feature: they grow like the Scotch fir, +the tall, red trunks springing from the steep and dry slopes. But +little resin exudes from the stem, which, like that of most pines, is +singularly free from lichens and mosses; its wood is excellent, and +the charcoal of the burnt leaves is used as a pigment. Being confined +to dry soil, this pine is local in Sikkim, and the elevation it +attains here is not above 3000 feet. In Bhotan, where there is more +dry country, its range is about the same, and in the north-west +Himalaya, from 2,500 to 7000 feet. + +The Lepcha never inhabits one spot for more than three successive +years, after which an increased rent is demanded by the Rajah. He +therefore _squats_ in any place which he can render profitable for +that period, and then moves to another. His first operation, after +selecting a site, is to burn the jungle; then he clears away the +trees, and cultivates between the stumps. At this season, firing the +jungle is a frequent practice, and the effect by night is exceedingly +fine; a forest, so dry and full of bamboo, and extending over such +steep hills, affording grand blazing spectacles. Heavy clouds canopy +the mountains above, and, stretching across the valleys, shut out the +firmament; the air is a dead calm, as usual in these deep gorges, and +the fires, invisible by day, are seen raging all around, appearing to +an inexperienced eye in all but dangerous proximity. The voices of +birds and insects being hushed, nothing is audible but the harsh roar +of the rivers, and occasionally, rising far above it, that of the +forest fires. At night we were literally surrounded by them; some +smouldering, like the shale-heaps at a colliery, others fitfully +bursting forth, whilst others again stalked along with a steadily +increasing and enlarging flame, shooting out great tongues of fire, +which spared nothing as they advanced with irresistible might. Their +triumph is in reaching a great bamboo clump, when the noise of the +flames drowns that of the torrents, and as the great stem-joints, +burst, from the expansion of the confined air, the report is as that +of a salvo from a park of artillery. At Dorjiling the blaze is +visible, and the deadened reports of the bamboos bursting is heard +throughout the night; but in the valley, and within a mile of the +scene of destruction, the effect is the most grand, being heightened +by the glare reflected from the masses of mist which hover above. + +On the following morning we pursued a path to the bed of the river; +passing a rude Booddhist monument, a pile of slate-rocks, with an +attempt at the mystical hemisphere at top. A few flags or banners, +and slabs of slate, were inscribed with "Om Mani Padmi om." Placed on +a jutting angle of the spur, backed with the pine-clad hills, and +flanked by a torrent on either hand, the spot was wild and +picturesque; and I could not but gaze with a feeling of deep interest +on these emblems of a religion which perhaps numbers more votaries +than any other on the face of the globe. Booddhism in some form is +the predominating creed, from Siberia and Kamschatka to Ceylon, from +the Caspian steppes to Japan, throughout China, Burmah, Ava, and a +part of the Malayan Archipelago. Its associations enter into every +book of travels over these vast regions, with Booddha, Dhurma, Sunga, +Jos, Fo, and praying-wheels. The mind is arrested by the names, the +imagination captivated by the symbols; and though I could not worship +in the grove, it was impossible to deny to the inscribed stones such +a tribute as is commanded by the first glimpse of objects which have +long been familiar to our minds, but not previously offered to our +senses. My head Lepcha went further: to a due observance of +demon-worship he united a deep reverence for the Lamas, and he +venerated their symbols rather as theirs than as those of their +religion. He walked round the pile of stones three times from left to +right repeating his "Om Mani," etc., then stood before it with his +head hung down and his long queue streaming behind, and concluded by +a votive offering of three pine-cones. When done, he looked round at +me, nodded, smirked, elevated the angles of his little turned-up +eyes, and seemed to think we were safe from all perils in the valleys +yet to be explored. + +Illustration -- PINES (PINUS LONGIFOLIA), RUNGEET VALLEY. + +In the gorge of the Rungeet the heat was intolerable, though the +thermometer did not rise above 95 degrees. The mountains leave but a +narrow gorge between them, here and there bordered by a belt of +strong soil, supporting a towering crop of long cane-like grasses and +tall trees. The troubled river, about eighty yards across, rages +along over a gravelly bed. Crossing the Rungmo, where it falls into +the Rungeet, we came upon a group of natives drinking fermented Murwa +liquor, under a rock; I had a good deal of difficulty in getting my +people past, and more in inducing one of the topers to take the place +of a Ghorka (Nepalese) of our party who was ill with fever. Soon +afterwards, at a most wild and beautiful spot, I saw, for the first +time, one of the most characteristic of Himalayan objects of art, _a +cane bridge._ All the spurs, round the bases of which the river +flowed, were steep and rocky, their flanks clothed with the richest +tropical forest, their crests tipped with pines. On the river's edge, +the Banana, _Pandanus,_ and _Bauhinia,_ were frequent, and Figs +prevailed. One of the latter (of an exceedingly beautiful species) +projected over the stream, growing out of a mass of rock, its roots +interlaced and grasping at every available support, while its +branches, loaded with deep glossy foliage, hung over the water. This +tree formed one pier for the canes; that on the opposite bank, was +constructed of strong piles, propped with large stones; and between +them swung the bridge,* [A sketch of one of these bridges will be +found in Vol. ii.] about eighty yards long, ever rocking over the +torrent (forty feet below). The lightness and extreme simplicity of +its structure were very remarkable. Two parallel canes, on the same +horizontal plane, were stretched across the stream; from them others +hung in loops, and along the loops were laid one or two bamboo stems +for flooring; cross pieces below this flooring, hung from the two +upper canes, which they thus served to keep apart. The traveller +grasps one of the canes in either hand, and walks along the loose +bamboos laid on the swinging loops: the motion is great, and the +rattling of the loose dry bamboos is neither a musical sound, nor one +calculated to inspire confidence; the whole structure seeming as if +about to break down. With shoes it is not easy to walk; and even with +bare feet it is often difficult, there being frequently but one +bamboo, which, if the fastening is loose, tilts up, leaving the +pedestrian suspended over the torrent by the slender canes. When +properly and strongly made, with good fastenings, and a floor of +bamboos laid _transversely,_ these bridges are easy to cross. The +canes are procured from a species of _Calamus_; they are as thick as +the finger, and twenty, or thirty yards long, knotted together; and +the other pieces are fastened to them by strips of the same plant. A +Lepcha, carrying one hundred and forty pounds on his back, crosses +without hesitation, slowly but steadily, and with perfect confidence. + +Illustration -- CANE BRIDGE. + +A deep broad pool below the bridge was made available for a ferry: +the boat was a triangular raft of bamboo stems, with a stage on the +top, and it was secured on the opposite side of the stream, having a +cane reaching across to that on which we were. A stout Lepcha leapt +into the boiling flood, and boldly swam across, holding on by the +cane, without which he would have been carried away. He unfastened +the raft, and we drew it over by the cane, and, seated on the stage, +up to our knees in water, we were pulled across; the raft bobbing up +and down over the rippling stream. + +We were beyond British ground, on the opposite bank, where any one +guiding Europeans is threatened with punishment: we had expected a +guide to follow us, but his non-appearance caused us to delay for +some hours; four roads, or rather forest paths, meeting here, all of +which were difficult to find. After a while, part of a +marriage-procession came up, headed by the bridegroom, a handsome +young Lepcha, leading a cow for the marriage feast; and after talking +to him a little, he volunteered to show us the path. On the flats by +the stream grew the Sago palm (_Cycas pectinata_), with a stem ten +feet high, and a beautiful crown of foliage; the contrast between +this and the Scotch-looking pine (both growing with oaks and palms) +was curious. Much of the forest had been burnt, and we traversed +large blackened patches, where the heat was intense, and increased by +the burning trunks of prostrate trees, which smoulder for months, and +leave a heap of white ashes. The larger timber being hollow in the +centre, a current of air is produced, which causes the interior to +burn rapidly, till the sides fall in, and all is consumed. I was +often startled, when walking in the forest, by the hot blast +proceeding from such, which I had approached without a suspicion of +their being other than cold dead trunks. + +Leaving the forest, the path led along the river bank, and over the +great masses of rock which strewed its course. The beautiful +India-rubber fig was common, as was _Bassia butyracea,_ the "Yel +Pote" of the Lepchas, from the seeds of which they express a concrete +oil, which is received and hardens in bamboo vessels. On the +forest-skirts, _Hoya,_ parasitical _Orchideae,_ and Ferns, abounded; +the Chaulmoogra, whose fruit is used to intoxicate fish, was very +common; as was an immense mulberry tree, that yields a milky juice +and produces a long green sweet fruit. Large fish, chiefly Cyprinoid, +were abundant in the beautifully clear water of the river. But by far +the most striking feature consisted in the amazing quantity of superb +butterflies, large tropical swallow-tails, black, with scarlet or +yellow eyes on their wings. They were seen everywhere, sailing +majestically through the still hot air, or fluttering from one +scorching rock to another, and especially loving to settle on the +damp sand of the river-edge; where they sat by thousands, with erect +wings, balancing themselves with a rocking motion, as their heavy +sails inclined them to one side or the other; resembling a crowded +fleet of yachts on a calm day. Such an entomological display cannot +be surpassed. _Cicindelae_ were very numerous, and incredibly active, +as were _Grylli_; and the great _Cicadeae_ were everywhere lighting +on the ground, when they uttered a short sharp creaking sound, and +anon disappeared, as if by magic. Beautiful whip-snakes were gleaming +in the sun: they hold on by a few coils of the tail round a twig, the +greater part of their body stretched out horizontally, occasionally +retracting, and darting an unerring aim at some insect. +The narrowness of the gorge, and the excessive steepness of the +bounding hills, prevented any view, except of the opposite mountain +face, which was one dense forest, in which the wild Banana +was conspicuous. + +Towards evening we arrived at another cane-bridge, still more +dilapidated than the former, but similar in structure. For a few +hundred yards before reaching it, we lost the path, and followed the +precipitous face of slate-rocks overhanging the stream, which dashed +with great violence below. Though we could not walk comfortably, even +with our shoes off, the Lepchas, bearing their enormous loads, +proceeded with perfect indifference. + +Anxious to avoid sleeping at the bottom of the valley, we crawled, +very much fatigued, through burnt dry forest, up a very sharp ridge, +so narrow that the tent sat astride on it, the ropes being fastened +to the tops of small trees on either slope. The ground swarmed with +black ants, which got into our tea, sugar, etc., while it was so +covered with charcoal, that we were soon begrimed. Our Lepchas +preferred remaining on the river-bank, whence they had to bring up +water to us, in great bamboo "chungis," as they are called. The great +dryness of this face is owing to its southern exposure: the opposite +mountains, equally high and steep, being clothed in a rich green +forest. + +At nine the next morning, the temperature was 78 degrees, but a fine +cool easterly wind blew. Descending to the bed of the river, the +temperature was 84 degrees. The difference in humidity of the two +stations (with about 300 feet difference in height) was more +remarkable; at the upper, the wet bulb thermometer was 67.5 degrees, +and consequently the saturation point, 0.713; at the lower, the wet +bulb was 68 degrees, and saturation, 0.599. The temperature of the +river was, at all hours of the preceding day, and this morning, 67.5 +degrees.* [At this hour, the probable temperature at Dorjiling (6000 +feet above this) would be 56 degrees, with a temperature of wet bulb +55 degrees, and the atmosphere loaded with vapour. At Calcutta, +again, the temperature was at the observatory 98.3 degrees, wet bulb, +81.8 degrees, and saturation=0.137. The dryness of the air, in the +damper-looking and luxuriant river-bed, was owing to the heated rocks +of its channel; while the humidity of the atmosphere over the +drier-looking hill where we encamped, was due to the moisture of the +wind then blowing.] + +Our course down the river was by so rugged a path, that, giddy and +footsore with leaping from rock to rock, we at last attempted the +jungle, but it proved utterly impervious. On turning a bend of the +stream, the mountains of Bhotan suddenly presented themselves, with +the Teesta flowing at their base; and we emerged at the angle formed +by the junction of the Rungeet, which we had followed from the west, +of the Teesta, coming from the north, and of their united streams +flowing south. + +We were not long before enjoying the water, when I was surprised to +find that of the Teesta singularly cold; its temperature being 7 +degrees below that of the Rungeet.* [This is, no doubt, due partly to +the Teesta flowing south, and thus having less of the sun, and partly +to its draining snowy mountains throughout a much longer portion of +its course. The temperature of the one was 67.5 degrees, and that of +the other 60.5 degrees.] At the salient angle (a rocky peninsula) of +their junction, we could almost place one foot in the cold stream and +the other in the warmer. There is a no less marked difference in the +colour of the two rivers; the Teesta being sea-green and muddy, the +Great Rungeet dark green and very clear; and the waters, like those +of the Arve and Rhone at Geneva, preserve their colours for some +hundred yards; the line separating the two being most distinctly +drawn. The Teesta, or main stream, is much the broadest (about 80 or +100 yards wide at this season), the most rapid and deep. The rocks +which skirt its bank were covered with a silt or mud deposit, which I +nowhere observed along the Great Rungeet, and which, as well as its +colour and coldness, was owing to the vast number of then melting +glaciers drained by this river. The Rungeet, on the other hand, +though it rises amongst the glaciers of Kinchinjunga and its sister +peaks, is chiefly supplied by the rainfall of the outer ranges of +Sinchul and Singalelah, and hence its waters are clear, except during +the height of the rains. + +From this place we returned to Dorjiling, arriving on the afternoon +of the following day. + +The most interesting trip to be made from Dorjiling, is that to the +summit of Tonglo, a mountain on the Singalelah range, 10,079 feet +high, due west of the station, and twelve miles in a straight line, +but fully thirty by the path.* [A full account of the botanical +features noticed on this excursion (which I made in May, 1848, with +Mr. Barnes) has appeared in the "London Journal of Botany," and the +"Horticultural Society's Journal," and I shall, therefore, +recapitulate its leading incidents only.] + +Leaving the station by a native path, the latter plunges at once into +a forest, and descends very rapidly, occasionally emerging on cleared +spurs, where are fine crops of various millets, with much maize and +rice. Of the latter grain as many as eight or ten varieties are +cultivated, but seldom irrigated, which, owing to the dampness of the +climate, is not necessary: the produce is often eighty-fold, but the +grain is large, coarse, reddish, and rather gelatinous when boiled. +After burning the timber, the top soil is very fertile for several +seasons, abounding in humus, below which is a stratum of stiff clay, +often of great thickness, produced by the disintegration of the +rocks;* [An analysis of the soil will be found in the Appendix.] the +clay makes excellent bricks, and often contains nearly 30 per cent. +of alumina. + +At about 4000 feet the great bamboo ("Pao" Lepcha) abounds; it +flowers every year, which is not the case with all others of this +genus, most of which flower profusely over large tracts of country, +once in a great many years, and then die away; their place being +supplied by seedlings, which grow with immense rapidity. +This well-known fact is not due, as some suppose, to the life of the +species being of such a duration, but to favourable circumstances in +the season. The Pao attains a height of 40 to 60 feet, and the culms +average in thickness the human thigh; it is used for large +water-vessels, and its leaves form admirable thatch, in universal use +for European houses at Dorjiling. Besides this, the Lepchas are +acquainted with nearly a dozen kinds of bamboo; these occur at +various elevations below 12,000 feet, forming, even in the +pine-woods, and above their zone, in the skirts of the _Rhododendron_ +scrub, a small and sometimes almost impervious jungle. In an +economical point of view they maybe classed as those which split +readily, and those which do not. The young shoots of several are +eaten, and the seeds of one are made into a fermented drink, and into +bread in times of scarcity; but it would take many pages to describe +the numerous purposes to which the various species are put. + +Illusration -- LEPCHA WATER-CARRIER WITH A BAMBOO CHUNGI. + +Gordonia is their most common tree (_G. Wallichii_), much prized for +ploughshares and other purposes requiring a hard wood: it is the +"Sing-brang-kun" of the Lepchas, and ascends to 4000 feet. Oaks at +this elevation occur as solitary trees, of species different from +those of Dorjiling. There are three or four with a cup-shaped +involucre, and three with spinous involucres enclosing an eatable +sweet nut; these generally grow on a dry clayey soil. + +Some low steep spurs were well cultivated, though the angle of the +field was upwards of 25 degrees; the crops, chiefly maize, were just +sprouting. This plant is occasionally hermaphrodite in Sikkim, the +flowers forming a large drooping panicle and ripening small grains; +it is, however, a rare occurrence, and the specimens are highly +valued by the people. + +The general prevalence of figs,* [One species of this very tropical +genus ascends almost to 9000 feet on the outer ranges of Sikkim.] and +their allies, the nettles,* [Of two of these cloth is made, and of a +third, cordage. The tops of two are eaten, as are several species of +_Procris._ The "Poa" belongs to this order, yielding that kind of +grass cloth fibre, now abundantly imported into England from the +Malay Islands, and used extensively for shirting.] is a remarkable +feature in the botany of the Sikkim Himalaya, up to nearly 10,000 +feet. Of the former there were here five species, some bearing +eatable and very palatable fruit of enormous size, others with the +fruit small and borne on prostrate, leafless branches, which spring +from the root and creep along the ground. + +A troublesome, dipterous insect (the "Peepsa," a species of +_Siamulium_) swarms on the banks of the streams; it is very small and +black, floating like a speck before the eye; its bite leaves a spot +of extravasated blood under the cuticle, very irritating if +not opened. + +Crossing the Little Rungeet river, we camped on the base of Tonglo. +The night was calm and clear, with faint cirrus, but no dew. +A thermometer sunk two feet in rich vegetable mould stood at 78 +degrees two hours after it was lowered, and the same on the following +morning. This probably indicates the mean temperature of the month at +that spot, where, however, the dark colour of the exposed loose soil +must raise the temperature considerably. + +_May 20th._--The temperature at sunrise was 67 degrees; the morning +bright, and clear over head, but the mountains looked threatening. +Dorjiling, perched on a ridge 5000 feet above us, had a singular +appearance. We ascended the Simonbong spur of Tonglo, so called from +a small village and Lama temple of that name on its summit; where we +arrived at noon, and passing some chaits* [The chait of Sikkim, +borrowed from Tibet, is a square pedestal, surmounted with a +hemisphere, the convex end downwards, and on it is placed a cone, +with a crescent on the top. These are erected as tombs to Lamas, and +as monuments to illustrious persons, and are venerated accordingly, +the people always passing them from left to right, often repeating +the invocation, "Ora Mani Padmi om."] gained the Lama's residence. + +Two species of bamboo, the "Payong" and "Praong" of the Lepchas, here +replace the Pao of the lower regions. The former was flowering +abundantly, the whole of the culms (which were 20 feet high) being a +diffuse panicle of inflorescence. The "Praong" bears a round head of +flowers at the ends of the leafy branches. Wild strawberry, violet, +geranium, etc., announced our approach to the temperate zone. +Around the temple were potato crops and peach-trees, rice, millet, +yam, brinjal (egg-apple), fennel, hemp (for smoking its narcotic +leaves), and cummin, etc. The potato thrives extremely well as a +summer crop, at 7000 feet, in Sikkim, though I think the root (from +the Dorjiling stock) cultivated as a winter crop in the plains, is +superior both in size and flavour. Peaches never ripen in this part +of Sikkim, apparently from the want of sun; the tree grows well at +from 3000 to 7000 feet elevation, and flowers abundantly; the fruit +making the nearest approach to maturity (according to the elevation) +from July to October. At Dorjiling it follows the English seasons, +flowering in March and fruiting in September, when the scarce +reddened and still hard fruit falls from the tree. In the plains of +India, both this and the plum ripen in May, but the fruits are +very acid. + +It is curious that throughout this temperate region, there is hardly +an eatable fruit except the native walnut, and some brambles, of +which the "yellow" and "ground raspberry" are the best, some insipid +figs, and a very austere crab-apple. The European apple will scarcely +ripen,* [This fruit, and several others, ripen at Katmandoo, in Nepal +(alt. 4000 feet), which place enjoys more sunshine than Sikkim. +I have, however, received very differedt accounts of the produce, +which, on the whole, appears to be inferior.] and the pear not at +all. Currants and gooseberries show no disposition to thrive, and +strawberries are the only fruits that ripen at all, which they do in +the greatest abundance. Vines, figs, pomegranates, plums, apricots, +etc., will not succeed even as trees. European vegetables again grow, +and thrive remarkably well throughout the summer of Dorjiling, and +the produce is very fair, sweet and good, but inferior in flavour to +the English. + +Of tropical fruits cultivated below 4000 feet, oranges and +indifferent bananas alone are frequent, with lemons of various kinds. +The season for these is, however, very short; though that of the +plantain might with care be prolonged; oranges abound in winter, and +are excellent, but neither so large nor free of white pulp as those +of the Khasia hills, the West Indies, or the west coast of Africa. +Mangos are brought from the plains, for though wild in Sikkim, the +cultivated kinds do not thrive; I have seen the pine-apple plant, but +I never met with good fruit on it. + +A singular and almost total absence of the light, and of the direct +rays of the sun in the ripening season, is the cause of this dearth +of fruit. Both the farmer and orchard gardener in England know full +well the value of a bright sky as well as of a warm autumnal +atmosphere. Without this corn does not ripen, and fruit-trees are +blighted. The winter of the plains of India being more analogous in +its distribution of moisture and heat to a European summer, such +fruits as the peach, vine, and even plum, fig, strawberry, etc., may +be brought to bear well in March, April, and May, if they are only +carefully tended through the previous hot and damp season, which is, +in respect to the functions of flowering and fruiting, their winter. + +Hence it appears that, though some English fruits will turn the +winter solstice of Bengal (November to May) into summer, and then +flower and fruit, neither these nor others will thrive in the summer +of 7000 feet on the Sikkim Himalaya, (though its temperature so +nearly approaches that of England,) on account of its rain and fogs. +Further, they are often exposed to a winter's cold equal to the +average of that of London, the snow lying for a week on the ground, +and the thermometer descending to 25 degrees. It is true that in no +case is the extreme of cold so great here as in England, but it is +sufficient to check vegetation, and to prevent fruit-trees from +flowering till they are fruiting in the plains. There is in this +respect a great difference between the climate of the central and +eastern and western Himalaya, at equal elevations. In the western +(Kumaon, etc.) the winters are colder than in Sikkim--the summers +warmer and less humid. The rainy season is shorter, and the sun +shines so much more frequently between the heavy showers, that the +apple and other fruits are brought to a much better state. It is true +that the rain-gauge may show as great a fall there, but this is no +measure of the humidity of the atmosphere, and still less so of the +amount of the sun's direct light and heat intercepted by aqueous +vapour, for it takes no account of the quantity of moisture suspended +in the air, nor of the depositions from fogs, which are far more +fatal to the perfecting of fruits than the heaviest brief showers. + +The Indian climate, which is marked by one season of excessive +humidity and the other of excessive drought, can never be favourable +to the production either of good European or tropical fruits. +Hence there is not one of the latter peculiar to the country, and +perhaps but one which arrives at full perfection; namely, the mango. +Tile plantains, oranges, and pine-apples are less abundant, of +inferior kinds, and remain a shorter season in perfection than they +do in South America, the West Indies, or Western Africa. + +Illustration -- LEPCHA AMULET. + + + + CHAPTER VII. + +Continue the ascent of Tonglo -- Trees -- Lepcha construction of hut +-- Simsibong -- Climbing-trees -- Frogs -- Magnolias, etc. -- Ticks +-- Leeches -- -- Cattle, murrain amongst -- Summit of Tonglo -- +Rhododendrons -- Skimmia -- Yew -- Rose -- Aconite -- Bikh poison -- +English genera of plants -- Ascent of tropical orders -- Comparison +with south temperate zone -- Heavy rain -- Temperature, etc. -- +Descent -- Simonbong temple -- Furniture therein -- Praying-cylinder +-- Thigh-bone trumpet -- Morning orisons -- Present of Murwa +beer, etc. + +Continuing the ascent of Tonglo, we left cultivation and the poor +groves of peaches at 4000 to 5000 feet (and this on the eastern +exposure, which is by far the sunniest), the average height which +agriculture reaches in Sikkim. + +Above Simonbong, the path up Tonglo is little frequented: it is one +of the many routes between Nepal and Sikkim, which cross the +Singalelah spur of Kinchinjunga at various elevations between 7000 +and 15,000 feet. As usual, the track runs along ridges, wherever +these are to be found, very steep, and narrow at the top, through +deep humid forests of oaks and Magnolias, many laurels, both +_Tetranthera_ and _Cinnamomum,_ one species of the latter ascending +to 8,500 feet, and one of _Tetranthera_ to 9000. Chesnut and walnut +here appeared, with some leguminous trees, which however did not +ascend to 6000 feet. Scarlet flowers of _Vaccinium serpens,_ an +epiphytical species, were strewed about, and the great blossoms of +_Rhododendron Dalhousiae_ and of a Magnolia (_Talaunaa Hodgsoni_) lay +together on the ground. The latter forms a large tree, with very +dense foliage, and deep shining green leaves, a foot to eighteen +inches long. Most of its flowers drop unexpanded from the tree, and +diffuse a very aromatic smell; they are nearly as large as the fist, +the outer petals purple, the inner pure white. + +Heavy rain came on at 3 p.m., obliging us to take insufficient +shelter under the trees, and finally to seek the nearest +camping-ground. For this purpose we ascended to a spring, called +Simsibong, at an elevation of 6000 feet. The narrowness of the ridge +prevented our pitching the tent, small as it was; but the Lepchas +rapidly constructed a house, and thatched it with bamboo and the +broad leaves of the wild plantain. A table was then raised in the +middle, of four posts and as many cross pieces of wood, lashed with +strips of bamboo. Across these, pieces of bamboo were laid, +ingeniously flattened, by selecting cylinders, crimping them all +round, and then slitting each down one side, so that it opens into a +flat slab. Similar but longer and lower erections, one on each side +the table, formed bed or chair; and in one hour, half a dozen men, +with only long knives and active hands, had provided us with a +tolerably water-tight furnished house. A thick flooring of hamboo +leaves kept the feet dry, and a screen of that and other foliage all +round rendered the habitation tolerably warm. + +At this elevation we found great scandent trees twisting around the +trunks of others, and strangling them: the latter gradually decay, +leaving the sheath of climbers as one of the most remarkable +vegetable phenomena of these mountains. These climbers belong to +several orders, and may be roughly classified in two groups.-- +(1.) Those whose sterns merely twine, and by constricting certain +parts of their support, induce death.--(2.) Those which form a +network round the trunk, by the coalescence of their lateral branches +and aerial roots, etc.: these wholly envelop and often conceal the +tree they enclose, whose branches appear rising far above those of +its destroyer. To the first of these groups belong many natural +orders, of which the most prominent are--_Leguminosae,_ ivies, +hydrangea, vines, _Pothos,_ etc. The inosculating ones are almost all +figs and _Wightia_: the latter is the most remarkable, and I add a +cut of its grasping roots, sketched at our encampment. + +Illustration -- CLASPING ROOTS OF WIGHTIA. + +Except for the occasional hooting of an owl, the night was profoundly +still during several hours after dark--the cicadas at this season not +ascending so high on the mountain. A dense mist shrouded every thing, +and the rain pattered on the leaves of our hut. At midnight a +tree-frog ("Simook," Lepcha) broke the silence with his curious +metallic clack, and others quickly joined the chorus, keeping up +their strange music till morning. Like many Batrachians, this has a +voice singularly unlike that of any other organised creature. +The cries of beasts, birds, and insects are all explicable to our +senses, and we can recognise most of them as belonging to such or +such an order of animal; but the voices of many frogs are like +nothing else, and allied species utter totally dissimilar noises. +In some, as this, the sound is like the concussion of metals; in +others, of the vibration of wires or cords; anything but the natural +effects of lungs, larynx, and muscles.* [A very common Tasmanian +species utters a sound that appears to ring in an underground vaulted +chamber, beneath the feet.] + +_May_ 21.--Early this morning we proceeded upwards, our prospect more +gloomy than ever. The path, which still lay up steep ridges, was very +slippery, owing to the rain upon the clayey soil, and was only +passable from the hold afforded by interlacing roots of trees. +At 8000 feet, some enormous detached masses of micaceous gneiss rose +abruptly from the ridge, they were covered with mosses and ferns, and +from their summit, 7000 feet, a good view of the surrounding +vegetation is obtained. The mast of the forest is formed of:-- +(1) Three species of oak, of which _Q. annulata ?_ with immense +lamellated acorns, and leaves sixteen inches long, is the tallest and +the most abundant.--(2) Chesnut.--(3) _Laurineae_ of several species, +all beautiful forest-trees, straight-holed, and umbrageous +above.--(4) Magnolias.* [Other trees were _Pyrus, Saurauja_ (both an +erect and climbing species), _Olea,_ cherry, birch, alder, several +maples, _Hydrangea,_ one species of fig, holly, and several +_Araliaceous_ trees. Many species of _Magnoliaceae_ (including the +genera _Magnolia, Michelia,_ and _Talauma_) are found in Sikkim: +_Magnolia Campbellii,_ of 10,000 feet, is the most superb species +known. In books on botanical geography, the magnolias are considered +as most abounding in North America, east of the Rocky Mountains; but +this is a great mistake, the Indian mountains and islands being the +centre of this natural order.]--(5) Arborescent rhododendrons, which +commence here with the _R. arboreum._ At 8000 and 9000 feet, a +considerable change is found in the vegetation; the gigantic purple +_Magnolia Campbellii_ replacing the white; chesnut disappears, and +several laurels: other kinds of maple are seen, with _Rhododendron +argenteum,_ and _Stauntonia,_ a handsome climber, which has beautiful +pendent clusters of lilac blossoms. + +At 9000 feet we arrived on a long flat covered with lofty trees, +chiefly purple magnolias, with a few oaks, great _Pyri_ and two +rhododendrons, thirty to forty feet high (_R. barbatum,_ and _R. +arboreum,_ var. _roseum_): _Skimmia_ and _Symplocos_ were the common +shrubs. A beautiful orchid with purple flowers (_Caelogyne +Wallichii_) grew on the trunks of all the great trees, attaining a +higher elevation than most other epiphytical species, for I have seen +it at 10,000 feet. + +A large tick infests the small bamboo, and a more hateful insect I +never encountered. The traveller cannot avoid these insects coming on +his person (sometimes in great numbers) as he brushes through the +forest; they get inside his dress, and insert the proboscis deeply +without pain. Buried head and shoulders, and retained by a barbed +lancet, the tick is only to be extracted by force, which is very +painful. I have devised many tortures, mechanical and chemical, to +induce these disgusting intruders to withdraw the proboscis, but in +vain. Leeches* [I cannot but think that the extraordinary abundance +of these _Anelides_ in Sikkim may cause the death of many animals. +Some marked murrains have followed very wet seasons, when the leeches +appear in incredible numbers; and the disease in the cattle, +described to me by the Lepchas as in the stomach, in no way differs +from what leeches would produce. It is a well-known fact, that these +creatures have lived for days in the fauces, nares, and stomachs of +the human subject, causing dreadful sufferings, and death. I have +seen the cattle feeding in places where the leeches so abounded, that +fifty or sixty were frequently together on my ankles; and ponies are +almost maddened by their biting the fetlocks.] also swarm below 7000 +feet; a small black species above 3000 feet, and a large yellow-brown +solitary one below that elevation. + +Our ascent to the summit was by the bed of a watercourse, now a +roaring torrent, from the heavy and incessant rain. A small +_Anagallis_ (like _tenella_), and a beautiful purple primrose, grew +by its bank. The top of the mountain is another flat ridge, with +depressions and broad pools. The number of additional species of +plants found here was great, and all betokened a rapid approach to +the alpine region of the Himalaya. In order of prevalence the trees +were,--the scarlet _Rhododendron arboreum_ and _barbatum,_ as large +bushy trees, both loaded with beautiful flowers and luxuriant +foliage; _R. Falconeri,_ in point of foliage the most superb of all +the Himalayan species, with trunks thirty feet high, and branches +bearing at their ends only leaves eighteen inches long: these are +deep green above, and covered beneath with a rich brown down. Next in +abundance to these were shrubs of _Skimmia Laureola,_* [This plant +has been lately introduced into English gardens, from the north-west +Himalaya, and is greatly admired for its aromatic, evergreen foliage, +and clusters of scarlet berries. It is a curious fact, that this +plant never bears scarlet berries in Sikkim, apparently owing to the +want of sun; the fruit ripens, but is of a greenish-red or purplish +colour.] _Symplocos,_ and Hydrangea; and there were still a few +purple magnolias, very large _Pyri,_ like mountain ash, and the +common English yew, eighteen feet in circumference, the red bark of +which is used as a dye, and for staining the foreheads of Brahmins in +Nepal. An erect white-flowered rose (_R. sericea,_ the only species +occurring in Southern Sikkim) was very abundant: its numerous +inodorous flowers are pendent, apparent as a protection from the +rain; and it is remarkable as being the only species having four +petals instead of five. + +A currant was common, always growing epiphytically on the trunks of +large trees. Two or three species of Berberry, a cherry, Andromeda, +_Daphne,_ and maple, nearly complete, I think, the list of woody +plants. Amongst the herbs were many of great interest, as a rhubarb, +and _Aconitum palmatum,_ which yields one of the celebrated "Bikh" +poisons.* ["Bikh" is yielded by various _Aconita._ All the Sikkim +kinds are called "gniong" by Lepchas and Bhoteeas, who do not +distinguish them. The _A. Napellus_ is abundant in the north-west +Himalaya, and is perhaps as virulent a Bikh as any species.] +Of European genera I found _Thalictrum, Anemone, Fumaria,_ violets, +_Stellaria, Hypericum,_ two geraniums, balsams, _Epilobium, +Potentilla, Paris_ and _Convallariae,_ one of the latter has +verticillate leaves, and its root also called "bikh," is considered a +very virulent poison. + +Still, the absence or rarity at this elevation of several very large +natural families,* [_Ranunculaceae, Fumariae, Cruciferae, Alsineae, +Geranicae, Leguminosae, Potentilla, Epilobium, Crassulaceae, +Saxifrageae, Umbelliferae, Lonicera, Valerianeae, Dipsaceae,_ various +genera of _Compositae, Campanulaceae, Lobeliaceae, Gentianeae, +Boragineae, Scrophularineae, Primulaceae, Gramineae._] which have +numerous representatives at and much below the same level in the +inner ranges, and on the outer of the Western Himalaya, indicate a +certain peculiarity in Sikkim. On the other hand, certain tropical +genera are more abundant in the temperate zone of the Sikkim +mountains, and ascend much higher there than in the Western Himalaya: +of this fact I have cited conspicuous examples in the palms, +plantains, and tree-ferns. This ascent and prevalence of tropical +species is due to the humidity and equability of the climate in this +temperate zone, and is, perhaps, the direct consequence of these +conditions. An application of the same laws accounts for the +extension of similar features far beyond the tropical limit in the +Southern Ocean, where various natural orders, which do not cross the +30th and 40th parallels of N. latitude, are extended to the 55th of +S. latitude, and found in Tasmania, New Zealand, the so-called +Antarctic Islands south of that group, and at Cape Horn itself. + +The rarity of Pines is perhaps the most curious feature in the botany +of Tonglo, and on the outer ranges of Sikkim; for, between the level +of 2,500 feet (the upper limit of _P. longifolia_) and 10,000 feet +(that of the _Taxus_), there is no coniferous tree whatever in +Southern Sikkim. + +We encamped amongst Rhododendrons, on a spongy soil of black +vegetable matter, so oozy, that it was difficult to keep the feet +dry. The rain poured in torrents all the evening, and with the calm, +and the wetness of the wood, prevented our enjoying a fire. Except a +transient view into Nepal, a few miles west of us, nothing was to be +seen, the whole mountain being wrapped in dense masses of vapour. +Gusts of wind, not felt in the forest, whistled through the gnarled +and naked tree-tops; and though the temperature was 50 degrees, this +wind produced cold to the feelings. Our poor Lepchas were miserably +off, but always happy: under four posts and a bamboo-leaf thatch, +with no covering but a single thin cotton garment, they crouched on +the sodden turf, joking with the Hindoos of our party, who, though +supplied with good clothing and shelter, were doleful companions. + +I made a shed for my instruments under a tree; Mr. Barnes, ever +active and ready, floored the tent with logs of wood, and I laid a +"corduroy road" of the same to my little observatory. + +During the night the rain did not abate; and the tent-roof leaked in +such torrents, that we had to throw pieces of wax-cloth over our +shoulders as we lay in bed. There was no improvement whatever in the +weather on the following morning. Two of the Hindoos had crawled into +the tent during the night, attacked with fever and ague.* [It is a +remarkable fact, that both the natives of the plains, under many +circumstances, and the Lepchas when suffering from protracted cold +and wet, take fever and ague in sharp attacks. The disease is wholly +unknown amongst Europeans residing above 4000 feet, similar exposure +in whom brings on rheumatism and cold.] The tent being too sodden to +be carried, we had to remain where we were, and with abundance of +novelty in the botany around, I found no difficulty in getting +through the day. Observing the track of sheep, we sent two Lepchas to +follow them, who returned at night from some miles west in Nepal, +bringing two. The shepherds were Geroongs of Nepal, who were grazing +their flocks on a grassy mountain top, from which the woods had been +cleared, probably by fire. The mutton was a great boon to the +Lepchas, but the Hindoos would not touch it, and several more +sickening during the day, we had the tent most uncomfortably full. + +During the whole of the 22nd, from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., the thermometer +never varied 6.5 degrees, ranging from 47.5 in the morning to 54 +degrees, its maximum, at 1 p.m., and 50.75 at night. At seven the +following morning it was the same. One, sunk two feet six inches in +mould and clay, stood constantly at 50.75. The dew-point was always +below the temperature, at which I was surprised, for more drenching +weather could not well be. The mean dew-point was 50.25, and +consequent humidity, 0.973. + +These observations, and those of the barometer, were taken 60 feet +below the summit, to which I moved the instruments on the morning of +the 23rd. At a much more exposed spot the results would no doubt have +been different, for a thermometer, there sunk to the same depth as +that below, stood at 49.75 (or one degree colder than 60 feet lower +down). My barometrical observations, taken simultaneously with those +of Calcutta, give the height of Tonglo, 10,078.3 feet; Colonel +Waugh's, by trigonometry, 10,079.4 feet,--a remarkable and unusual +coincidence. + +_May_ 23.--We spent a few hours of alternate fog and sunshine on the +top of the mountain, vainly hoping for the most modest view; our +inability to obtain it was extremely disappointing, for the mountain +commands a superb prospect, which I enjoyed fully in the following +November, from a spot a few miles further west. The air, which was +always foggy, was alternately cooled and heated, as it blew over the +trees, or the open space we occupied; sometimes varying 5 degrees and +6 degrees in a quarter of an hour. + +Having partially dried the tent in the wind, we commenced the +descent, which owing to the late torrents of rain, was most fatiguing +and slippery; it again commenced to drizzle at noon, nor was it till +we had descended to 6000 feet that we emerged from the region of +clouds. By dark we arrived at Simonbong, having descended 5000 feet, +at the rate of 1000 feet an hour; and were kindly received by the +Lama, who gave us his temple for the accommodation of the whole +party. We were surprised at this, both because the Sikkim authorities +had represented the Lamas as very averse to Europeans, and because he +might well have hesitated before admitting a promiscuous horde of +thirty people into a sacred building, where the little valuables on +the altar, etc., were quite at our disposal. A better tribute could +not well have been paid to the honesty of my Lepcha followers. Our +host only begged us not to disturb his people, nor to allow the +Hindoos of our party to smoke inside. + +Illustration--SIMONBONG TEMPLE. + +Simonbong is one of the smallest and poorest Gumpas, or temples, in +Sikkim: unlike the better class, it is built of wood only. +It consisted of one large room, with small sliding shutter windows, +raised on a stone foundation, and roofed with shingles of wood; +opposite the door a wooden altar was placed, rudely chequered with +black, white, and red; to the right and left were shelves, with a few +Tibetan books, wrapped in silk; a model of Symbonath temple in Nepal, +a praying-cylinder,* [It consisted of a leathern cylinder placed +upright in a frame; a projecting piece of iron strikes a little bell +at each revolution, the revolution being caused by an elbowed axle +and string. Within the cylinder are deposited written prayers, and +whoever pulls the string properly is considered to have repeated his +prayers as often as the bell rings. Representations of these +implements will be found in other parts of these volumes.] and some +implements for common purposes, bags of juniper, English wine-bottles +and glasses, with tufts of _Abies Webbiana,_ rhododendron flowers, +and peacock's feathers, besides various trifles, clay ornaments and +offerings, and little Hindoo idols. On the altar were ranged seven +little brass cups, full of water; a large conch shell, carved with +the sacred lotus; a brass jug from Lhassa, of beautiful design, and a +human thigh-bone, hollow, and perforated through both condyles.* [To +these are often added a double-headed rattle, or small drum, formed +of two crowns of human skulls, cemented back to back; each face is +then covered with parchment, and encloses some pebbles. Sometimes +this instrument is provided with a handle.] + +Illustration--TRUMPET MADE OF A HUMAN THIGH-BONE. + + Facing the altar was a bench and a chair, and on one side a huge +tambourine, with two curved iron drum-sticks. The bench was covered +with bells, handsomely carved with idols, and censers with +juniper-ashes; and on it lay the _dorge,_ or double-headed +thunderbolt, which the Lama holds in his hand during service. Of all +these articles, the human thigh-bone is by much the most curious; it +is very often that of a Lama, and is valuable in proportion to its +length.* [It is reported at Dorjiling, that one of the first +Europeans buried at this station, being a tall man, was disinterred +by the resurrectionist Bhoteeas for his _trumpet-bones.] As, however, +the Sikkim Lamas are burned, the relics are generally procured from +Tibet, where the corpses are cut in pieces and thrown to the kites, +or into the water. + +Two boys usually reside in the temple, and their beds were given up +to us, which being only rough planks laid on the floor, proved clean +in one sense, but contrasted badly with the springy couch of bamboo +the Lepcha makes, which renders carrying a mattress or aught but +blankets superfluous. + +_May_ 24.--We were awakened at daylight by the discordant orisons of +the Lama; these commenced by the boys beating the great tambourine, +then blowing the conch-shells, and finally the trumpets and +thigh-bone. Shortly the Lama entered, clad in scarlet, shorn and +barefooted, wearing a small red silk mitre, a loose gown girt round +the middle, and an under-garment of questionable colour, possibly +once purple. He walked along, slowly muttering his prayers, to the +end of the apartment, whence he took a brass bell and dorge, and, +sitting down cross-legged, commenced matins, counting his beads, or +ringing the bell, and uttering most dismal prayers. After various +disposals of the cups, a larger bell was violently rung for some +minutes, himself snapping his fingers and uttering most unearthly +sounds. Finally, incense was brought, of charcoal with +juniper-sprigs; it was swung about, and concluded the morning service +to our great relief, for the noises were quite intolerable. Fervid as +the devotions appeared, to judge by their intonation, I fear the Lama +felt more curious about us than was proper under the circumstances; +and when I tried to sketch him, his excitement knew no bounds; he +fairly turned round on the settee, and, continuing his prayers and +bell-accompaniment, appeared to be exorcising me, or some spirit +within me. + +After breakfast the Lama came to visit us, bringing rice, a few +vegetables, and a large bamboo-work bowl, thickly varnished with +india-rubber, and waterproof, containing half-fermented millet. +This mixture, called _Murwa,_ is invariably offered to the traveller, +either in the state of fermented grain, or more commonly in a bamboo +jug, filled quite up with warm water; when the fluid, sucked through +a reed, affords a refreshing drink. He gratefully accepted a few +rupees and trifles which we had to spare. + +Leaving Simonbong, we descended to the Little Rungeet, where the heat +of the valley was very great; 80 degrees at noon, and that of the +stream 69 degrees; the latter was an agreeable temperature for the +coolies, who plunged, teeming with perspiration, into the water, +catching fish with their hands. We reached Dorjiling late in the +evening, again drenched with rain; our people, Hindoo and Lepcha, +imprudently remaining for the night in the valley. Owing probably as +much to the great exposure they had lately gone through, as to the +sudden transition from a mean temperature of 50 degrees in a bracing +wind, to a hot close jungly valley at 75 degrees, no less than seven +were laid up with fever and ague. + +Few excursions can afford a better idea of the general features and +rich luxuriance of the Sikkim Himalaya than that to Tonglo. It is +always interesting to roam with an aboriginal, and especially a +mountain people, through their thinly inhabited valleys, over their +grand mountains, and to dwell alone with them in their gloomy and +forbidding forests, and no thinking man can do so without learning +much, however slender be the means at his command for communion. +A more interesting and attractive companion than the Lepcha I never +lived with: cheerful, kind, and patient with a master to whom he is +attached; rude but not savage, ignorant and yet intelligent; with the +simple resource of a plain knife he makes his house and furnishes +yours, with a speed, alacrity, and ingenuity that wile away that +well-known long hour when the weary pilgrim frets for his couch. +In all my dealings with these people, they proved scrupulously +honest. Except for drunkenness and carelessness, I never had to +complain of any of the merry troop; some of whom, bareheaded and +barelegged, possessing little or nothing save a cotton garment and a +long knife, followed me for many months on subsequent occasions, from +the scorching plains to the everlasting snows. Ever foremost in the +forest or on the bleak mountain, and ever ready to help, to carry, to +encamp, collect, or cook, they cheer on the traveller by their +unostentatious zeal in his service, and are spurs to his progress. + +Illustration--TIBETAN AMULET. + + CHAPTER VIII. + +Difficulty in procuring leave to enter Sikkim -- Obtain permission to +travel in East Nepal -- Arrangements -- Coolies -- Stores -- Servants +-- Personal equipment -- Mode of travelling -- Leave Dorjiling -- +Goong ridge -- Behaviour of Bhotan coolies -- Nepal frontier -- Myong +valley -- Ilam -- Sikkim massacre -- Cultivation -- Nettles -- Camp +at Nanki on Tonglo -- Bhotan coolies run away -- View of Chumulari -- +Nepal peaks to west -- Sakkiazung -- Buceros -- Road to Wallanchoon +-- Oaks -- Scarcity of water -- Singular view of mountain-valleys -- +Encampment -- My tent and its furniture -- Evening occupations -- +Dunkotah -- Crossridge of Sakkiazung -- Yews -- Silver-firs -- View +of Tambur valley -- Pemmi river -- Pebbly terraces -- Geology -- Holy +springs -- Enormous trees -- Luculia gratissima -- Khawa river, rocks +of -- Arrive at Tambur -- Shingle and gravel terraces -- Natives, +indolence of -- Canoe ferry -- Votive offerings -- Bad road -- +Temperature, etc. -- Chingtam village, view from -- Mywa river and +Guola -- House -- Boulders -- Chain-bridge -- Meepo, arrival of -- +Fevers. Owing to the unsatisfactory nature of our relations with +the Sikkim authorities, to which I have elsewhere alluded, my +endeavours to procure leave to penetrate further beyond the Dorjiling +territory than Tonglo, were attended with some trouble and delay. + +In the autumn of 1848, the Governor-General communicated with the +Rajah, desiring him to grant me honourable and safe escort through +his dominions; but this was at once met by a decided refusal, +apparently admitting of no compromise. Pending further negotiations, +which Dr. Campbell felt sure would terminate satisfactorily, though +perhaps too late for my purpose, he applied to the Nepal Rajah for +permission for me to visit the Tibetan passes, west of Kinchinjunga; +proposing in the meanwhile to arrange for my return through Sikkim. +Through the kindness of Col. Thoresby, the Resident at that Court, +and the influence of Jung Bahadoor, this request was promptly acceded +to, and a guard of six Nepalese soldiers and two officers was sent to +Dorjiling to conduct me to any part of the eastern districts of Nepal +which I might select. I decided upon following up the Tambur, a +branch of the Arun river, and exploring the two easternmost of the +Nepalese passes into Tibet (Wallanchoon and Kanglachem), which would +bring me as near to the central mass and loftiest part of the eastern +flank of Kinchinjunga as possible. + +For this expedition (which occupied three months), all the +arrangements were undertaken for me by Dr. Campbell, who afforded me +every facility which in his government position he could command, +besides personally superintending the equipment and provisioning of +my party. Taking horses or loaded animals of any kind was not +expedient: the whole journey was to be performed on foot, and +everything carried on men's backs. As we were to march through wholly +unexplored countries, where food was only procurable at uncertain +intervals, it was necessary to engage a large body of porters, some +of whom should carry bags of rice for the coolies and themselves too. +The difficulty of selecting these carriers, of whom thirty were +required, was very great. The Lepchas, the best and most tractable, +and over whom Dr. Campbell had the most direct influence, disliked +employment out of Sikkim, especially in so warlike a country as +Nepal: and they were besides thought unfit for the snowy regions. +The Nepalese, of whom there were many residing as British subjects in +Dorjiling, were mostly run-aways from their own country, and afraid +of being claimed, should they return to it, by the lords of the soil. +To employ Limboos, Moormis, Hindoos, or other natives of low +elevations, was out of the question; and no course appeared advisable +but to engage some of the Bhotan run-aways domiciled in Dorjiling, +who are accustomed to travel at all elevations, and fear nothing but +a return to the country which they have abandoned as slaves, or as +culprits: they are immensely powerful, and though intractable to the +last degree, are generally glad to work and behave well for money. +The choice, as will hereafter be seen, was unfortunate, though at the +time unanimously approved. + +My party mustered fifty-six persons. These consisted of myself, and +one personal servant, a Portuguese half-caste, who undertook all +offices, and spared me the usual train of Hindoo and Mahometan +servants. My tent and equipments (for which I was greatly indebted to +Mr. Hodgson), instruments, bed, box of clothes, books and papers, +required a man for each. Seven more carried my papers for drying +plants, and other scientific stores. The Nepalese guard had two +coolies of their own. My interpreter, the coolie Sirdar (or headman), +and my chief plant collector (a Lepcha), had a man each. +Mr. Hodgson's bird and animal shooter, collector, and stuffer, with +their ammunition and indispensables, had four more; there were +besides, three Lepcha lads to climb trees and change the +plant-papers, who had long been in my service in that capacity; and +the party was completed by fourteen Bhotan coolies laden with food, +consisting chiefly of rice with ghee, oil, capsicums, salt, +and flour. + +I carried myself a small barometer, a large knife and digger for +plants, note-book, telescope, compass, and other instruments; whilst +two or three Lepcha lads who accompanied me as satellites, carried a +botanising box, thermometers, sextant and artificial horizon, +measuring-tape, azimuth compass and stand, geological hammer, bottles +and boxes for insects, sketch-book, etc., arranged in compartments of +strong canvass bags. The Nepal officer (of the rank of serjeant, I +believe) always kept near me with one of his men, rendering +innumerable little services. Other sepoys were distributed amongst +the remainder of the party; one went ahead to prepare camping-ground, +and one brought up the rear. + +The course generally pursued by Himalayan travellers is to march +early in the morning, and arrive at the camping-ground before or by +noon, breakfasting before starting, or _en route._ I never followed +this plan, because it sacrificed the mornings, which were otherwise +profitably spent in collecting about camp; whereas, if I set off +early, I was generally too tired with the day's march to employ in +any active pursuit the rest of the daylight, which in November only +lasted till 6 p.m. The men breakfasted early in the morning, I +somewhat later, and all had started by 10 a.m., arriving between +4 and 6 p.m. at the next camping-ground. My tent was formed of +blankets, spread over cross pieces of wood and a ridge-pole, +enclosing an area of 6 to 8 feet by 4 to 6 feet. The bedstead, table, +and chair were always made by my Lepchas, as described in the Tonglo +excursion. The evenings I employed in writing up notes and journals, +plotting maps, and ticketing the plants collected during the +day's march. + +I left Dorjiling at noon, on the 27th October, accompanied by Dr. +Campbell, who saw me fairly off, the coolies having preceded me. +Our direct route would have been over Tonglo, but the threats of the +Sikkim authorities rendered it advisable to make for Nepal at once; +we therefore kept west along the Goong ridge, a western prolongation +of Sinchul. + +On overtaking the coolies, I proceeded for six or seven miles along a +zig-zag road, at about 7,500 feet elevation, through dense forests, +and halted at a little hut within sight of Dorjiling. Rain and mist +came on at nightfall, and though several parties of my servants +arrived, none of the Bhotan coolies made their appearance, and I +spent the night without food or bed, the weather being much too foggy +and dark to send back to meet the missing men. They joined me late on +the following day, complaining unreasonably of their loads, and +without their Sirdar, who, after starting his crew, had returned to +take leave of his wife and family. On the following day he appeared, +and after due admonishment we started, but four miles further on were +again obliged to halt for the Bhotan coolies, who were equally deaf +to threats and entreaties. As they did not come up till dusk, we were +obliged to encamp here, (alt. 7,400 feet) at the common source of the +Balasun, which flows to the plains, and the Little Rungeet, whose +course is north. + +The contrast between the conduct of the Bhotan men and that of the +Lepchas and Nepalese was so marked, that I seriously debated in my +own mind the propriety of sending the former back to Dorjiling, but +yielded to the remonstrances of their Sirdar and the Nepal guard, who +represented the great difficulty we should have in replacing them, +and above all, the loss of time, at this season a matter of great +importance. We accordingly started again the following morning, and +still keeping in a western direction, crossed the posts in the forest +dividing Sikkim from Nepal, and descended into the Myong valley of +the latter country, through which flows the river of that name, a +tributary of the Tambur. The Myong valley is remarkably fine: it runs +south-west from Tonglo, and its open character and general fertility +contrast strongly with the bareness of the lower mountain spurs which +flank it, and with the dense, gloomy, steep, and forest-clad gorges +of Sikkim. At its lower end, about twenty miles from the frontier, is +the military fort of Ilam, a celebrated stockaded post and cantonment +of the Ghorkas: its position is marked by a conspicuous conical hill. +The inhabitants are chiefly Brahmins, but there are also some +Moormis, and a few Lepchas who escaped from Sikkim during the general +massacre in 1825. Among these is a man who had formerly much +influence in Sikkim; he still retains his title of Kazee,* [This +Mahometan title, by which the officers of state are known in Sikkim, +is there generally pronounced Kajee.] and has had large lands +assigned to him by the Nepalese Government: he sent the usual present +of a kid, fowls, and eggs, and begged me to express to Dr. Campbell +his desire to return to his native country, and settle at Dorjiling. + +The scenery of this valley is the most beautiful I know of in the +lower Himalaya, and the Cheer Pine (_P. longifolia_) is abundant, +cresting the hills; which are loosely clothed with clumps of oaks and +other trees, bamboos, and bracken (_Pteris_). The slopes are covered +with red clay, and separate little ravines luxuriantly clothed with +tropical vegetation, amongst which flow pebbly streams of transparent +cool water. The villages, which are merely scattered collections of +huts, are surrounded with fields of rice, buckwheat, and Indian corn, +which latter the natives were now storing in little granaries, +mounted on four posts, men, women, and children being all equally +busy. The quantity of gigantic nettles (_Urtica heterophylla_) on the +skirts of these maize fields is quite wonderful: their long white +stings look most formidable, but though they sting virulently, the +pain only lasts half an hour or so. These, however, with leeches, +mosquitos, peepsas, and ticks, sometimes keep the traveller in a +constant state of irritation. + +However civilised the Hindoo may be in comparison with the Lepcha, he +presents a far less attractive picture to the casual observer; he +comes to your camping-ground, sits down, and stares with all his +might, but offers no assistance; if he bring a present at all, he +expects a return on the spot, and goes on begging till satisfied. +I was amused by the cool way in which my Ghorka guard treated the +village lads, when they wanted help in my service, taking them by the +shoulder, pulling out their knives for them, placing them in their +bands, and setting them to cut down a tree, or to chop firewood, +which they seldom refused to do, when a little such douce violence +was applied. + +My object being to reach the Tambur, north of the great east and west +mountain ridge of Sakkiazung, without crossing the innumerable +feeders of the Myong and their dividing spurs, we ascended the north +flank of the valley to a long spur from Tonglo, intending to follow +winding ridges of that mountain to the sources of the Pemmi at the +Phulloot mountains, and thence descend. + +On the 3rd November I encamped on the flank of Tonglo (called Nanki +in Nepal), at 9,300 feet, about 700 feet below the western summit, +which is rocky, and connected by a long flat ridge with that which I +had visited in the previous May. The Bhotan coolies behaved worse +than ever; their conduct being in all respects typical of the +turbulent, mulish race to which they belong. They had been plundering +my provisions as they went along, and neither their Sirdar nor the +Ghorka soldiers had the smallest authority over them. I had hired +some Ghorka coolies to assist and eventually to replace them, and had +made up my mind to send back the worst from the more populous banks +of the Tambur, when I was relieved by their making off of their own +accord. The dilemma was however awkward, as it was impossible to +procure men on the top of a mountain 10,000 feet high, or to proceed +towards Phulloot. No course remained but to send to Dorjiling for +others, or to return to the Myong valley, and take a more circuitous +route over the west end of Sakkiazung, which led through villages +from which I could procure coolies day by day. I preferred the latter +plan, and sent one of the soldiers to the nearest village for +assistance to bring the loads down, halting a day for that purpose. + +From the summit of Tonglo I enjoyed the view I had so long desired of +the Snowy Himalaya, from north-east to north-west; Sikkim being on +the right, Nepal on the left, and the plains of India to the +southward; and I procured a set of compass bearings, of the greatest +use in mapping the country. In the early morning the transparency of +the atmosphere renders this view one of astonishing grandeur. +Kinchinjunga bore nearly due north, a dazzling mass of snowy peaks, +intersected by blue glaciers, which gleamed in the slanting rays of +the rising sun, like aquamarines set in frosted silver. From this the +sweep of snowed mountains to the eastward was almost continuous as +far as Chola (bearing east-north-east), following a curve of 150 +miles, and enclosing the whole of the northern part of Sikkim, which +appeared a billowy mass of forest-clad mountains. On the north-east +horizon rose the Donkia mountain (23,176 feet), and Chumulari +(23,929). Though both were much more distant than the snowy ranges, +being respectively eighty and ninety miles off, they raised their +gigantic heads above, seeming what they really were, by far the +loftiest peaks next to Kinchinjunga; and the perspective of snow is +so deceptive, that though 40 to 60 miles beyond, they appeared as +though almost in the same line with the ridges they overtopped. +Of these mountains, Chumulari presents many attractions to the +geographer, from its long disputed position, its sacred character, +and the interest attached to it since Turner's mission to Tibet in +1783. It was seen and recognised by Dr. Campbell, and measured by +Colonel Waugh, from Sinchul, and also from Tonglo, and was a +conspicuous object in my subsequent journey to Tibet. Beyond Junnoo, +one of the western peaks of Kinchinjunga, there was no continuous +snowy chain; the Himalaya seemed suddenly to decline into black and +rugged peaks, till in the far north-west it rose again in a white +mountain mass of stupendous elevation at 80 miles distance, called, +by my Nepal people, "Tsungau."* [This is probably the easternmost and +loftiest peak seen from Katmandoo, distant 78 miles, and estimated +elevation 20,117 feet by Col. Crawford's observations. See +"Hamilton's Nepal," p. 346, and plate 1.] From the bearings I took of +it from several positions, it is in about lat. 27 degrees 49 minutes +and long. 86 degrees 24 minutes, and is probably on the west flank of +the Arun valley and river, which latter, in its course from Tibet to +the plains of India, receives the waters from the west flank of +Kinchinjunga, and from the east flank of the mountain in question. +It is perhaps one which has been seen and measured from the Tirhoot +district by some of Colonel Waugh's party, and which has been +reported to be upwards of 28,000 feet in elevation; and it is the +only mountain of the first class in magnitude between Gosainthan +(north-east of Katmandoo) and Kinchinjunga. + +To the west, the black ridge of Sakkiazung, bristling with pines, +(_Abies Webbiana_) cut off the view of Nepal; but south-west, the +Myong valley could be traced to its junction with the Tambur about +thirty miles off: beyond which to the south-west and south, low +hills belonging to the outer ranges of Nepal rose on the distant +horizon, seventy or eighty miles off; and of these the most +conspicuous were the Mahavarati which skirt the Nepal Terai. South +and south-east, Sinchul and the Goong range of Sikkim intercepted the +view of the plains of India, of which I had a distant peep to the +south-west only. + +The west top of Tonglo is very open and grassy, with occasional +masses of gneiss of enormous size, but probably not in situ. +The whole of this flank, and for 1000 feet down the spur to the +south-west, had been cleared by fire for pasturage, and flocks of +black-faced sheep were grazing. During my stay on the mountain, +except in the early morning, the weather was bleak, gloomy, and very +cold, with a high south-west wind. The mean temperature was 41 +degrees, extremes 53.2/26 degrees: the nights were very clear, with +sharp hoar-frost; the radiating thermometer sank to 21 degrees, the +temperature at 3.5 feet depth was 51.5 degrees. + +A few of the Bhotan coolies having voluntarily returned, I left +Tonglo on the 5th, and descended its west flank to the Mai, a feeder +of the Myong. The descent was as abrupt as that on the east face, but +through less dense forest; the Sikkim side (that facing the east) +being much the dampest. I encamped at dark by a small village, +(Jummanoo) at 4,360 feet, having descended 5000 feet in five hours. +Hence we marched eastward to the village of Sakkiazung, which we +reached on the third day, crossing _en route_ several spurs 4000 to +6000 feet high, from the same ridge, and as many rivers, which all +fall into the Myong, and whose beds are elevated from 2,500 to +3000 feet. + +Though rich and fertile, the country is scantily populated, and +coolies were procured with difficulty: I therefore sent back to +Dorjiling all but absolute indispensables, and on the 9th of November +started up the ridge in a northerly direction, taking the road from +Ilam to Wallanchoon. The ascent was gradual, through a fine forest, +full of horn-bills (_Buceros_), a bird resembling the Toucan +("Dhunass" Lepcha); at 7000 feet an oak (_Quercus semecarpifolia_), +"Khasrou" of the Nepalese, commences, a tree which is common as far +west as Kashmir, but which I never found in Sikkim, though it appears +again in Bhotan.* [This oak ascends in the N.W. Himalaya to the +highest limit of forest (12,000 feet). No oak in Sikkim attains a +greater elevation than 10,000.] It forms a broad-headed tree, and has +a very handsome appearance; its favourite locality is on grassy open +shoulders of the mountains. It was accompanied by an _Astragalus, +Geranium,_ and several other plants of the drier interior parts of +Sikkim. Water is very scarce along the ridge; we walked fully eight +miles without finding any, and were at length obliged to encamp at +8,350 feet by the only spring that we should be able to reach. +With respect to drought, this ridge differs materially from Sikkim, +where water abounds at all elevations; and the cause is obviously its +position to the westward of the great ridge of Singalelah (including +Tonglo) by which the S.W. currents are drained of their moisture. +Here again, the east flank was much the dampest and most +luxuriantly wooded. + +While my men encamped on a very narrow ridge, I ascended a rocky +summit, composed of great blocks of gneiss, from which I obtained a +superb view to the westward. Immediately below a fearfully sudden +descent, ran the Daomy River, bounded on the opposite side by another +parallel ridge of Sakkiazung, enclosing, with that on which I stood, +a gulf from 6000 to 7000 feet deep, of wooded ridges, which, as it +were, radiated outwards as they ascended upwards in rocky spurs to +the pine-clad peaks around. To the south-west, in the extreme +distance, were the boundless plains of India, upwards of 100 miles +off, with the Cosi meandering through them like a silver thread. + +The firmament appeared of a pale steel blue, and a broad low arch +spanned the horizon, bounded by a line of little fleecy clouds +(moutons); below this the sky was of a golden yellow, while in +successively deeper strata, many belts or ribbons of vapour appeared +to press upon the plains, the lowest of which was of a dark leaden +hue, the upper more purple, and vanishing into the pale yellow above. +Though well defined, there was no abrupt division between the belts, +and the lowest mingled imperceptibly with the hazy horizon. +Gradually the golden lines grew dim, and the blues and purples gained +depth of colour; till the sun set behind the dark-blue peaked +mountains in a flood of crimson and purple, sending broad beams of +grey shade and purple light up to the zenith, and all around. +As evening advanced, a sudden chill succeeded, and mists rapidly +formed immediately below me in little isolated clouds, which +coalesced and spread out like a heaving and rolling sea, leaving +nothing above their surface but the ridges and spurs of the adjacent +mountains. These rose like capes, promontories, and islands, of the +darkest leaden hue, bristling with pines, and advancing boldly into +the snowy white ocean, or starting from its bed in the strongest +relief. As darkness came on, and the stars arose, a light fog +gathered round me, and I quitted with reluctance one of the most +impressive and magic scenes I ever beheld. + +Returning to my tent, I was interested in observing how well my +followers had accommodated themselves to their narrow circumstances. +Their fires gleamed everywhere amongst the trees, and the people, +broken up into groups of five, presented an interesting picture of +native, savage, and half-civilised life. I wandered amongst them in +the darkness, and watched unseen their operations; some were cooking, +with their rude bronzed faces lighted up by the ruddy glow, as they +peered into the pot, stirring the boiling rice with one hand, while +with the other they held back their long tangled hair. Others were +bringing water from the spring below, some gathering sprigs of +fragrant _Artemisia_ and other shrubs to form couches--some lopping +branches of larger trees to screen them from nocturnal radiation; +their only protection from the dew being such branches stuck in the +ground, and slanting over their procumbent forms. The Bhotanese were +rude and boisterous in their pursuits, constantly complaining to the +Sirdars, and wrangling over their meals. The Ghorkas were sprightly, +combing their raven hair, telling interminably long stories, of which +money was the burthen, or singing Hindoo songs through their noses in +chorus; and being neater and better dressed, and having a servant to +cook their food, they seemed quite the gentlemen of the party. +Still the Lepcha was the most attractive, the least restrained, and +the most natural in all his actions, the simplest in his wants and +appliances, with a bamboo as his water-jug, an earthen-pot as his +kettle, and all manner of herbs collected during the day's march to +flavour his food. + +My tent was made of a blanket thrown over the limb of a tree; to this +others were attached, and the whole was supported on a frame like a +house. One half was occupied by my bedstead, beneath which was stowed +my box of clothes, while my books and writing materials were placed +under the table. The barometer hung in the most out-of-the-way +corner, and my other instruments all around. A small candle was +burning in a glass shade, to keep the draught and insects from the +light, and I had the comfort of seeing the knife, fork, and spoon +laid on a white napkin, as I entered my snug little house, and flung +myself on the elastic couch to ruminate on the proceedings of the +day, and speculate on those of the morrow, while waiting for my meal, +which usually consisted of stewed meat and rice, with biscuits and +tea. My thermometers (wet and dry bulb, and minimum) hung under a +temporary canopy made of thickly plaited bamboo and leaves close to +the tent, and the cooking was performed by my servant under a tree. + +After dinner my occupations were to ticket and put away the plants +collected during the day, write up journals, plot maps, and take +observations till 10 p.m. As soon as I was in bed, one of the Nepal +soldiers was accustomed to enter, spread his blanket on the ground, +and sleep there as my guard. In the morning the collectors were set +to change the plant-papers, while I explored the neighbourhood, and +having taken observations and breakfasted, we were ready to start at +10 a.m. + +Following the same ridge, after a few miles of ascent over much +broken gneiss rock, the Ghorkas led me aside to the top of a knoll, +9,300 feet high, covered with stunted bushes, and commanding a +splendid view to the west, of the broad, low, well cultivated valley +of the Tambur, and the extensive town of Dunkotah on its banks, about +twenty-five miles off; the capital of this part of Nepal, and famous +for its manufactory of paper from the bark of the _Daphne._ Hence too +I gained a fine view of the plains of India, including the course of +the Cosi river, which, receiving the Arun and Tambur, debouches into +the Ganges opposite Colgongl (see Chapter IV). + +A little further on we crossed the main ridge of Sakkiazung, a long +flexuous chain stretching for miles to the westward from Phulloot on +Singalelah, and forming the most elevated and conspicuous transverse +range in this part of Nepal: its streams flow south to the Myong, and +north to feeders of the Tambur. Silver firs (_Abies Webbiana_) are +found on all the summits; but to my regret none occurred in our path, +which led just below their limit (10,000 feet), on the southern +Himalayan ranges. There were, however, a few yews, exactly like the +English. The view that opened on cresting this range was again +magnificent, of Kinchinjunga, the western snows of Nepal, and the +valley of the Tambur winding amongst wooded and cultivated hills to a +long line of black-peaked, rugged mountains, sparingly snowed, which +intervene between Kinchinjunga and the great Nepal mountain before +mentioned. The extremely varied colouring on the infinite number of +hill-slopes that everywhere intersected the Tambur valley was very +pleasing. For fully forty miles to the northward there were no lofty +forest-clad mountains, nor any apparently above 4000 to 5000 feet: +villages and hamlets appeared everywhere, with crops of golden +mustard and purple buckwheat in full flower; yellow rice and maize, +green hemp, pulse, radishes, and barley, and brown millet. Here and +there deep groves of oranges, the broad-leafed banana, and +sugar-cane, skirted the bottoms of the valleys, through which the +streams were occasionally seen, rushing in white foam over their +rocky beds. It was a goodly sight to one who had for his only +standard of comparison the view from Sinchul, of the gloomy +forest-clad ranges of 6000 to 10,000 feet, that intervene between +that mountain and the snowy girdle of Sikkim; though I question +whether a traveller from more favoured climes would see more in this, +than a thinly inhabited country, with irregular patches of poor +cultivation, a vast amount of ragged forest on low hills of rather +uniform height and contour, relieved by a dismal back-ground of +frowning black mountains, sprinkled with snow! Kinchinjunga was again +the most prominent object to the north-east, with its sister peaks of +Kubra (24,005 feet), and Junnoo (25,312 feet). All these presented +bare cliff's for several thousand feet below their summits, composed +of white rock with a faint pink tint:--on the other hand the lofty +Nepal mountain in the far west presented cliffs of black rocks. From +the summit two routes to the Tambur presented themselves; one, the +main road, led west and south along the ridge, and then turned north, +descending to the river; the other was shorter, leading abruptly down +to the Pemmi river, and thence along its banks, west to the Tambur. +I chose the latter. + +The descent was very abrupt on the first day, from 9,500 feet to 5000 +feet, and on that following to the bed of the Pemmi, at 2000 feet; +and the road was infamously bad, generally consisting of a narrow, +winding, rocky path among tangled shrubs and large boulders, +brambles, nettles, and thorny bushes, often in the bed of the +torrent, or crossing spurs covered with forest, round whose bases it +flowed. A little cultivation was occasionally met with on the narrow +flat pebbly terraces which fringed the stream, usually of rice, and +sometimes of the small-leaved variety of hemp (_Cannabis_), grown as +a narcotic. + +The rocks above 5000 feet were gneiss; below this, cliffs of very +micaceous schist were met with, having a north-west strike, and being +often vertical; the boulders again were always of gneiss. The streams +seemed rather to occupy faults, than to have eroded courses for +themselves; their beds were invariably rocky or pebbly, and the +waters white and muddy from the quantity of alumina. In one little +rocky dell the water gushed through a hole in a soft stratum in the +gneiss; a trifling circumstance which was not lost upon the crafty +Brahmins, who had cut a series of regular holes for the water, +ornamented the rocks with red paint, and a row of little iron +tridents of Siva, and dedicated the whole to Mahadeo. + +In some spots the vegetation was exceedingly fine, and several large +trees occurred: I measured a Toon (_Cedrela_) thirty feet in girth at +five feet above the ground. The skirts of the forest were adorned +with numerous jungle flowers, rice crops, blue _Acanthaceae_ and +_Pavetta,_ wild cherry-trees covered with scarlet blossoms, and trees +of the purple and lilac _Bauhinia_; while _Thunbergia, Convolvulus,_ +and other climbers, hung in graceful festoons from the boughs, and on +the dry micaceous rocks the _Luculia gratissima,_ one of our common +hot-house ornaments, grew in profusion, its gorgeous heads of +blossoms scenting the air. + +At the junction of the Pemmi and Khawa rivers, there are high rocks +of mica-slate, and broad river-terraces of stratified sand and +pebbles, apparently alternating with deposits of shingle. On this +hot, open expanse, elevated 2250 feet, appeared many trees and plants +of the Terai and plains, as pomegranate, peepul, and sal; with +extensive fields of cotton, indigo, and irrigated rice. + +We followed the north bank of the Khawa, which runs westerly through +a gorge, between high cliffs of chlorite, containing thick beds of +stratified quartz. At the angles of the river broad terraces are +formed, fifteen to thirty feet above its bed, similar to those just +mentioned, and planted with rows of _Acacia Serissa,_ or laid out in +rice fields, or sugar plantations. + +I reached the east bank of the Tambur, on the 13th of November, at +its junction with the Khawa, in a deep gorge. It formed a grand +stream, larger than the Teesta, of a pale, sea-green, muddy colour, +and flowed rapidly with a strong ripple, but no foam; it rises six +feet in the rains, but ice never descends nearly so low; its breadth +was sixty to eighty yards, its temperature 55 degrees to 58 degrees. +The breadth of the foaming Khawa was twelve to fifteen yards, and its +temperature 56.5 degrees. The surrounding vegetation was entirely +tropical, consisting of scrubby sal trees, acacia, _Grislea, Emblica, +Hibiscus,_ etc.; the elevation being but 1300 feet, though the spot +was twenty-five miles in a straight line from the plains. I camped at +the fork of the rivers, on a fine terrace fifty feet above the water, +about seventy yards long, and one hundred broad, quite flat-topped, +and composed of shingle, gravel, etc., with enormous boulders of +gneiss, quartz, and hornstone, much water-worn; it was girt by +another broken terrace, twelve feet or so above the water, and +covered with long grass and bushes. + +The main road from Ilam to Wallanchoon, which I quitted on +Sakkiazung, descends steeply on the opposite bank of the river, which +I crossed in a canoe formed of a hollow trunk (of Toon), thirty feet +long. There is considerable traffic along this road; and I was +visited by numbers of natives, all Hindoos, who coolly squatted +before my tent-door, and stared with their large black, vacant, +lustrous eyes: they appear singularly indolent, and great beggars. + +The land seems highly favoured by nature, and the population, though +so scattered, is in reality considerable, the varied elevation giving +a large surface; but the natives care for no more than will satisfy +their immediate wants. The river swarms with fish, but they are too +lazy to catch them, and they have seldom anything better to give or +sell than sticks of sugar-cane, which when peeled form a refreshing +morsel in these scorching marches. They have few and poor oranges, +citrons, and lemons, very bad plantains, and but little else;--eggs, +fowls, and milk are all scarce. Horned cattle are of course never +killed by Hindoos, and it was but seldom that I could replenish my +larder with a kid. Potatos are unknown, but my Sepoys often brought +me large coarse radishes and legumes. + +From the junction of the rivers the road led up the Tambur to Mywa +Guola; about sixteen miles by the river, but fully thirty-five, as we +wound, ascended, and descended, during three days' marches. We were +ferried across the stream in a canoe much ruder than that of the New +Zealander. I watched my party crossing by boat-loads of fifteen each; +the Bhotan men hung little scraps of rags on the bushes before +embarking, the votive offerings of a Booddhist throughout central +Asia;--the Lepcha, less civilised, scooped up a little water in the +palm of his hand, and scattered it about, invoking the river god of +his simple creed. + +We always encamped upon gravelly terraces a few feet above the river, +which flows in a deep gorge; its banks are very steep for 600 feet +above the stream, though the mountains which flank it do not exceed +4000 to 5000 feet: this is a constant phenomenon in the Himalaya, and +the roads, when low and within a few hundred feet of the river, are +in consequence excessively steep and difficult; it would have been +impossible to have taken ponies along that we followed, which was +often not a foot broad, running along very steep cliffs, at a dizzy +height above the river, and engineered with much trouble and +ingenuity: often the bank was abandoned altogether, and we ascended +several thousand feet to descend again. Owing to the steepness of +these banks, and the reflected heat, the valley, even at this season, +was excessively hot and close during the day, even when the +temperature was below 70 degrees, and tempered by a brisk breeze +which rushes upwards from sunrise to sunset. The sun at this season +does not, in many places, reach the bottom of these valleys until 10 +a.m., and is off again by 3 p.m.; and the radiation to a clear sky is +so powerful that dew frequently forms in the shade, throughout the +day, and it is common at 10 a.m. to find the thermometer sink from 70 +degrees in a sheltered spot, dried by the sun, to 40 degrees in the +shade close by, where the sun has not yet penetrated. Snow never +falls. + +The rocks throughout this part of the river-course are mica-schists +(strike north-west, dip south-west 70 degrees, but very variable in +inclination and direction); they are dry and grassy, and the +vegetation wholly tropical, as is the entomology, which consists +chiefly of large butterflies, _Mantis_ and _Diptera._ Snowy mountains +are rarely seen, and the beauty of the scenery is confined to the +wooded banks of the main stream, which flows at an average +inclination of fifty feet to the mile. Otters are found in the +stream, and my party shot two, but could not procure them. + +Illustration--TAMBUR RIVER & VALLEY (EAST NEPAL) FROM CHINTAM. +(ELEVATION 5000 FT.) LOOKING NORTH. + +In one place the road ascended for 2000 feet above the river, to the +village of Chingtam, situated on a lofty spur of the west bank, +whence I obtained a grand view of the upper course of the river, +flowing in a tremendous chasm, flanked by well-cultivated hills, and +emerging fifteen miles to the northward, from black mountains of +savage grandeur, whose rugged, precipitous faces were streaked with +snow, and the tops of the lower ones crowned with the +tabular-branched silver-fir, contrasting strongly with the tropical +luxuriance around. Chingtam is an extensive village, covering an area +of two miles, and surrounded with abundant cultivation; the houses, +which are built in clusters, are of wood, or wattle and mud, with +grass thatch. The villagers, though an indolent, staring race, are +quiet and respectable; the men are handsome, the women, though less +so, often good-looking. They have fine cattle, and excellent crops. + +Immediately above Chingtam, the Tambur is joined by a large affluent +from the west, the Mywa, which is crossed by an excellent iron +bridge, formed of loops hanging from two parallel chains, along which +is laid a plank of sal timber. Passing through the village, we camped +on a broad terrace, from sixty to seventy feet above the junction of +the rivers, whose beds are 2100 feet above the sea. + +Mywa Guola (or bazaar) is a large village and mart, frequented by +Nepalese and Tibetans, who bring salt, wool, gold, musk, and +blankets, to exchange for rice, coral, and other commodities; and a +custom-house officer is stationed there, with a few soldiers. +The houses are of wood, and well built: the public ones are large, +with verandahs, and galleries of carved wood; the workmanship is of +Chinese character, and inferior to that of Katmandoo; but in the same +style, and quite unlike anything I had previously seen. + +The river-terrace is in all respects similar to that at the junction +of the Tambur and Khawa, but very extensive: the stones it contained +were of all sizes, from a nut to huge boulders upwards of fifteen +feet long, of which many strewed the surface, while others were in +the bed of the river: all were of gneiss, quartz, and granite, and +had doubtless been transported from great elevations, as the rocks +_in situ_--both here and for several thousand feet higher up the +river--were micaceous schists, dipping in various directions, and at +all angles, with, however, a general strike to the north-west. + +I was here overtaken by a messenger with letters from Dr. Campbell, +announcing that the Sikkim Rajah had disavowed the refusal to the +Governor-General's letter, and authorising me to return through any +part of Sikkim I thought proper. The bearer was a Lepcha attached to +the court: his dress was that of a superior person, being a scarlet +jacket over a white cotton dress, the breadth of the blue stripes of +which generally denotes wealth; he was accompanied by a sort of +attache, who wore a magnificent pearl and gold ear-ring, and carried +his master's bow, as well as a basket on his back; while an attendant +coolie bore their utensils and food. Meepo, or Teshoo (in Tibetan, +Mr.), Meepo, as he was usually called, soon attached himself to me, +and proved an active, useful, and intelligent companion, guide, and +often collector, during many months afterwards. + +The vegetation round Mywa Guola is still thoroughly tropical: the +banyan is planted, and thrives tolerably, the heat being great during +the day. Like the whole of the Tambur valley below 4000 feet, and +especially on these flats, the climate is very malarious before and +after the rains; and I was repeatedly applied to by natives suffering +under attacks of fever. During the two days I halted, the mean +temperature was 60 degrees (extremes, 80/41 degrees), that of the +Tambur, 53 degrees, and of the Mywa, 56 degrees; each varying a few +degrees (the smaller stream the most) between sunrise and 4 p.m.: the +sunk thermometer was 72 degrees. + +As we should not easily be able to procure food further on, I laid in +a full stock here, and distributed blankets, etc., sufficient for +temporary use for all the people, dividing them into groups or messes. + +CHAPTER IX. + +Leave Mywa -- Suspension bridge -- Landslips -- Vegetation -- Slope +of riverbed -- Bees' nests -- Glacial phenomena -- Tibetans, +clothing, ornaments, amulets, salutation, children, dogs -- Last +Limboo village, Taptiatok -- Beautiful scenery -- Tibet village of +Lelyp -- _Opuntia_ -- _Edgeworthia_ -- Crab-apple -- Chameleon and +porcupine -- Praying machine -- _Abies Brunoniana_ -- European plants +-- Grand scenery -- Arrive at Wallanchoon -- Scenery around -- Trees +-- Tibet houses -- Manis and Mendongs -- Tibet household -- Food -- +Tea-soup -- Hospitality -- Yaks and Zobo, uses and habits of -- +Bhoteeas -- Yak-hair tents -- Guobah of Walloong -- Jhatamansi -- +Obstacles to proceeding -- Climate and weather -- Proceed -- +Rhododendrons, etc. -- Lichens -- _Poa annua_ and Shepherd's purse -- +Tibet camp -- Tuquoroma -- Scenery of pass -- Glaciers and snow -- +Summit -- Plants, woolly, etc. + +On the 18th November, we left Mywa Guola, and continued up the river +to the village of Wallanchoon or Walloong, which was reached in six +marches. The snowy peak of Junnoo (alt. 25,312 feet.) forms a +magnificent feature from this point, seen up the narrow gorge of the +river, bearing N.N.E. about thirty miles. I crossed the Mewa, an +affluent from the north, by another excellent suspension bridge. +In these bridges, the principal chains are clamped to rocks on either +shore, and the suspended loops occur at intervals of eight to ten +feet; the single sal-plank laid on these loops swings terrifically, +and the handrails not being four feet high, the sense of insecurity +is very great. + +The Wallanchoon road follows the west bank, but the bridge above +having been carried away, we crossed by a plank, and proceeded along +very steep banks of decomposed chlorite schist, much contorted, and +very soapy, affording an insecure footing, especially where great +landslips had occurred, which were numerous, exposing acres of a +reddish and white soil of felspathic clay, sloping at an angle of 30 +degrees. Where the angle was less than 15 degrees, rice was +cultivated, and partially irrigated. The lateral streams (of a muddy +opal green) had cut beds 200 feet deep in the soft earth, and were +very troublesome to cross, from the crumbling cliffs on either side, +and their broad swampy channels. + +Five or six miles above Mywa, the valley contracts much, and the +Tambur (whose bed is elevated about 3000 feet) becomes a turbulent +river, shooting along its course with immense velocity, torn into +foam as it lashes the spurs of rock that flank it, and the enormous +boulders with which its bed is strewn.* [In some places torrents of +stone were carried down by landslips, obstructing the rivers; when in +the beds of streams, they were often cemented by felspathic clay into +a hard breccia of angular quartz, gneiss, and felspar nodules.] From +this elevation to 9000 feet, its sinuous track extends about thirty +miles, which gives the mean fall of 200 feet to the mile, quadruple +of what it is for the lower part of its course. So long as its bed is +below 5000 feet, a tropical vegetation prevails in the gorge, and +along the terraces, consisting of tall bamboo, _Bauhinia, Acacia, +Melastoma,_ etc.; but the steep mountain sides above are either bare +and grassy, or cliffs with scattered shrubs and trees, and their +summits are of splintered slaty gneiss, bristling with pines: those +faces exposed to the south and east are invariably the driest and +most grassy; while the opposite are well wooded. _Rhododendron +arboreum_ becomes plentiful at 5000 to 6000 feet, forming a large +tree on dry clayey slopes; it is accompanied by _Indigofera, +Andromeda,_ _Spiraea,_ shrubby _Compositae,_ and very many plants +absent at similar elevations on the wet outer Dorjiling ranges. + +In the contracted parts of the valley, the mountains often dip to the +river-bed, in precipices of gneiss, under the ledges of which wild +bees build pendulous nests, looking like huge bats suspended by their +wings; they are two or three feet long, and as broad at the top, +whence they taper downwards: the honey is much sought for, except in +spring, when it is said to be poisoned by Rhododendron flowers, just +as that, eaten by the soldiers in the retreat of the Ten Thousand, +was by the flowers of the _R. ponticum._ + +Above these gorges are enormous accumulations of rocks, especially at +the confluence of lateral valleys, where they rest upon little flats, +like the river-terraces of Mywa, but wholly formed of angular +shingle, flanked with beds of river-formed gravel: some of these +boulders were thirty or forty yards across, and split as if they had +fallen from a height; the path passing between the fragments.* [The +split fragments I was wholly unable to account for, till my attention +was directed by Mr. Darwin to the observations of Charpentier and +Agassiz, who refer similar ones met with in the Alps, to rocks which +have fallen through crevasses in glaciers.--See "Darwin on Glaciers +and Transported Boulders in North Wales." London, "Phil. Mag." xxi. +p. 180.] At first I imagined that they had been precipitated from the +mountains around; and I referred the shingle to land-shoots, which +during the rains descend several thousand feet in devastating +avalanches, damming up the rivers, and destroying houses, cattle, and +cultivation; but though I still refer the materials of many such +terraces to this cause, I consider those at the mouths of valleys to +be due to ancient glacial action, especially when laden with such +enormous blocks as are probably ice-transported. + +A change in the population accompanies that in the natural features +of the country, Tibetans replacing the Limboos and Khass-tribes of +Nepal, who inhabit the lower region. We daily passed parties of ten +or a dozen Tibetans, on their way to Mywa Guola, laden with salt; +several families of these wild, black, and uncouth-looking people +generally travelling together. The men are middle-sized, often tall, +very square-built and muscular; they have no beard, moustache, or +whiskers, the few hairs on their faces being carefully removed with +tweezers. They are dressed in loose blanket robes, girt about the +waist with a leather belt, in which they place their iron or brass +pipes, and from which they suspend their long knives, chopsticks, +tobacco-pouch, tweezers, tinder-box, etc. The robe, boots, and cap +are grey, or striped with bright colours, and they wear skull-caps, +and the hair plaited into a pig-tail. + +The women are dressed in long flannel petticoats and spencer, over +which is thrown a sleeveless, short, striped cloak, drawn round the +waist by a girdle of broad brass or silver links, to which hang their +knives, scissors, needlecases, etc., and with which they often strap +their children to their backs; the hair is plaited in two tails, and +the neck loaded with strings of coral and glass beads, and great +lumps of amber, glass, and agate. Both sexes wear silver rings and +ear-rings, set with turquoises, and square amulets upon their necks +and arms, which are boxes of gold or silver, containing small idols, +or the nail-parings, teeth, or other reliques of some sainted Lama, +accompanied with musk, written prayers, and other charms. All are +good-humoured and amiable-looking people, very square and Mongolian +in countenance, with broad mouths, high cheek-bones, narrow, upturned +eyes, broad, flat noses, and low foreheads. White is their natural +colour, and rosy cheeks are common amongst the younger women and +children, but all are begrimed with filth and smoke; added to which, +they become so weather-worn from exposure to the most rigorous +climate in the world, that their natural hues are rarely to be +recognised. Their customary mode of saluting one another is to hold +out the tongue, grin, nod, and scratch their ear; but this method +entails so much ridicule in the low countries, that they do not +practise it to Nepalese or strangers; most of them when meeting me, +on the contrary, raised their hands to their eyes, threw themselves +on the ground, and kotowed most decorously, bumping their foreheads +three times on the ground; even the women did this on several +occasions. On rising, they begged for a bucksheesh, which I gave in +tobacco or snuff, of which they are immoderately fond. Both men and +women constantly spin wool as they travel. + +Illustration--TIBET MASTIFF. + +These motley groups of Tibetans are singularly picturesque, from the +variety in their parti-coloured dresses, and their odd appearance. +First comes a middle-aged man or woman, driving a little silky black +yak, grunting under his load of 260 lb. of salt, besides pots, pans, +and kettles, stools, churn, and bamboo vessels, keeping up a constant +rattle, and perhaps, buried amongst all, a rosy-cheeked and lipped +baby, sucking a lump of cheese-curd. The main body follow in due +order, and you are soon entangled amidst sheep and goats, each with +its two little bags of salt: beside these, stalks the huge, grave, +bull-headed mastiff, loaded like the rest, his glorious bushy tail +thrown over his back in a majestic sweep, and a thick collar of +scarlet wool round his neck and shoulders, setting off his long silky +coat to the best advantage; he is decidedly the noblest-looking of +the party, especially if a fine and pure black one, for they are +often very ragged, dun-coloured, sorry beasts. He seems rather out of +place, neither guarding nor keeping the party together, but he knows +that neither yaks, sheep, nor goats, require his attention; all are +perfectly tame, so he takes his share of work as salt-carrier by day, +and watches by night as well. The children bring up the rear, +laughing and chatting together; they, too, have their loads, even to +the youngest that can walk alone. + +The last village of the Limboos, Taptiatok, is large, and occupies a +remarkable amphitheatre, apparently a lake-bed, in the course of the +Tambur. After proceeding some way through a narrow gorge, along which +the river foamed and roared, the sudden opening out of this broad, +oval expanse, more than a mile long, was very striking: the mountains +rose bare and steep, the west flank terminating in shivered masses of +rock, while that on the right was more undulating, dry, and grassy: +the surface was a flat gravel-bed, through which meandered the +rippling stream, fringed with alder. It was a beautiful spot, the +clear, cool, murmuring river, with its rapids and shallows, forcibly +reminding me of trout-streams in the highlands of Scotland. + +Beyond Taptiatok we again crossed the river, and ascended over dry, +grassy, or rocky spurs to Lelyp, the first Bhoteea village; it stands +on a hill fully 1000 feet above the river, and commands a splendid +view up the Yalloong and Kambachen valleys, which open immediately to +the east, and appear as stupendous chasms in the mountains leading to +the perpetual snows of Kinchin-junga. There were about fifty houses +in the village, of wood and thatch, neatly fenced in with wattle, the +ground between being carefully cultivated with radishes, buckwheat, +wheat, and millet. I was surprised to find in one enclosure a fine +healthy plant of _Opuntia,_ in flower, at this latitude and +elevation. A Lama, who is the head man of the place, came out to +greet us, with his family and a whole troop of villagers; they were +the same class of people as I have elsewhere described as Cis-nivean +Tibetans, or Bhoteeas; none had ever before seen an Englishman, and I +fear they formed no flattering opinion from the specimen now +presented to them, as they seemed infinitely amused at my appearance, +and one jolly dame clapped her hands to her sides, and laughed at my +spectacles, till the hills echoed. + +_Elaeagnus_ was common here, with _Edgeworthia Gardneri,_* [A plant +allied to _Daphne,_ from whose bark the Nepal paper is manufactured. +It was named after the eminent Indian botanist, brother of the late +Miss Edgeworth.] a beautiful shrub, with globes of waxy, +cowslip-coloured, deliciously scented flowers; also a wild apple, +which bears a small austere fruit, like the Siberian crab. In the bed +of the river rice was still cultivated by Limboos, and subtropical +plants continued. I saw, too, a chameleon and a porcupine, indicating +much warmth, and seeming quite foreign to the heart of these +stupendous mountains. From 6000 to 7000 feet, plants of the temperate +regions blend with the tropical; such as rhododendron, oak, ivy, +geranium, berberry, clematis, and shrubby _Vaccinia,_ which all made +their appearance at Loongtoong, another Bhoteea village. Here, too, I +first saw a praying machine, turned by water; it was enclosed in a +little wooden house, and consisted of an upright cylinder containing +a prayer, and with the words, "Om mani padmi om," (Hail to him of the +Lotus and Jewel) painted on the circumference: it was placed over a +stream, and made to rotate on its axis by a spindle which passed +through the floor of the building into the water, and was terminated +by a wheel. + +Above this the road followed the west bank of the river; the latter +was a furious torrent, flowing through a gorge, fringed with a sombre +vegetation, damp, and dripping with moisture, and covered with long +_Usnea_ and pendulous mosses. The road was very rocky and difficult, +sometimes leading along bluff faces of cliffs by wooden steps and +single rotten planks. At 8000 feet I met with pines, whose trunks I +had seen strewing the river for some miles lower down: the first that +occurred was _Abies Brunoniana,_ a beautiful species, which forms a +stately blunt pyramid, with branches spreading like the cedar, but +not so stiff, and drooping gracefully on all sides. It is unknown on +the outer ranges of Sikkim, and in the interior occupies a belt about +1000 feet lower than the silver fir (_A. Webbiana_). Many sub-alpine +plants occur here, as _Lecesteria, Thalictrum,_ rose, thistles, +alder, birch, ferns, berberry, holly, anemone, strawberry, raspberry, +_Gnaphalium, the alpine bamboo, and oaks. The scenery is as grand as +any pictured by Salvator Rosa; a river roaring in sheets of foam, +sombre woods, crags of gneiss, and tier upon tier of lofty mountains +flanked and crested with groves of black firs, terminating in +snow-sprinkled rocky peaks. + +Illustration--TAMBUR RIVER AT THE LOWER LIMIT OF PINES. + +I now found the temperature getting rapidly cooler, both that of the +air, which here at 8,066 feet fell to 32 degrees in the night, and +that of the river, which was always below 40 degrees. It was in these +narrow valleys only, that I observed the return cold current rushing +down the river-courses during the nights, which were usually +brilliant and very cold, with copious dew: so powerful, indeed, was +the radiation, that the upper blanket of my bed became coated with +moisture, from the rapid abstraction of heat by the frozen tarpaulin +of my tent. + +The rivers here are often fringed by flats of shingle, on which grow +magnificent yews and pines; some of the latter were from 120 to 150 +feet high, and had been blown down, owing to their scanty hold on the +soil. I measured one, _Abies Brunoniana,_ twenty feet in girth. +Many alpine rhododendrons occur at 9000 feet, with _Astragalis_ and +creeping Tamarisk. Three miles below Wallanchoon the river forks, +being met by the Yangma from the north-east; they are impetuous +torrents of about equal volume; the Tambur especially (here called +the Walloong) is often broken into cascades, and cuts a deep +gorge-like channel. + +I arrived at the village of Wallanchoon on the 23rd of November. +It is elevated 10,385 feet, and situated in a fine open part of the +Tambur valley, differing from any part lower down in all its natural +features; being broad, with a rapid but not turbulent stream, very +grassy, and both the base and sides of the flanking mountains covered +with luxuriant dense bushes of rhododendron, rose, berberry and +juniper. Red-legged crows, hawks, wild pigeons, and finches, +abounded. There was but little snow on the mountains around, which +are bare and craggy above, but sloping below. Bleak and forbidding as +the situation of any Himalayan village at 10,000 feet elevation must +be, that of Wallanchoon is rendered the more so from the +comparatively few trees; for though the silver fir and juniper are +both abundant higher up the valley, they have been felled here for +building materials, fuel, and export to Tibet. From the naked limbs +and tall gaunt black trunks of those that remain, stringy masses of +bleached lichen (_Usnea_) many feet long, stream in the wind. +Both men and women seemed fond of decorating their hair with wreaths +of this lichen, which they dye yellow with leaves of _Symplocos._ + +Illustration--WALLANCHOON VILLAGE. + +The village is very large, and occupies a flat on the east bank of +the river, covered with huge boulders: the ascent to it is extremely +steep, probably over an ancient moraine, though I did not recognise +it as such at the time. Cresting this, the valley at once opens, and +I was almost startled with the sudden change from a gloomy gorge to a +broad flat and a populous village of large and good painted wooden +houses, ornamented with hundreds of long poles and vertical flags, +looking like the fleet of some foreign port; while a swarm of +good-natured, intolerably dirty Tibetans, were kotowing to me as +I advanced. + +The houses crept up the base of the mountain, on the flank of which +was a very large, long convent; two-storied, and painted scarlet, +with a low black roof, and backed by a grove of dark junipers; while +the hill-sides around were thickly studded with bushes of deep green +rhododendron, scarlet berberry, and withered yellow rose. The village +contained about one hundred houses, irregularly crowded together, +from twenty to forty feet high, and forty to eighty feet long; each +accommodating several families. All were built of upright strong +pine-planks, the interstices of which were filled with yak-dung; and +they sometimes rest on a low foundation wall: the door was generally +at the gable end; it opened with a latch and string; and turned on a +wooden pivot; the only window was a slit closed by a shutter; and the +roofs were very low-pitched, covered with shingles kept down by +stones. The paths were narrow and filthy; and the only public +buildings besides the convents were Manis and Mendongs; of these the +former are square-roofed temples, containing rows of praying- +cylinders placed close together, from four to six feet high, +and gaudily painted; some are turned by hand, and others by water: +the latter are walls ornamented with slabs of clay and mica slate, +with "Om Mani Padmi om" well carved on them in two characters, and +repeated _ad infinitum._ + +A Tibetan household is very slovenly; the family live higgledy- +piggledy in two or more apartments, the largest of which has an open +fire on the earth, or on a stone if the floor be of wood. The pots +and tea-pot are earthen and copper; and these, with the bamboo +churn for the brick tea, some wooden and metal spoons, bowls, and +platters, comprise all the kitchen utensils. + +Every one carries in the breast of his robe a little wooden cup for +daily use; neatly turned from the knotted roots of maple (see Chapter +V). The Tibetan chiefly consumes barley, wheat, or buckwheat +meal--the latter is confined to the poorer classes--with milk, +butter, curd, and parched wheat; fowls, eggs, pork, and yak flesh +when he can afford it, and radishes, a few potatos, legumes, and +turnips in their short season. His drink is a sort of soup made from +brick tea, of which a handful of leaves is churned up with salt, +butter, and soda, then boiled and transferred to the tea-pot, whence +it is poured scalding hot into each cup, which the good woman of the +house keeps incessantly replenishing, and urging you to drain. +Sometimes, but more rarely, the Tibetans make a drink by pouring +boiling water over malt, as the Lepchas do over millet. A pipe of +yellow mild Chinese tobacco generally follows the meal; more often, +however, their tobacco is brought from the plains of India, when it +is of a very inferior description. The pipe carried in the girdle, is +of brass or iron, often with an agate, amber, or bamboo mouth-piece. + +Many herds of fine yaks were grazing about Wallanchoon: there were a +few ponies, sheep, goats, fowls, and pigs, but very little +cultivation except turnips, radishes, and potatos. The yak is a very +tame, domestic animal, often handsome, and a true bison in +appearance; it is invaluable to these mountaineers from its strength +and hardiness, accomplishing, at a slow pace, twenty miles a day, +bearing either two bags of salt or rice, or four to six planks of +pinewood slung in pairs along either flank. Their ears are generally +pierced, and ornamented with a tuft of scarlet worsted; they have +large and beautiful eyes, spreading horns, long silky black hair, and +grand bushy tails: black is their prevailing colour, but red, dun, +parti-coloured, and white are common. In winter, the flocks graze +below 8000 feet, on account of the great quantity of snow above that +height; in summer they find pasturage as high as 17,000 feet, +consisting of grass and small tufted _Carices,_ on which they browse +with avidity. + +The zobo, or cross between the yak and hill cow (much resembling the +English cow), is but rarely seen in these mountains, though common in +the North West Himalaya. The yak is used as a beast of burden; and +much of the wealth of the people consists in its rich milk and curd, +eaten either fresh or dried, or powdered into a kind of meal. +The hair is spun into ropes, and woven into a covering for their +tents, which is quite pervious to wind and rain;* [The latter is, +however, of little consequence in the dry climate of Tibet.] from the +same material are made the gauze shades for the eyes used in crossing +snowy passes. The bushy tail forms the well-known "chowry" or +fly-flapper of the plains of India; the bones and dung serve for +fuel. The female drops one calf in April; and the young yaks are very +full of gambols, tearing up and down the steep grassy and rocky +slopes: their flesh is delicious, much richer and more juicy than +common veal; that of the old yak is sliced and dried in the sun, +forming jerked meat, which is eaten raw, the scanty proportion of fat +preventing its becoming very rancid, so that I found it palatable +food: it is called _schat-tcheu_ (dried meat). I never observed the +yak to be annoyed by any insects; indeed at the elevation it +inhabits, there are no large diptera, bots, or gadflies to infest it. +It loves steep places, delighting to scramble among rocks, and to sun +its black hide perched on the glacial boulders which strew the +Wallanchoon flat, and on which these beasts always sleep. Their +average value is from two to three pounds, but the price varies with +the season. In autumn, when her calf is killed for food, the mother +will yield no milk, unless the herdsman gives it the calf's foot to +lick, or lays a stuffed skin before it, to fondle, which it does with +eagerness, expressing its satisfaction by short grunts, exactly like +those of a pig, a sound which replaces the low uttered by ordinary +cattle. The yak, though indifferent to ice and snow and to changes of +temperature, cannot endure hunger so long as the sheep, nor pick its +way so well upon stony ground. Neither can it bear damp heat, for +which reason it will not live in summer below 7000 feet, where liver +disease carries it off after a very few years.* [Nevertheless, the +yak seems to have survived the voyage to England. I find in Turner's +"Tibet" (p. 189), that a bull sent by that traveller to Mr. Hastings, +reached England alive, and after suffering from languor, so far +recovered its health and vigour as to become the father of many +calves. Turner does not state by what mother these calves were born, +an important omission, as he adds that all these died but one cow, +which bore a calf by an Indian bull. A painting of the yak (copied +into Turner's book) by Stubbs, the animal painter, may be seen in the +Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, London. The artist is +probably a little indebted to description for the appearance of its +hair in a native state, for it is represented much too even in +length, and reaching to too uniform a depth from the flanks.] Lastly, +the yak is ridden, especially by the fat Lamas, who find its shaggy +coat warm, and its paces easy; under these circumstances it is always +led. The wild yak or bison (D'hong) of central Asia, the superb +progenitor of this animal, is the largest native animal of Tibet, in +various parts of which country it is found; and the Tibetans say, in +reference to its size, that the liver is a load for a tame yak. +The Sikkim Dewan gave Dr. Campbell and myself an animated account of +the chase of this animal, which is hunted by large dogs, and shot +with a blunderbuss: it is untameable and horridly fierce, falling +upon you with horns and chest, and if he rasps you with his tongue, +it is so rough as to scrape the flesh from the bones. The horn is +used as a drinking-cup in marriage feasts, and on other grand +occasions. My readers are probably familiar with Messrs. Huc and +Gabet's account of a herd of these animals being frozen fast in the +head-waters of the Yangtsekiang river. There is a noble specimen in +the British Museum not yet set up, and another is preparing for +exhibition in the Crystal Palace at Sydenham. + +The inhabitants of these frontier districts belong to two very +different tribes, but all are alike called Bhoteeas (from Bhote, the +proper name of Tibet), and have for many centuries been located in +what is--in climate and natural features--a neutral ground between +dry Tibet Proper, and the wet Himalayan gorges. They inhabit a +climate too cold for either the Lepcha or Nepalese, migrating between +6000 and 15,000 feet with the seasons, always accompanied by their +herds. In all respects of appearance, religion, manners, customs, and +language, they are Tibetans and Lama Booddhists, but they pay tax to +the Nepal and Sikkim Rajahs, to whom they render immense service by +keeping up and facilitating the trade in salt, wool, musk, etc., +which could hardly be conducted without their co-operation. They levy +a small tax on all imports, and trade a little on their own account, +but are generally poor and very indolent. In their alpine summer +quarters they grow scanty crops of wheat, barley, turnips, and +radishes; and at their winter quarters, as at Loongtoong, the better +classes cultivate fine crops of buck-wheat, millet, spinach, etc.; +though seldom enough for their support, as in spring they are obliged +to buy rice from the inhabitants of the lower regions. Equally +dependent on Nepal and Tibet, they very naturally hold themselves +independent of both; and I found that my roving commission from the +Nepal Rajah was not respected, and the guard of Ghorkas held very +cheap. + +On my arrival at Wallanchoon, I was conducted to two tents, each +about eight feet long, of yak's hair, striped blue and white, which +had been pitched close to the village for my accommodation. Though +the best that could be provided, and larger than my own, they were +wretched in the extreme, being of so loose a texture that the wind +blew through them: each was formed of two cloths with a long slit +between them, that ran across the top, giving egress to the smoke, +and ingress to the weather: they were supported on two short poles, +kept to the ground by large stones, and fastened by yak's hair ropes. +A fire was smoking vigorously in the centre of one, and some planks +were laid at the end for my bed. A crowd of people soon came to stare +and loll out their tongues at me, my party, and travelling equipage; +though very civil, and only offensive in smell, they were +troublesome, from their eager curiosity to see and handle everything; +so that I had to place a circle of stones round the tents, whilst a +soldier stood by, on the alert to keep them off. A more idle people +are not to be found, except with regard to spinning, which is their +constant occupation, every man and woman carrying a bundle of wool in +the breast of their garments, which is spun by hand with a spindle, +and wound off on two cross-pieces at its lower end. Spinning, +smoking, and tea-drinking are their chief pursuits; and the women +take all the active duties of the dairy and house. They live very +happily together, fighting being almost unknown. + +Soon after my arrival I was waited on by the Guobah (or head-man), a +tall, good-looking person, dressed in a purple woollen robe, with +good pearl and coral ear and finger-rings, and a broad ivory ring +over the left thumb,* [A broad ring of this material, agate, or +chalcedony, is a mark of rank here, as amongst the Man-choos, and +throughout Central Asia.] as a guard when using the bow; he wore a +neat thick white felt cap, with the border turned up, and a silk +tassel on the top; this he removed with both hands and held before +him, bowing three times on entering. He was followed by a crowd, some +of whom were his own people, and brought a present of a kid, fowls, +rice, and eggs, and some spikenard roots (_Nardostachys Jatamansi,_ a +species of valerian smelling strongly of patchouli), which is a very +favourite perfume. After paying some compliments, he showed me round +the village. During my walk, I found that I had a good many +objections to overrule before I could proceed to the Wallanchoon +pass, nearly two days' journey to the northward. In the first place, +the Guobah disputed the Nepal rajah's authority to pass me through +his dominions; and besides the natural jealousy of these people when +intruded upon, they have very good reasons for concealing the amount +of revenue they raise from their position, and for keeping up the +delusion that they alone can endure the excessive climate of these +regions, or undergo the hardships and toil of the salt trade. My +passport said nothing about the passes; my people, and especially the +Ghorkas, detested the keen, cold, and cutting wind; at Mywa Guola, I +had been persuaded by the Havildar to put off providing snow-boots +and blankets, on the assurance that I should easily get them at +Walloong, which I now found all but impossible, owing to there being +no bazaar. My provisions were running short, and for the same reason +I had no present hope of replenishing them. All my party had, I +found, reckoned with certainty that I should have had enough of this +elevation and weather by the time I reached Walloong. Some of them +fell sick; the Guobah swore that the passes were full of snow, and +had been impracticable since October; and the Ghorka Havildar +respectfully deposed that he had no orders relative to the pass. +Prompt measures were requisite, so I told all my people that I should +stop the next day at Walloong, and proceed on the following on a +three days' journey to the pass, with or without the Guobah's +permission. To the Ghorka soldiers I said that the present they would +receive, and the character they would take to their commandant, +depended on their carrying out this point, which had been fully +explained before starting. My servants I told that their pay and +reward also depended on their implicit obedience. I took the Guobah +aside and showed him troops of yaks (tethered by halters and toggles +to a long rope stretched between two rocks), which had that morning +arrived laden with salt from the north; I told him it was vain to try +and deceive me; that my passport was ample, and that I should expect +a guide, provisions, and snow-boots the next day; and that every +impediment and every facility should be reported to the rajah. + +During my two days' stay at Walloong, the weather was bitterly cold: +as heretofore, the nights and mornings were cloudless, but by noon +the whole sky became murky, the highest temperature (50 degrees) +occurring at 10 a.m. At this season the prospect from this elevation +(10,385 feet), was dreary in the extreme; and the quantity of snow on +the mountains, which was continually increasing, held out a dismal +promise for my chance of exploring lofty uninhabited regions. +All annual and deciduous vegetation had long past, and the lofty +Himalayas are very poor in mosses and lichens, as compared with the +European Alps, and arctic regions in general. The temperature +fluctuated from 22 degrees at sunrise, to 50 degrees at 10 a.m.; the +mean being 35 degrees;* [This gives 1 degrees Fahr. for every 309 +feet of elevation, using contemporaneous observations at Calcutta, +and correcting for latitude, etc.] one night it fell to 64 degrees. +Throughout the day, a south wind blew strong and cold up the valley, +and at sunset was replaced by a keen north blast, searching every +corner, and piercing through tent and blankets. Though the sun's rays +were hot for an hour or two in the morning, its genial influence was +never felt in the wind. The air was never very dry, the wet-bulb +thermometer standing during the day 3.75 degrees below the dry, thus +giving a mean dew-point of 30.25 degrees. A thermometer sunk two feet +stood at 44 degrees, fully 9 degrees above the mean temperature of +the air; one exposed to the clear sky, stood, during the day, several +degrees below the air in shade, and, at night, from 9 degrees to +14.75 degrees lower. The black-bulb thermometer, in the sun, rose to +65.75 degrees above the air, indicating upwards of 90 degrees +difference at nearly the warmest part of the day, between contiguous +shaded and sunny exposures. The sky, when cloudless, was generally a +cold blue or steel-grey colour, but at night the stars were large, +and twinkled gloriously. The black-glass photometer indicated 10.521 +inches* [On three mornings the maxima occurred at between 9 and 10 +a.m. They were, Nov. 24th, 10.509, Nov. 25th, 10.521. On the 25th, at +Tuquoroma, I recorded 10.510. The maximum effect observed at +Dorjiling (7340 feet) was 10.328, and on the plains of India 10.350. +The maximum I ever recorded was in Yangma valley (15,186 feet), +10.572 at 1 p.m.] as the maximum intensity of sunlight; the +temperature of the river close by fell to 32 degrees during the +night, and rose to 37 degrees in the day. In my tent, the temperature +fluctuated with the state of the fire, from 26 degrees at night to 58 +degrees when the sun beat on it; but the only choice was between cold +and suffocating smoke. + +After a good many conferences with the Guobah, some bullying, douce +violence, persuasions, and the prescribing of pills, prayers, and +charms in the shape of warm water, for the sick of the village, +whereby I gained some favour, I was, on the 25th Nov., grudgingly +prepared for the trip to Wallanchoon, with a guide, and some +snow-boots for those of my party whom I took with me. + +The path lay north-west up the valley, which became thickly wooded +with silver-fir and juniper; we gradually ascended, crossing many +streams from lateral gulleys, and huge masses of boulders. Evergreen +rhododendrons soon replaced the firs, growing in inconceivable +profusion, especially on the slopes facing the south: east, and with +no other shrubs or tree-vegetation, but scattered bushes of rose, +_Spiraea,_ dwarf juniper, stunted birch, willow, honey-suckle, +berberry, and a mountain-ash (_Pyrus_). What surprised me more than +the prevalence of rhododendron bushes, was the number of species of +this genus, easily recognised by the shape of their capsules, the +form and woolly covering of the leaves; none were in flower, but I +reaped a rich harvest of seed. At 12,000 feet the valley was wild, +open, and broad, with sloping mountains clothed for 1000 feet with +dark-green rhododendron bushes; the river ran rapidly, and was broken +into falls here and there. Huge angular and detached masses of rock +were scattered about, and to the right and left snowy peaks towered +over the surrounding mountains, while amongst the latter narrow +gulleys led up to blue patches of glacial ice, with trickling streams +and shoots of stones. Dwarf rhododendrons with strongly-scented +leaves (_R. anthopogon_ and _setosum_), and abundance of a little +_Andromeda,_ exactly like ling, with woody stems and tufted branches, +gave a heathery appearance to the hill-sides. The prevalence of +lichens, common to this country and to Scotland (especially L. +geographicus_), which coloured the rocks, added an additional feature +to the resemblance to Scotch Highland scenery. Along the narrow path +I found the two commonest of all British weeds, a grass (_Poa +annua_), and the shepherd's purse! They had evidently been imported +by man and yaks, and as they do not occur in India, I could not but +regard these little wanderers from the north with the deepest +interest. + +Such incidents as these give rise to trains of reflection in the mind +of the naturalist traveller; and the farther he may be from home and +friends, the more wild and desolate the country he is exploring, the +greater the difficulties and dangers under which he encounters these +subjects of his earliest studies in science; so much keener is the +delight with which he recognises them, and the more lasting is the +impression which they leave. At this moment these common weeds more +vividly recall to me that wild scene than does all my journal, and +remind me how I went on my way, taxing my memory for all it ever knew +of the geographical distribution of the shepherd's purse, and musing +on the probability of the plant having found its way thither over all +Central Asia, and the ages that may have been occupied in its march. + +On reaching 13,000 feet, the ground was everywhere hard and frozen, +and I experienced the first symptoms of lassitude, headache, and +giddiness; which however, were but slight, and only came on with +severe exertion. + +We encountered a group of Tibetans, encamped to leeward of an immense +boulder of gneiss, against which they had raised a shelter with their +salt-bags, removed from their herd of yaks, which were grazing close +by. They looked miserably cold and haggard, and their little upturned +eyes, much inflamed and bloodshot, testified to the hardships they +had endured in their march from the salt regions: they were crouched +round a small fire of juniper wood, smoking iron pipes with agate +mouthpieces. A resting-house was in sight across the stream--a loose +stone hut, to which we repaired. I wondered why these Tibetans had +not taken possession of it, not being aware of the value they attach +to a rock, on account of the great warmth which it imbibes from the +sun's rays during the day, and retains at night. This invaluable +property of otherwise inhospitable gneiss and granite I had +afterwards many opportunities of proving; and when driven for a +night's shelter to such as rude nature might afford on the bleak +mountain, I have had my blankets laid beneath "the shadow of a great +rock in a weary land." + +The name of Dhamersala is applied, in the mountains as in the plains +of India, to a house provided for the accommodation of travellers, +whether it be one of the beautiful caravanserais built to gratify the +piety, ostentation, or benevolence of a rajah, or such a miserable +shieling of rough stone and plank as that of Tuquoroma, in which we +took up our quarters, at 13,000 feet elevation. A cheerful fire soon +blazed on the earthen floor, filling the room with the pungent odour +of juniper, which made our eyes smart and water. The Ghorkas withdrew +to one corner, and my Lepchas to a second, while one end was screened +off for my couch; unluckily, the wall faced the north-east, and in +that direction there was a gulley in the snowy mountains, down which +the wind swept with violence, penetrating to my bed. I had calculated +upon a good night's rest here, which I much needed, having been +worried and unwell at Wallanchoon, owing to the Guobah's obstinacy. I +had not then learnt how to treat such conduct, and just before +retiring to rest had further been informed by the Havildar that the +Guobah declared we should find no food on our return. To remain in +these mountains without a supply was impossible, and the delay, of +sending to Mywa Guola would not have answered; so I long lay awake, +occupied in arranging measures. The night was clear and very cold; +the thermometer falling to 19 degrees at 9 p.m., and to 12 degrees in +the night, and that by my bedside to 20 degrees. + +On the following morning (Nov. 26th) I started with a small party to +visit the pass, continuing up the broad, grassy valley; much snow lay +on the ground at 13,500 feet, which had fallen the previous month; +and several glaciers were seen in lateral ravines at about the same +elevation. After a couple of miles, we left the broad valley, which +continued north-west, and struck northward up a narrow, stony, and +steep gorge, crossing an immense ancient moraine at its mouth. This +path, which we followed for seven or eight miles, led up to the pass, +winding considerably, and keeping along the south-east exposures, +which, being the most sunny, are the freest from snow. The morning +was splendid, the atmosphere over the dry rocks and earth, at 14,000 +feet, vibrating from the power of the sun's rays, whilst vast masses +of blue glacier and fields of snow choked every galley, and were +spread over all shady places. Although, owing to the steepness and +narrowness of the gorge, no view was obtained, the scenery was wild +and very grand. Just below where perpetual snow descends to the path, +an ugly carved head of a demon, with blood-stained cheeks and +goggle-eyes, was placed in a niche of rock, and protected by a glass. + +At 15,000 feet, the snow closed in on the path from all sides, +whether perpetual, glacial, or only the October fall, I could not +tell; the guide declared it to be perpetual henceforward, though now +deepened by the very heavy October fall; the path was cut some three +feet through it. Enormous boulders of gneiss cumbered the bottom of +the gorge, which gradually widened as we approached its summit; and +rugged masses of black and red gneiss and mica schist pierced the +snow, and stood out in dismal relief. For four miles continuously we +proceeded over snow; which was much honey-combed on the surface, and +treacherous from the icy streams it covered, into which we every now +and then stumbled; there was scarcely a trace of vegetation, and the +cold was excessive, except in the sun. + +Towards the summit of the pass the snow lay very deep, and we +followed the course of a small stream which cut through it, the walls +of snow being breast-high on each side; the path was still frequented +by yaks, of which we overtook a small party going to Tibet, laden +with planks. All the party appeared alike overcome by lassitude, +shortness and difficulty of breathing, a sense of weight on the +stomach, giddiness and headache, with tightness across the temples. + +Just below the summit was a complete bay of snow, girdled with two +sharp peaks of red baked schists and gneiss, strangely contorted, and +thrown up at all angles with no prevalent dip or strike, and +permeated with veins of granite. The top itself, or boundary between +Nepal and Tibet, is a low saddle between two rugged ridges of rock, +with a cairn built on it, adorned with bits of stick and rag covered +with Tibetan inscriptions. The view into Tibet was not at all +distant, and was entirely of snowy mountains, piled ridge over ridge; +three of these spurs must, it is said, be crossed before any descent +can be made to the Chomachoo river (as the Arun is called in Tibet), +on which is the frontier fort of the Tibetans, and which is reached +in two or three days. There is no plain or level ground of any kind +before reaching that river, of which the valley is said to be wide +and flat. + +Starting at 10 a.m., we did not reach the top till 3.30 p.m.; we had +halted nowhere, but the last few miles had been most laborious, and +the three of us who gained the summit were utterly knocked up. +Fortunately I carried my own barometer; it indicated 16.206 inches, +giving by comparative observations with Calcutta 16,764 feet, and +with Dorjiling, 16,748 feet, as the height of the pass. +The thermometer stood at 18 degrees, and the sun being now hidden +behind rocks, the south-east wind was bitterly cold. Hitherto the sun +had appeared as a clearly defined sparkling globe, against a dark- +blue sky; but the depth of the azure blue was not so striking as I +had been led to suppose, by the accounts of previous travellers, in +very lofty regions. The plants gathered near the top of the pass were +species of _Compositae,_ grass, and _Arenaria_; the most curious was +_Saussurea gossypina,_ which forms great clubs of the softest white +wool, six inches to a foot high, its flowers and leaves seeming +uniformly clothed with the warmest fur that nature can devise. +Generally speaking, the alpine plants of the Himalaya are quite +unprovided with any special protection of this kind; it is the +prevalence and conspicuous nature of the exceptions that mislead, and +induce the careless observer to generalise hastily from solitary +instances; for the prevailing alpine genera of the Himalaya, +_Arenarias,_ primroses, saxifrages, fumitories, _Ranunculi,_ +gentians, grasses, sedges, etc., have almost uniformly naked foliage. + +We descended to the foot of the pass in about two hours, darkness +overtaking us by the way; the twilight, however, being prolonged by +the glare of the snow. Fearing the distance to Tuquoroma might be too +great to permit of our returning thither the same night; I had had a +few things brought hither during the day, and finding they had +arrived, we encamped under the shelter of some enormous boulders (at +13,500 feet), part of an ancient moraine, which extended some +distance along the bed of the narrow valley. Except an excruciating +headache, I felt no ill effects from my ascent; and after a supper of +tea and biscuit, I slept soundly. + +On the following morning the temperature was 28 degrees at 6.30 a.m., +and rose to 30 degrees when the sun appeared over the mountains at +8.15, at which time the black bulb thermometer suddenly mounted to +112 degrees, upwards of 80 degrees above the temperature of the air. +The sky was brilliantly clear, with a very dry, cold, north wind +blowing down the snowy valley of the pass. + + + +CHAPTER X. + +Return from Wallanchoon pass -- Procure a bazaar at village -- Dance +of Lamas -- Blacking face, Tibetan custom of -- Temple and convent -- +Leave for Kanglachem pass -- Send part of party back to Dorjiling -- +Yangma Guola -- Drunken Tibetans -- Guobah of Wallanchoon -- Camp at +foot of Great Moraine -- View from top -- Geological speculations -- +Height of moraines -- Cross dry lake-bed -- Glaciers -- More moraines +-- Terraces -- Yangma temples -- Jos, books and furniture -- Peak of +Nango -- Lake -- Arrive at village -- Cultivation -- Scenery -- +Potatos -- State of my provisions -- Pass through village -- Gigantic +boulders Terraces -- Wild sheep -- Lake-beds -- Sun's power -- Piles +of gravel and detritus -- Glaciers and moraines -- Pabuk, elevation +of -- Moonlight scene -- Return to Yangma -- Temperature, etc. -- +Geological causes of phenomena in valley -- Scenery of valley +on descent. + +I returned to the village of Wallanchoon, after collecting all the +plants I could around my camp; amongst them a common-looking dock +abounded in the spots which the yaks had frequented. + +The ground was covered, as with heather, with abundance of creeping +dwarf juniper, _Andromeda,_ and dwarf rhododendron. On arriving at +the village, I refused to receive the Guobah, unless he opened a +bazaar at daylight on the following morning, where my people might +purchase food; and threatened to bring charges against him before his +Rajah. At the same time I arranged for sending the main body of my +party down the Tambur, and so back to Sikkim, whilst I should, with +as few as possible, visit the Kanglachem (Tibetan) pass in the +adjacent valley to the eastward, and then, crossing the Nango, +Kambachen and Kanglanamo passes, reach Jongri in Sikkim, on the south +flank of Kinchinjunga. + +Strolling out in the afternoon I saw a dance of Lamas; they were +disfigured with black paint* [I shall elsewhere have to refer to the +Tibetan custom of daubing the face with black pigment to protect the +skin from the excessive cold and dryness of these lofty regions; and +to the ludicrous imposition that was passed on the credulity of MM. +Huc and Gabet.] and covered with rags, feathers, and scarlet cloth, +and they carried long poles with bells and banners attached; thus +equipped, they marched through the village, every now and then +halting, when they danced and gesticulated to the rude music of +cymbals and horns, the bystanders applauding with shouts, crackers, +and alms. + +I walked up to the convents, which were long ugly buildings, several +stories high, built of wood, and daubed with red and grey paint. +The priests were nowhere to be found, and an old withered nun, whom +I disturbed husking millet in a large wooden mortar, fled at my +approach. The temple stood close by the convent, and had a broad low +architrave: the walls sloped inwards, as did the lintels: the doors +were black, and almost covered with a gigantic and disproportioned +painting of a head, with bloody cheeks and huge teeth; it was +surrounded by myriads of goggle eyes, which seemed to follow one +about everywhere; and though in every respect rude, the effect was +somewhat imposing. The similarly proportioned gloomy portals of +Egyptian fanes naturally invite comparison; but the Tibetan temples +lack the sublimity of these; and the uncomfortable creeping sensation +produced by the many sleepless eyes of Boodh's numerous incarnations +is very different from the awe with which we contemplate the +outspread wings of the Egyptian symbol, and feel as in the presence +of the God who says, "I am Osiris the Great: no man hath dared to +lift my veil." + +I had ascended behind the village, but returned down the "via sacra," +a steep paved path flanked by mendongs or low stone dykes, into which +were let rows of stone slabs, inscribed with the sacred "Om Mani +Padmi om."--"Hail to him of the lotus and jewel"; an invocation of +Sakkya, who is usually represented holding a lotus flower with a +jewel in it. + +On the following morning, a scanty supply of vcry dirty rice was +produced, at a very high price. I had, however, so divided my party +as not to require a great amount of food, intending to send most of +the people back by the Tambur to Dorjiling. I kept nineteen persons +in all, selecting the most willing, as it was evident the journey at +this season would be one of great hardship: we took seven days' food, +which was as much as they could carry. At noon, I left Wallanchoon, +and mustered my party at the junction of the Tambur and Yangma, +whence I dismissed the party for Dorjiling, with my collections of +plants, minerals, etc., and proceeded with the chosen ones to ascend +the Yangma river. The scenery was wild and very grand, our path lying +through a narrow gorge, choked with pine trees, down which the river +roared in a furious torrent; while the mountains on each side were +crested with castellated masses of rock, and sprinkled with snow. +The road was very bad, often up ladders, and along planks lashed to +the faces of precipices, and over-hanging the torrent, which it +crossed several times by plank bridges. By dark we arrived at Yangma +Guola, a collection of empty wood huts buried in the rocky +forest-clad valley, and took possession of a couple. They were well +built, raised on posts, with a stage and ladder at the gable end, and +consisted of one good-sized apartment. Around was abundance of dock, +together with three common English plants.* [_Cardamine hirsuta, +Limosella aquatica,_ and _Juncus bufonius._] + +The night was calm, misty, and warm (Max. 41.5 degrees, Min. 29 +degrees) for the elevation (9,300 feet). During the night, I was +startled out of my sleep by a blaze of light, and jumping up, found +myself in presence of a party of most sinister-looking, black, ragged +Tibetans, armed with huge torches of pine, that filled the room with +flame and pitchy smoke. I remembered their arriving just before dark, +and their weapons dispelled my fears, for they came armed with bamboo +jugs of Murwa beer, and were very drunk and very amiable: they +grinned, nodded, kotowed, lolled out their tongues, and scratched +their ears in the most seductive manner, then held out their jugs, +and besought me by words and gestures to drink and be happy too. +I awoke my servant (always a work of difficulty), and with some +trouble ejected the visitors, happily without setting the house on +fire. I heard them toppling head over heels down the stair, which I +afterwards had drawn up to prevent further intrusion, and in spite of +their drunken orgies, was soon lulled to sleep again by the music of +the roaring river. + +On the 29th November, I continued my course north up the Yangma +valley, which after five miles opened considerably, the trees +disappearing, and the river flowing more tranquilly, and through a +broader valley, when above 11,000 feet elevation. The Guobah of +Wallanchoon overtook us on the road; on his way, he said, to collect +the revenues at Yangma village, but in reality to see what I was +about. He owns five considerable villages, and is said to pay a tax +of 6000 rupees (600 pounds) to the Rajah of Nepal: this is no doubt a +great exaggeration, but the revenues of such a position, near a pass +frequented almost throughout the year, must be considerable. +Every yak going and coming is said to pay 1s., and every horse 4s.; +cattle, sheep, ponies, land, and wool are all taxed; he exports also +quantities of timber to Tibet, and various articles from the plains +of India. He joined my party and halted where I did, had his little +Chinese rug spread, and squatted cross-legged on it, whilst his +servant prepared his brick tea with salt, butter, and soda, of which +he partook, snuffed, smoked, rose up, had all his traps repacked, and +was off again. + +We encamped at a most remarkable place: the valley was broad, with +little vegetation but stunted tree-junipers: rocky snow-topped +mountains rose on either side, bleak, bare, and rugged; and in front, +close above my tent, was a gigantic wall of rocks, piled--as if by +the Titans--completely across the valley, for about three-quarters of +a mile. This striking phenomenon had excited all my curiosity on +first obtaining a view of it. The path, I found, led over it, close +under its west end, and wound amongst the enormous detached fragments +of which it was formed, and which were often eighty feet square: all +were of gneiss and schist, with abundance of granite in blocks and +veins. A superb view opened from the top, revealing its nature to be +a vast moraine, far below the influence of any existing glaciers, but +which at some antecedent period had been thrown across by a glacier +descending to 10,000 feet, from a lateral valley on the east flank. +Standing on the top, and looking south, was the Yangma valley (up +which I had come), gradually contracting to a defile, girdled by +snow-tipped mountains, whose rocky flanks mingled with the black pine +forest below. Eastward the moraine stretched south of the lateral +valley, above which towered the snowy peak of Nango, tinged rosy red, +and sparkling in the rays of the setting sun: blue glaciers peeped +from every gulley on its side, but these were 2000 to 3000 feet above +this moraine; they were small too, and their moraines were mere +gravel, compared with this. Many smaller consecutive moraines, also, +were evident along the bottom of that lateral valley, from this great +one up to the existing glaciers. Looking up the Yangma was a flat +grassy plain, hemmed in by mountains, and covered with other +stupendous moraines, which rose ridge behind ridge, and cut off the +view of all but the mountain tops to the north. The river meandered +through the grassy plain (which appeared a mile and a half broad at +the utmost, and perhaps as long), and cut through the great moraine +on its eastern side, just below the junction of the stream from the +glacial valley, which, at the lower part of its course, flowed over +a broad steep shingle bed. + +Illustration--ANCIENT MORAINE THROWN ACROSS THE YANGMA VALLEY, EAST +NEPAL (Elevn. 11,000 ft.) + +I descended to my camp, full of anxious anticipations for the morrow; +while the novelty of the scene, and its striking character, the +complexity of the phenomena, the lake-bed, the stupendous +ice-deposited moraine, and its remoteness from any existing ice, the +broad valley and open character of the country, were all marked out +as so many problems suddenly conjured up for my unaided solution, and +kept me awake for many hours. I had never seen a glacier or moraine +on land before, but being familiar with sea ice and berg transport, +from voyaging in the South Polar regions, I was strongly inclined to +attribute the formation of this moraine to a period when a glacial +ocean stood high on the Himalaya, made fiords of the valleys, and +floated bergs laden with blocks from the lateral gulleys, which the +winds and currents would deposit along certain lines. On the +following morning I carried a barometer to the top of the moraine, +which proved to be upwards of 700 feet above the floor of the valley, +and 400 above the dry lake-bed which it bounded, and to which we +descended on our route up the valley. The latter was grassy and +pebbly, perfectly level, and quite barren, except a very few pines at +the bases of the encircling mountains, and abundance of +rhododendrons, _Andromeda_ and juniper on the moraines. Isolated +moraines occurred along both flanks of the valley, some higher than +that I have described, and a very long one was thrown nearly across +from the upper end of another lateral gulley on the east side, also +leading up to the glaciers of Nango. This second moraine commenced a +mile and a half above the first, and abutting on the east flank of +the valley, stretched nearly across, and then curving round, ran down +it, parallel to and near the west flank, from which it was separated +by the Yangma river: it was abruptly terminated by a conical hill of +boulders, round whose base the river flowed, entering the dry +lake-bed from the west, and crossing it in a south-easterly direction +to the western extremity of the great moraine. + +The road, on its ascent to the second moraine, passed over an immense +accumulation of glacial detritus at the mouth of the second lateral +valley, entirely formed of angular fragments of gneiss and granite, +loosely bound together by felspathic sand. The whole was disposed in +concentric ridges radiating from the mouth of the valley, and +descending to the flat; these were moraines _in petto,_ formed by the +action of winter snow and ice upon the loose debris. A stream flowed +over this debris, dividing into branches before reaching the +lake-bed, where its waters were collected, and whence it meandered +southward to fall into the Yangma. + +From the top of the second moraine, a very curious scene opened up +the valley, of another but more stony and desolate level lake-bed, +through which the Yangma (here very rapid) rushed, cutting a channel +about sixty feet deep; the flanks of this second lake-bed were cut +most distinctly into two principal terraces, which were again +subdivided into others, so that the general appearance was that of +many raised beaches, but each so broken up, that, with the exception +of one on the banks of the river, none were continuous for any +distance. We descended 200 feet, and crossed the valley and river +obliquely in a north-west direction, to a small temple and convent +which stood on a broad flat terrace under the black, precipitous, +west flank: this gave me a good opportunity of examining the +structure of this part of the valley, which was filled with an +accumulation, probably 200 feet thick at the deepest part, of angular +gravel and enormous boulders, both imbedded in the gravel, and +strewed on the flat surfaces of the terraces. The latter were always +broadest opposite to the lateral valleys, perfectly horizontal for +the short distance that they were continuous; and very barren; there +were no traces of fossils, nor could I assure myself of +stratification. The accumulation was wholly glacial; and probably a +lake had supervened on the melting of the great glacier and its +recedence, which lake, confined by a frozen moraine, would +periodically lose its waters by sudden accessions of heat melting the +ice of the latter. Stratified silt, no doubt, once covered the lake +bottom, and the terraces have, in succession, been denuded of it by +rain and snow. These causes are now in operation amongst the +stupendous glaciers of north-east Sikkim, where valleys, dammed up by +moraines, exhibit lakes hemmed in between these, the base of the +glacier, and the flanks of the valleys. + +Illustration--ANCIENT MORAINES IN THE YANGMA VALLEY. + +Yangma convents stood at the mouth of a gorge which opened upon the +uppermost terrace; and the surface of the latter, here well covered +with grass, was furrowed into concentric radiating ridges, which were +very conspicuous from a distance. The buildings consisted of a +wretched collection of stone huts, painted red, enclosed by loose +stone dykes. Two shockingly dirty Lamas received me and conducted me +to the temple, which had very thick walls, but was undistinguishable +from the other buildings. A small door opened upon an apartment piled +full of old battered gongs, drums, scraps of silk hangings, red +cloth, broken praying-machines--relics much resembling those in the +lumber-room of a theatre. A ladder led from this dismal hole to the +upper story, which was entered by a handsomely carved and gilded +door: within, all was dark, except from a little lattice-window +covered with oil-paper. On one side was the library, a carved case, +with a hundred gilded pigeon-holes, each holding a real or sham book, +and each closed by a little square door, on which hung a bag full of +amulets. In the centre of the book-case was a recess, containing a +genuine Jos or Fo, graced with his Chinese attribute of very long +pendulous moustaches and beard, and totally wanting that air of +contemplative repose which the Tibetan Lamas give to their idols. +Banners were suspended around, with paintings of Lhassa, Teshoo +Loombo, and various incarnations of Boodh. The books were of the +usual Tibetan form, oblong squares of separate block-printed leaves +of paper, made in Nepal or Bhotan from the bark of a _Daphne,_ bound +together by silk cords, and placed between ornamented wooden boards. +On our way up the valley, we had passed some mendongs and chaits, the +latter very pretty stone structures, consisting of a cube, pyramid, +hemisphere, and cone placed on the top of one another, forming +together the tasteful combination which appears on the cover of +these volumes. + +Beyond the convents the valley again contracted, and on crossing a +third, but much lower, moraine, a lake opened to view, surrounded by +flat terraces, and a broad gravelly shore, part of the lake being +dry. To the west, the cliffs were high, black and steep: to the east +a large lateral valley, filled at about 1500 feet up with blue +glaciers, led (as did the other lateral valleys) to the gleaming +snows of Nango; the moraine, too, here abutted on the east flank of +the Yangma valley, below the mouth of the lateral one. Much snow +(from the October fall) lay on the ground, and the cold was pinching +in the shade; still I could not help attempting to sketch this +wonderfully grand scene, especially as lakes in the Himalaya are +extremely rare: the present one was about a mile long, very shallow, +but broad, and as smooth as glass: it reminded me of the tarn in +Glencoe. The reflected lofty peak of Nango appeared as if frozen deep +down in its glassy bed, every snowy crest and ridge being rendered +with perfect precision. + +Illustration--LOOKING ACROSS YANGMA VALLEY. + + Nango is about 18,000 feet high; it is the next lofty mountain of +the Kinchinjunga group to the west of Junnoo, and I doubt if any +equally high peak occurs again for some distance further west in +Nepal. Facing the Yangma valley, it presents a beautiful range of +precipices of black rock, capped with a thick crust of snow: below +the cliffs the snow again appears continuously and very steep, for +2000 to 3000 feet downwards, where it terminates in glaciers that +descend to 14,000 feet. The steepest snow-beds appear cut into +vertical ridges, whence the whole snowy face is--as it were--crimped +in perpendicular, closely-set, zigzag lines, doubtless caused by the +melting process, which furrows the surface of the snow into channels +by which the water is carried off: the effect is very beautiful, but +impossible to represent on paper, from the extreme delicacy of the +shadows, and at the same time the perfect definition and precision of +the outlines. + +Towards the head of the lake, its bed was quite dry and gravelly, and +the river formed a broad delta over it: the terraces here were +perhaps 100 feet above its level, those at the lower end not nearly +so much. Beyond the lake, the river became again a violent torrent, +rushing in a deep chasm, till we arrived at the fork of the valley, +where we once more met with numerous dry lake-beds, with terraces +high up on the mountain sides. + +In the afternoon we reached the village of Yangma, a miserable +collection of 200 to 300 stone huts, nestling under the steep +south-east flank of a lofty, flat-topped terrace, laden with gigantic +glacial boulders, and projecting southward from a snowy mountain +which divides the valley. We encamped on the flat under the village, +amongst some stone dykes, enclosing cultivated fields. One arm of the +valley runs hence N.N.E. amongst snowy mountains, and appeared quite +full of moraines; the other, or continuation of the Yangma, runs +W.N.W., and leads to the Kanglachem pass. + +Near our camp (of which the elevation was 13,500 feet), radishes, +barley, wheat, potatos, and turnips, were cultivated as summer crops, +and we even saw some on the top of the terrace, 400 feet above our +camp, or nearly 14,000 feet above the sea; these were grown in small +fields cleared of stones, and protected by dykes. + +The scenery, though dismal, (no juniper even attaining this +elevation,) was full of interest and grandeur, from the number and +variety of snowy peaks and glaciers all around the elevated horizon; +the ancient lake-beds, now green or brown with scanty vegetation, the +vast moraines, the ridges of glacial debris, the flat terraces, +marking, as it were with parallel roads, the bluff sides of the +mountains, the enormous boulders perched upon them, and strewed +everywhere around, the little Boodhist monuments of quaint, +picturesque shapes, decorated with poles and banners, the +many-coloured dresses of the people, the brilliant blue of the +cloudless heaven by day, the depth of its blackness by night, +heightened by the light of the stars, that blaze and twinkle with a +lustre unknown in less lofty regions: all these were subjects for +contemplation, rendered more impressive by the stillness of the +atmosphere, and the silence that reigned around. The village seemed +buried in repose throughout the day: the inhabitants had already +hybernated, their crops were stored, the curd made and dried, the +passes closed, the soil frozen, the winter's stock of fuel housed, +and the people had retired into the caverns of their half +subterranean houses, to sleep, spin wool, and think of Boodh, if of +anything at all, the dead, long winter through. The yaks alone can +find anything to do: so long as any vegetation remains they roam and +eat it, still yielding milk, which the women take morning and +evening, when their shrill whistle and cries are heard for a few +minutes, as they call the grunting animals. No other sounds, save the +harsh roar and hollow echo of the falling rock, glacier, or snow-bed, +disturbed the perfect silence of the day or night.* [Snow covers the +ground at Yangma from December till April, and the falls are said to +be very heavy, at times amounting to 12 feet in depth.] + +I had taken three days' food to Yangma, and stayed there as long as +it lasted: the rest of my provisions I had left below the first +moraine, where a lateral valley leads east over the Nango pass to the +Kambachen valley, which lay on the route back to Sikkim. + +I was premature in complaining of my Wallanchoon tents, those +provided for me at Yangma being infinitely worse, mere rags, around +which I piled sods as a defence from the insidious piercing +night-wind that descended from the northern glaciers in calm, but +most keen, breezes. There was no food to be procured in the village, +except a little watery milk, and a few small watery potatos. +The latter have only very recently been introduced amongst the +Tibetans, from the English garden at the Nepalese capital, I believe, +and their culture has not spread in these regions further east than +Kinchinjunga, but they will very soon penetrate into Tibet from +Dorjiling, or eastward from Nepal. My private stock of provisions +--consisting chiefly of preserved meats from my kind friend +Mr. Hodgson--had fallen very low; and I here found to my dismay that +of four remaining two-pound cases, provided as meat, three contained +prunes, and one _"dindon aux truffes!"_ Never did luxuries come more +inopportunely; however the greasy French viand served for many a +future meal as sauce to help me to bolt my rice, and according to the +theory of chemists, to supply animal heat in these frigid regions. +As for my people, they were not accustomed to much animal food; two +pounds of rice, with ghee and chilis, forming their common diet under +cold and fatigue. The poorer Tibetans, especially, who undergo great +privation and toil, live almost wholly on barley-meal, with tea, and +a very little butter and salt: this is not only the case with those +amongst whom I mixed so much, but is also mentioned by MM. Huc and +Gabet, as having been observed by them in other parts of Tibet. + +On the 1st of December I visited the village and terrace, and +proceeded to the head of the Yangma valley, in order to ascend the +Kanglachem pass as far as practicable. The houses are low, built of +stone, of no particular shape, and are clustered in groups against +the steep face of the terrace; filthy lanes wind amongst them, so +narrow, that if you are not too tall, you look into the slits of +windows on either hand, by turning your head, and feel the noisome +warm air in whiffs against your face. Glacial boulders lie scattered +throughout the village, around and beneath the clusters of houses, +from which it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the native rock. +I entered one house by a narrow low door through walls four feet +thick, and found myself in an apartment full of wool, juniper-wood, +and dried dung for fuel: no one lived in the lower story, which was +quite dark, and as I stood in it my head was in the upper, to which I +ascended by a notched pole (like that in the picture of a Kamschatk +house in Cook's voyage), and went into a small low room. The inmates +looked half asleep, they were intolerably indolent and filthy, and +were employed in spinning wool and smoking. A hole in the wall of the +upper apartment led me on to the stone roof of the neighbouring +house, from which I passed to the top of a glacial boulder, +descending thence by rude steps to the narrow alley. Wishing to see +as much as I could, I was led on a winding course through, in and +out, and over the tops of the houses of the village, which +alternately reminded me of a stone quarry or gravel pit, and gipsies +living in old lime-kilns; and of all sorts of odd places that are +turned to account as human habitations. + +From the village I ascended to the top of the terrace, which is a +perfectly level, sandy, triangular plain, pointing down the valley at +the fork of the latter, and abutting against the flank of a steep, +rocky, snow-topped mountain to the northward. Its length is probably +half a mile from north to south, but it runs for two miles westward up +the valley, gradually contracting. The surface, though level, is very +uneven, being worn into hollows, and presenting ridges and hillocks of +blown sand and gravel, with small black tufts of rhododendron. +Enormous boulders of gneiss and granite were scattered over the +surface; one of the ordinary size, which I measured, was seventy feet +in girth, and fifteen feet above the ground, into which it had partly +sunk. From the southern pointed end I took sketches of the opposite +flanks of the valleys east and west. The river was about 400 feet +below me, and flowed in a little flat lake-bed; other terraces skirted +it, cut out, as it were, from the side of that I was on. On the +opposite flank of the valley were several superimposed terraces, of +which the highest appeared to tally with the level I occupied, and the +lowest was raised very little above the river; none were continuous +for any distance, but the upper one in particular, could be most +conspicuously traced up and down the main valley, whilst, on looking +across to the eastern valley, a much higher, but less distinctly +marked one appeared on it. The road to the pass lay west-north-west up +the north bank of the Yangma river, on the great terrace; for two +miles it was nearly level along the gradually narrowing shelf, at +times dipping into the steep gulleys formed by lateral torrents from +the mountains; and as the terrace disappeared, or melted, as it were, +into the rising floor of the valley, the path descended upon the lower +and smaller shelf. + +Illustration--DIAGRAM OF THE GLACIAL TERRACES AT THE FORK OF THE +YANGA VALLEY. + + +We came suddenly upon a flock of gigantic wild sheep, feeding on +scanty tufts of dried sedge and grass; there were twenty-five of +these enormous animals, of whose dimensions the term sheep gives no +idea: they are very long-legged, stand as high as a calf, and have +immense horns, so large that the fox is said to take up his abode in +their hollows, when detached and bleaching, on the barren mountains +of Tibet. Though very wild, I am sure I could easily have killed a +couple had I had my gun, but I had found it necessary to reduce my +party so uncompromisingly, that I could not afford a man both for my +gun and instruments, and had sent the former back to Dorjiling, with +Mr. Hodgson's bird-stuffers, who had broken one of theirs. Travelling +without fire-arms sounds strange in India, but in these regions +animal life is very rare, game is only procured with much hunting and +trouble, and to come within shot of a flock of wild sheep was a +contingency I never contemplated. Considering how very short we were +of any food, and quite out of animal diet, I could not but bitterly +regret the want of a gun, but consoled myself by reflecting that the +instruments were still more urgently required to enable me to survey +this extremely interesting valley. As it was, the great beasts +trotted off, and turned to tantalise me by grazing within an easy +stalking distance. We saw several other flocks, of thirty to forty, +during the day, but never, either on this or any future occasion, +within shot. The _Ovis Ammon_ of Pallas stands from four to five feet +high, and measures seven feet from nose to tail; it is quite a +Tibetan animal, and is seldom seen below 14,000 feet, except when +driven lower by snow; and I have seen it as high as 18,000 feet. +The same animal, I believe, is found in Siberia, and is allied to the +Big-horn of North America. + +Soon after descending to the bed of the valley, which is broad and +open, we came on a second dry lake-bed, a mile long, with shelving +banks all round, heavily snowed on the shaded side; the river was +divided into many arms, and meandered over it, and a fine +glacier-bound valley opened into it from the south. There were no +boulders on its surface, which was pebbly, with tufts of grass and +creeping tamarisk. On the banks I observed much granite, with large +mica crystals, hornstone, tourmaline, and stratified quartz, with +granite veins parallel to the foliation or lamination. + +A rather steep ascent of a mile, through a contracted part of the +valley, led to another and smaller lake-bed, a quarter of a mile long +and 100 yards broad, covered with patches of snow, and having no +lateral valley opening into it: it faced the now stupendous masses of +snow and ice which filled the upper part of the Yangma valley. +This lake-bed (elevation, 15,186 feet) was strewed with enormous +boulders; a rude stone hut stood near it, where we halted for a few +minutes at 1 p.m., when the temperature was 42.2 degrees, while the +dew-point was only 20.7 degrees.* [This indicates a very dry state of +the air, the saturation-point being 0.133 degrees; whereas, at the +same hour at Calcutta it was 0.559 degrees.] At the same time, the +black bulb thermometer, fully exposed on the snow, rose 54 degrees +above the air, and the photometer gave 10.572. Though the sun's power +was so great, there was, however, no appearance of the snow melting, +evaporation proceeding with too great rapidity. + +Illustration--KANGLACHEM PASS. + +Enormous piles of gravel and sand had descended upon the upper end of +this lake-bed, forming shelves, terraces, and curving ridges, +apparently consolidated by ice, and covered in many places with snow. +Following the stream, we soon came to an immense moraine, which +blocked up the valley, formed of angular boulders, some of which were +fifty feet high. Respiration had been difficult for some time, and +the guide we had taken from the village said we were some hours from +the top of the pass, and could get but a little way further; we +however proceeded, plunging through the snow, till on cresting the +moraine a stupendous scene presented itself. A gulf of moraines, and +enormous ridges of debris, lay at our feet, girdled by an +amphitheatre of towering, snow-clad peaks, rising to 17,000 and +18,000 feet all around. Black scarped precipices rose on every side; +deep snow-beds and blue glaciers rolled down every gulley, converging +in the hollow below, and from each transporting its own materials, +there ensued a complication of moraines, that presented no order to +the eye. In spite of their mutual interference, however, each had +raised a ridge of debris or moraine parallel to itself. + +We descended with great difficulty through the soft snow that covered +the moraine, to the bed of this gulf of snow and glaciers; and halted +by an enormous stone, above the bed of a little lake, which was +snowed all over, but surrounded by two superimposed level terraces, +with sharply defined edges. The moraine formed a barrier to its now +frozen waters, and it appeared to receive the drainage of many +glaciers, which filtered through their gravelly ridges and moraines. + +We could make no further progress; the pass lay at the distance of +several hours' march, up a valley to the north, down which the +glacier must have rolled that had deposited this great moraine; the +pass had been closed since October, it being very lofty, and the head +of this valley was far more snowy than that at Wallanchoon. We halted +in the snow from 3 to 4 p.m., during which time I again took angles +and observations; the height of this spot, called Pabuk, is 16,038 +feet, whence the pass is probably considerably over 17,000 feet, for +there was a steep ascent beyond our position. The sun sank at 3 p.m., +and the thermometer immediately fell from 35 degrees to 30.75 +degrees.* [At 4 o'clock, to 29.5 degrees, the average dew-point was +16.3 degrees, and dryness 0.55; weight of vapour in a cubic foot, +1.33 grains.] + +After fixing in my note and sketch books the principal features of +this sublime scene, we returned down the valley: the distance to our +camp being fully eight miles, night overtook us before we got +half-way, but a two days' old moon guided us perfectly, a remarkable +instance of the clearness of the atmosphere at these great +elevations. Lassitude, giddiness, and headache came on as our +exertions increased, and took away the pleasure I should otherwise +have felt in contemplating by moonlight the varied phenomena, which +seemed to crowd upon the restless imagination, in the different forms +of mountain, glacier, moraine, lake, boulder and terrace. Happily I +had noted everything on my way up, and left nothing intentionally to +be done on returning. In making such excursions as this, it is above +all things desirable to seize and book every object worth noticing on +the way out: I always carried my note-book and pencil tied to my +jacket pocket, and generally walked with them in my hand. It is +impossible to begin observing too soon, or to observe too much: if +the excursion is long, little is ever done on the way home; the +bodily powers being mechanically exerted, the mind seeks repose, and +being fevered through over-exertion, it can endure no train of +thought, or be brought to bear on a subject. + +During my stay at Yangma, the thermometer never rose to 50 degrees, +it fell to 14.75 degrees at night; the ground was frozen for several +inches below the surface, but at two feet depth its temperature was +37.5 degrees. The black bulb thermometer rose on one occasion 84 +degrees above the surrounding air. Before leaving, I measured by +angles and a base-line the elevations of the great village-terrace +above the river, and that of a loftier one, on the west flank of the +main valley; the former was about 400 and the latter 700 feet. + +Considering this latter as the upper terrace, and concluding that it +marks a water level, it is not very difficult to account for its +origin. There is every reason to suppose that the flanks of the +valley were once covered to the elevation of the upper terrace, with +an enormous accumulation of debris; though it does not follow that +the whole valley was filled by ice-action to the same depth; the +effect of glaciers being to deposit moraines between themselves and +the sides of the valley they fill; as also to push forward similar +accumulations. Glaciers from each valley, meeting at the fork, where +their depth would be 700 feet of ice, would both deposit the +necessary accumulation along the flanks of the great valley, and also +throw a barrier across it. The melting waters of such glaciers would +accumulate in lakes, confined by the frozen earth, between the +moraines and mountains. Such lakes, though on a small scale, are +found at the terminations and sides of existing glaciers, and are +surrounded by terraces of shingle and debris; these terraces being +laid bare by the sudden drainage of the lakes during seasons of +unusual warmth. To explain the phenomena of the Yangma valley, it may +be necessary to demand larger lakes and deeper accumulations of +debris than are now familiar to us, but the proofs of glaciers having +once descended to from 8000 to 10,000 feet in every Sikkim and east +Nepal valley communicating with mountains above 16,000 feet +elevation, are overwhelming, and the glaciers must, in some cases, +have been fully forty miles long, and 500 feet in depth. The absence +of any remains of a moraine, or of blocks of rock in the valley below +the fork, is I believe, the only apparent objection to this theory; +but, as I shall elsewhere have occasion to observe, the magnitude of +the moraines bears no fixed proportion to that of the glacier, and at +Pabuk, the steep ridges of debris, which were heaped up 200 feet +high, were far more striking than the more usual form of moraine. + +On my way up to Yangma I had rudely plotted the valley, and selected +prominent positions for improving my plan on my return: these I now +made use of, taking bearings with the azimuth compass, and angles by +means of a pocket sextant. The result of my running-survey of the +whole valley, from 10,000 to 16,000 feet, I have given along with a +sketch-map of my routes in India, which accompanies this volume. + +Illustration--SKULLS OF OVIS AMMON. + + CHAPTER XI + +Ascend to Nango mountain -- Moraines -- Glaciers -- Vegetation -- +_Rhododendron Hodgsoni_ -- Rocks -- Honey-combed surface of snow -- +Perpetual snow -- Top of pass -- View -- Elevation -- Geology -- +Distance of sound -- Plants -- Temperature -- Scenery -- Cliffs of +granite and hurled boulders -- Camp -- Descent -- Pheasants -- Larch +-- Himalayan pines -- Distribution of Deodar, note on -- +Tassichooding temples -- Kambachen village -- Cultivation -- Moraines +in valley, distribution of -- Picturesque lake-beds, and their +vegetation -- Tibetan sheep and goats -- _Cryptogramma crispa_ -- +Ascent to Choonjerma pass -- View of Junnoo -- Rocks of its summit -- +Misty ocean -- Nepal peaks -- Top of pass -- Temperature, and +observations -- Gorgeous sunset -- Descent to Yalloong valley -- +Loose path -- Night scenes -- Musk deer. + +We passed the night a few miles below the great moraine, in a +pine-wood (alt. 11,000 feet) opposite the gorge which leads to the +Kambachen or Nango pass, over the south shoulder of the mountain of +that name: it is situated on a ridge dividing the Yangma river from +that of Kambachen, which latter falls into the Tambur opposite Lelyp. + +The road crosses the Yangma (which is about fifteen feet wide), and +immediately ascends steeply to the south-east, over a rocky moraine, +clothed with a dense thicket of rhododendrons, mountain-ash, maples, +pine, birch, juniper, etc. The ground was covered with silvery flakes +of birch bark, and that of _Rhododendron Hodgsoni,_ which is as +delicate as tissue-paper, and of a pale flesh-colour. I had never +before met with this species, and was astonished at the beauty of its +foliage, which was of a beautiful bright green, with leaves sixteen +inches long. + +Beyond the region of trees and large shrubs the alpine rhododendrons +filled the broken surface of the valley, growing with _Potentilla,_ +Honeysuckle, _Polygonum,_ and dwarf juniper. The peak of Nango seemed +to tower over the gorge, rising behind some black, splintered, rocky +cliffs, sprinkled with snow, narrow defiles opened up through these +cliffs to blue glaciers, and their mouths were invariably closed by +beds of shingly moraines, curving outwards from either, flank in +concentric ridges. + +Towards the base of the peak, at about 14,000 feet, the scenery is +very grand; a great moraine rises suddenly to the north-west, under +the principal mass of snow and ice, and barren slopes of gravel +descend from it; on either side are rugged precipices; the ground is +bare and stony, with patches of brown grass: and, on looking back, +the valley appears very steep to the first shrubby vegetation, of +dark green rhododendrons, bristling with ugly stunted pines. + +We followed a valley to the south-east, so as to turn the flank of +the peak; the path lying over beds of October snow at 14,000 feet, +and over plashy ground, from its melting. Sometimes our way lay close +to the black precipices on our right, under which the snow was deep; +and we dragged ourselves along, grasping every prominence of the rock +with our numbed fingers. Granite appeared in large veins in the +crumpled gneiss at a great elevation, in its most beautiful and +loosely-crystallised form, of pearly white prisms of felspar, glassy +quartz, and milk-white flat plates of mica, with occasionally large +crystals of tourmaline. Garnets were very frequent in the gneiss near +the granite veins. Small rushes, grasses, and sedges formed the +remaining vegetation, amongst which were the withered stalks of +gentians, _Sedum, Arenaria, Silene,_ and many Composite plants. + +At a little below 15,000 feet, we reached enormous flat beds of snow, +which were said to be perpetual, but covered deeply with the October +fall. They were continuous, and like all the snow I saw at this +season, the surface was honeycombed into thin plates, dipping north +at a high angle; the intervening fissures were about six inches deep. +A thick mist here overtook us, and this, with the great difficulty +of picking our way, rendered the ascent very fatiguing. +Being sanguine about obtaining a good view, I found it almost +impossible to keep my temper under the aggravations of pain in the +forehead, lassitude, oppression of breathing, a dense drizzling fog, +a keen cold wind, a slippery footing, where I was stumbling at every +few steps, and icy-cold wet feet, hands, and eyelids; the latter, odd +as it sounds, I found a very disagreeable accompaniment of continued +raw cold wind. + +After an hour and a half's toilsome ascent, during which we made but +little progress, we reached the crest, crossing a broad shelf of snow +between two rocky eminences; the ridge was unsnowed a little way down +the east flank; this was, in a great measure, due to the eastern +exposure being the more sunny, to the prevalence of the warm and +melting south-east winds that blow up the deep Kambachen valley, and +to the fact that the great snow-beds on the west side are drifted +accumulations.* [Such enormous beds of snow in depressions, or on +gentle slopes, are generally adopted as indicating the lower limit of +perpetual snow. They are, however, winter accumulations, due mainly +to eddies of wind, of far more snow than can be melted in the +following summer, being hence perennial in the ordinary sense of the +word. They pass into the state of glacier ice, and, obeying the laws +that govern the motions of a viscous fluid, so admirably elucidated +by Forbes ("Travels in the Alps"), they flow downwards. A careful +examination of those great beds of snow in the Alps, from whose +position the mean lower level of perpetual snow, in that latitude, is +deduced, has convinced me that these are mainly due to accumulations +of this kind, and that the true limit of perpetual snow, or that +point where all that falls melts, is much higher than it is usually +supposed to be.] The mist cleared off, and I had a partial, though +limited, view. To the north the blue ice-clad peak of Nango was still +2000 feet above us, its snowy mantle falling in great sweeps and +curves into glacier-bound valleys, over which the ice streamed out of +sight, bounded by black aiguilles of gneiss. The Yangma valley was +quite hidden, but to the eastward the view across the stupendous +gorge of the Kambachen, 5000 feet below, to the waste of snow, ice, +and rock, piled in confusion along the top of the range of Junnoo and +Choonjerma, parallel to this but higher, was very grand indeed: this +we were to cross in two days, and its appearance was such, that our +guide doubted the possibility of our doing it. A third and fourth +mountain mass (unseen) lay beyond this, between us and Sikkim, +divided by valleys as deep as those of Yangma and Kambachen. + +Having hung up my instruments, I ascended a few hundred feet to some +naked rocks, to the northward; they were of much-crumpled and +dislocated gneiss, thrown up at a very high angle, and striking +north-west. Chlorite, schist, and quartz, in thin beds, alternated +with the gneiss, and veins of granite and quartz, were injected +through them. + +It fell calm; when the distance to which the voice was carried was +very remarkable; I could distinctly hear every word spoken 300 to 400 +yards off, and did not raise my voice when I asked one of the men to +bring me a hammer. + +The few plants about were generally small tufted _Arenarias_ and +woolly _Compositae,_ with a thick-rooted Umbellifer that spread its +short, fleshy leaves and branches flat on the ground; the root was +very aromatic, but wedged close in the rock. The temperature at +4 p.m. was 23 degrees, and bitterly cold; the elevation, 15,770 feet; +dew-point, 16 degrees. The air was not very dry; saturation-point, +0.670°, whereas at Calcutta it was 0.498° at the same hour. + +The descent was to a broad, open valley, into which the flank of +Nango dipped in tremendous precipices, which reared their heads in +splintered snowy peaks. At their bases were shoots of debris fully +700 feet high, sloping at a steep angle. Enormous masses of rock, +detached by the action of the frost and ice from the crags, were +scattered over the bottom of the valley; they had been precipitated +from above, and gaining impetus in their descent, bad been hurled to +almost inconceivable distances from the parent cliff. All were of a +very white, fine-grained crystallised granite, full of small veins of +the same rock still more finely crystallised. The weathered surface +of each block was black, and covered with moss and lichens; the +others beautifully white, with clean, sharp-fractured edges. +The material of which they were composed was so hard that I found it +difficult to detach a specimen. + +Darkness had already come on, and the coolies being far behind, we +encamped by the light of the moon, shining through a thin fog, where +we first found dwarf-juniper for fuel, at 13,500 feet. A little sleet +fell during the night, which was tolerably fine, and not very cold; +the minimum thermometer indicating 14.5 degrees. + +Having no tent-poles, I had some difficulty in getting my blankets +arranged as a shelter, which was done by making them slant from the +side of a boulder, on the top of which one end was kept by heavy +stones; under this roof I laid my bed, on a mass of rhododendron and +juniper-twigs. The men did the same against other boulders, and +lighting a huge fire opposite the mouth of my ground-nest, I sat +cross-legged on the bed to eat my supper; my face scorching, and my +back freezing. Rice, boiled with a few ounces of greasy _dindon aux +truffes_ was now my daily dinner, with chili-vinegar and tea, and I +used to relish it keenly: this finished, I smoked a cigar, and wrote +up my journal (in short intervals between warming myself) by the +light of the fire; took observations by means of a dark-lantern; and +when all this was accomplished, I went to roost. + +_December_ 5.--On looking out this morning, it was with a feeling of +awe that I gazed at the stupendous ice-crowned precipices that shot +up to the summit of Nango, their flanks spotted white at the places +whence the gigantic masses with which I was surrounded had fallen; +thence my eye wandered down their black faces to the slope of debris +at the bottom, thus tracing the course which had probably been taken +by that rock under whose shelter I had passed the previous night. + +Meepo, the Lepcha sent by the rajah, had snared a couple of beautiful +pheasants, one of which I skinned, and ate for breakfast; it is a +small bird, common above 12,000 feet, but very wild; the male has two +to five spurs on each of its legs, according to its age; the general +colour is greenish, with a broad scarlet patch surrounding the eye; +the Nepalese name is "Khalidge." The crop was distended with juniper +berries, of which the flesh tasted strongly, and it was the very +hardest, toughest bird I ever did eat. + +We descended at first through rhododendron and juniper, then through +black silver-fir (_Abies Webbiana_), and below that, near the river, +we came to the Himalayan larch; a tree quite unknown, except from a +notice in the journals of Mr. Griffith, who found it in Bhotan. It is +a small tree, twenty to forty feet high, perfectly similar in general +characters to a European larch, but with larger cones, which are +erect upon the very long, pensile, whip-like branches; its +leaves,--now red--were falling, and covering the rocky ground on +which it grew, scattered amongst other trees. It is called "Saar" by +the Lepchas and Cis-himalayan Tibetans, and "Boarga-sella" by the +Nepalese, who say it is found as far west as the heads of the Cosi +river: it does not inhabit Central or West Nepal, nor the North-west +Himalaya. The distribution of the Himalayan pines is very remarkable. +The Deodar has not been seen east of Nepal, nor the _Pinus +Gerardiana, Cupressus torulosa,_ or _Juniperus communis._ On the +other hand, _Podocarpus_ is confined to the east of Katmandoo. _Abies +Brunoniana_ does not occur west of the Gogra, nor the larch west of +the Cosi, nor funereal cypress (an introduced plant, however) west of +the Teesta (in Sikkim). Of the twelve* [Juniper, 3; yew, _Abies +Webbiana, Brunoniana,_ and _Smithiana_: Larch, _Pinus excelsa,_ and +_longifolia,_ and _Podocarpus neriifolia._] Sikkim and Bhotan +_Coniferae_ (including yew, junipers, and _Podocarpus_) eight are +common to the North-west Himalaya (west of Nepal), and four* [Larch, +_Cupressus funebris, Podocarpus neriifolia, Abies Brunoniana._] are +not: of the thirteen natives of the north-west provinces, again, only +five* [A juniper (the European _communis_), Deodar (possibly only a +variety of the Cedar of Lebanon and of Mount Atlas), _Pinus +Gerardiana, P. excelsa,_ and _Crupressus torulosa._] are not found in +Sikkim, and I have given their names below, because they show how +European the absent ones are, either specifically or in affinity. +I have stated that the Deodar is possibly a variety of the Cedar of +Lebanon. This is now a prevalent opinion, which is strengthened by +the fact that so many more Himalayan plants are now ascertained to be +European than had been supposed before they were compared with +European specimens; such are the yew, _Juniperus communis, Berberis +vulgaris, Quercus Ballota, Populus alba_ and _Euphratica,_ etc. +The cones of the Deodar are identical with those of the Cedar of +Lebanon: the Deodar has, generally longer and more pale bluish leaves +and weeping branches,* [Since writing the above, I have seen, in the +magnificent Pinetum at Dropmore, noble cedars, with the length and +hue of leaf, and the pensile branches of the Deodar, and far more +beautiful than that is, and as unlike the common Lebanon Cedar as +possible. When it is considered from how very few wild trees (and +these said to be exactly alike) the many dissimilar varieties of the +_C. Libani_ have been derived; the probability of this, the Cedar of +Algiers, and of the Himalayas (Deodar) being all forms of one +species, is greatly increased. We cannot presume to judge from the +few cedars which still remain, what the habit and appearance of the +tree may have been, when it covered the slopes of Libanus, and seeing +how very variable _Coniferae_ are in habit, we may assume that its +surviving specimens give us no information on this head. Should all +three prove one, it will materially enlarge our ideas of the +distribution and variation of species. The botanist will insist that +the typical form of cedar is that which retains its characters best +over the greatest area, namely, the Deodar; in which case the +prejudice of the ignorant, and the preconceived ideas of the +naturalist, must yield to the fact that the old familiar Cedar of +Lebanon is an unusual variety of the Himalayan Deodar.] but these +characters seem to be unusually developed in our gardens; for several +gentlemen, well acquainted with the Deodar at Simla, when asked to +point it out in the Kew Gardens, have indicated the Cedar of Lebanon, +and when shown the Deodar, declare that they never saw that plant in +the Himalaya! + +At the bottom of the valley we turned up the stream, and passing the +Tassichooding convents* [These were built by the Sikkim people, when +the eastern valleys of Nepal belonged to the Sikkim rajah.] and +temple, crossed the river--which was a furious torrent, about twelve +yards wide--to the village of Kambachen, on a flat terrace a few feet +above the stream. There were about a dozen houses of wood, plastered +with mud and dung, scattered over a grassy plain of a few acres, +fenced in, as were also a few fields, with stone dykes. The only +cultivation consists of radishes, potatos, and barley: no wheat is +grown, the climate being said to be too cold for it, by which is +probably meant that it is foggy,--the elevation (11,380 feet) being +2000 feet less than that of Yangma village, and the temperature +therefore 6 degrees to 7 degrees warmer; but of all the mountain +gorges I have ever visited, this is by far the wildest, grandest, and +most gloomy; and that man should hybernate here is indeed +extraordinary, for there is no route up the valley, and all +communication with Lelyp,* [Which I passed, on the Tambur, on the +21st Nov. See Chapter IX.] two marches down the river, is cut off in +winter, when the houses are buried in snow, and drifts fifteen feet +deep are said to be common. Standing on the little flat of Kambachen, +precipices, with inaccessible patches of pine wood, appeared to the +west, towering over head; while across the narrow valley wilder and +less wooded crags rose in broken ridges to the glaciers of Nango. +Up the valley, the view was cut off by bluff cliffs; whilst down it, +the scene was most remarkable: enormous black, round-backed moraines, +rose, tier above tier, from a flat lake-bed, apparently hemming in +the river between the lofty precipices on the east flank of the +valley. These had all been deposited at the mouth of a lateral +valley, opening just below the village, and descending from Junnoo, a +mountain of 25,312 feet elevation, and one of the grandest of the +Kinchinjunga group, whose top--though only five miles distant in a +straight line--rises 13,932 feet* [This is one of the most sudden +slopes in this part of the Himalaya, the angle between the top of +Junnoo and Kambachen being 2786 feet per mile, or 1 in 1.8. The slope +from the top of Mont Blanc to the Chamouni valley is 2464 feet per +mile, or 1 in 2.1. That from Monte Rosa top to Macugnaga greatly +exceeds either.] above the village. Few facts show more decidedly the +extraordinary steepness and depth of the Kambachen valley near the +village, which, though nearly 11,400 feet above the sea, lies between +two mountains only eight miles apart, the one 25,312 feet high, the +other (Nango), 19,000 feet. + +The villagers received us very kindly, and furnished us with a guide +for the Choonjerma pass, leading to the Yalloong valley, the most +easterly in Nepal; but he recommended our not attempting any part of +the ascent till the morrow, as it was past 1 p.m., and we should find +no camping-ground for half the way up. The villagers gave us the leg +of a musk deer, and some red potatos, about as big as walnuts--all +they could spare from their winter-stock. With this scanty addition +to our stores we started down the valley, for a few miles alternately +along flat lake-beds and over moraines, till we crossed the stream +from the lateral valley, and ascending a little, camped on its bank, +at 11,400 feet elevation. + +In the afternoon I botanized amongst the moraines, which were very +numerous, and had been thrown down at right-angles to the main +valley, which latter being here very narrow, and bounded by lofty +precipices, must have stopped the parent glaciers, and effected the +heaping of some of these moraines to at least 1000 feet above the +river. The general features were modifications of those seen in the +Yangma valley, but contracted into a much smaller space. + +The moraines were all accumulated in a sort of delta, through which +the lateral river debouched into the Kambachen, and were all +deposited more or less parallel to the course of the lateral valley, +but curving outwards from its mouth. The village-flat, or terrace, +continued level to the first moraine, which had been thrown down on +the upper or north side of the lateral valley, on whose and curving +steep flanks it abutted, and curving outwards seemed to encircle the +village-flat on the south and west; where it dipped into the river. +This was crossed at the height of about 100 feet, by a stony path, +leading to the bed of the rapid torrent flowing through shingle and +boulders, beyond which was another moraine, 250 feet high, and +parallel to it a third gigantic one. + +Ascending the great moraine at a place where it overhung the main +river, I had a good _coup-a'oeil_ of the whole. The view south-east +up the glacial valley--(represented in the accompanying cut)--to the +snowy peaks south of Junnoo, was particularly grand, and most +interesting from the precision with which one great distant existing +glacier was marked by two waving parallel lines of lateral moraines, +which formed, as it were, a vast raised gutter, or channel, ascending +from perhaps 16,000 feet elevation, till it was hidden behind a spur +in the valley. With a telescope I could descry many similar smaller +glaciers, with huge accumulations of shingle at their terminations; +but this great one was beautifully seen by the naked eye, and formed +a very curious feature in the landscape. + +Illustration--ANCIENT MORAINES IN THE RAMBACHEN VALLEY. + + Between the moraines, near my tent, the soil was perfectly level, +and consisted of little lake-beds strewn with gigantic boulders, and +covered with hard turf of grass and sedge, and little bushes of dwarf +rhododendron and prostrate juniper, as trim as if they had been +clipped. Altogether these formed the most picturesque little nooks it +was possible to conceive; and they exhibited the withered remains of +so many kinds of primrose, gentian, anemone, potentilla, orchis, +saxifrage, parnassia, campanula, and pedicularis, that in summer they +must be perfect gardens of wild flowers. Around each plot of a few +acres was the grand ice-transported girdle of stupendous rocks, many +from 50 to 100 feet long, crested with black tabular-branched silver +firs, conical deep green tree-junipers, and feathery larches; whilst +amongst the blocks grew a profusion of round masses of evergreen +rhododendron bushes. Beyond were stupendous frowning cliffs, beneath +which the river roared like thunder; and looking up the glacial +valley, the setting sun was bathing the expanse of snow in the most +delicate changing tints, pink, amber, and gold. + +The boulders forming the moraine were so enormous and angular, that I +had great difficulty in ascending it. I saw some pheasants feeding on +the black berries of the juniper, but where the large rhododendrons +grew amongst the rocks I found it impossible to penetrate. +The largest of the moraines is piled to upwards of 1000 feet against +the south flank of the lateral valley, and stretched far up it beyond +my camp, which was in a grove of silver firs. A large flock of sheep +and goats, laden with salt, overtook us here on their route from +Wallanchoon to Yalloong. The sheep I observed to feed on the +_Rhododendron Thomsoni_ and _campylocarpum. On the roots of one of +the latter species a parasitical Broom-rape (_Orobanche_) grew +abundantly; and about the moraines were more mosses, lichens, etc., +than I have elsewhere seen in the loftier Himalaya, encouraged no +doubt by the dampness of this grand mountain gorge, which is so +hemmed in that the sun never reaches it until four or five hours +after it has gilded the overhanging peaks. + +_December_ 5.--The morning was bright and clear, and we left early +for the Choonjerma pass. I had hoped the route would be up the +magnificent glacier-girdled valley in which we had encamped; but it +lay up another, considerably south of it, and to which we crossed, +ascending the rocky moraine, in the clefts of which grew abundance of +a common Scotch fern, _Cryptogramma crispa_! + +The clouds early commenced gathering, and it was curious to watch +their rapid formation in coalescing streaks, which became first +cirrhi, and then stratus, being apparently continually added to from +below by the moisture-bringing southerly wind. Ascending a lofty +spur, 1000 feet above the valley, against which the moraine was +banked, I found it to be a distinct anticlinal axis. The pass, +bearing north-west, and the valley we had descended on the previous +day, rose immediately over the curved strata of quartz, topped by the +glacier-crowned mountain of Nango, with four glaciers descending from +its perpetual snows. The stupendous cliffs on its flanks, under which +I had camped on the previous night, were very grand, but not more so +than those which dipped into the chasm of the Kambachen below. +Looking up the valley of the latter, was another wilderness of ice +full of enormous moraines, round the bases of which the river wound. + +Ascending, we reached an open grassy valley, and overtook the +Tibetans who had preceded us, and who had halted here to feed their +sheep. A good-looking girl of the party came to ask me for medicine +for her husband's eyes, which had suffered from snow-blindness: she +brought me a present of snuff, and carried a little child, stark +naked, yet warm from the powerful rays of the sun, at nearly 14,000 +feet elevation, in December! I prescribed for the man, and gave the +mother a bright farthing to hang round the child's neck, which +delighted the party. My watch was only wondered at; but a little +spring measuring-tape that rolled itself up, struck them dumb, and +when I threw it on the ground with the tape out, the mother shrieked +and ran away, while the little savage howled after her. + +Above, the path up the ascent was blocked with snowbeds, and for +several miles we alternately scrambled among rocks and over slippery +slopes, to the top of the first ridge, there being two to cross. +The first consisted of a ridge of rocks running east and west from a +superb sweep of snowy mountains to the north-west, which presented a +chaotic scene of blue glacial ice and white snow, through which +splintered rocks and beetling crags thrust their black heads. +The view into the Kambachen gorge was magnificent, though it did not +reveal the very bottom of the valley and its moraines: the black +precipices of its opposite flank seemed to rise to the glaciers of +Nango, fore-shortened into snow-capped precipices 5000 feet high, +amongst which lay the Kambachen pass, bearing north-west by north. +Lower down the valley, appeared a broad flat, called Jubla, a +halting-place one stage below the village of Kambachen, on the road +to Lelyp on the Tambur: it must be a remarkable geological as well as +natural feature, fao it appeared to jut abruptly and quite +horizontally from the black cliffs of the valley. + +Looking north, the conical head of Junnoo was just scattering the +mists from its snowy shoulders, and standing forth to view, the most +magnificent spectacle I ever beheld. It was quite close to me, +bearing north-east by east, and subtending an angle of 12 degrees 23, +and is much the steepest and most conical of all the peaks of these +regions. From whichever side it is viewed, it rises 9000 feet above +the general mountain mass of 16,000 feet elevation, towering like a +blunt cone, with a short saddle on one side, that dips in a steep +cliff: it appeared as if uniformly snowed, from its rocks above +20,000 feet (like those of Kinchinjunga) being of white granite, and +not contrasting with the snow. Whether the top is stratified or not, +I cannot tell, but waving parallel lines are very conspicuous near +it, as shown in the accompanying view.* [The appearance of Mont +Cervin, from the Riffelberg, much reminded me of that of Junnoo, from +the Choonjerma pass, the former bearing the same relation to Monte +Rosa that the latter does to Kinchinjunga. Junnoo, though +incomparably the more stupendous mass, not only rising 10,000 feat +higher above the sea, but towering 4000 feet higher above the ridge +on which it is supported, is not nearly so remarkable in outline, so +sharp, or so peaked as is Mount Cervin: it is a very much grander, +but far less picturesque object. The whiteness of the sides of Junnoo +adds also greatly to its apparent altitude; while the strong relief +in which the black cliffs of Mont Cervin protrude through its snowy +mantle greatly diminish both its apparent height and distance.] + +Illustration--JUNNOO 24,000 FT. FROM CHOONJERMA PASS 16,000 FT. EAST +NEPAL. + +Looking south as evening drew on, another wonderful spectacle +presented itself, similar to that which I described at Sakkiazung, +but displayed here on an inconceivably grander scale, with all the +effects exaggerated. I saw a sea of mist floating 3000 feet beneath +me, just below the upper level of the black pines; the magnificent +spurs of the snowy range which I had crossed rising out of it in +rugged grandeur as promontories and peninsulas, between which the +misty ocean seemed to finger up like the fiords of Norway, or the +salt-water lochs of the west of Scotland; whilst islets tailed off +from the promontories, rising here and there out of the deceptive +elements. I was so high above this mist, that it had not the billowy +appearance I saw before, but was a calm unruffled ocean, boundless to +the south and west, where the horizon over-arched it. A little to the +north of west I discerned the most lofty group of mountains in Nepal* +[Called Tsungau by the Bhoteeas. Junnoo is called Kumbo Kurma by the +Hill-men of Nepal.] (mentioned at Chapter VIII), beyond Kinchinjurga, +which I believe are on the west flank of the great valley through +which the Arun river enters Nepal from Tibet: they were very distant, +and subtended so small an angle, that I could not measure them with +the sextant and artificial horizon their height, judging from the +quantity of snow, must be prodigious. + +From 4 to 5 p.m. the temperature was 24 degrees, with a very cold +wind; the elevation by the barometer was 15,260 feet, and the +dew-point 10.5 degrees, giving the humidity 0.610, and the amount of +vapour 1.09 grains in a cubic foot of air; the same elements at +Calcutta, at the same hour, being thermometer 66.5 degrees, dew-point +60.5 degrees, humidity 0.840, and weight of vapour 5.9 grains. + +I waited for an hour, examining the rocks about the pass, till the +coolies should come up, but saw nothing worthy of remark, the natural +history and geology being identical with those of Kambachen pass: I +then bade adieu to the sublime and majestic peak of Junnoo. Thence we +continued at nearly the same level for about four miles, dipping into +the broad head of a snowy valley, and ascending to the second pass, +which lay to the south-east. + +On the left I passed a very curious isolated pillar of rock, amongst +the wild crags to the north-east, whose bases we skirted: it +resembles the Capuchin on the shoulder of Mont Blanc, as seen from +the Jardin. Evening overtook us while still on the snow near the last +ascent. As the sun declined, the snow at our feet reflected the most +exquisitely delicate peach-bloom hue; and looking west from the top +of the pass, the scenery was gorgeous beyond description, for the sun +was just plunging into a sea of mist, amongst some cirrhi and +stratus, all in a blaze of the ruddiest coppery hue. As it sank, the +Nepal, peaks to the right assumed more definite, darker, and gigantic +forms, and floods of light shot across the misty ocean, bathing the +landscape around me in the most wonderful and indescribable changing +tints. As the luminary was vanishing, the whole horizon glowed like +copper run from a smelting furnace, and when it had quite +disappeared, the little inequalities of the ragged edges of the mist +were lighted up and shone like a row of volcanos in the far distance. +I have never before or since seen anything, which for sublimity, +beauty, and marvellous effects, could compare with what I gazed on +that evening from Choonjerma pass. In some of Turner's pictures I +have recognized similar effects, caught and fixed by a marvellous +effort of genius; such are the fleeting hues over the ice, in his +"Whalers," and the ruddy fire in his "Wind, Steam, and Rain," which +one almost fears to touch. Dissolving views give some idea of the +magic creation and dispersion of the effects, but any combination of +science and art can no more recall the scene, than it can the +feelings of awe that crept over me, during the hour I spent in +solitude amongst these stupendous mountains. + +The moon guided us on our descent, which was to the south, obliquely +into the Yalloong valley. I was very uneasy about the coolies, who +were far behind, and some of them had been frost-bitten in crossing +the Kambachen pass. Still I thought the best thing was to push on, +and light large fires at the first juniper we should reach. +The change, on passing from off the snow to the dark earth and rock, +was so bewildering, that I had great difficulty in picking my way. +Suddenly we came on a flat with a small tarn, whose waters gleamed +illusively in the pale moonlight: the opposite flanks of the valley +were so well reflected on its gloomy surface, that we were at once +brought to a stand-still on its banks: it looked like a chasm, and +whether to jump across it, or go down it, or along it, was the +question, so deceptive was the spectral landscape. Its true nature +was, however, soon discovered, and we proceeded round it, descending. +Of course there was no path, and after some perplexity amongst rocks +and ravines, we reached the upper limit of wood, and halted by some +bleached juniper-trees, which were soon converted into blazing fires. + +I wandered away from my party to listen for the voices of the men who +had lingered behind, about whom I was still more anxious, from the +very great difficulty they would encounter if, as we did, they should +get off the path. The moon was shining clearly in the black heavens; +and its bright light, with the pale glare of the surrounding snow, +obscured the milky way, and all the smaller stars; whilst the planets +appeared to glow with broader orbs than elsewhere, and the great +stars flashed steadily and periodically. + +Deep black chasms seemed to yawn below, and cliffs rose on all sides, +except down the valley, where looking across the Yalloong river, a +steep range of mountains rose, seamed with torrents that were just +visible like threads of silver coursing down broad landslips. It was +a dead calm, and nothing broke the awful silence but the low hoarse +murmur of many torrents, whose mingled voices rose and fell as if +with the pulsations of the atmosphere; the undulations of which +appeared thus to be marked by the ear alone. Sometimes it was the +faintest possible murmur, and then it rose swelling and filling the +air with sound: the effect was that of being raised from the earth's +surface, and again lowered to it; or that of waters advancing and +retiring. In such scenes and with such accompaniments, the mind +wanders from the real to the ideal, the larger and brighter lamps of +heaven lead us to imagine that we have risen from the surface of our +globe and are floating through the regions of space, and that the +ceaseless murmur of the waters is the Music of the Spheres. + +Contemplation amid such soothing sounds and impressive scenes is very +seductive, and withal very dangerous, for the temperature was at +freezing-point, my feet and legs were wet through, and it was well +that I was soon roused from my reveries by the monosyllabic +exclamations of my coolies. They were quite knocked up, and came +along grunting, and halting every minute to rest, by supporting their +loads, still hanging to their backs, on their stout staves. I had +still one bottle of brandy left, with which to splice the main brace. +It had been repeatedly begged for in vain, and being no longer +expected, was received with unfeigned joy. Fortunately with these +people a little spirits goes a long way, and I kept half for +future emergencies. + +We camped at 13,290 feet, the air was calm and mild to the feeling, +though the temperature fell to 22.75 degrees. On the following +morning we saw two musk-deer,* [There are two species of musk-deer in +the Himalaya, besides the Tibetan kind, which appears identical with +the Siberian animal originally described by Pallas.] called +"Kosturah" by the mountaineers. The musk, which hangs in a pouch near +the navel of the male, is the well-known object of traffic with +Bengal. This creature ranges between 8000 and 13,000 feet, on the +Himalaya, often scenting the air for many hundred yards. It is a +pretty grey animal, the size of a roebuck, and something resembling +it, with coarse fur, short horns, and two projecting teeth from the +upper jaw, said to be used in rooting up the aromatic herbs from +which the Bhoteeas believe that it derives the odour of musk. This I +much doubt, because the animal never frequents those very lofty +regions where the herbs supposed to provide the scent are found, nor +have I ever seen signs of any having been so rooted up. +The _Delphinium glaciale_ smells strongly and disagreeably of musk, +but it is one of the most alpine plants in the world, growing at an +elevation of 17,000 feet, far above the limits of the Kosturah. +The female and young male are very good eating, much better than any +Indian venison I ever tasted, being sweet and tender. Mr. Hodgson +once kept a female alive, but it was very wild, and continued so as +long as I knew it. Two of my Lepchas gave chase to these animals, and +fired many arrows in vain after them: these people are fond of +carrying a bow, but are very poor shots. + +We descended 3000 feet to the deep valley of the Yalloong river which +runs west-by-south to the Tambur, from between Junnoo and Kubra: the +path was very bad, over quartz, granite, and gneiss, which cut the +shoes and feet severely. The bottom of the valley, which is elevated +10,450 feet, was filled with an immense accumulation of angular +gravel and debris of the above rocks, forming on both sides of the +river a terrace 400 feet above the stream, which flowed in a furious +torrent. The path led over this deposit for a good many miles, and +varied exceedingly in height, in some places being evidently +increased by landslips, and at others apparently by moraines. + +Illustration--TIBETAN CHARM-BOX. + + CHAPTER XII. + +Yalloong valley -- Fiud Kanglanamo pass closed -- Change route for +the southward -- _Picrorhiza_ -- View of Kubra -- _Rhododendron +Falconeri_ -- Yalloong river -- Junction of gneiss and clay-slate -- +Cross Yalloong range -- View -- Descent -- Yew -- Vegetation -- Misty +weather -- Tongdam village -- Khabang -- Tropical vegetation -- +Sidingbah Mountain -- View of Kinchinjunga -- Yangyading village -- +Slopes of hills, and courses of rivers -- Khabili valley -- (Ghorkha +Havildar's bad conduct -- Ascend Singalelah -- Plague of ticks -- +Short commons -- Cross Islumbo pass -- Boundary of Sikkim -- Kulhait +valley -- Lingeham -- Reception by Kajee -- Hear of Dr. Campbell's +going to meet Rajah -- Views in valley -- Leave for Teesta river -- +Tipsy Kajee -- Hospitality -- Murwa beer -- Temples -- _Acorus +Calamus_ -- Long Mendong -- Burning of dead -- Superstitions -- Cross +Great Rungeet -- Boulders, origin of -- Purchase of a dog -- Marshes +-- Lamas -- Dismiss Ghorkhas -- Bhoteea house -- Murwa beer. + +On arriving at the bottom we found a party who were travelling with +sheep laden with salt; they told us that the Yalloong village, which +lay up the valley on the route to the Kanglanamo pass (leading over +the south shoulder of Kubra into Sikkim) was deserted, the +inhabitants having retired after the October fall of snow to +Yankutang, two marches down; also that the Kanglanamo pass was +impracticable, being always blocked up by the October fall. I was, +therefore, reluctantly obliged to abandon the plan of pursuing that +route to Sikkim, and to go south, following the west flank of +Singalelah to the first of the many passes over it which I might +find open. + +These people were very civil, and gave me a handful of the root of +one of the many bitter herbs called in Bengal "Teeta," and used as a +febrifuge: the present was that of _Picrorhiza,_ a plant allied to +Speedwell, which grows at from 12,000 to 15,000 feet elevation, and +is a powerful bitter, called "Hoonling" by the Tibetans. They had +with them above 100 sheep, of a tall, long-legged, Roman-nosed breed. +Each carried upwards of forty pounds of salt, done up in two leather +bags, slung on either side, and secured by a band going over the +chest, and another round the loins, so that they cannot slip off, +when going up or down hill. These sheep are very tame, patient +creatures, travelling twelve miles a day with great ease, and being +indifferent to rocky or steep ground. + +Looking east I had a splendid view of the broad snowy mass of Kubra, +blocking up, as it were, the head of the valley with a white screen. +Descending to about 10,000 feet, the _Abies Brunoniana_ appeared, +with fine trees of _Rhododendron Falconeri_ forty feet high, and with +leaves nineteen inches long! while the upper part of the valley was +full of _Abies Webbiana._ + +At the elevation of 9000 feet, we crossed to the east bank, and +passed the junction of the gneiss and mica slate: the latter crossed +the river, striking north-west, and the stream cut a dark chasm-like +channel through it, foaming and dashing the spray over the splintered +ridges, and the broad water-worn hog-backed masses that projected +from its bed. Immense veins of granite permeated the rocks, which +were crumpled in the strangest manner: isolated angular blocks of +schist had been taken up by the granite in a fluid state, and +remained imbedded in it. + +The road made great ascents to avoid landslips, and to surmount the +enormous piles of debris which encumber this valley more than any +other. We encamped at 10,050 feet, on a little flat 1000 feet above +the bed of the river, and on its east flank. A _Hydrangea_ was the +common small wood, but _Abies Webbiana_ formed the forest, with great +Rhododendrons. The weather was foggy, whence I judged that we were in +the sea of mist I saw beneath me from the passes; the temperature, +considering the elevation, was mild, 37 degrees and 38 degrees, which +was partly due to the evolution of heat that accompanies the +condensation of these vapours, the atmosphere being loaded with +moisture. The thermometer fell to 28 degrees during the night, and in +the morning the ground was thickly covered with hoar-frost. + +_December 7.--We ascended the Yalloong ridge to a saddle 11,000 feet +elevation, whence the road dips south to the gloomy gorges of the +eastern feeders of the Tambur. Here we bade adieu to the grand alpine +scenery, and for several days our course lay in Nepal in a southerly +direction, parallel to Singalelah, and crossing every spur and river +sent off by that mighty range. The latter flow towards the Tambur, +and their beds, for forty or fifty miles are elevated about 3000 or +4000 feet. Few of the spurs are ascended above 5000 feet, but all of +them rise to 12,000 or 14,000 feet to the westward, where they join +the Singalelah range. + +I clambered to the top of a lofty hummock, through a dense thicket of +interwoven Rhododendron bushes, the clayey soil under which was +slippery from the quantity of dead leaves. I had hoped for a view of +the top of Kinchinjunga, which bore north-east, but it was enveloped +in clouds, as were all the snows in that direction; to the +north-west, however, I obtained bearings of the principal peaks, +etc., of the Yangma and Kambachen valleys. To the south and +south-east, lofty, rugged and pine-clad mountains rose in confused +masses, and white sheets of mist came driving up, clinging to the +mountain-tops, and shrouding the landscape with extreme rapidity. +The remarkable mountain of Sidingbah bore south-south-east, raising +its rounded head above the clouds. I could, however, procure no +other good bearing. + +The descent from the Yalloong ridge to the Khabili feeders of the +Tambur was very steep, and in some places almost precipitous, first +through dense woods of silver fir, with _Rhod. Falconeri_ and +_Hodgsoni,_ then through _Abies Brunoniana,_ with yew (now covered +with red berries) to the region of Magnolias and _Rhod. arboreum_ and +_barbatum._ One bush of the former was in flower, making a gorgeous +show. Here also appeared the great oak with lamellated acorns, which +I had not seen in the drier valleys to the westward; with many other +Dorjiling trees and shrubs. A heavy mist clung to the rank luxuriant +foliage, tantalizing from its obscuring all the view. Mica schist +replaced the gneiss, and a thick slippery stratum of clay rendered it +very difficult to keep one's footing. After so many days of bright +sunshine and dry weather, I found this quiet, damp, foggy atmosphere +to have a most depressing effect: there was little to interest in the +meteorology, the atmospheric fluctuations being far too small; +geographical discovery was at an end, and we groped our way along +devious paths in wooded valleys, or ascended spurs and ridges, always +clouded before noon, and clothed with heavy forest. + +At 6000 feet we emerged from the mist, and found ourselves clambering +down a deep gully, hemmed in by frightful rocky steeps, which exposed +a fine and tolerably continuous section of schistose rocks, striking +north-west, and dipping north-east, at a very high angle. + +At the bottom three furious torrents met: we descended the course of +one of them, over slanting precipices, or trees lashed to the rocks, +and after a most winding course our path conducted us to the village +of Tarbu, high above a feeder of the Khabili river, which flows west, +joining the Tambur three days' march lower down. Having no food, we +had made a very long and difficult march to this place, but finding +none here, proceeded on to Tonghem village on the Khabili, descending +through thickets of _Rhod. arboreum_ to the elevation of 5,560. + +This village, or spur, called "Tonghem" by the Limboos, and +"Yankutang" by the Bhoteeas, is the winter resort of the inhabitants +of the upper Yalloong valley: they received us very kindly, sold us +two fowls, and rice enough to last for one or two days, which was all +they could spare, and gave me a good deal of information. I found +that the Kanglanamo pass had been disused since the Nepal war, that +it was very lofty, and always closed in October. + +The night was fine, clear, and warm, but the radiation so powerful +that the grass was coated with ice the following morning, though the +thermometer did not fall below 33 degrees. The next day the sun rose +with great power, and the vegetation reeked and steamed with the +heat. Crossing the river, we first made a considerable descent, and +then ascended a ridge to 5,750 feet, through a thick jungle of +_Camellia, Eurya,_ and small oak: from the top I obtained bearings of +Yalloong and Choonjerma pass, and had also glimpses of the Kinchin +range through a tantalizing jungle; after which a very winding and +fatiguing up-and-down march southwards brought us to the village of +Khabang, in the magnificent valley of the Tawa, about 800 feet above +the river, and 5,500 feet above the sea. + +I halted here for a day, to refresh the people, and if possible to +obtain some food. I hoped, too, to find a pass into Sikkim, east +over Singalelah, but was disappointed: if there had ever been one, it +had been closed since the Nepal war; and there was none, for several +marches further south, which would conduct us to the Iwa branch of +the Khabili. + +Khabang is a village of Geroongs, or shepherds, who pasture their +flocks on the hills and higher valleys during summer, and bring them +down to this elevation in winter: the ground was consequently +infested with a tick, equal in size to that so common in the bushes, +and quite as troublesome, but of a different species. + +The temperature rose to 72 degrees, and the black-bulb thermometer to +140 degrees. Magnolias and various almost tropical trees were common, +and the herbaceous vegetation was that of low elevations. +Large sugar-cane (_Saccharum_), palm (_Wallichia_), and wild +plantains grew near the river, and _Rhod. arboreum_ was very common +on dry slopes of mica-slate rocks, with the gorgeous and +sweet-scented _Luculia gratissima._ + +Up the valley of the Tawa the view was very grand of a magnificent +rocky mountain called Sidingbah, bearing south-east by south, on a +spur of the Singalelah range that runs westerly, and forms the south +flank of the Tawa, and the north of the Khabili valleys. +This mountain is fully 12,000 feet high, crested with rock and ragged +black forest, which, on the north flank, extends to its base: to the +eastward, the bare ridges of Singalelah were patched with snow, below +which they too were clothed with black pines. + +From the opposite side of the Tawa to Khabang (alt. 6,020 feet), I +was, during our march southwards, most fortunate in obtaining a +splendid view of Kinchinjunga (bearing north-east by north), with its +associates, rising over the dark mass of Singalelah, its flanks +showing like tier above tier of green glaciers: its distance was +fully twenty-five miles, and as only about 7000 feet or 8000 feet +from its summit were visible, and Kubra was foreshortened against it, +its appearance was not grand; added to which, its top was round and +hummocky, not broken into peaks, as when seen from the south and +east. Villages and cultivation became more frequent as we proceeded +southward, and our daily marches were up ridges, and down into deep +valleys, with feeders from the flanks of Sidingbah to the Tambur. +We passed through the village of Tchonboong, and camped at Yangyading +(4,100 feet), sighted Yamroop, a large village and military post to +the west of our route, crossed the Pangwa river, and reached the +valley of the Khabili. During this part of the journey, I did not +once see the Tambur river, though I was day after day marching only +seven to ten miles distant from it, so uneven is the country. +The mountains around Taptiatok, Mywa Guola, and Chingtam, were +pointed out to me, but they presented no recognizable feature. + +I often looked for some slope, or strike of the slopes of the spurs, +in any one valley, or that should prevail through several, but could +seldom trace any, except on one or two occasions, at low elevations. +Looking here across the valleys, there was a tendency in the gentle +slopes of the spurs to have plane faces dipping north-east, and to be +bounded by a line of cliffs striking north-west, and facing the +south-east. In such arrangements, the upheaved cliffs may be supposed +to represent parallel lines of faults, dislocation, or rupture, but I +could never trace any secondary valleys at right angles to these. +There is no such uniformity of strike as to give to the rivers a +zig-zag course of any regularity, or one having any apparent +dependence on a prevailing arrangement of the rocks; for, though the +strike of the chlorite and clay-slate at elevations below 6000 feet +along its course, is certainly north-west, with a dip to north-east, +the flexures of the river, as projected on the map, deviate very +widely from these directions. + +The valley of the Khabili is very grand, broad, open, and intersected +by many streams and cultivated spurs: the road from Yamroop to +Sikkim, once well frequented, runs up its north flank, and though it +was long closed we determined to follow and clear it. + +On the 11th of December we camped near the village of Sablakoo (4,680 +feet), and procured five days' food, to last us as far as the first +Sikkim village. Thence we proceeded eastward up the valley, but +descending to the Iwa, an affluent of the Khabili, through a tropical +vegetation of _Pinus longifolia, Phyllanthus Emblica,_ dwarf +date-palm, etc. Gneiss was here the prevailing rock, uniformly +dipping north-east 20 degrees, and striking north-west. The same rock +no doubt forms the mass Sidingbah, which reared its head 8000 feet +above the Iwa river, by whose bed we camped at 3,780 feet. Sand-flies +abounded, and were most troublesome: troops of large monkeys were +skipping about, and the whole scene was thoroughly tropical; still, +the thermometer fell to 38 degrees in the night, with heavy dew. + +Though we passed numerous villages, I found unusual difficulty in +getting provision, and received none of the presents so uniformly +brought by the villagers to a stranger. I was not long in +discovering, to my great mortification, that these were appropriated +by the Ghorkha Havildar, who seemed to have profited by our many days +of short allowance, and diverted the current of hospitality from me +to himself. His coolies I saw groaning under heavy burdens, when +those of my people were light; and the truth only came out when he +had the impudence to attempt to impose a part of his coolies' loads +on mine, to enable the former to carry more food, whilst he was +pretending that he used every exertion to procure me a scanty supply +of rice with my limited stock of money. I had treated this man and +his soldiers with the utmost kindness, even nursing them and clothing +them from my own stock of flannels, when sick and shivering amongst +the snows. Though a high caste Hindoo, and one who assumed Brahmin +rank, he had, I found, no objection to eat forbidden things in +secret; and now that we were travelling amongst Hindoos, his caste +obtained him everything, while money alone availed me. I took him +roundly to task for his treachery, which caused him secretly to throw +away a leg of mutton he had concealed; I also threatened to expose +the humbug of his pretension to caste, but it was then too late to +procure more food. Having hitherto much liked this man, and fully +trusted him, I was greatly pained by his conduct. + +We proceeded east for three days, up the valley, through gloomy +forests of tropical trees below 5000 feet; and ascended to oaks and +magnolias at 6000 feet. The path was soon obstructed, and we had to +tear and cut our way, from 6000 to 10,000 feet, which took two days' +very hard work. Ticks swarmed in the small bamboo jungle, and my body +was covered with these loathsome insects, which got into my bed and +hair, and even attached themselves to my eyelids during the night, +when the constant annoyance and irritation completely banished sleep. +In the daytime they penetrated my trousers, piercing to my body in +many places, so that I repeatedly took off as many as twelve at one +time. It is indeed marvellous how so large an insect can painlessly +insert a stout barbed proboscis, which requires great force to +extract it, and causes severe smarting in the operation. What the +ticks feed upon in these humid forests is a perfect mystery to me, +for from 6000 to 9000 feet they literally swarmed, where there was +neither path nor animal life. They were, however, more tolerable than +a commoner species of parasite, which I found it impossible to escape +from, all classes of mountaineers being infested with it. + +On the 14th, after an arduous ascent through the pathless jungle, we +camped at 9,300 feet on a narrow spur, in a dense forest, amongst +immense loose blocks of gneiss. The weather was foggy and rainy, and +the wind cold. I ate the last supply of animal food, a miserable +starved pullet, with rice and Chili vinegar; my tea, sugar, and all +other superfluities having been long before exhausted. + +On the following morning, we crossed the Islumbo pass over Singalelah +into Sikkim, the elevation being 11,000 feet. Above our camp the +trees were few and stunted, and we quickly emerged from the forest on +a rocky and grassy ridge, covered with withered _Saxifrages, +Umbelliferae, Parnassia, Hypericum,_ etc. There were no pines on +either side of the pass; a very remarkable peculiarity of the damp +mountains of Sikkim, which I have elsewhere had occasion to notice: +we had left _Pinus longifolia_ (a far from common tree in these +valleys) at 3000 feet in the Tawa three days before, and ascended to +11,000 feet without passing a coniferous tree of any kind, except a +few yews, at 9000 feet, covered with red berries. + +The top of the pass was broad, grassy, and bushy with dwarf Bamboo, +Rose, and Berberry, in great abundance, covered with mosses and +lichens: it had been raining hard all the morning, and the vegetation +was coated with ice: a dense fog obscured everything, and a violent +south-east wind blew over the pass in our teeth. I collected some +very curious and beautiful mosses, putting these frozen treasures +into my box, in the form of exquisitely beautiful glass ornaments, +or mosses frosted with silver. + +A few stones marked the boundary between Nepal and Sikkim, where I +halted for half an hour, and hung up my instruments: the temperature +was 32 degrees. + +We descended rapidly, proceeding eastward down the broad valley of +the Kulhait river, an affluent of the Great Rungeet; and as it had +begun to sleet and snow hard, we continued until we reached 6,400 +feet before camping. + +On the following day we proceeded down the valley, and reached +habitations at 4000 feet: passing many villages and much cultivation, +we crossed the river, and ascended by 7 p.m., to the village of +Lingcham, just below the convent of Changachelling, very tired and +hungry. Bad weather had set in, and it was pitch dark and raining +hard when we arrived; but the Kajee, or head man, had sent out a +party with torches to conduct us, and he gave us a most hospitable +reception, honoured us with a salute of musketry, and brought +abundance of milk, eggs, fowls, plantains, and Murwa beer. Plenty of +news was awaiting me here, and a messenger with letters was three +marches further north, at Yoksun, waiting my expected return over the +Kanglanamo pass. Dr. Campbell, I was told, had left Dorjiling; and +was _en route_ to meet the Rajah at Bhomsong on the Teesta river, +where no European had ever yet been; and as the Sikkim authorities +had for sixteen years steadily rejected every overture for a friendly +interview, and even refused to allow the agent of the +Governor-General to enter their dominions, it was evident that grave +doings were pending. I knew that Dr. Campbell had long used every +exertion to bring the Sikkim Rajah to a friendly conference, without +having to force his way into the country for the purpose, but in +vain. It will hardly be believed that though this chief's dominions +were redeemed by us from the Nepalese and given back to him; though +we had bound ourselves by a treaty to support him on his throne, and +to defend him against the Nepalese on the west, the Bhutan people on +the east, and the Tibetans on the north; and though the terms of the +treaty stipulated for free intercourse, mutual protection, and +friendship; the Sikkim authorities had hitherto been allowed to +obstruct all intercourse, and in every way to treat the +Governor-General's agent and the East India Company with contempt. +An affectation of timidity, mistrust, and ignorance was assumed for +the purpose of deception, and as a cloak for every insult and +resistance to the terms of our treaty, and it was quoted by the +Government in answer to every remonstrance on the part of their +resident agent at Dorjiling. + +On the following morning the Kajee waited on me with a magnificent +present of a calf, a kid, fowls, eggs, rice, oranges, plantains, +egg-apples, Indian corn, yams, onions, tomatos, parsley, fennel, +turmeric, rancid butter, milk, and, lastly, a coolie-load of +fermenting millet-seeds, wherewith to make the favourite Murwa beer. +In the evening two lads arrived from Dorjiling, who had been sent a +week beforehand by my kind and thoughtful friend, Mr. Hodgson, with +provisions and money. + +The valley of the Kulhait is one o£ the finest in Sikkim, and it is +accordingly the site of two of the oldest and richest conventual +establishments. Its length is sixteen miles, from the Islumbo pass to +the Great Rungeet, for ten of which it is inhabited, the villages +being invariably on long meridional spurs that project north and +south from either flank; they are about 2000 feet above the river, +and from 4,500 to 5000 feet above the sea. Except where these spurs +project, the flanks of the valley are very steep, the mountains +rising to 7000 or 8000 feet. + +Looking from any spur, up or down the valley, five or six others +might be seen on each side of the river, at very nearly the same +average level, all presenting great uniformity of contour, namely, a +gentle slope towards the centre of the valley, and then an abrupt +descent to the river. They were about a quarter of a mile broad at +the widest, and often narrower, and a mile or so long; some parts of +their surfaces and sides were quite flat, and occasionally occupied +by marshes or ponds. Cultivation is almost confined to these spurs, +and is carried on both on their summits and steep flanks; between +every two is a very steep gulley and water-course. The timber has +long since been either wholly or partially cleared from the tops, +but, to a great extent, still clothes their flanks and the +intervening gorges. I have been particular in describing these spurs, +because it is impossible to survey them without ascribing their +comparative uniformity of level to the action of water. Similar ones +are characteristic features of the valleys of Sikkim between 2000 and +8000 feet, and are rendered conspicuous by being always sites for +villages and cultivation: the soil is a vegetable mould, over a deep +stratum of red clay. + +I am far from supposing that any geologically recent action of the +sea has levelled these spurs; but as the great chain of the Himalaya +has risen from the ocean, and as every part of it has been subjected +to sea-action, it is quite conceivable that intervals of rest during +the periods of elevation or submergence would effect their levelling. +In a mountain mass so tumbled as is that of Sikkim, any level +surface, or approach to it, demands study; and when, as in the +Kulhait valley, we find several similar spurs with comparatively flat +tops, to occupy about the same level, it is necessary to look for +some levelling cause. The action of denudation is still progressing +with astonishing rapidity, under an annual fall of from 100 to 150 +inches of rain; but its tendency is to obliterate all such phenomena, +and to give sharp, rugged outlines to these spurs, in spite of the +conservative effects of vegetation. + +The weather at Lingcham was gloomy, cold, and damp, with much rain +and fog, and the mean temperature (45.25 degrees) was cold for the +elevation (4,860 feet): 52.5 degrees was the highest temperature +observed, and 39 degrees the lowest. + +A letter from Dr. Campbell reached me three days after my arrival, +begging me to cross the country to the Teesta river, and meet him at +Bhomsong, on its west bank, where he was awaiting my arrival. +I therefore left on the 20th of December, accompanied by my friend +the Kajee, who was going to pay his respects to the Rajah. He was +constantly followed by a lad, carrying a bamboo of Murwa beer slung +round his neck, with which he kept himself always groggy. His dress +was thoroughly Lepcha, and highly picturesque, consisting of a very +broad-brimmed round-crowned bamboo-platted hat, scarlet jacket, and +blue-striped cloth shirt, bare feet, long knife, bow and quiver, +rings and earrings, and a long pigtail. He spoke no Hindoostanee, but +was very communicative through my interpreters. + +Leaving the Lingcham spur, we passed steep cliffs of mica and schist, +covered with brushwood and long grass, about 1000 feet above which +the Changachelling convent is perched. Crossing a torrent, we came to +the next village, on the spur of Kurziuk, where I was met by a +deputation of women, sent by the Lamas of Changachelling, bearing +enormous loads of oranges, rice, milk, butter, ghee, and the +everflowing Murwa beer. + +The villagers had erected a shady bower for me to rest under, of +leaves and branches, and had fitted up a little bamboo stage, on +which to squat cross-legged as they do, or to hang my legs from, if I +preferred: after conducting me to this, the parties advanced and +piled their cumbrous presents on the ground, bowed, and retired; they +were succeeded by the beer-carrier, who plunged a clean drinking-tube +to the bottom of the steaming bamboo jug (described in Chapter VII), +and held it to my mouth, then placing it by my side, he bowed and +withdrew. Nothing can be more fascinating than the simple manners of +these kind people, who really love hospitality for its own sake, and +make the stranger feel himself welcome. Just now too, the Durbar had +ordered every attention to be paid me; and I hardly passed a village +however small, without receiving a present, or a cottage, where beer +was not offered. This I found a most grateful beverage; and of the +occasional rests under leafy screens during a hot day's march, and +sips at the bamboo jug, I shall ever retain a grateful remembrance. +Happily the liquor is very weak, and except by swilling, as my friend +the Kajee did, it would be impossible to get fuddled by it. + +At Kurziuk I was met by a most respectable Lepcha, who, as a sort of +compliment, sent his son to escort us to the next village and spur of +Pemiongchi, to reach which we crossed another gorge, of which the +situation and features were quite similar to those of Kurziuk +and Lingcham. + +The Pemiongchi and Changachelling convents and temples stand a few +miles apart, on the ridge forming the north flank of the Kulhait +valley; and as they will be described hereafter, I now only allude to +the village, which is fully 1000 feet below the convent, and large +and populous. + +At Pemiongchi a superior Lama met me with another overwhelming +present: he was a most jolly fat monk, shaven and girdled, and +dressed in a scarlet gown: my Lepchas kotowed to him, and he blessed +them by the laying on of hands. + +Illustration--PEMIONGCHI GOOMPA AND CHAITS. + +There is a marsh on this spur, full of the common English _Acorus +Calamus,_ or sweet-flag, whose roots being very aromatic, are used in +griping disorders of men and cattle. Hence we descended suddenly to +the Great Rungeet, which we reached at its junction with the Kulhait: +the path was very steep and slippery, owing to micaceous rocks, and +led along the side of an enormous Mendong,* [This remarkable +structure, called the Kaysing Mendong, is 200 yards long, 10 feet +high, and 6 or 8 feet broad: it is built of flat, slaty stones, and +both faces are covered with inscribed slates, of which there are +upwards of 700, and the inscriptions, chiefly "Om Mani," etc., are in +both the Uchen and Lencha Ranja characters of Tibet. A tall stone, +nine feet high, covered also with inscriptions, terminates it at the +lower end.] which ran down the hill for several hundred yards, and +had a large chait at each end, with several smaller ones at +intervals. Throughout its length were innumerable inscriptions of "Om +Mani Padmi om," with well carved figures of Boodh in his many +incarnations, besides Lamas, etc. At the lower end was a great flat +area, on which are burnt the bodies of Sikkim people of consequence: +the poorer people are buried, the richer burned, and their ashes +scattered or interred, but not in graves proper, of which there are +none. Nor are there any signs of Lepcha interment throughout Sikkim; +though chaits are erected to the memory of the departed, they have no +necessary connection with the remains, and generally none at all. +Corpses in Sikkim are never cut to pieces and thrown into lakes, or +exposed on hills for the kites and crows to devour, as is the case +in Tibet. + +We passed some curious masses of crumpled chlorite slate, presenting +deep canals or furrows, along which a demon once drained all the +water from the Pemiongchi spur, to the great annoyance of the +villagers: the Lamas, however, on choosing this as a site for their +temples, easily confounded the machinations of the evil spirit, who, +in the eyes of the simple Lepchas, was answerable for all +the mischief. + +I crossed the Great Rungeet at 1840 feet above the sea, where its bed +was twenty yards in width; a rude bridge, composed of two culms of +bamboo and a handrail, conducted me to the other side, where we +camped (on the east bank) in a thick tropical jungle. In the evening + I walked down the banks of the river, which flowed in a deep gorge, +cumbered with enormous boulders of granite, clay-slate, and +mica-slate; the rocks _in situ_ were all of the latter description, +highly inclined, and much dislocated. Some of the boulders were fully +ten feet in diameter, permeated and altered very much by granite +veins which had evidently been injected when molten, and had taken up +angular masses of the chlorite which remained, as it were, suspended +in the veins. + +It is not so easy to account for the present position of these blocks +of granite, a rock not common at elevations below 10,000 feet. +They have been transported from a considerable distance in the +interior of the lofty valley to the north, and have descended not +less than 8000 feet, and travelled fully fifteen miles in a straight +line, or perhaps forty along the river bed. It may be supposed that +moraines have transported them to 8000 feet (the lowest limit of +apparent moraines), and the power of river water carried them +further; if so, the rivers must have been of much greater volume +formerly than they are now. + +Our camp was on a gravel flat, like those of the Nepal valleys, about +sixty feet above the river; its temperature was 52 degrees, which +felt cool when bathing. + +From the river we proceeded west, following a steep and clayey ascent +up the end of a very long spur, from the lofty mountain range called +Mungbreu, dividing the Great Rungeet from the Teesta. We ascended by +a narrow path, accomplishing 2,500 feet in an hour and a quarter, +walking slowly but steadily, without resting; this I always found a +heavy pull in a hot climate. + +At about 4000 feet above the sea, the spur became more open and flat, +like those of the Kulhait valley, with alternate slopes and +comparative flats: from this elevation the view north, south, and +west, was very fine; below us flowed the river, and a few miles up it +was the conical wooded hill of Tassiding, rising abruptly from a fork +of the deep river gorge, crowned with its curious temples and +mendongs, and bristling with chaits: on it is the oldest monastery in +Sikkim, occupying a singularly picturesque and prominent position. +North of this spur, and similar to it, lay that of Raklang, with the +temple and monastery of the same name, at about this elevation. +In front, looking west, across the Great Rungeet, were the +monasteries of Changachelling and Pemiongchi, perched aloft; and +south of these were the flat-topped spurs of the Kulhait valley, with +their villages, and the great mendong which I had passed on the +previous day, running like a white line down the spur. To the north, +beyond Tassiding, were two other monasteries, Doobdee and Sunnook, +both apparently placed on the lower wooded flanks of Kinchinjunga; +whilst close by was Dholing, the seventh religious establishment now +in sight. + +We halted at a good wooden house to refresh ourselves with Murwa +beer, where I saw a woman with cancer in the face, an uncommon +complaint in this country. I here bought a little black puppy, to be +my future companion in Sikkim: he was of a breed between the famous +Tibet mastiff and the common Sikkim hunting-dog, which is a variety +of the sorry race called Pariah in the plains. Being only a few weeks +old, he looked a mere bundle of black fur; and I carried him off, for +he could not walk. + +We camped at the village of Lingdam (alt. 5,550 feet), occupying a +flat, and surrounded by extensive pools of water (for this country) +containing _Acorus, Potamogeton,_ and duckweed. Such ponds I have +often met with on these terraces, and they are very remarkable, not +being dammed in by any conspicuous barrier, but simply occupying +depressions in the surface, from which, as I have repeatedly +observed, the land dips rapidly to the valleys below. + +This being the high-road from Tumloong or Sikkim Durbar (the capital, +and Rajah's residence) to the numerous monasteries which I had seen, +we passed many Lamas and monks on their way home from Tumloong, where +they had gone to be present at the marriage of the Tupgain Lama, the +eldest son of the Rajah. A dispensation having previously been +procured from Lhassa, this marriage had been effected by the Lamas, +in order to counteract the efforts of the Dewan, who sought to +exercise an undue influence over the Rajah and his family. +The Tupgain Lama having only spiritual authority, and being bound to +celibacy, the temporal authority devolved on the second son, who was +heir apparent of Sikkim; he, however, having died, an illegitimate +son of the Rajah was favoured by the Dewan as heir apparent. +The bride was brought from Tibet, and the marriage party were feasted +for eighteen days at the Rajah's expense. All the Lamas whom I met +were clad in red robes, with girdles, and were shaven, with bare feet +and heads, or mitred; they wore rosaries of onyx, turquoise, quartz, +lapis lazuli, coral, glass, amber, or wood, especially yellow +berberry and sandal-wood: some had staves, and one a trident like an +eel-fork, on a long staff, an emblem of the Hindoo Trinity, called +Trisool Mahadeo, which represents Brahma, Siva, and Vishnu, in +Hindoo; and Boodh, Dhurma, and Sunga, in Boodhist theology. All were +on foot, indeed ponies are seldom used in this country; the Lamas, +however, walked with becoming gravity and indifference to all +around them. + +The Kajee waited upon me in the evening; full of importance, having +just received a letter from his Rajah, which he wished to communicate +to me in private; so I accompanied him to a house close by, where he +was a guest, when the secret came out, that his highness was +dreadfully alarmed at my coming with the two Ghorka Sepoys, whom I +accordingly dismissed. + +The house was of the usual Bhoteea form, of wood, well built on +posts, one-storied, containing a single apartment hung round with +bows, quivers, shields, baskets of rice, and cornucopias of Indian +corn, the handsomest and most generous looking of all the Cerealia. +The whole party were deep in a carouse on Murwa beer, and I saw the +operation of making it. The millet-seed is moistened, and ferments +for two days: sufficient for a day's allowance is then put into a +vessel of wicker-work, lined with India-rubber to make it +water-tight; and boiling water is poured on it with a ladle of gourd, +from a huge iron cauldron that stands all day over the fire. +The fluid, when quite fresh, tastes like negus of Cape sherry, rather +sour. At this season the whole population are swilling, whether at +home or travelling, and heaps of the red-brown husks are seen by the +side of all the paths. + +Illustration--SIKKIM LAMAS WITH PRAYING CYLINDER AND DORJE; THE +LATERAL FIGURES ARE MONKS OR GYLONGS. + + CHAPTER XIII. + +Raklang pass -- Uses of nettles -- Edible plants -- Lepcha war -- +Do-mani stone -- Neongong -- Teesta valley -- Pony, saddle, etc. -- +Meet Campbell -- Vegetation and scenery -- Presents -- Visit of Dewan +-- Characters of Rajah and Dewan -- Accounts of Tibet -- Lhassa -- +Siling -- Tricks of Dewan -- Walk up Teesta -- Audience of Rajah -- +Lamas -- Kajees -- Tchebu Lama, his character and position -- Effects +of interview -- Heir-apparent -- Dewan's house -- Guitar -- Weather +-- Fall of river -- Tibet officers -- Gigantic trees -- Neongong lake +-- Mainom, ascent of -- Vegetation -- Camp on snow -- Silver fire -- +View from top -- Kinchin, etc. -- Geology -- Vapours -- Sunset effect +-- Elevation -- Temperature, etc. -- Lamas of Neongong -- Temples -- +Religious festival -- Bamboo, flowering -- Recross pass of Raklang -- +Numerous temples, villages, etc. -- Domestic animals -- Descent to +Great Rungeet. + +On the following morning, after receiving the usual presents from the +Lamas of Dholing, and from a large posse of women belonging to the +village of Barphiung, close by, we ascended the Raklang pass, which +crosses the range dividing the waters of the Teesta from those of the +Great Rungeet. The Kajee still kept beside me, and proved a lively +companion: seeing me continually plucking and noting plants, he gave +me much local information about them. He told me the uses made of the +fibres of the various nettles; some being twisted for bowstrings, +others as a thread for sewing and weaving; while many are eaten raw +and in soups, especially the numerous little succulent species. +The great yellow-flowered _Begonia_ was abundant, and he cut its +juicy stalks to make sauce (as we do apple-sauce) for some pork which +he expected to get at Bhomsong; the taste is acid and very pleasant. +The large succulent fern, called _Botrychium,_* [_Botrychium +Virginicum,_ Linn. This fern is eaten abundantly by the New +Zealanders: its distribution is most remarkable, being found very +rarely indeed in Europe, and in Norway only. It abounds in many parts +of the Southern United States, the Andes of Mexico, etc., in the +Himalaya mountains, Australia, and New Zealand.] grew here +plentifully; it is boiled and eaten, both here and in New Zealand. +Ferns are more commonly used for food than is supposed. In Calcutta +the Hindoos boil young tops of a _Polypodium_ with their shrimp +curries; and both in Sikkim and Nepal the watery tubers of an +_Aspidium_ are abundantly eaten. So also the pulp of one tree-fern +affords food, but only in times of scarcity, as does that of another +species in New Zealand (_Cyathea medullaris_): the pith of all is +composed of a coarse sago, that is to say, of cellular tissue with +starch granules. + +A thick forest of Dorjiling vegetation covers the summit, which is +only 6,800 feet above the sea: it is a saddle, connecting the lofty +mountain of Mainom (alt. 11,000 feet) to the north, with Tendong +(alt. 8,663 feet) to the south. Both these mountains are on a range +which is continuous with Kinchinjunga, projecting from it down into +the very heart of Sikkim. A considerable stand was made here by the +Lepchas during the Nepal war in 1787; they defended the pass with +their arrows for some hours, and then retired towards the Teesta, +making a second stand lower down, at a place pointed out to me, where +rocks on either side gave them the same advantages. The Nepalese, +however, advanced to the Teesta, and then retired with little loss. + +Unfortunately a thick mist and heavy rain cut off all view of the +Teesta valley, and the mountains of Chola to the eastward; which I +much regretted. + +Descending by a very steep, slippery path, we came to a fine mass of +slaty gneiss, thirty feet long and thirteen feet high; not _in situ,_ +but lying on the mountain side: on its sloping face was carved in +enormous characters, "Om Mani Padmi om"; of which letters the +top-strokes afford an uncertain footing to the enthusiast who is +willing to purchase a good metempsychosis by walking along the slope, +with his heels or toes in their cavities. A small inscription in one +corner is said to imply that this was the work of a pious monk of +Raklang; and the stone is called "Do-mani," literally, "stone of +prayer." + +Illustration--DO-MANI STONE. + +The rocks and peaks of Mainom are said to overhang the descent here +with grandeur; but the continued rain hid everything but a curious +shivered peak, apparently of chlorite schist, which was close by, and +reflected a green colour it is of course reported to be of turquoise, +and inaccessible. Descending, the rocks became more micaceous, with +broad seams of pipe-clay, originating in decomposed beds of +felspathic gneiss: the natives used this to whitewash and mortar +their temples. + +I passed the monastery of Neongong, the monks of which were building +a new temple; and came to bring me a large present. Below it is a +pretty little lake, about 100 yards across, fringed with brushwood. +We camped at the village of Nampok, 4,370 feet above the sea; all +thoroughly sodden with rain. + +During the night much snow had fallen at and above 9000 feet, but the +weather cleared on the following morning, and disclosed the top of +Mainom, rising close above my camp, in a series of rugged shivered +peaks, crested with pines, which looked like statues of snow: to all +other quarters this mountain presents a very gently sloping outline. +Up the Teesta valley there was a pretty peep of snowy mountains, +bearing north 35 degrees east, of no great height. + +I was met by a messenger from Dr. Campbell who told me he was waiting +breakfast; so I left my party, and, accompanied by the Kajee and +Meepo, hurried down to the valley of the Rungoon (which flows east to +the Teesta), through a fine forest of tropical trees; passing the +villages of Broom* [On the top of the ridge above Broom, a tall stone +is erected by the side of the path, covered with private marks, +indicating the height of various individuals who are accustomed to +measure themselves thus; there was but one mark above 5 feet 7 +inches, and that was 6 inches higher. It turned out to be Campbell's, +who had passed a few days before, and was thus proved to top the +natives of Sikkim by a long way.] and Lingo, to the spur of that +name; where I was met by a servant of the Sikkim Dewan's, with a pony +for my use. I stared at the animal, and felt inclined to ask what he +had to do here, where it was difficult enough to walk up and down +slippery slopes, amongst boulders of rock, heavy forest, and foaming +torrents; but I was little aware of what these beasts could +accomplish. The Tartar saddle was imported from Tibet, and certainly +a curiosity; once--but a long time ago--it must have been very +handsome; it was high-peaked, covered with shagreen and silvered +ornaments, wretchedly girthed, and with great stirrups attached to +short leathers. The bridle and head-gear were much too complicated +for description; there were good leather, raw hide, hair-rope, and +scarlet worsted all brought into use; the bit was the ordinary +Asiatic one, jointed, and with two rings. I mounted on one side, and +at once rolled over, saddle and all, to the other; the pony standing +quite still. I preferred walking; but Dr. Campbell had begged of me +to use the pony, as the Dewan had procured and sent it at great +trouble: I, however, had it led till I was close to Bhomsong, when I +was hoisted into the saddle and balanced on it, with my toes in the +stirrups and my knees up to my breast; twice, on the steep descent to +the river, my saddle and I were thrown on the pony's neck; in these +awkward emergencies I was assisted by a man on each side, who +supported my weight on my elbows: they seemed well accustomed to +easing mounted ponies down hill without giving the rider the trouble +of dismounting. Thus I entered Dr. Campbell's camp at Bhomsong, to +the pride and delight of my attendants; and received a hearty welcome +from my old friend, who covered me with congratulations on the +successful issue of a journey which, at this season, and under such +difficulties and discouragements, he had hardly thought feasible. + +Dr. Campbell's tent was pitched in an orange-grove, occupying a flat +on the west bank of the Teesta, close to a small enclosure of +pine-apples, with a pomegranate tree in the middle. The valley is +very narrow, and the vegetation wholly tropical, consisting of two +species of oak, several palms, rattan-cane (screw-pine), _Pandanus,_ +tall grasses, and all the natives of dense hot jungles. The river is +a grand feature, broad, rocky, deep, swift, and broken by enormous +boulders of rock; its waters were of a pale opal green, probably from +the materials of the soft micaceous rocks through which it flows. + +A cane bridge crosses it,* [Whence the name of Bhomsong Samdong, the +latter word meaning bridge.] but had been cut away (in feigned +distrust of us), and the long canes were streaming from their +attachments on either shore down the stream, and a triangular raft +of bamboo was plying instead, drawn to and fro by means of a +strong cane. + +Soon after arriving I received a present from the Rajah, consisting +of a brick of Tibet tea, eighty pounds of rancid yak butter, in large +squares, done up in yak-hair cloth, three loads of rice, and one of +Murwa for beer; rolls of bread,* [These rolls, or rather, sticks of +bread, are made in Tibet, of fine wheaten flour, and keep for a long +time: they are sweet and good, but very dirtily prepared.] fowls, +eggs, dried plums, apricots, jujubes, currants, and Sultana raisins, +the latter fruits purchased at Lhassa, but imported thither from +western Tibet; also some trays of coarse milk-white crystallised +salt, as dug in Tibet. + +In the evening we were visited by the Dewan, the head and front of +all our Sikkim difficulties, whose influence was paramount with the +Rajah, owing to the age and infirmities of the latter, and his +devotion to religion, which absorbed all his time and thoughts. +The Dewan was a good-looking Tibetan, very robust, fair, muscular and +well fleshed; he had a very broad Tartar face, quite free of hair; a +small and beautifully formed mouth and chin, very broad cheekbones, +and a low, contracted forehead: his manners were courteous and +polite, but evidently affected, in assumption of better breeding than +he could in reality lay claim to. The Rajah himself was a Tibetan of +just respectable extraction, a native of the Sokpo province, north of +Lhassa: his Dewan was related to one of his wives, and I believe a +Lhassan by birth as well as extraction, having probably also Kashmir +blood in him.* [The Tibetans court promiscuous intercourse between +their families and the Kashmir merchants who traverse their country.] +Though minister, he was neither financier nor politician, but a mere +plunderer of Sikkim, introducing his relations, and those whom he +calls so, into the best estates in the country, and trading in great +and small wares, from a Tibet pony to a tobacco pipe, wholesale and +retail. Neither he nor the Rajah are considered worthy of notice by +the best Tibet families or priests, or by the Chinese commissioners +settled in Lhassa and Jigatzi. The latter regard Sikkim as virtually +English, and are contented with knowing that its ruler has no army, +and with believing that its protectors, the English, could not march +an army across the Himalaya if they would. + +The Dewan, trading in wares which we could supply better and cheaper, +naturally regarded us with repugnance, and did everything in his +power to thwart Dr. Campbell's attempts to open a friendly +communication between the Sikkim and English governments. The Rajah +owed everything to us, and was, I believe, really grateful; but he +was a mere cipher in the hands of his minister. The priests again, +while rejoicing in our proximity, were apathetic, and dreaded the +more active Dewan; and the people had long given evidence of their +confidence in the English. Under these circumstances it was in the +hope of gaining the Rajah's own ear, and representing to him the +advantages of promoting an intercourse with us, and the danger of +continuing to violate the terms of our treaty, that Dr. Campbell had +been authorised by government to seek an interview with His Highness. +At present our relations were singularly infelicitous. There was no +agent on the Sikkim Rajah's part to conduct business at Dorjiling, +and the Dewan insisted on sending a creature of his own, who had +before been dismissed for insolence. Malefactors who escaped into +Sikkim were protected, and our police interrupted in the discharge of +their duties; slavery was practised; and government communications +were detained for weeks and months under false pretences. + +In his interviews with us the Dewan appeared to advantage: he was +fond of horses and shooting, and prided himself on his hospitality. +We gained much information from many conversations with him, during +which politics were never touched upon. Our queries naturally +referred to Tibet and its geography, especially its great feature the +Yarou Tsampoo river; this he assured us was the Burrampooter of +Assam, and that no one doubted it in that country. Lhassa he +described as a city in the bottom of a flat-floored valley, +surrounded by lofty snowy mountains: neither grapes, tea, silk, or +cotton are produced near it, but in the Tartchi province of Tibet, +one month's journey east of Lhassa, rice, and a coarse kind of tea +are both grown. Two months' journey north-east of Lhassa is Siling, +the well-known great commercial entrepot* [The entrepot is now +removed to Tang-Keou-Eul.--See Huc and Gabet.] in west China; and +there coarse silk is produced. All Tibet he described as mountainous, +and an inconceivably poor country: there are no plains, save flats in +the bottoms of the valleys, and the paths lead over lofty mountains. +Sometimes, when the inhabitants are obliged from famine to change +their habitations in winter, the old and feeble are frozen to death, +standing and resting their chins on their staves; remaining as +pillars of ice, to fall only when the thaw of the ensuing +spring commences. + +We remained several days at Bhomsong, awaiting an interview with the +Rajah, whose movements the Dewan kept shrouded in mystery. On Dr. +Campbell's arrival at this river a week before, he found messengers +waiting to inform him that the Rajah would meet him here; this being +half way between Dorjiling and Tumloong. Thenceforward every +subterfuge was resorted to by the Dewan to frustrate the meeting; and +even after the arrival of the Rajah on the east bank, the Dewan +communicated with Dr. Campbell by shooting across the river arrows to +which were attached letters, containing every possible argument to +induce him to return to Dorjiling; such as that the Rajah was sick at +Tumloong, that he was gone to Tibet, that he had a religious fast and +rites to perform, etc. etc. + +One day we walked up the Teesta to the Rumphiup river, a torrent from +Mainom mountain to the west; the path led amongst thick jungle of +_Wallichia_ palm, prickly rattan canes, and the _Pandanus,_ or +screw-pine, called "Borr," which has a straight, often forked, +palm-like trunk, and an immense crown of grassy saw-edged leaves four +feet long: it bears clusters of uneatable fruit as large as a man's +fist, and their similarity to the pine-apple has suggested the name +of "Borr" for the latter fruit also, which has for many years been +cultivated in Sikkim, and yields indifferent produce. Beautiful pink +balsams covered the ground, but at this season few other showy plants +were in flower: the rocks were chlorite, very soft and silvery, and +so curiously crumpled and contorted as to appear as though formed of +scaled of mica crushed together, and confusedly arranged in layers: +the strike was north-west, and dip north-east from 60 degrees to +70 degrees. + +Messengers from the Dewan overtook us at the river to announce that +the Rajah was prepared and waiting to give us a reception; so we +returned, and I borrowed a coat from Dr. Campbell instead of my +tattered shooting-jacket; and we crossed the river on the +bamboo-raft. As it is the custom on these occasions to exchange +presents, I was officially supplied with some red cloth and beads: +these, as well as Dr. Campbell's present, should only have been +delivered during or after the audience; but our wily friend the Dewan +here played us a very shabby trick; for he managed that our presents +should be stealthily brought in before our appearance, thus giving to +the by-standers the impression of our being tributaries to +his Highness! + +The audience chamber was a mere roofed shed of neat bamboo wattle, +about twenty feet long: two Bhoteeas in scarlet. jackets, and with +bows in their hands, stood on each side of the door, and our own +chairs were carried before us for our accommodation. Within was a +square wicker throne, six feet high, covered with purple silk, +brocaded with dragons in white and gold, and overhung by a canopy of +tattered blue silk, with which material part of the walls also was +covered. An oblong box (containing papers) with gilded dragons on it, +was placed on the stage or throne, and behind it was perched +cross-legged, an odd, black, insignificant looking old man, with +twinkling upturned eyes: he was swathed in yellow silk, and wore on +his head a pink silk hat with a flat broad crown, from all sides of +which hung floss silk. This was the Rajah, a genuine Tibetan, about +seventy years old. On some steps close by, and ranged down the +apartment, were his relations, all in brocaded silk robes reaching +from the throat to the ground, and girded about the waist; and +wearing caps similar to that of the Rajah. Kajees, counsellors, and +shaven mitred Lamas were there, to the number of twenty, all planted +with their backs to the wall, mute and motionless as statues. A few +spectators were huddled together at the lower end of the room, and a +monk waved about an incense pot containing burning juniper and other +odoriferous plants. Altogether the scene was solemn and impressive: +as Campbell well expressed it, the genius of Lamaism reigned supreme. + +We saluted, but received no complimentary return; our chairs were +then placed, and we seated ourselves, when the Dewan came in, clad in +a superb purple silk robe, worked with circular gold figures, and +formally presented us. The Dewan then stood; and as the Rajah did not +understand Hindoostanee, our conversation was carried on through the +medium of a little bare-headed rosy-cheeked Lama, named "Tchebu," +clad in a scarlet gown, who acted as interpreter. The conversation +was short and constrained: Tchebu was known as a devoted servant of +the Rajah and of the heir apparent; and in common with all the Lamas +he hates the Dewan, and desires a friendly intercourse between Sikkim +and Dorjiling. He is, further, the only servant of the Rajah capable +of conversing both in Hindoo and Tibetan, and the uneasy distrustful +look of the Dewan, who understands the latter language only, was very +evident. He was as anxious to hurry over the interview, as Dr. +Campbell and Tchebu were to protract it; it was clear, therefore, +that nothing satisfactory could be done under such auspices. + +As a signal for departure white silk scarfs were thrown over our +shoulders, according to the established custom in Tibet, Sikkim, and +Bhotan; and presents were made to us of China silks, bricks of tea, +woollen cloths, yaks, ponies, and salt, with worked silk purses and +fans for Mrs. Campbell; after which we left. The whole scene was +novel and very curious. We had had no previous idea of the extreme +poverty of the Rajah, of his utter ignorance of the usages of +Oriental life, and of his not having anyone near to instruct him. +The neglect of our salutation, and the conversion of our presents +into tribute, did not arise from any ill-will: it was owing to the +craft of the Dewan in taking advantage of the Rajah's ignorance of +his own position and of good manners. Miserably poor, without any +retinue, taking no interest in what passes in his own kingdom, +subsisting on the plainest and coarsest food, passing his time in +effectually abstracting his mind from the consideration of earthly +things, and wrapt in contemplation, the Sikkim Rajah has arrived at +great sanctity, and is all but prepared for that absorption into the +essence of Boodh, which is the end and aim of all good Boodhists. +The mute conduct of his Court, who looked like attendants at an +inquisition, and the profound veneration expressed in every word and +gesture of those who did move and speak, recalled a Pekin reception. +His attendants treated him as a being of a very different nature from +themselves; and well might they do so, since they believe that he +will never die, but retire from the world only to re-appear under +some equally sainted form. + +Though productive of no immediate good, our interview had a very +favourable effect on the Lamas and people, who had long wished it; +and the congratulations we received thereon during the remainder of +our stay in Sikkim were many and sincere. The Lamas we found +universally in high spirits; they having just effected the marriage +of the heir apparent, himself a Lama, said to possess much ability +and prudence, and hence being very obnoxious to the Dewan, who +vehemently opposed the marriage. As, however, the minister had +established his influence over the youngest, and estranged the Rajah +from his eldest son, and was moreover in a fair way for ruling Sikkim +himself, the Church rose in a body, procured a dispensation from +Lhassa for the marriage of a priest, and thus hoped to undermine the +influence of the violent and greedy stranger. + +In the evening, we paid a farewell visit to the Dewan, whom we found +in a bamboo wicker-work hut, neatly hung with bows, arrows, and round +Lepcha shields of cane, each with a scarlet tuft of yak-hair in the +middle; there were also muskets, Tibetan arms, and much horse gear; +and at one end was a little altar, with cups, bells, pastiles, and +images. He was robed in a fawn-coloured silk gown, lined with the +softest of wool, that taken from unborn lambs: like most Tibetans, he +extracts all his beard with tweezers; an operation he civilly +recommended to me, accompanying the advice with the present of a neat +pair of steel forceps. He aspires to be considered a man of taste, +and plays the Tibetan guitar, on which he performed some airs for our +amusement: the instrument is round-bodied and long-armed, with six +strings placed in pairs, and probably comes from Kashmir: the Tibetan +airs were simple and quite pretty, with the time well marked. + +During our stay at Bhomsong, the weather was cool, considering the +low elevation (1,500 feet), and very steady; the mean temperature was +52.25 degrees, the maximum 71.25 degrees, the minimum 42.75 degrees. +The sun set behind the lofty mountains at 3 p.m., and in the morning +a thick, wet, white, dripping fog settled in the bottom of the +valley, and extended to 800 or 1000 feet above the river-bed; this +was probably caused by the descent of cold currents into the humid +gorge: it was dissipated soon after sunrise, but formed again at +sunset for a few minutes, giving place to clear starlight nights. + +A thermometer sunk two feet seven inches, stood at 64 degrees. +The temperature of the water was pretty constant at 51 degrees: from +here to the plains of India the river has a nearly uniform fall of +1000 feet in sixty-nine miles, or sixteen feet to a mile: were its +course straight for the same distance, the fall would be 1000 feet in +forty miles, or twenty-five feet to a mile. + +Dr. Campbell's object being accomplished, he was anxious to make the +best use of the few days that remained before his return to +Dorjiling, and we therefore arranged to ascend Mainom, and visit the +principal convents in Sikkim together, after which he was to return +south, whilst I should proceed north to explore the south flank of +Kinchinjunga. For the first day our route was that by which I had +arrived. We left on Christmas-day, accompanied by two of the Rajah's, +or rather Dewan's officers, of the ranks of Dingpun and Soupun, +answering to those of captain and lieutenant; the titles were, +however, nominal, the Rajah having no soldiers, and these men being +profoundly ignorant of the mysteries of war or drill. They were +splendid specimens of Sikkim Bhoteeas (i.e. Tibetans, born in Sikkim, +sometimes called Arrhats), tall, powerful, and well built, but +insolent and bullying: the Dingpun wore the Lepcha knife, ornamented +with turquoises, together with Chinese chopsticks. Near Bhomsong, +Campbell pointed out a hot bath to me, which he had seen employed: it +consisted of a hollowed prostrate tree trunk, the water in which was +heated by throwing in hot stones with bamboo tongs. The temperature +is thus raised to 114 degrees, to which the patient submits at +repeated intervals for several days, never leaving till wholly +exhausted. These baths are called "Sa-choo," literally "hot-water," +in Tibetan. + +We stopped to measure some splendid trees in the valley, and found +the trunk of one to be forty-five feet round the buttresses, and +thirty feet above them, a large size for the Himalaya: they were a +species of _Terminalia (Pentaptera),_ and called by the Lepchas +"Sillok-Kun," "Kun" meaning tree. + +We slept at Nampok, and the following morning commenced the ascent. +On the way we passed the temple and lake of Neongong; the latter is +about 400 yards round, and has no outlet. It contained two English +plants, the common duckweed (_Lemna minor_), and _Potamogeton +natans_: some coots were swimming in it, and having flushed a +woodcock, I sent for my gun, but the Lamas implored us not to shoot, +it being contrary to their creed to take life wantonly. + +We left a great part of our baggage at Neongong, as we intended to +return there; and took up with us bedding, food, etc., for two days. +A path hence up the mountain is frequented once a year by the Lamas, +who make a pilgrimage to the top for worship. The ascent was very +gradual for 4000 feet. We met with snow at the level of Dorjiling +(7000 feet), indicating a colder climate than at that station, where +none had fallen; the vegetation was, however, similar, but not so +rich, and at 8000 feet trees common also to the top of Sinchul +appeared, with _R. Hodgsoni,_ and the beautiful little +winter-flowering primrose, _P. petiolaris,_ whose stemless flowers +spread like broad purple stars on the deep green foliage. Above, the +path runs along the ridge of the precipices facing the south-east, +and here we caught a glimpse of the great valley of the Ryott, beyond +the Teesta, with Tumloong, the Rajah's residence, on its north flank, +and the superb snowy peak of Chola at its head. + +One of our coolies, loaded with crockery and various indispensables, +had here a severe fall, and was much bruised; he however recovered +himself, but not our goods. + +The rocks were all of chlorite slate, which is not usual at this +elevation; the strike was north-west, and dip north-east. At 9000 +feet various shrubby rhododendrons prevailed, with mountain-ash, +birch, and dwarf-bamboo; also _R. Falconeri,_ which grew from forty +to fifty feet high. The snow was deep and troublesome, so we encamped +at 9,800 feet, or 800 feet below the top, in a wood of _Pyrus, +Magnolia, Rhododendron,_ and bamboo. As the ground was deeply covered +with snow, we laid our beds on a thick layer of rhododendron twigs, +bamboo, and masses of a pendent moss. + +We passed a very cold night, chiefly owing to damp, the temperature +falling to 24 degrees. On the following morning we scrambled through +the snow, reaching the summit after an hour's very laborious ascent, +and took up our quarters in a large wooden barn-like temple +(_goompa_), built on a stone platform. The summit was very broad, but +the depth of the snow prevented our exploring much, and the silver +firs (_Abies Webbiana_) were so tall, that no view could be obtained, +except from the temple. The great peak of Kinchinjunga is in part +hidden by those of Pundim and Nursing, but the panorama of snowy +mountains is very grand indeed. The effect is quite deceptive; the +mountains assuming the appearance of a continued chain, the distant +snowy peaks being seemingly at little further distance than the +nearer ones. The whole range (about twenty-two miles nearer than at +Dorjiling) appeared to rise uniformly and steeply out of black pine +forests, which were succeeded by the russet-brown of the rhododendron +shrubs, and that again by tremendous precipices and gulleys, into +which descended mighty glaciers and perpetual snows. This excessive +steepness is however only apparent, being due to foreshortening. + +The upper 10,000 feet of Kinchin, and the tops of Pundim, Kubra, and +Junnoo, are evidently of granite, and are rounded in outline: the +lower peaks again, as those of Nursing, etc., present rugged +pinnacles of black and red stratified rocks, in many cases resting on +white granite, to which they present a remarkable contrast. The +general appearance was as if Kinchin and the whole mass of mountains +clustered around it, had been up-heaved by white granite, which still +forms the loftiest summits, and has raised the black stratified rocks +in some places to 20,000 feet in numerous peaks and ridges. One range +presented on every summit a cap of black stratified rocks of uniform +inclination and dip, striking north-west, with precipitous faces to +the south-west: this was clear to the naked eye, and more evident +with the telescope, the range in question being only fifteen miles +distant, running between Pundim and Nursing. The fact of the granite +forming the greatest elevation must not be hastily attributed to that +igneous rock having burst through the stratified, and been protruded +beyond the latter: it is much more probable that the upheaval of the +granite took place at a vast depth, and beneath an enormous pressure +of stratified rocks and perhaps of the ocean; since which period the +elevation of the whole mountain chain, and the denudation of the +stratified rocks, has been slowly proceeding. + +To what extent denudation has thus lowered the peaks we dare scarcely +form a conjecture; but considering the number and variety of the beds +which in some places overlie the gneiss and granite, we may +reasonably conclude that many thousand feet have been removed. + +It is further assumable that the stratified rocks originally took the +forms of great domes, or arches. The prevailing north-west strike +throughout the Himalaya vaguely indicates a general primary +arrangement of the curves into waves, whose crests run north-west and +south-cast; an arrangement which no minor or posterior forces have +wholly disturbed, though they have produced endless dislocations, and +especially a want of uniformity in the amount and direction of the +dip. Whether the loftiest waves were the result of one great +convulsion, or of a long-continued succession of small ones, the +effect would be the same, namely, that the strata over those points +at which the granite penetrated the highest, would be the most +dislocated, and the most exposed to wear during denudation. + +We enjoyed the view of this superb scenery till noon, when the clouds +which had obscured Dorjiling since morning were borne towards us by +the southerly wind, rapidly closing in the landscape on all sides. +At sunset they again broke, retreating from the northward, and rising +from Sinchul and Dorjiling last of all, whilst a line of vapour, +thrown by perspective into one narrow band, seemed to belt the +Singalelah range with a white girdle, darkened to black where it +crossed the snowy mountains; and it was difficult to believe that +this belt did not really hang upon the ranges from twenty to thirty +miles off, against which it was projected; or that its true position +was comparatively close to the mountain on which we were standing, +and was due to condensation around its cool, broad, flat summit. + +As usual from such elevations, sunset produced many beautiful +effects. The zenith was a deep blue, darkening opposite the setting +sun, and paling over it into a peach colour, and that again near the +horizon passing into a glowing orange-red, crossed by coppery streaks +of cirrhus. Broad beams of pale light shot from the sun to the +meridian, crossing the moon and the planet Venus. Far south, through +gaps in the mountains, the position of the plains of India, 10,000 +feet below us, was indicated by a deep leaden haze, fading upwards in +gradually paler bands (of which I counted fifteen) to the clear +yellow of the sunset sky. As darkness came on, the mists collected +around the top of Mainom, accumulating on the windward side, and +thrown off in ragged masses from the opposite. + +The second night we passed here was fine, and not very cold (the mean +temperature being 27 degrees) and we kept ourselves quite warm by +pine-wood fires. On the following morning the sun tinged the sky of a +lurid yellow-red: to the south-west, over the plains, the belts of +leaden vapour were fewer (twelve being distinguishable) and much +lower than on the previous evening, appearing as if depressed on the +visible horizon. Heavy masses of clouds nestled into all the valleys, +and filled up the larger ones, the mountain tops rising above them +like islands. + +The height of our position I calculated to be 10,613 feet. Colonel +Waugh had determined that of the summit by trigonometry to be 10,702 +feet, which probably includes the trees which cover it, or some rocky +peaks on the broad and comparatively level surface. + +The mean temperature of the twenty-four hours was 32.7 degrees (max. +41.5 degrees/min. 27.2 degrees), mean dew-point 29.7, and saturation +0.82. The mercury suddenly fell below the freezing point at sunset; +and from early morning the radiation was so powerful, that a +thermometer exposed on snow sank to 21.2 degrees, and stood at 25.5 +degrees, at 10 a.m. The black bulb thermometer rose to 132 degrees, +at 9 a.m. on the 27th, or 94.2 degrees above the temperature of the +air in the shade. I did not then observe that of radiation from snow; +but if, as we may assume, it was not less than on the following +morning (21.2 degrees), we shall have a difference of 148.6 degrees +Fahr., in contiguous spots; the one exposed to the full effects of +the sun, the other to that of radiation through a rarefied medium to +a cloudless sky. On the 28th the black bulb thermometer, freely +suspended over the snow and exposed to the sun, rose to 108 degrees, +or 78 degrees above that of the air in the shade (32 degrees); the +radiating surface of the same snow in the shade being 21.2 degrees, +or 86.8 degrees colder. + +Having taken a complete set of angles and panoramic sketches from the +top of Mainom, with seventeen hourly observations, and collected much +information from our guides, we returned on the 28th to our tents +pitched by the temples at Neongong; descending 7000 feet, a very +severe shake along Lepcha paths. In the evening the Lamas visited us, +with presents of rice, fowls, eggs, etc., and begged subscriptions +for their temple which was then building, reminding Dr. Campbell that +he and the Governor-General had an ample share of their prayers, and +benefited in proportion. As for me, they said, I was bound to give +alms, as I surely needed praying for, seeing how I exposed myself; +besides my having been the first Englishman who had visited the snows +of Kinchinjunga, the holiest spot in Sikkim. + +On the following morning we visited the unfinished temple. The outer +walls were of slabs of stone neatly chiselled, but badly mortared +with felspathic clay and pounded slate, instead of lime; the +partition walls were of clay, shaped in moulds of wood; parallel +planks, four feet asunder, being placed in the intended position of +the walls, and left open above, the composition was placed in these +boxes, a little at a time, and rammed down by the feet of many men, +who walked round and round the narrow enclosure, singing, and also +using rammers of heavy wood. The outer work was of good hard timber, +of Magnolia ("Pendre-kun" of the Lepchas) land oak ("Sokka"). +The common "Ban," or Lepcha knife, supplied the place of axe, saw, +adze, and plane; and the graving work was executed with small tools, +chiefly on Toon (_Cedrela_), a very soft wood (the "Simal-kun" of +the Lepchas). + +This being a festival day, when the natives were bringing offerings +to the altar, we also visited the old temple, a small wooden +building. Besides more substantial offerings, there were little cones +of rice with a round wafer of butter at the top, ranged on the altar +in order.* [The worshippers, on entering, walk straight up to the +altar, and before, or after, having deposited their gifts, they lift +both hands to the forehead, fall on their knees, and touch the ground +three times with both head and hands, raising the body a little +between each prostration. They then advance to the head Lama, kotow +similarly to him, and he blesses them, laying both hands on their +heads and repeating a short formula. Sometimes the dorje is used in +blessing, as the cross is in Europe, and when a mass of people +request a benediction, the Lama pronounces it from the door of the +temple with outstretched arms, the people all being prostrate, with +their foreheads touching the ground.] Six Lamas were at prayer, +psalms, and contemplation, sitting cross-legged on two small benches +that ran down the building: one was reading, with his hand and +fore-finger elevated, whilst the others listened; anon they all sang +hymns, repeated sacred or silly precepts to the bystanders, or joined +in a chorus with boys, who struck brass cymbals, and blew straight +copper trumpets six feet long, and conch-shells mounted with broad +silver wings, elegantly carved with dragons. There were besides +manis, or praying-cylinders, drums, gongs, books, and trumpets made +of human thigh-bones, plain or mounted in silver. + +Throughout Sikkim, we were roused each morning at daybreak by this +wild music, the convents being so numerous that we were always within +hearing of it. To me it was always deeply impressive, sounding so +foreign, and awakening me so effectually to the strangeness of the +wild land in which I was wandering, and of the many new and striking +objects it contained. After sleep, too, during which the mind has +either been at rest, or carried away to more familiar subjects, the +feelings of loneliness and sometimes even of despondency, conjured +up, by this solemn music, were often almost oppressive. + +Ascending from Neongong, we reached that pass from the Teesta to the +Great Rungeet, which I had crossed on the 22nd; and this time we had +a splendid view, down both the valleys, of the rivers, and the many +spars from the ridge communicating between Tendong and Mainom, with +many scattered villages and patches of cultivation. Near the top I +found a plant of "Praong," (a small bamboo), in full seed; this sends +up many flowering branches from the root, and but few leaf-bearing +ones; and after maturing its seed, and giving off suckers from the +root, the parent plant dies. The fruit is a dark, long grain, like +rice; it is boiled and made into cakes, or into beer, like Murwa. + +Looking west from the summit, no fewer than ten monastic +establishments with their temples, villages and cultivation, were at +once visible, in the valley of the Great Rungeet, and in those of its +tributaries; namely, Changachelling, Raklang, Dholi, Molli, +Catsuperri, Dhoobdi, Sunnook, Powhungri, Pemiongchi and Tassiding, +all of considerable size, and more or less remarkable in their sites, +being perched on spurs or peaks at elevations varying from 3000 to +7000 feet, and commanding splendid prospects. + +We encamped at Lingcham, where I had halted on the 21st, and the +weather being fine, I took bearings of all the convents and mountains +around. There is much cultivation here, and many comparatively rich +villages, all occupying flat-shouldered spurs from Mainom. The houses +are large, and the yards are full of animals familiar to the eye but +not to the ear. The cows of Sikkim, though generally resembling the +English in stature, form, and colour, have humps, and grunt rather +than low; and the cocks wake the morning with a prolonged howling +screech, instead of the shrill crow of chanticleer. + +Hence we descended north-west to the Great Rungeet, opposite +Tassiding; which is one of the oldest monastic establishments in +Sikkim, and one we were very anxious to visit. The descent lay +through a forest of tropical trees, where small palms, vines, +peppers, _Pandanus,_ wild plantain, and _Pothos,_ were interlaced in +an impenetrable jungle, and air-plants clothed the trees. + +Illustration--IMPLEMENTS USED IN BOODHIST TEMPLES. +Praying cylinder in stand (see Chapter VII); another to be carried in +the hand; cymbals; bell; brass cup; three trumpets; conch; dorje. + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +Tassiding, view of and from -- Funereal cypress -- Camp at Sunnook -- +Hot vapours -- Lama's house -- Temples, decorations, altars, idols, +general effect -- Chaits -- Date of erection -- Plundered by Ghorkas +-- Cross Ratong -- Ascend to Pemiongchi -- Relation of river-beds to +strike of rocks -- Slopes of ravines -- Pemiongchi, view of -- +Vegetation -- Elevation -- Temple, decorations, etc. -- Former +capital of Sikkim -- History of Sikkim -- Nightingales -- Campbell +departs -- Tchonpong -- Edgeworthia -- Cross Rungbee and Ratong -- +Hoar-frost on plantains -- Yoksun -- Walnuts -- View -- Funereal +cypresses -- Doobdi -- Gigantic cypresses -- Temples -- Snow-fall -- +Sikkim, etc. -- Toys. + +Tassiding hill is the steep conical termination of a long spur from a +pine-clad shoulder of Kinchinjunga, called Powhungri: it divides the +Great Rungeet from its main feeder, the Ratong, which rises from the +south face of Kinchin. We crossed the former by a bridge formed of +two bamboo stems, slung by canes from two parallel arches of stout +branches lashed together. + +The ascent for 2,800 feet was up a very steep, dry, zigzag path, +amongst mica slate rocks (strike north-east), on which grew many +tropical plants, especially the "Tukla," (_Rottlera tinctoria_), a +plant which yields a brown dye. The top was a flat, curving +north-west and south-east, covered with temples, chaits, and mendongs +of the most picturesque forms and in elegant groups, and fringed with +brushwood, wild plantains, small palms, and apple-trees. Here I saw +for the first time the funereal cypress, of which some very old trees +spread their weeping limbs and pensile branchlets over the +buildings.* [I was not then aware of this tree having been introduced +into England by the intrepid Mr. Fortune from China; and as I was +unable to procure seeds, which are said not to ripen in Sikkim, it +was a great and unexpected pleasure, on my return home, to find it +alive and flourishing at Kew.] It is not wild in Sikkim, but imported +there and into Bhotan from Tibet: it does not thrive well above 6000 +feet elevation. It is called "Tchenden" by the Lepchas, Bhoteeas, +and Tibetans, and its fragrant red wood is burnt in the temples. + +Illustration--GROUP OF CHAITS AT PASSIDING. + +The Lamas met us on the top of the hill, bringing a noble present of +fowls, vegetables and oranges, the latter most acceptable after our +long and hot march. The site is admirably chosen, in the very heart +of Sikkim, commanding a fine view, and having a considerable river on +either side, with the power of retreating behind to the convents of +Sunnook and Powhungri, which are higher up on the same spur, and +surrounded by forest enough to conceal an army. Considering the +turbulent and warlike character of their neighbours, it is not +wonderful that the monks should have chosen commanding spots, and +good shelter for their indolent lives: for the same reason these +monasteries secured views of one another: thus from Tassiding the +great temple of Pemiongchi was seen towering 3000 feet over head, +whilst to the north-west, up the course of the river, the hill-sides +seemed sprinkled with monasteries. + +We camped on a saddle near the village of Sunnook, at 4000 feet above +the sea; and on the last day of the year we visited this most +interesting monastic establishment: ascending from our camp along the +ridge by a narrow path, cut here and there into steps, and passing +many rocks covered with inscriptions, broken walls of mendongs, and +other remains of the _via sacra_ between the village and temple. +At one spot we found a fissure emitting hot vapour of the temperature +of 65.5 degrees, that of the air being about 50 degrees. It was +simply a hole amongst the rocks; and near the Rungeet a similar one +is said to occur, whose temperature fluctuates considerably with the +season. It is very remarkable that such an isolated spring should +exist on the top of a sharp ridge, 2,800 feet above the bottom of +this deep valley. + +The general arrangement on the summit was, first the Lamas' houses +with small gardens, then three large temples raised on rudely paged +platforms, and beyond these, a square walled enclosure facing the +south, full of chaits and mendongs, looking like a crowded cemetery, +and planted with funereal cypress (_Cupressus funebris_). + +The house of the principal Lama was an oblong square, the lower +story of stone, and the upper of wood: we ascended a ladder to the +upper room, which was 24 feet by 8 wattled all round, with prettily +latticed windows opening upon a bamboo balcony used for drying grain, +under the eaves of the broad thatched roof. The ceiling (of neat +bamboo work) was hung with glorious bunches of maize, yellow, red, +and brown; an altar and closed wicker cage at one end of the room +held the Penates, and a few implements of worship. Chinese carpets +were laid on the floor for us, and the cans of Murwa brought round. + +The Lama, though one of the red sect, was dressed in a yellow +flowered silk robe, but his mitre was red: he gave us much +information relative to the introduction of Boodhism into Sikkim. + +The three temples stand about fifty yards apart, but are not parallel +to one another, although their general direction is east and west.* +[Timkowski, in his travels through Mongolia (i. p. 193), says, +"According to the rules of Tibetan architecture, temples should face +the south:" this is certainly not the rule in Sikkim, nor, so far as +I could learn, in Tibet either.] Each is oblong, and narrowed +upwards, with the door at one end; the middle (and smallest) faces +the west, the others the east: the doorways are all broad, low and +deep, protected by a projecting carved portico. The walls are +immensely thick, of well-masoned slaty stones; the outer surface of +each slopes upwards and inwards, the inner is perpendicular. +The roofs are low and thickly thatched, and project from eight to ten +feet all round, to keep off the rain, being sometimes supported by +long poles. There is a very low upper story, inhabited by the +attendant monks and servants, accessible by a ladder at one end of +the building. The main body of the temple is one large apartment, +entered through a small transverse vestibule, the breadth of the +temple, in which are tall cylindrical praying-machines. The carving +round the doors is very beautiful, and they are gaudily painted +and gilded. + +Illustration--DOORWAY. + +The northern temple is quite plain: the middle one is simply painted +red, and encircled with a row of black heads, with goggle eyes and +numerous teeth, on a white ground; it is said to have been originally +dedicated to the evil spirits of the Lepcha creed. The southern, +which contains the library, is the largest and best, and is of an +irregular square shape. The inside walls and floors are plastered +with clay, and painted with allegorical representations of Boodh, +etc. From the vestibule the principal apartment is entered by broad +folding-doors, studded with circular copper bosses, and turning on +iron hinges. It is lighted by latticed windows, sometimes protected +outside by a bamboo screen. Owing to the great thickness of the walls + (three to four feet), a very feeble light is admitted. In the +principal temple, called "Dugang," six hexagonal wooden columns, +narrowed above, with peculiar broad transverse capitals, exquisitely +gilded and painted, support the cross-beams of the roof, which are +likewise beautifully ornamented. Sometimes a curly-maned gilt lion is +placed over a column, and it is always furnished with a black bushy +tail: squares, diamonds, dragons, and groups of flowers, vermilion, +green, gold, azure, and white, are dispersed with great artistic +taste over all the beams; the heavier masses of colour being +separated by fine white lines. + +Illustration--SOUTHERN TEMPLE. + +The altars and idols are placed at the opposite end; and two long +parallel benches, like cathedral stalls, run down the centre of the +building: on these the monks sit at prayer and contemplation, the +head Lama occupying a stall (often of very tasteful design) near +the altar. + +Illustration--MIDDLE TEMPLE. + +The principal Boodh, or image, is placed behind the altar under a +canopy, or behind a silk screen: lesser gods, and gaily dressed and +painted effigies of sainted male or female persons are ranged on +either side, or placed in niches around the apartment, sometimes with +separate altars before them; whilst the walls are more or less +covered with paintings of monks in prayer or contemplation. +The principal Boodh (Sakya Sing) sits cross-legged, with the left +heel up: his left-hand always rests on his thigh, and holds the padmi +or lotus and jewel, which is often a mere cup; the right-hand is +either raised, with the two forefingers up, or holds the dorje, or +rests on the calf of the upturned leg. Sakya has generally curled +hair, Lamas have mitres, females various head-dresses; most wear +immense ear-rings, and some rosaries. All are placed on rude +pediments, so painted as to convey the idea of their rising out of +the petals of the pink, purple, or white lotus. None are in any way +disagreeable; on the contrary most have a calm and pleasing +expression, suggestive of contemplation. + +Illustration--ALTAR AND IMAGES. +Central figure Akshobya, the first of the Pancha Boodha. + +The great or south temple contained a side altar of very elegant +shape, placed before an image encircled by a glory. Flowers, juniper, +peacock's feathers, pastiles, and rows of brass cups of water were +the chief ornaments of the altars, besides the instruments I have +elsewhere enumerated. In this temple was the library, containing +several hundred books, in pigeon-holes, placed in recesses.* [For a +particular account of the images and decorations of these temples, +sea Dr. Campbell's paper in "Bengal Asiatic Society's Trans.," May, +1849. The principal object of veneration amongst the Ningma or red +sect of Boodhists in Sikkim and Bhotan is Gorucknath, who is always +represented sitting cross-legged, holding the dorje in one hand, +which is raised; whilst the left rests in the lap and holds a cup +with a jewel in it. The left arm supports a trident, whose staff +pierces three sculls (a symbol of Shiva), a rosary hangs round his +neck, and he wears a red mitre with a lunar crescent and sun +in front.] + +Illustration--PLAN OF THE SOUTH TEMPLE. +A. entrance; B. four praying cylinders; C. altar, with seven brass +cups of water; D. four columns; E. and F. images; G. library. + +The effect on entering these cold and gloomy temples is very +impressive; the Dugang in particular is exquisitely ornamented and +painted, and the vista from the vestibule to the principal idol, of +carved and coloured pillars and beams, is very picturesque. +Within, the general arrangement of the colours and gilding is felt to +be harmonious and pleasing, especially from the introduction of +slender white streaks between the contrasting masses of colour, as +adopted in the Great Exhibition building of 1851. It is also well +worthy of remark that the brightest colours are often used in broad +masses, and when so, are always arranged chromatically, in the +sequence of the rainbow's hues, and are hence never displeasing to +the eye. The hues, though bright, are subdued by the imperfect light: +the countenances of the images are all calm, and their expression +solemn. Whichever way you turn, the eye is met by some beautiful +specimen of colouring or carving, or some object of veneration. +The effect is much heightened by the incense of juniper and +sweet-smelling herbs which the priests burn on entering, by their +grave and decorous conduct, and by the feeling of respect that is +demanded by a religion which theoretically inculcates and adores +virtue in the abstract, and those only amongst men who practise +virtue. To the idol itself the Boodhist attaches no real importance; +it is an object of reverence, not of worship, and no virtue or +attribute belong to it _per se_; it is a symbol of the creed, and the +adoration is paid to the holy man whom it represents. + +Beyond the temples are the chaits and mendongs, scattered without +much order; and I counted nearly twenty-five chaits of the same +form,* [In Sikkim the form of the cube alone is always strictly +preserved; that of the pyramid and hemisphere being often much +modified. The cube stands on a flight of usually three steps, and is +surmounted by a low pyramid of five steps; on this is placed a +swelling, urn-shaped body, which represents the hemisphere, and is +surmounted by another cube. On the latter is a slender, round or +angled spire (represented by a pyramid in Burma), crowned with a +crescent and disc, or sun, in moon. Generally, the whole is of stone, +with the exception of the spire, which is of wood, painted red.] +between eight and thirty feet high. The largest is consecrated to the +memory of the Rajah's eldest son, who, however, is not buried here. +A group of these structures is, as I have often remarked, extremely +picturesque, and those at Tassiding, from their number, variety, and +size, their commanding and romantic position, and their being +interspersed with weeping cypresses, are particularly so. + +The Tassiding temples and convents were founded upwards of 300 years +ago, by the Lamas who accompanied the first Rajah to Sikkim; and they +have been continuously served by Lamas of great sanctity, many of +whom have been educated at Lhassa. They were formerly very wealthy, +but during the Nepal war they were plundered of all their treasures, +their silver gongs and bells, their best idols, dorjes, and manis, +and stripped of their ornaments; since which time Pemiongchi has been +more popular. In proof of their antiquity, it was pointed out that +most of the symbols and decorations were those of pure Lama Boodhism, +as practised in Tibet. + +Although the elevation is but 4,840 feet, the weather was cold and +raw, with rain at noon, followed by thunder and lightning. +These electrical disturbances are frequent about midsummer and +midwinter, prevailing over many parts of India. + +_January 1st_, 1849.--The morning of the new year was bright and +beautiful, though much snow had fallen on the mountains; and we left +Sunnook for Pemiongchi, situated on the summit of a lofty spur on the +opposite side of the Ratong. We descended very steeply to the bed of +the river (alt. 2,480 feet) which joins the Great Rungeet below the +convents. The rocks were micaceous, dipping west and north-west 45 +degrees, and striking north and north-east, which direction prevailed +for 1000 feet or so up the opposite spur. I had observed the same dip +and stroke on the east flank of the Tassiding spur; but both the +Ratong on its west side, and the Great Rungeet on the east, flow in +channels that show no relation to either the dip or strike. I have +generally remarked in Sikkim that the channels of the rivers when +cutting through or flowing at the base of bluff cliffs, are neither +parallel to nor at right angles to the strike of the rocks forming +the cliffs. I do not hence conclude that there is no original +connection between the directions of the rivers, and the lines of +fracture; but whatever may have once subsisted between the direction +of the fissures and that of the strike, it is in the Sikkim Himalaya +now wholly masked by shiftings, which accompanied subequent +elevations and depressions. + +Mr. Hopkins has mathematically demonstrated that the continued +exertion of a force in raising superimposed strata would tend to +produce two classes of fractures in those strata; those of the first +order at right angles to the direction of the wave or ridge (or line +of strike); those of the second order parallel to the strike. +Supposing the force to be withdrawn after the formation of the two +fractures, the result would be a ridge, or mountain chain, with +diverging fissures from the summit, crossed by concentric fissures; +and the courses which the rivers would take in flowing down the +ridge, would successively be at right angles and parallel to the +strike of the strata. Now, in the Himalaya, a prevalent strike to the +north-west has been recognised in all parts of the chain, but it is +everywhere interfered with by mountains presenting every other +direction of strike, and by their dip never remaining constant either +in amount or direction. Consequently, as might be expected, the +directions of the river channels bear no apparent relation to the +general strike of the rocks. + +We crossed the Ratong (twenty yards broad) by a cane bridge, +suspended between two rocks of green chlorite, full of veins of +granite. Ascending, we passed the village of Kameti on a spur, on the +face of which were strewed some enormous detached blocks of white +and pink stratified quartz: the rocks _in situ_ were all +chlorite schist. + +Looking across the valley to the flank of Mainom, the disposition of +the ridges and ravines on its sides was very evident; many of the +latter, throughout their westerly course, from their commencement at +10,000 feet, to their debouchure in the Great Rungeet at 2000, had a +bluff, cliffy, northern flank, and a sloping southern one. The dip of +the surfaces is, therefore, north-west, the exposure consequently of +the villages which occupy terraces on the south flanks of the lateral +valleys. The Tassiding spur presented exactly the same arrangement of +its ravines, and the dip of the rocks being north-west, it follows +that the planes of the sloping surfaces coincide in direction (though +not in amount of inclination) with that of the dip of the subjacent +strata, which is anything but a usual phenomenon in Sikkim. + +The ascent to Pemiongchi continued very steep, through woods of oaks, +chesnuts, and magnolias, but no tree-fern, palms, _Pothos,_ or +plantain, which abound at this elevation on the moister outer ranges +of Sikkim. The temple (elev. 7,083 feet) is large, eighty feet long, +and in excellent order, built upon the lofty terminal point of the +great east and west spur that divides the Kulhait from the Ratong and +Rungbee rivers; and the great Changachelling temple and monastery +stand on another eminence of the same ridge, two miles further west. + +The view of the snowy range from this temple is one of the finest in +Sikkim; the eye surveying at one glance the vegetation of the Tropics +and the Poles. Deep in the valleys the river-beds are but 3000 feet +above the sea, and are choked with fig-trees, plantains, and palms; +to these succeed laurels and magnolias, and higher up still, oaks, +chesnuts, birches, etc.; there is, however, no marked line between +the limits of these two last forests, which form the prevailing +arboreous vegetation between 4000 and 10,000 feet, and give a lurid +line to the mountains. Pine forests succeed for 2000 feet higher, +when they give place to a skirting of rhododendron and berberry. +Among these appear black naked rocks, rising up in cliffs, between +which are gulleys, down which the snow now (on the 1st January) +descended to 12,000 feet. The mountain flanks are much more steep and +rocky than those at similar heights on the outer ranges, and +cataracts are very numerous, and of considerable height, though small +in volume. + +Pemiongchi is at the same elevation as Dorjiling, and the contrast +between the shoulders of 8000 to 10,000 feet on Kinchinjunga, and +those of equal height on Tendong and Tonglo, is very remarkable: +looking at the latter mountains from Dorjiling, the observer sees no +rock, waterfall, or pine, throughout their whole height; whereas the +equally wooded flanks of these inner ranges are rocky, streaked with +thread-like waterfalls, and bristling with silver firs. + +This temple, the most ancient in Sikkim, is said to be 400 years old; +it stands on a paved platform, and is of the same form and general +character as those of Tassiding. Inside, it is most beautifully +decorated, especially the beams, columns, capitals and architraves, +but the designs are coarser than those of Tassiding.* [Mr. Hodgson +informed me that many of the figures and emblems in this temple are +those of Tantrica Boodhism, including Shiva, Devi, and other deities +usually called Brahminical; Kakotak, or the snake king, a figure +terminating below in a snake, is also seen; with the tiger, elephant, +and curly-maned lion.] The square end of every beam in the roof is +ornamented either with a lotus flower or with a Tibetan character, in +endless diversity of colour and form, and the walls are completely +covered with allegorical paintings of Lamas and saints expounding or +in contemplation, with glories round their heads, mitred, and holding +the dole and jewel. + +Illustration--INTERIOR OF THE TEMPLE AT PEMIONGCHI. + +The principal image is a large and hideous figure of Sakya-thoba, in +a recess under a blue silk canopy, contrasting with a calm figure of +the late Rajah, wearing a cap and coronet. + +Pemiongchi was once the capital of Sikkim, and called the Sikkim +Durbar: the Rajah's residence was on a curious flat to the south of +the temple, and a few hundred feet below it, where are the remains of +(for this country) extensive walls and buildings. During the Nepal +war, the Rajah was driven west across the Teesta, whilst the Ghorkas +plundered Tassiding, Pemiongchi, Changachelling, and all the temples +and convents to the east of that river. It was then that the famous +history of Sikkim,* [This remarkable and beautiful manuscript was +written on thick oblong sheets of Tibet paper, painted black to +resist decay, and the letters were yellow and gold. The Nepalese +soldiers wantonly employed the sheets to roof the sheds they erected, +as a protection from the weather.] compiled by the Lamas of +Pemiongchi, and kept at this temple, was destroyed, with the +exception of a few sheets, with one of which Dr. Campbell and myself +were each presented. We were told that the monks of Changachelling +and those of this establishmont had copied what remained, and were +busy compiling from oral information, etc.: whatever value the +original may have possessed, however, is irretrievably lost. +A magnificent copy of the Boodhist Scriptures was destroyed at the +same time; it consisted of 400 volumes, each containing several +hundred sheets of Daphne paper. + +The ground about the temple was snowed; and we descended a few +hundred feet, to encamp in a most picturesque grove, among chaits and +inscribed stones, with a peep of the temples above. Nightingales +warbled deliciously night and morning, which rather surprised us, as +the minimum thermometer fell to 27.8 degrees, and the ground next day +was covered with hoar-frost; the elevation being 6,580 feet. +These birds migrate hither in October and November, lingering in the +Himalayan valleys till the cold of early spring drives them further +south, to the plains of India, whence they return north in March +and April. + +On the 2nd of January I parted from my friend, who was obliged to +hurry to the great annual fair at Titalya. I regretted much being +unable to accompany Dr. Campbell to this scene of his disinterested +labours, especially as the Nawab of Moorshedabad was to be present, +one of the few wealthy native princes of Bengal who still keep a +court worth seeing; but I was more anxious to continue my +explorations northward till the latest moment: I however accompanied +him for a short distance on his way towards Dorjiling. We passed the +old Durbar, called Phieungoong ("Bamboo-hill," so named from the +abundance of a small bamboo, "Phieung.") The buildings, now in ruins, +occupy a little marshy flat, hemmed in by slate rocks, and covered +with brambles and _Andromeda_ bushes. A wall, a bastion, and an +arched gateway, are the only traces of fortifications; they are +clothed with mosses, lichens, and ferns. + +A steep zigzag path, descending amongst long grass and scarlet +rhododendrons, leads to the Kaysing Mendong.* [Described at Chapter +XII.] Here I bade adieu to Dr. Campbell, and toiled up the hill, +feeling very lonely. The zest with which he had entered into all my +pursuits, and the aid he had afforded me, together with the charm +that always attends companionship with one who enjoys every incident +of travel, had so attracted me to him that I found it difficult to +recover my spirits. It is quite impossible for anyone who cannot +from experience realise the solitary wandering life I had been +leading for months, to appreciate the desolate feeling that follows +the parting from one who has heightened every enjoyment, and taken +far more than his share of every annoyance and discomfort: the few +days we had spent together appeared then, and still, as months. + +On my return to Pemiongchi I spent the remainder of the day sketching +in the great temple, gossiping with the Lamas, and drinking salted +and buttered tea-soup, which I had begun to like, when the butter was +not rancid. + +My route hence was to be along the south flank of Kinchinjunga, north +to Jongri, which lay about four or five marches off, on the road to +the long deserted pass of Kanglanamo, by which I had intended +entering Sikkim from Nepal, when I found the route up the Yalloong +valley impracticable. The village and ruined convents of Yoksun lay +near the route, and the temples of Doobdi, Catsuperri and Molli, on +the Ratong river. + +I descended to the village of Tchonpong (alt. 4,980 feet), where I +was detained a day to obtain rice, of which I required ten days' +supply for twenty-five people. On the way I passed groves of the +paper-yielding _Edgeworthia Gardneri_: it bears round heads of +fragrant, beautiful, yellow flowers, and would be a valuable +acquisition to an English conservatory. + +From Tchonpong we descended to the bed of the Rungbee (alt. 3,160 +feet), an affluent of the Ratong, flowing in a deep galley with +precipitous sides of mica schist full of garnets, dipping west and +north-west 45 degrees: it was spanned by a bridge of two loose bamboo +culms, about fifteen yards long, laid across without handrails; after +wet sand had been thrown on it the bare-footed coolies crossed +easily enough, but I, having shoes on, required a hand to steady me. +From this point we crossed a lofty spur to the Ratong (alt. 3000 +feet), where we encamped, the coolies being unable to proceed further +on such very bad roads. This river descends from the snows of +Kinchin, and consequently retains the low temperature 42 degrees, +being fully 7 degrees colder than the Rungbee, which at an elevation +of but 3000 feet appears very remarkable: it must however be observed +that scarcely anywhere does the sun penetrate to the bottom of +its valley. + +We encamped on a gravelly flat, fifty feet above the river, strewn +with water-worn boulders, and so densely covered with tall +_Artemisiae,_ gigantic grasses, bamboo, plantain, fern, and acacia, +that we had to clear a space in the jungle, which exhaled a rank +heavy smell. + +Hoar-frost formed copiously in the night, and though above the sun's +rays were very powerful, they did not reach this spot till 7.30 a.m., +the frost remaining in the shade till nearly 9 a.m.; and this on +plantains, and other inhabitants of hot-houses in England. + +Hence I ascended to Yoksun, one of the most curious and picturesque +spots in Sikkim, and the last inhabited place towards Kinchinjunga. +The path was excessively steep and rocky for the first mile or two, +and then alternately steep and flat. Mixed with many tropical trees, +were walnuts of the common English variety; a tree, which, though +planted here, is wild near Dorjiling, where it bears a full-sized +fruit, as hard as a hickory-nut: those I gathered in this place were +similar, whereas in Bhotan the cultivated nut is larger, +thin-shelled, and the kernel is easily removed. We ascended one +slope, of an angle of 36 degrees 30 minutes, which was covered with +light black mould, and had been recently cleared by fire: we found +millet now cultivated on it. From the top the view of the Ratong +valley was very fine: to the north lay Yoksun, appearing from this +height to occupy a flat, two miles long and one broad, girdled by +steep mountains to the north and east, dipping very suddenly 2,200 +feet to the Ratong on the west. To the right was a lofty hill, +crowned with the large temple and convents of Doobdi, shadowed by +beautiful weeping cypresses, and backed by lofty pine-clad mountains. +Northward, the gorge of the Ratong opened as a gloomy defile, above +which rose partially snowed mountains, which shut out Kinchinjunga. +To the west, massive pine-clad mountains rose steeply; while the +little hamlet of Lathiang occupied a remarkable shelf overhanging the +river, appearing inaccessible except by ropes from above. South-west, +the long spurs of Molli and Catsuperri, each crowned with convents or +temples, descended from Singalelah; and parallel to them on the +south; but much longer and more lofty, was the great mountain range +north of the Kulbait, with the temples and convents of Pemiongchi, +and Changachelling, towering in the air. The latter range dips +suddenly to the Great Rungeet, where Tassiding, with its chaits and +cypresses, closed the view. The day was half cloud, half sunshine; +and the various effects of light and shade, now bringing out one or +other of the villages and temples, now casting the deep valleys into +darker gloom, was wonderfully fine. + +Yoksun was the earliest civilised corner of Sikkim, and derived its +name (which signifies in Lepcha "three chiefs") from having been the +residence of three Lamas of great influence, who were the means of +introducing the first Tibetan sovereign into the country. At present +it boasts of but little cultivation, and a scattered population, +inhabiting a few hamlets, 5,500 feet above the sea: beautiful lanes +and paths wind everywhere over the gentle slopes, and through the +copsewood that has replaced the timber-trees of a former period. +Mendongs and chaits are very numerous, some of great size; and there +are also the ruins of two very large temples, near which are some +magnificent weeping cypresses, eighty feet high. These fine trees are +landmarks from all parts of the flat; they form irregular cones of +pale bright green, with naked gnarled tops, the branches weep +gracefully, but not like the picture in Macartney's Embassy to China, +whence originated the famous willow-pattern of our crockery. +The ultimate branchlets are very slender and pendulous; my Lepcha +boys used to make elegant chaplets of them, binding the withes with +scarlet worsted. The trunk is quite erect, smooth, cylindrical, and +pine-like; it harbours no moss, but air-plants, Orchids, and ferns, +nestle on the limbs, and pendulous lichens, like our beard-moss, wave +from the branches. + +In the evening I ascended to Doobdi. The path was broad, and +skilfully conducted up a very steep slope covered with forest: the +top, which is 6,470 feet above the sea, and nearly 1000 above Yoksun, +is a broad partially paved platform, on which stand two temples, +surrounded by beautiful cypresses: one of these trees (perhaps the +oldest in Sikkim) measured sixteen and a half feet in girth, at five +feet from the ground, and was apparently ninety feet high: it was not +pyramidal, the top branches being dead and broken, and the lower +limbs spreading; they were loaded with masses of white-flowered +Coelogynes, and Vacciniums. The younger trees were pyramidal. + +I was received by a monk of low degree, who made many apologies for +the absence of his superior, who had been ordered an eight years' +penance and seclusion from the world, of which only three had passed. +On inquiry, I learnt the reason for this; the holy father having +found himself surrounded by a family, to which there would have been +no objection, had he previously obtained a dispensation. As, however, +he had omitted this preliminary, and was able to atone by prayer and +payment, he had been condemned to do penance; probably at his own +suggestion, as the seclusion will give him sanctity, and eventually +lead to his promotion, when his error shall have been forgotten. + +Illustration--TEMPLE AND WEEPING CYPRESS. + +Both temples are remarkable for their heavily ornamented, two-storied +porticos, which occupy nearly the whole of one end. The interior +decorations are in a ruinous condition, and evidently very old; they +have no Hindoo emblems. + +The head Lama sent me a present of dried peaches, with a bag of +walnuts, called "Koal-kun" by the Lepchas, and "Taga-sching" by the +Bhoteeas; the two terminations alike signifying "tree." + +The view of Yoksun from this height was very singular: it had the +appearance of an enormous deposit banked up against a spur to the +south, and mountains to the east, and apparently levelled by the +action of water: this deposit seemed as though, having once +completely filled the valley of the Ratong, that river had cut a +gorge 2000 feet deep between it and the opposite mountain. + +Although the elevation is so low, snow falls abundantly at Doobdi in +winter; I was assured that it has been known of the depth of five +feet, a statement I consider doubtful; the quantity is, however, +certainly greater than at equal heights about Dorjiling, no doubt +owing to its proximity to Kinchinjunga. + +I was amused here by watching a child playing with a popgun, made of +bamboo, similar to that of quill, with which most English children +are familiar, which propels pellets by means of a spring-trigger made +of the upper part of the quill. It is easy to conclude such +resemblances between the familiar toys of different countries to be +accidental, but I question their being really so. On the plains of +India, men may often be seen for hours together, flying what with us +are children's kites; and I procured a jews'-harp from Tibet. +These are not the toys of savages, but the amusements of people more +than half-civilised, and with whom we have had indirect communication +from the earliest ages. The Lepchas play at quoits, using slate for +the purpose, and at the Highland games of "putting the stone" and +"drawing the stone." Chess, dice, draughts, Punch, hockey, and +battledore and shuttlecock, are all Indo-Chinese or Tartarian; and no +one familiar with the wonderful instances of similarity between the +monasteries, ritual, ceremonies, attributes, vestments, and other +paraphernalia of the eastern and western churches, can fail to +acknowledge the importance of recording even the most trifling +analogies or similarities between the manners and customs of the +young as well as of the old. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +Leave Yoksun for Kinchinjunga -- Ascend Ratong valley -- +Salt-smuggling over Ratong -- Landslips -- Plants -- Buckeem -- +Blocks of gneiss -- Mon Lepcha -- View -- Weather -- View from Gubroo +-- Kinchinjunga, tops of -- Pundim cliff -- Nursing -- Vegetation of +Himalaya -- Coup d'oeil of Jongri -- Route to Yalloong -- Arduous +route of salt-traders from Tibet -- Kinchin, ascent of -- Lichens -- +Surfaces sculptured by snow and ice -- Weather at Jongri -- Snow -- +Shades for eyes. + +I left Yoksun on an expedition to Kinchinjunga on the 7th of January. +It was evident that at this season I could not attain any height; but +I was most anxious to reach the lower limit of that mass of perpetual +snow which descends in one continuous sweep from 28,000 to 15,000 +feet, and radiates from the summit of Kinchin, along every spur and +shoulder for ten to fifteen miles, towards each point of the compass. + +The route lay for the first mile over the Yoksun flat, and then wound +along the almost precipitous east flank of the Ratong, 1000 feet +above its bed, leading through thick forest. It was often difficult, +crossing torrents by calms of bamboo, and leading up precipices by +notched poles and roots of trees. I wondered what could have induced +the frequenting of such a route to Nepal, when there were so many +better ones over Singalelah, till I found from my guide that he had +habitually smuggled salt over this pass to avoid the oppressive duty +levelled by the Dewan on all imports from Tibet by the eastern +passes: he further told me that it took five days to reach Yalloong +in Nepal front Yoksun, on the third of which the Kanglanamo pass is +crossed, which is open from April to November, but is always heavily +snowed. Owing to this duty, and the remoteness of the eastern passes, +the people on the west side of the Great Rungeet were compelled to +pay an enormous sum for salt; and the Lamas of Changachelling and +Pemiongchi petitioned Dr. Campbell to use his influence with the +Nepal Court to have the Kanglanamo pass re-opened, and the power of +trading with the Tibetans of Wallanchoon, Yangma, and Kambachen, +restored to them: the pass having been closed since the Nepalese war, +to prevent the Sikkim people from kidnapping children and slaves, as +was alleged to be their custom.* [An accusation in which there was +probably some truth; for the Sikkim Dingpun, who guided Dr. Campbell +and myself to Mainom, Tassiding, etc., since kidnapped, or caused to +be abducted, a girl of Brahmin parents, from the Mai valley of Nepal, +a transaction which cost him some 300 rupees. The Nepal Durbar was +naturally furious, the more so as the Dingpun had no caste, and was +therefore abhorred by all Brahmins. Restitution was demanded through +Dr. Campbell, who caused the incensed Dingpun to give up his paramour +and her jewels. He vowed vengeance against Dr. Campbell, and found +means to gratify it, as I shall hereafter show.] + +We passed some immense landslips, which had swept the forest into the +torrent, and exposed white banks of angular detritus of gneiss and +granite: we crossed one 200 yards long, by a narrow treacherous path, +on a slope of 35 degrees: the subjacent gneiss was nearly vertical, +striking north-east. We camped at 6,670 feet, amongst a vegetation I +little expected to find so close to the snows of Kinchin; it +consisted of oak, maple, birch, laurel, rhododendron, white +_Daphne,_ jessamine, _Arum, Begonia, Cyrtandraceae,_ pepper, +fig, _Menispermum,_ wild cinnamon, _Scitamineae,_ several epiphytic +orchids, vines, and ferns in great abundance. + +On the following day, I proceeded north-west up the Ratong river, +here a furious torrent; which we crossed, and then ascended a very +steep mountain called "Mon Lepcha." Immense detached masses of +gneiss, full of coarse garnets, lay on the slope, some of which were +curiously marked with a series of deep holes, large enough to put +one's fist in, and said to be the footprints of the sacred cow. +They appeared to me to have been caused by the roots of trees, which +spread over the rocks in these humid regions, and wear channels in +the hardest material, especially when they follow the direction of +its lamination or stratification. + +I encamped at a place called Buckeem (alt. 8,650 ft.), in a forest of +_Abies Brunoniana_ and _Webbiana,_ yew, oak, various rhododendrons, +and small bamboo. Snow lay in patches at 8000 feet, and the night was +cold and clear. On the following morning I continued the ascent, +alternately up steeps and along perfectly level shelves, on which +were occasionally frozen pools, surrounded with dwarf juniper and +rhododendrons. Across one I observed the track of a yak in the snow; +it presented two ridges, probably from the long hair of this animal, +which trails on the ground, sweeping the snow from the centre of its +path. At 11,000 feet the snow lay deep and soft in the woods of +silver fir, and the coolies waded through it with difficulty. + +Enormous fractured boulders of gneiss were frequent over the whole of +Mon Lepcha, from 7000 to 11,000 feet: they were of the same material +as the rock _in situ,_ and as unaccountable in their origin as the +loose blocks on Dorjiling and Sinchul spurs at similar elevations, +often cresting narrow ridges. I measured one angular detached block, +forty feet high, resting on a steep narrow shoulder of the spur, in a +position to which it was impossible it could have rolled; and it is +equally difficult to suppose that glacial ice deposited it 4000 feet +above the bottom of the gorge, except we conclude the valley to have +been filled with ice to that depth. A glance at the map will show +that Mon Lepcha is remarkably situated, opposite the face of +Kinchinjunga, and at the great bend of the Ratong. Had that valley +ever been filled with water during a glacial period, Mon Lepcha would +have formed a promontory, and many floating bergs from Kinchin would +have been stranded on its flank: but I nowhere observed these rocks +to be of so fine a granite as I believe the upper rocks of Kinchin to +be, and I consequently cannot advance even that far-fetched solution +with much plausibility. + +As I ascended, the rocks became more granitic, with large crystals of +mica. The summit was another broad bare flat, elevated 13,080 feet, +and fringed by a copse of rose, berberry, and very alpine +rhododendrons: the Himalayan heather (_Adromeda fastigiata_) grew +abundantly here, affording us good fuel. + +The toilsome ascent through the soft snow and brushwood delayed the +coolies, who scarcely accomplished five miles in the day. Some of +them having come up by dark, I prepared to camp on the mountain-top, +strewing thick masses of _Andromeda_ and moss (which latter hung in +great tufts from the bushes) on the snow; my blankets bad not +arrived, but there was no prospect of a snow-storm. + +The sun was powerful when I reached the summit, and I was so warm +that I walked about barefoot on the frozen snow without +inconvenience, preferring it to continuing in wet stockings: the +temperature at the time was 29.5 degrees, with a brisk south-east +moist wind, and the dew point 22.8 degrees. + +The night was magnificent, brilliant starlight, with a pale mist over +the mountains: the thermometer fell to 15.5 degrees at 7.30 p.m., and +one laid upon wood with its bulb freely exposed, sank to 7.5 degrees: +the snow sparkled with broad flakes of hoar-frost in the full moon, +which was so bright, that I recorded my observations by its light. +Owing to the extreme cold of radiation, I passed a very uncomfortable +night. The minimum thermometer fell to 1 degrees in shade.* [At +sunrise the temperature was 11.5 degrees; that of grass, cleared on +the previous day from snow, and exposed to the sky, 6.5 degrees; that +on wool, 2.2 degrees; and that on the surface of the snow, 0.7 +degrees.] The sky was clear; and every rock, leaf, twig, blade of +grass, and the snow itself, were covered with broad rhomboidal plates +of hoar-frost, nearly one-third of an inch across: while the metal +scale of the thermometer instantaneously blistered my tongue. As the +sun rose, the light reflected from these myriads of facets had a +splendid effect. + +Before sunrise the atmosphere was still, and all but cloudless. +To the south-east were visible the plains of India, at least 140 +miles distant; where, as usual, horizontal layers of leaden purple +vapour obscured the horizon: behind these the sun rose majestically, +instantly dispersing them, while a thin haze spread over all the +intervening mountains, from its slanting beams reaching me through +otherwise imperceptible vapours: these, as the sun mounted higher, +again became invisible, though still giving that transparency to the +atmosphere and brilliant definition of the distances, so +characteristic of a damp, yet clear day. + +Mon Lepcha commands a most extensive view of Sikkim, southward to +Dorjiling. At my feet lay the great and profound valley of the +Ratong, a dark gulf of vegetation. Looking northward, the eye +followed that river to the summit of Kinchinjunga (distant eighteen +miles), which fronts the beholder as Mont Blanc does when seen from +the mountains on the opposite side of the valley of Chamouni. To the +east are the immense precipices and glaciers of Pundim, and on the +west those of Kubra, forming great supporters to the stupendous +mountain between them. Mon Lepcha itself is a spur running south-east +from the Kubra shoulder: it is very open, and covered with rounded +hills for several miles further north, terminating in a conspicuous +conical black hummock* [This I have beau told is the true Kubra; and +the great snowy mountain behind it, which I here, in conformity with +the Dorjiling nomenclature, call Kubra, has no name, being considered +a part of Kinchin.] called Gubroo, of 15,000 feet elevation, which +presents a black cliff to the south. + +Kinchinjunga rises in three heads, of nearly equal height,* [The +eastern and western tops, are respectively 27,826 and 28,177 feet +above the level of the sea.] which form a line running north-west. +It exposes many white or grey rocks, bare of snow, and disposed in +strata* [I am aware that the word strata is inappropriate here; the +appearance of stratification or bedding, if it indicate any structure +of the rock, being, I cannot doubt, due to that action which gives +parallel cleavage planes to granite in many parts of the world, and +to which the so-called lamination or foliation of slate and gneiss is +supposed by many geologists to be due. It is not usual to find this +structure so uniformly and conspicuously developed through large +masses of granite, as it appeared to me to be on the sides of +Kinchinjunga and on the top of Junnoo, as seen from the Choonjerma +pass (Chapter XI, plate); but it is sometimes very conspicuous, and +nowhere more than in the descent of the Grimsel towards Meyringen, +where the granite on the east flank of that magnificent gorge seems +cleft into parallel nearly vertical strata.] sloping to the west; the +colour of all which above 20,000 feet, and the rounded knobbed form +of the summit, suggest a granitic formation. Lofty snowed ridges +project from Kubra into the Ratong valley, presenting black +precipices of stratified rocks to the southward. Pundim has a very +grand appearance; being eight miles distant, and nearly 9000 feet +above Mon Lepcha, it subtends an angle of 12 degrees; while Kinchin +top, though 15,000 feet higher than Mon Lepcha, being eighteen miles +distant, rises only 9 degrees 30 minutes above the true horizon: +these angular heights are too small to give much grandeur and +apparent elevation to mountains, however lofty; nor would they do so +in this case, were it not that the Ratong valley which intervenes, is +seen to be several thousand feet lower, and many degrees below the +real horizon. + +Illustration--KINCHINJUNGA AND PUNDIM FROM MON LEPCHA. + +Pundim has a tremendous precipice to the south, which, to judge from +its bareness of snow, must be nearly perpendicular; and it presented +a superb geological section. The height of this precipice I found by +angles with a pocket sextant to be upwards of 3,400 feet, and that of +its top to be 21,300 above the sea, and consequently only 715 feet +less than that of the summit of Pundim itself (which is 22,015 feet). +This cliff is of black stratified rocks, sloping to the west, and +probably striking north-west; permeated from top to bottom by veins +of white granite, disposed in zigzag lines, which produce a +contortion of the gneiss, and give it a marbled appearance. The same +structure may be seen in miniature on the transported blocks which +abound in the Sikkim rivers; where veins of finely grained granite +are forced in all directions through the gneiss, and form parallel +seams or beds between the laminae of that rock, united by transverse +seams, and crumpling up the gneiss itself, like the crushed leaves of +a book. The summit of Pundim itself is all of white rock, rounded in +shape, and forming a cap to the gneiss, which weathers into +precipices. + +A succession of ridges, 14,000 to 18,000 feet high, presented a line +of precipices running south from Pundim for several miles: immense +granite veins are exposed on their surfaces, and they are capped by +stratified rocks, sloping to the east, and apparently striking to the +north-west, which, being black, contrast strongly with the white +granite beneath them: these ridges, instead of being round-topped, +are broken into splintered crags, behind which rises the beautiful +conical peak of Nursing, 19,139 feet above the sea, eight miles +distant, and subtending an angle of 8 degrees 30 minutes. + +At the foot of these precipices was a very conspicuous series of +lofty moraines, round whose bases the Ratong wound; these appeared of +much the same height, rising several hundred feet above the valley: +they were comparatively level-topped, and had steep shelving +rounded sides. + +I have been thus particular in describing the upper Ratong valley, +because it drains the south face of the loftiest mountain on the +globe; and I have introduced angular heights, and been precise in my +details, because the vagueness with which all terms are usually +applied to the apparent altitude and steepness of mountains and +precipices, is apt to give false impressions. It is essential to +attend to such points where scenery of real interest and importance +is to be described. It is customary to speak of peaks as towering in +the air, which yet subtend an angle of very few degrees; of almost +precipitous ascents, which, when measured, are found to be slopes of +18 degrees or 20 degrees; and of cliffs as steep and stupendous, +which are inclined at a very moderate angle. + +The effect of perspective is as often to deceive in details as to +give truth to general impressions; and those accessories are +sometimes wanting in nature, which, when supplied by art, give truth +to the landscape. Thus, a streak of clouds adds height to a peak +which should appear lofty, but which scarcely rises above the true +horizon; and a belt of mist will sunder two snowy mountains which, +though at very different distances, for want of a play of light and +shade on their dazzling surfaces, and from the extreme transparency +of the air in lofty regions, appear to be at the same distance from +the observer. + +The view to the southward from Mon Lepcha, including the country +between the sea-like plains of India and the loftiest mountain on the +globe, is very grand, and neither wanting in variety nor in beauty. +From the deep valleys choked with tropical luxuriance to the scanty +yak pasturage on the heights above, seems but a step at the first +_coup-d'oceil,_ but resolves itself on a closer inspection into five +belts: 1, palm and plantain; 2, oak and laurel; 3, pine; +4, rhododendron and grass; and 5, rock and snow. From the bed of the +Ratong, in which grow palms with screw-pine and plantain, it is only +seven miles in a direct line to the perpetual ice. From the plains of +India, or outer Himalaya, one may behold snowy peaks rise in the +distance behind a foreground of tropical forest; here, on the +contrary, all the intermediate phases of vegetation are seen at a +glance. Except in the Himalaya this is no common phenomenon, and is +owing to the very remarkable depth of the river-beds. That part of +the valley of the Ratong where tropical vegetation ceases, is but +4000 feet above the sea, and though fully fifty miles as the crow +flies (and perhaps 200 by the windings of the river) from the plains +of India, is only eight in a straight line (and forty by the +windings) from the snows which feed that river. In other words, the +descent is so rapid, that in eight miles the Ratong waters every +variety of vegetation, from the lichen of the poles to the palm of +the tropics; whilst throughout the remainder of its mountain course, +it falls from 4000 to 300 feet, flowing amongst tropical scenery, +through a valley whose flanks rise from 5000 to 12,000 feet above +its bed. + +From Mon Lepcha we proceeded north-west towards Jongri, along a very +open rounded bare mountain, covered with enormous boulders of gneiss, +of which the subjacent rock is also composed. The soil is a thick +clay full of angular stones, everywhere scooped out into little +depressions which are the dry beds of pools, and are often strewed +with a thin layer of pebbles. Black tufts of alpine aromatic +rhododendrons of two kinds (_R. anthopogon_ and _setosum_), with +dwarf juniper, comprised all the conspicuous vegetation at +this season. + +After a two hours' walk, keeping at 13,000 feet elevation, we sighted +Jongri.* [I am assured by Capt. Sherwill, who, in 1852, proceeded +along and surveyed the Nepal frontier beyond this point to Gubroo, +that this is not Jongri, but Yangpoong. The difficulty of getting +precise information, especially as to the names of seldom-visited +spots, is very great. I was often deceived myself, undesignedly, I am +sure, on the part of my informants; but in this case I have Dr. +Campbell's assurance, who has kindly investigated the subject, that +there is no mistake on my part. Captain Sherwill has also kindly +communicated to me a map of the head waters of the Rungbee, Yungya, +and Yalloong rivers, of which, being more correct than my own, I have +gladly availed myself for my map. Gubroo, he informs me, is 15,000 +feet in altitude, and dips in a precipice 1000 feet high, facing +Kubra, which prevented his exploring further north.] There were two +stone huts on the bleak face of the spur, scarcely distinguishable at +the distance of half a mile from the great blocks around them. +To the north Gubroo rose in dismal grandeur, backed by the dazzling +snows of Kubra, which now seemed quite near, its lofty top (alt. +24,005 feet) being only eight miles distant. Much snow lay on the +ground in patches, and there were few remains of herbaceous +vegetation; those I recognised were chiefly of poppy, _Potentilla,_ +gentian, geranium, fritillary, _Umbelliferae,_ grass, and sedges. + +On our arrival at the huts the weather was still fine, with a strong +north-west wind, which meeting the warm moist current from the Ratong +valley, caused much precipitation of vapour. As I hoped to be able to +visit the surrounding glaciers from this spot, I made arrangements +for a stay of some days: giving up the only habitable hut to my +people, I spread my blankets in a slope from its roof to the ground, +building a little stone dyke round the skirts of my dwelling, and a +fire-place in front. + +Hence to Yalloong in Nepal, by the Kanglanamo pass, is two days' +march: the route crosses the Singalelah range at an elevation of +about 15,000 feet, south of Kubra, and north of a mountain that forms +a conspicuous feature south-west from Jongri, as a crest of black +fingered peaks, tipped with snow. + +It is difficult to conceive the amount of labour expended upon every +pound of salt imported into this part of Sikkim from Tibet, and as an +enumeration of the chief features of the routes it must follow, will +give some idea of what the circuit of the loftiest mountain in the +globe involves, I shall briefly allude to them; premising that the +circuit of Mont Blanc may be easily accomplished in four days. +The shortest route to Yoksun (the first village south of Kinchin) +from the nearest Tibetan village north of that mountain, involves a +detour of one-third of the circumference of Kinchin. It is evident +that the most direct way must be that nearest the mountain-top, and +therefore that which reaches the highest accessible elevation on its +shoulders, and which, at the same time, dips into the shallowest +valleys between those shoulders. The actual distance in a straight +line is about fifty miles, from Yoksun to the mart at or near +Tashirukpa. + +The marches between them are as follows:-- + 1. To Yalloong two days; crossing Kanglanamo pass, 15,000 feet high. + 3. To foot of Choonjerma pass, descending to 10,000 feet. + 4. Cross Choonjerma pass, 15,260 feet, and proceed to Kambachen, + 11,400 feet. + 5. Cross Nango pass, 15,770, and camp on Yangma river, 11,000 feet. + 6. Ascend to foot of Kanglachem pass, and camp at 15,000 feet. + 7. Cross Kanglachem pass, probably 16,500 feet; and + 8-10. It is said to be three marches hence to the Tibetan + custom-house, and that two more snowy passes are crossed. + +This allows no day of rest, and gives only five miles--as the crow +flies--to be accomplished each day, but I assume fully fourteen of +road distance; the labour spent in which would accomplish fully +thirty over good roads. Four snowed passes at least are crossed, all +above 15,000 feet, and after the first day the path does not descend +below 10,000 feet. By this route about one-third of the circuit of +Kinchinjunga is accomplished. Supposing the circuit were to be +completed by the shortest practicable route, that is, keeping as near +the summit as possible, the average time required for a man with his +load would be upwards of a month. + +To reach Tashirukpa by the eastern route from Yoksun, being a journey +of about twenty-five days, requires a long detour to the southward +and eastward, and afterwards the ascent of the Teesta valley, to +Kongra Lama, and so north to the Tibetan Arun. + +My first operation after encamping and arranging my instruments, was +to sink the ground thermometer; but the earth being frozen for +sixteen inches, it took four men several hours' work with hammer and +chisel, to penetrate so deep. There was much vegetable matter for the +first eight or ten inches, and below that a fine red clay. I spent +the afternoon, which was fine, in botanising. When the sun shone, the +smell of the two rhododendrons was oppressive, especially as a little +exertion at this elevation brings on headache. There were few mosses; +but crustaceous lichens were numerous, and nearly all of them of +Scotch, Alpine, European, and Arctic kinds. The names of these, given +by the classical Linnaeus and Wahlenberg, tell in some cases of their +birth-places, in others of their hardihood, their lurid colours and +weather-beaten aspects; such as _tristis, gelida, glacialis, arctica, +alpina, saxatilis, polaris, frigida,_ and numerous others equally +familiar to the Scotch botanist. I recognised many as natives of the +wild mountains of Cape Horn, and the rocks of the stormy Antarctic +ocean; since visiting which regions I had not gathered them. +The lichen called _geographicus_ was most abundant, and is found to +indicate a certain degree of cold in every latitude; descending to +the level of the sea in latitude 52 degrees north, and 50 degrees +south, but in lower latitudes only to be seen on mountains. +It flourishes at 10,000 feet on the Himalaya, ascending thence to +18,000 feet. Its name, however, was not intended to indicate its wide +range, but the curious maplike patterns which its yellow crust forms +on the rocks. + +Of the blocks of gneiss scattered over the Jongri spur, many are +twenty feet in diameter. The ridge slopes gently south-west to the +Choroong river, and more steeply north-east to the Ratong, facing +Kinchin: it rises so very gradually to a peaked mountain between +Jongri and Kubra, that it is not possible to account for the +transport and deposit of these boulders by glaciers of the ordinary +form, viz., by a stream of ice following the course of a valley; and +we are forced to speculate upon the possibility of ice having capped +the whole spur, and moved downwards, transporting blocks from the +prominences on various parts of the spur. + +The cutting up of the whole surface of this rounded mountain into +little pools, now dry, of all sizes, from ten to about one hundred +yards in circumference, is a very striking phenomenon. The streams +flow in shallow transverse valleys, each passing through a succession +of such pools, accompanying a step-like character of the general +surface. The beds are stony, becoming more so where they enter the +pools, upon several of the larger of which I observed curving ridges +of large stones, radiating outwards on to their beds from either +margin of the entering stream: more generally large stones were +deposited opposite every embouchure. + +This superficial sculpturing must have been a very recent operation; +and the transport of the heavy stones opposite the entrance of the +streams has been effected by ice, and perhaps by snow; just as the +arctic ice strews the shores of the Polar ocean with rocks. + +The weather had been threatening all day, northern and westerly +currents contending aloft with the south-east trade-wind of Sikkim, +and meeting in strife over the great upper valley of the Ratong. +Stately masses of white cumuli wheeled round that gulf of glaciers, +partially dissipating in an occasional snow-storm, but on the whole +gradually accumulating. + +On my arrival the thermometer was 32 degrees, with a powerful sun +shining, and it fell to 28 degrees at 4 p.m., when the north wind set +in. At sunset the moon rose through angry masses of woolly cirrus; +its broad full orb threw a flood of yellow light over the serried +tops south of Pundim; thence advancing obliquely towards Nursing, "it +stood tip-toe" for a few minutes on that beautiful pyramid of snow, +whence it seemed to take flight and mount majestically into mid-air, +illuminating Kinchin, Pundim, and Kubra. + +I sat at the entrance of my gipsy-like hut, anxiously watching the +weather, and absorbed in admiration of the moonrise, from which my +thoughts were soon diverted by its fading light as it entered a dense +mass of mare's-tail cirrus. It was very cold, and the stillness was +oppressive. I had been urged not to attempt such an ascent in +January, my provisions were scanty, firewood only to be obtained from +some distance, the open undulating surface of Jongri was particularly +exposed to heavy snow-drifts, and the path was, at the best, a +scarcely perceptible track. I followed every change of the wind, +every fluctuation of the barometer and thermometer, each accession of +humidity, and the courses of the clouds aloft. At 7 p.m., the wind +suddenly shifted to the west, and the thermometer instantly rose from +20 degrees to 30 degrees. After 8 p.m., the temperature fell again, +and the wind drew round from west by south to north-east, when the +fog cleared off. The barometer rose no more than it usually does +towards 10 p.m., and though it clouded again, with the temperature at +17 degrees, the wind seemed steady, and I went to bed with a +relieved mind. + +_Jan._ 10.--During the night the temperature fell to 11.2 degrees, +and at 6 a.m. was 19.8 degrees, falling again to 17 degrees soon +after. Though clouds were rapidly coming up from the west and +south-west, the wind remained northerly till 8 a.m., when it shifted +to south-west, and the temperature rose to 25 degrees. As it +continued fine, with the barometer high, I ventured on a walk towards +Gubroo, carefully taking bearings of my position. I found a good many +plants in a rocky valley close to that mountain, which I in vain +attempted to ascend. The air was 30 degrees, with a strong and damp +south-west wind, and the cold was so piercing, that two lads who were +with me, although walking fast, became benumbed, and could not return +without assistance. At 11 a.m., a thick fog obliged us to retrace our +steps: it was followed by snow in soft round pellets like sago, that +swept across the hard ground. During the afternoon it snowed +unceasingly, the wind repeatedly veering round the compass, always +from west to east by south, and so by north to west again. The flakes +were large, soft, and moist with the south wind, and small, hard, and +dry with the north. Glimpses of blue sky were constantly seen to the +south, under the gloomy canopy above, but they augured no change. +As darkness came on, the temperature fell to 15 degrees, and it +snowed very hard; at 6 p.m., it was 11 degrees, but rose afterwards +to 18 degrees. + +The night was very cold and wintry: I sat for some hours behind a +blanket screen (which had to be shifted every few minutes) at my +tent-door, keeping up a sulky fire, and peering through the snow for +signs of improvement, but in vain. The clouds were not dense, for the +moon's light was distinct, shining on the glittering snow-flakes +that fell relentlessly: my anxiety was great, and I could not help +censuring myself severely for exposing a party to so great danger at +such a season. I found comfort in the belief that no idle curiosity +had prompted me, and that with a good motive and a strong prestige of +success, one can surmount a host of difficulties. Still the snow +fell; and my heart sank, as my fire declined, and the flakes +sputtered on the blackening embers; my little puppy, who had +gambolled all day amongst the drifting white pellets, now whined, and +crouched under my thick woollen cloak; the inconstant searching wind +drifted the snow into the tent, whose roof so bagged in with the +accumulation that I had to support it with sticks, and dreaded being +smothered, if the weight should cause it to sink upon my bed during +my sleep. The increasing cold drove me, however, to my blankets, and +taking the precaution of stretching a tripod stand over my head, so +as to leave a breathing hole, by supporting the roof if it fell in, I +slept soundly, with my dog at my feet. + +At sunrise the following morning the sky was clear, with a light +north wind; about two feet of snow had fallen, the drifts were deep, +and all trace of the path obliterated. The minimum thermometer had +fallen to 3.7 degrees, the temperature rose to 27 degrees at 9 a.m., +after which the wind fell, and with it the thermometer to 18 degrees. +Soon, however, southerly breezes set in, bringing up heavy masses +of clouds. + +My light-hearted companions cheerfully prepared to leave the ground; +they took their appointed loads without a murmur, and sought +protection for their eyes from the glare of the newly fallen snow, +some with as much of my crape veil as I could spare, others with +shades of brown paper, or of hair from the yaks' tails, whilst a few +had spectacle-shades of woven hair; and the Lepchas loosened their +pigtails, and combed their long hair over their eyes and faces. It is +from fresh-fallen snow alone that much inconvenience is felt; owing, +I suppose, to the light reflected from the myriads of facets which +the crystals of snow present. I have never suffered inconvenience in +crossing beds of old snow, or glaciers with weathered surfaces, which +absorb a great deal of light, and reflect comparatively little, and +that little coloured green or blue. + +The descent was very laborious, especially through the several miles +of bush and rock which lie below the summit: so that, although we +started at 10 a.m., it was dark by the time we reached Buckeem, where +we found two lame coolies, whom we had left on our way up, and who +were keeping up a glorious fire for our reception. + +Illustration--MAITRYA, THE SIXTH OR COMING BOODH. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +Ratong river below Mon Lepcha -- Ferns -- Vegetation of Yoksun, +tropical -- _Araliaceae,_ fodder for cattle -- Rice-paper plant -- +Geology of Yoksun -- Lake -- Old temples -- Funereal cypresses -- +Gigantic chait -- Altars -- Songboom -- Weather -- Catsuperri -- +Velocity of Ratong -- Worship at Catsuperri lake -- Scenery -- Willow +-- Lamas and ecclesiastical establishments of Sikkim -- Tengling -- +Changachelling temples and monks -- Portrait of myself on walls -- +Block of mica-schist -- Lingcham Kajee asks for spectacles -- +Hee-hill -- Arrive at Little Rungeet -- At Dorjiling -- Its deserted +and wintry appearance. + +On the following day we marched to Yoksun: the weather was fair, +though it was evidently snowing on the mountains above. I halted at +the Ratong river, at the foot of Mon Lepcha, where I found its +elevation to be 7,150 feet; its edges were frozen, and the +temperature of the water 36 degrees; it is here a furious torrent +flowing between gneiss rocks which dip south-south-east, and is +flanked by flat-topped beds of boulders, gravel and sand, twelve to +fourteen feet thick. Its vegetation resembles that of Dorjiling, but +is more alpine, owing no doubt to the proximity of Kinchinjunga. +The magnificent _Rhododendron argenteum_ was growing on its banks. +On the other hand, I was surprised to see a beautiful fern (a +_Trichomanes,_ very like the Irish one) which is not found at +Dorjiling. The same day, at about the same elevation, I gathered +sixty species of fern, many of very tropical forms.* [They consisted +of the above-mentioned _Trichomanes,_ three _Hymenophyllae, Vittaria, +Pleopeltis,_ and _Marattia,_ together with several _Selaginellas._] +No doubt the range of such genera is extended in proportion to the +extreme damp and equable climate, here, as about Dorjiling. +Tree-ferns are however absent, and neither plantains, epiphytical +_Orchideae,_ nor palms, are so abundant, or ascend so high as on the +outer ranges. About Yoksun itself, which occupies a very warm +sheltered flat, many tropical genera occur, such as tall bamboos of +two kinds, grasses allied to the sugar-cane, scarlet _Erythrina,_ and +various _Araliaceae,_ amongst which was one species whose pith was of +so curious a structure, that I had no hesitation in considering the +then unknown Chinese substance called rice-paper to belong to a +closely allied plant.* [The Chinese rice-paper has long been known to +be cut from cylinders of pith which has always a central hollow +chamber, divided into compartments by septa or excessively thin +plates. It is only within the last few months that my supposition has +been confirmed, by my father's receiving from China, after many years +of correspondence, specimens of the rice-paper plant itself, which +very closely resemble, in botanical characters, as well as in outward +appearance of size and habit, the Sikkim plant.] + +The natives collect the leaves of many Aralias as fodder for cattle, +for which purpose they are of the greatest service in a country where +grass for pasture is so scarce; this is the more remarkable, since +they belong to the natural family of ivy, which is usually poisonous; +the use of this food, however, gives a peculiar taste to the butter. +In other parts of Sikkim, fig-leaves are used for the same purpose, +and branches of a bird-cherry (_Prunus_), a plant also of a very +poisonous family, abounding in prussic acid. + +We were received with great kindness by the villagers of Yoksun, who +had awaited our return with some anxiety, and on hearing of our +approach had collected large supplies of food; amongst other things +were tares (called by the Lepchas "Kullai"), yams ("Book"), and a +bread made by bruising together damp maize and rice into tough thin +cakes ("Ketch-ung tapha"). The Lamas of Doobdi were especially civil, +having a favour to ask, which was that I would intercede with +Dr. Campbell to procure the permission of the Nepalese to reopen the +Kanglanamo pass, and thus give some occupation to their herds of +yaks, which were now wandering idly about. + +I botanized for two days on the Yoksun flat, searching for evidence +of lacustrine strata or moraines, being more than ever convinced by +the views I had obtained of this place from Mon Lepcha, that its +uniformity of surface was due to water action. It is certainly the +most level area of its size that I know of in Sikkim, though situated +in one of the deepest valleys, and surrounded on almost all sides by +very steep mountains; and it is far above the flat gravel terraces of +the present river-beds. I searched the surface of the flat for gravel +beds in vain, for though it abounds in depressions that must have +formerly been lake-beds, and are now marshes in the rainy season, +these were all floored with clay. Along the western edge, where the +descent is very steep for 1800 feet to the Ratong, I found no traces +of stratified deposits, though the spurs which projected from it were +often flattened at top. The only existing lake has sloping clay +banks, covered with spongy vegetable mould; it has no permanent +affluent or outlet, its present drainage being subterranean, or more +probably by evaporation; but there is an old water-channel several +feet above its level. It is eighty to a hundred yards across, and +nearly circular; its depth three or four feet, increased to fifteen +or sixteen in the rains; like all similar pools in Sikkim, it +contains little or no animal life at this season, and I searched in +vain for shells, insects, or frogs. All around were great blocks of +gneiss, some fully twelve feet square. + +The situation of this lake is very romantic, buried in a tall forest +of oaks and laurels, and fringed by wild camellia shrubs; the latter +are not the leafy, deep green, large-blossomed plants of our +greenhouses, but twiggy bushes with small scattered leaves, and +little yellowish flowers like those of the tea-plant. The massive +walls of a ruined temple rise close to the water, which looks like +the still moat of a castle: beside it are some grand old funereal +cypresses, with ragged scattered branches below, where they struggle +for light in the dense forest, but raising their heads aloft as +bright green pyramids. + +Illustration--ALTAR AND SONG-BOOM AT YOKSUN. + +After some difficulty I found the remains of a broad path that +divided into two; one of them led to a second ruined temple, fully a +mile off, and the other I followed to a grove, in which was a +gigantic chait; it was a beautiful lane throughout, bordered with +bamboo, brambles, gay-flowered _Melastomaceae_ like hedge-roses, and +scarlet _Erythrina_: there were many old mendongs and chaits on the +way, which I was always careful to leave on the right hand in +passing, such being the rule among Boodhists, the same which ordains +that the praying-cylinder or "Mani" be made to revolve in a direction +against the sun's motion. + +This great chait is the largest in Sikkim; it is called "Nirbogong," +and appears to be fully forty feet high; facing it is a stone altar +about fifteen feet long and four broad, and behind this again is a +very curious erection called "Song-boom," used for burning juniper as +incense; it resembles a small smelting furnace, and consists of an +elongated conical stone building eight feet high, raised on a single +block; it is hollow, and divided into three stories or chambers; in +the lower of which is a door, by which fuel is placed inside, and the +smoke ascending through holes in the upper slabs, escapes by lateral +openings from the top compartment. These structures are said to be +common in Tibet, but I saw no other in Sikkim. + +During my stay at Yoksun, the weather was very cold, especially at +night, considering the elevation (5,600 feet): the mean temperature +was 39 degrees, the extremes being 19.2 degrees and 60 degrees; and +even at 8 a.m. the thermometer, laid on the frosty grass, stood at 20 +degrees; temperatures which are rare at Dorjiling, 1500 feet higher. +I could not but regard with surprise such half tropical genera as +perennial-leaved vines, _Saccharum, Erythrina,_ large bamboos, +_Osbeckia_ and cultivated millet, resisting such low temperatures.* +[This is no doubt due to the temperature of the soil being always +high: I did not sink a thermometer at Yoksun, but from observations +taken at similar elevations, the temperature of the earth, at three +feet depth, may be assumed to be 55 degrees.] + +On the 14th January I left Yoksun for the lake and temples of +Catsuperri, the former of which is by much the largest in Sikkim. +After a steep descent of 1800 feet, we reached the Ratong, where its +bed is only 3,790 feet above the sea; it is here a turbulent stream, +twelve yards across, with the usual features of gravel terraces, huge +boulders of gneiss and some of the same rock _in situ,_ striking +north-east. Some idea of its velocity may be formed from the descent +it makes from the foot of Mon Lepcha, where the elevation of its bed +was 7,150 feet, giving a fall of 3,350 feet in only ten miles. + +Hence I ascended a very steep spur, through tropical vegetation, now +become so familiar to me that I used to count the number of species +belonging to the different large natural orders, as I went along. +I gathered only thirty-five ferns at these low elevations, in the +same space as produces from fifty to sixty in the more equable and +humid regions of 6000 feet; grasses on the other hand were much more +numerous. The view of the flat of Yoksun from Lungschung village, +opposite to it, and on about the same level, is curious; as is that +of the hamlet of Lathiang on the same side, which I have before +noticed as being placed on a very singular flat shelf above the +Ratong, and is overhung by rocks. + +Ascending very steeply for several thousand feet, we reached a hollow +on the Catsuperri spur, beyond which the lake lies buried in a deep +forest. A Lama from the adjacent temple accompanied us, and I found +my people affecting great solemnity as they approached its sacred +bounds; they incessantly muttered "Om mani," etc., kotowed to trees +and stones, and hung bits of rag on the bushes. A pretence of +opposing our progress was made by the priest, who of course wanted +money; this I did not appear to notice, and after a steep descent, we +were soon on the shores of what is, for Sikkim, a grand sheet of +water, (6,040 feet above the sea), without any apparent outlet: it +may be from three to five hundred yards across in the rains, but was +much less now, and was bordered by a broad marsh of bog moss +(_Sphagnum_), in which were abundance of _Azolla,_ colouring the +waters red, and sedges. Along the banks were bushes of _Rhododendron +barbatum_ and _Berberis insignis,_* [This magnificent new species has +not been introduced into England; it forms a large bush, with +deep-green leaves seven inches long, and bunches of yellow flowers.] +but the mass of the vegetation was similar to that of Dorjiling. + +We crossed the marsh to the edge of the lake by a rude paved way of +decaying logs, through which we often plunged up to our knees. +The Lama had come provided with a piece of bark, shaped like a boat, +some juniper incense and a match-box, with which he made a fire, and +put it in the boat, which he then launched on the lake as a votive +offering to the presiding deity. It was a dead calm, but the impetus +he gave to the bark shot it far across the lake, whose surface was +soon covered with a thick cloud of white smoke. Taking a rupee from +me, the priest then waved his arm aloft, and pretended to throw the +money into the water, singing snatches of prayers in Tibetan, and at +times shrieking at the top of his voice to the Dryad who claims these +woods and waters as his own. There was neither bird, beast, nor +insect to be seen, and the scenery was as impressive to me, as the +effect of the simple service was upon my people, who prayed with +redoubled fervour, and hung more rags on the bushes. + +I need hardly say that this invocation of the gods of the woods and +waters forms no part of Lama worship; but the Lepchas are but half +Boodhists; in their hearts they dread the demons of the grove, the +lake, the snowy mountain and the torrent, and the crafty Lama takes +advantage of this, modifies his practices to suit their requirements, +and is content with the formal recognition of the spiritual supremacy +of the church. This is most remarkably shown in their acknowledgment +of the day on which offerings had been made from time immemorial by +the pagan Lepchas to the genius of Kinchinjunga, by holding it as a +festival of the church throughout Sikkim.* [On that occasion an +invocation to the mountain is chanted by priests and people in +chorus. Like the Lama's address to the genius of Catsuperri lake, its +meaning, if it ever had any, is not now apparent. It runs thus:-- + "Kanchin-jinga, Pemi Kadup + Gnetche Tangla, Dursha tember + Zu jinga Pemsum Serkiem + Dischze Kubra Kanchin tong." +This was written for me by Dr. Campbell, who, like myself, has vainly +sought its solution; it is probably a mixture of Tibetan and Lepcha, +both as much corrupted as the celebrated "Om mani padmi boom," which +is universally pronounced by Lepchas "Menny pemmy boom." This reminds +me that I never got a solution of this sentence from a Lama, of +whatever rank or learning; and it was only after incessant inquiry, +during a residence of many years in Nepal, that Mr. Hodgson at last +procured the interpretation, or rather paraphrase: "Hail to him +(Sakya) of the lotus and the jewel," which is very much the same as +M. Klaproth and other authorities have given.] + +The two Catsuperri temples occupy a spur 445 feet above the lake, and +6,485 feet above the sea; they are poor, and only remarkable for a +miserable weeping-willow tree planted near them, said to have been +brought from Lhassa. The monks were very civil to me, and offered +amongst other things a present of excellent honey. One was an +intelligent man, and gave me much information: he told me that there +were upwards of twenty religious establishments in Sikkim, containing +more than 1000 priests. These have various claims upon the devout: +thus, Tassiding, Doobdi, Changachelling, and Pemiongchi, are +celebrated for their antiquity, and the latter also for being the +residence of the head Lama; Catsuperri for its lake; Raklang for its +size, etc. All are under one spiritual head, who is the Tupgain Lama, +or eldest son of the Rajah; and who resides at the Phadong convent, +near Tumloong: the Lama of Pemiongchi is, however, the most highly +respected, on account of his age, position, and sanctity. Advancement +in the hierarchy is dependent chiefly on interest, but indirectly on +works also; pilgrimages to Lhassa and Teshoo Loombo are the highest +of these, and it is clearly the interest of the supreme pontiffs of +those ecclesiastical capitals to encourage such, and to intimate to +the Sikkim authorities, the claims those who perform them have for +preferment. Dispensations for petty offences are granted to Lamas of +low degree and monks, by those of higher station, but crimes against +the church are invariably referred to Tibet, and decided there. + +The election to the Sikkim Lamaseries is generally conducted on the +principle of self-government, but Pemiongchi and some others are +often served by Lamas appointed from Tibet, or ordained there, at +some of the great convents. I never heard of an instance of any +Sikkim Lama arriving at such sanctity as to be considered immortal, +and to reappear after death in another individual, nor is there any +election of infants. All are of the Ningma, Dookpa, or Shammar sect, +and are distinguished by their red mitres; they were once dominant +throughout Tibet, but after many wars* [The following account of the +early war between the red and the yellow-mitred Lamas was given me by +Tchebu Lama:--For twenty-five generations the red-cape (Dookpa or +Ningma) prevailed in Tibet, when they split into two sects, who +contended for supreme power; the Lama of Phado, who headed the +dissenters, and adopted a yellow mitre, being favoured by the Emperor +of China, to whom reference was made. A persecution of the red Lamas +followed, who were caught by the yellow-caps, and their mitres +plunged into dyeing vats kept always ready at the Lamaseries. +The Dookpa, however, still held Teshoo Loombo, and applied to the +Sokpo (North Tibet) Lamas for aid, who bringing horses and camels, +easily prevailed over the Gelookpa or yellow sect, but afterwards +treacherously went over to them, and joined them in an attack on +Teshoo Loombo, which was plundered and occupied by the Gelookpas. +The Dookpa thereafter took refuge in Sikkim and Bhotan, whence the +Bhotan Rajah became their spiritual chief under the name of Dhurma +Rajah, and is now the representative of that creed. Goorucknath is +still the Dookpa's favourite spiritual deity of the older creed, +which is, however, no longer in the ascendant. The Dalai Lama of +Teshoo Loombo is a Gelookpa, as is the Rimbochay Lama, and the Potala +Lama of Lhassa, according to Tchebu Lama, but Turner ("Travels in +Tibet," p. 315) says the contrary; the Gelookpa consider Sakya Thoba +(or Tsongkaba) alias Mahamouni, as their great avatar.] with the +yellow-caps, they were driven from that country, and took refuge +principally in the Himalaya. The Bhotan or Dhurma* [Bhotan is +generally known as the Dhurma country. See note, Chapter V.] Rajah +became the spiritual head of this sect, and, as is well known, +disputes the temporal government also of his country with the Deva +Rajah, who is the hereditary temporal monarch, and never claims +spiritual jurisdiction. I am indebted to Dr. Campbell for a copy and +translation of the Dhurma Rajah's great seal, containing the +attributes of his spirituality, a copy of which I have appended to +the end of this chapter. + +The internal organisation of the different monastic establishments is +very simple. The head or Teshoo Lama* [I have been informed by +letters from Dr. Campbell that the Pemiongchi Lama is about to remove +the religious capital of Sikkim to Dorjiling, and build there a grand +temple and monastery; this will be attractive to visitors, and afford +the means of extending our knowledge of East Tibet.] rules supreme; +then come the monks and various orders of priests, and then those who +are candidates for orders, and dependents, both lay-brothers and +slaves: there are a few nunneries in Sikkim, and the nuns are all +relatives or connections of the Rajah, his sister is amongst them. +During the greater part of the year, all lead a more or less idle +life; the dependents being the most occupied in carrying wood and +water, cultivating the land, etc. + +The lay-brothers are often skilful workmen, and are sometimes lent or +hired out as labourers, especially as housebuilders and decorators. +No tax of any kind is levied on the church, which is frequently very +rich in land, flocks, and herds, and in contributions from the +people: land is sometimes granted by the Rajah, but is oftener +purchased by the priests, or willed, or given by the proprietor. +The services, to which I have already alluded, are very irregularly +performed; in most temples only on festival days, which correspond to +the Tibetan ones so admirably described in MM. Huc and Gabet's +narrative; in a few, however, service is performed daily, especially +in such as stand near frequented roads, and hence reap the +richest harvest. + +Like all the natives of Tibet and Sikkim, the priests are intolerably +filthy; in some cases so far carrying out their doctrines as not even +to kill the vermin with which they swarm. All are nominally bound to +chastity, but exemptions in favour of Lamas of wealth, rank, or +power, are granted by the supreme pontiffs, both in Tibet and Sikkim. +I constantly found swarms of children about the Lamaseries, who were +invariably called nephews and nieces. + +Descending from the Catsuperri temples, I encamped at the village of +Tengling (elevation 5,257 feet), where I was waited upon by a bevy of +forty women, Lepchas and Sikkim Bhoteeas, accompanied by their +children, and bringing presents of fowls, rice and vegetables, and +apologising for the absence of their male relatives, who were gone to +carry tribute to the Rajah. Thence I marched to Changachelling, first +descending to the Tengling river, which divides the Catsuperri from +the Molli ridge, and which I crossed. + +Tree-ferns here advance further north than in any other part of +Sikkim. I did not visit the Molli temples, but crossed the spur of +that name, to the Rungbee river, whose bed is 3,300 feet above the +sea; thence I ascended upwards of 3,500 feet to the Changachelling +temples, passing Tchongpong village. The ridge on which both +Pemiongchi and Changachelling are built, is excessively narrow at +top; it is traversed by a "via Sacra," connecting these two +establishments; this is a pretty wooded walk, passing mendongs and +chaits hoary with lichens and mosses; to the north the snows of +Kinchinjunga are seen glimmering between the trunks of oaks, laurels, +and rhododendrons, while to the south the Sinchul and Dorjiling spurs +shut out the view of the plains of India. + +Changachelling temples and chaits crown a beautiful rocky eminence on +the ridge, their roofs, cones and spires peeping through groves of +bamboo, rhododendrons, and arbutus; the ascent is by broad flights of +steps cut in the mica-slate rocks, up which shaven and girdled monks, +with rosaries and long red gowns, were dragging loads of bamboo +stems, that produced a curious rattling noise. At the summit there is +a fine temple, with the ruins of several others, and of many houses: +the greater part of the principal temple, which is two-storied and +divided into several compartments, is occupied by families. The monks +were busy repairing the part devoted to worship, which consists of a +large chamber and vestibule of the usual form: the outside walls are +daubed red, with a pigment of burnt felspathic clay, which is dug +hard by. Some were painting the vestibule with colours brought from +Lhassa, where they had been trained to the art. Amongst other figures +was one playing on a guitar, a very common symbol in the vestibules +of Sikkim temples: I also saw an angel playing on the flute, and a +snake-king offering fruit to a figure in the water, who was grasping +a serpent. Amongst the figures I was struck by that of an Englishman, +whom, to my amusement, and the limner's great delight, I recognised +as myself. I was depicted in a flowered silk coat instead of a tartan +shooting jacket, my shoes were turned up at the toes, and I had on +spectacles and a tartar cap, and was writing notes in a book. On one +side a snake-king was politely handing me fruit, and on the other a +horrible demon was writhing. + +A crowd had collected to see whether I should recognise myself, and +when I did so, the merriment was extreme. They begged me to send them +a supply of vermilion, goldleaf, and brushes; our so called +camel's-hair pencils being much superior to theirs, which are made of +marmot's hair. + +I was then conducted to a house, where I found salted and buttered +tea and Murwa beer smoking in hospitable preparation. As usual, the +house was of wood, and the inhabited apartments above the low +basement story were approached by an outside ladder, like a Swiss +cottage: within were two rooms floored with earth; the inner was +small, and opened on a verandah that faced Kinchinjunga, whence the +keen wind whistled through the apartment. + +The head Lama, my jolly fat friend of the 20th of December, came to +breakfast with me, followed by several children, nephews and nieces +he said; but they were uncommonly like him for such a distant +relationship, and he seemed extremely fond of them, and much pleased +when I stuffed them with sugar. + +Changachelling hill is remarkable for having on its summit an immense +tabular mass of chlorite slate, resting apparently horizontally on +variously inclined rocks of the same: it is quite flat-topped, ten to +twelve yards each way, and the sides are squared by art; the country +people attribute its presence here to a miracle. + +The view of the Kinchin range from this spot being one of the finest +in Sikkim, and the place itself being visible from Dorjiling, I took +a very careful series of bearings, which, with those obtained at +Pemiongchi, were of the utmost use in improving my map, which was +gradually progressing. To my disappointment I found that neither +priest nor people knew the name of a single snowy mountain. I also +asked in vain for some interpretation of the lines I have quoted at +earlier; they said they were Lepcha worship, and that they only used +them for the gratification of the people, on the day of the great +festival of Kinchinjunga. + +Hence I descended to the Kulhait river, on my route back to +Dorjiling, visiting my very hospitable tippling friend, the Kajee of +Lingcham, on the way down: he humbly begged me to get him a pair of +spectacles, for no other object than to look wise, as he had the eyes +of a hawk; he told me that mine drew down universal respect in +Sikkim, and that I had been drawn with them on, in the temple at +Changachelling; and that a pair would not only wonderfully become +him, but afford him the most pleasing recollections of myself. +Happily I had the means of gratifying him, and have since been told +that he wears them on state occasions. + +I encamped by the river, 3,160 feet above the sea, amongst figs and +plantains, on a broad terrace of pebbles, boulders and sand, ten feet +above the stream; the rocks in the latter were covered with a red +conferva. The sand on the banks was disposed in layers, alternately +white and red, the white being quartz, and the red pulverised +garnets. The arranging of these sand-bands by the water must be due +to the different specific gravities of the garnet and quartz; the +former being lighter, is lifted by the current on to the surface of +the quartz, and left there when the waters retire. + +On the next day I ascended Hee hill, crossed it at an elevation of +7,290 feet, and camped on the opposite side at 6,680 feet, in a dense +forest. The next march was still southward to the little Rungeet +guard-house, below Dorjiling spur, which I reached after a fatiguing +walk amidst torrents of rain. The banks of the little Rungeet river, +which is only 1,670 feet above the sea, are very flat and low, with +broad terraces of pebbles and shingle, upon which are huge gneiss +boulders, fully 200 feet above the stream. + +On the 19th of January, I ascended the Tukvor spur to Dorjiling, and +received a most hospitable welcome from my friend Mr. Muller, now +almost the only European inhabitant of the place; Mr. Hodgson having +gone down on a shooting excursion in the Terai, and Dr. Campbell +being on duty on the Bhotan frontier. The place looked what it really +was--wholly deserted. The rain I had experienced in the valley, had +here been snow, and the appearance of the broad snowed patches clear +of trees, and of the many houses without smoke or inhabitant, and the +tall scattered trees with black bark and all but naked branches, was +dismal in the extreme. The effect was heightened by an occasional +Hindoo, who flitted here and there along the road, crouching and +shivering, with white cotton garments and bare legs. + +The delight of my Lepcha attendants at finding themselves safely at +home again, knew no bounds; and their parents waited on me with +presents, and other tokens of their goodwill and gratitude. I had no +lack of volunteers for a similar excursion in the following season, +though with their usual fickleness, more than half failed me, long +before the time arrived for putting their zeal to the proof. + +------------ + +I am indebted to Dr. Campbell for the accompanying impression and +description of the seal of the Dhurma Rajah, or sovereign pontiff of +Bhotan, and spiritual head of the whole sect of the Dookpa, or +red-mitred Lama Boodhists. The translations were made by Aden Tchehu +Lama, who accompanied us into Sikkim in 1849, and I believe they are +quite correct. The Tibetan characters run from left to right. + +The seal of the Dhurma Rajah is divided into a centre portion and +sixteen rays. In the centre is the word Dookyin, which means "The +Dookpa Creed"; around the "Dookyin" are sixteen similar letters, +meaning "I," or "I am." The sixteen radial compartments contain his +titles and attributes, thus, commencing from the centre erect one, +and passing round from left to right:-- + +1. I am the Spiritual and Temporal Chief of the Realm. +2. The Defender of the Faith. +3. Equal to Saruswati in learning. +4. Chief of all the Boodhs. +5. Head expounder of the Shasters. +6. Caster out of devils. +7. The most learned in the Holy Laws. +8. An Avatar of God (or, by God's will). +9. Absolver of sins. +10. I am above all the Lamas of the Dookpa Creed. +11. I am of the best of all Religions--the Dookpa. +12. The punisher of unbelievers. +18. Unequalled in expounding the Shasters. +14. Unequalled in holiness and wisdom. +15. The head (or fountain) of all Religious Knowledge. +16. The Enemy of all false Avatars. + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +EXCURSION TO TERAI. + +Dispatch collections -- Acorns -- Heat -- Punkabaree -- Bees -- +Vegetation -- Haze -- Titalya -- Earthquake -- Proceed to Nepal +frontier -- Terai, geology of -- Physical features of Himalayan +valleys -- Elephants, purchase of, etc. -- Riverbeds -- Mechi river +-- Return to Titalya -- Leave for Teesta -- Climate of plains -- +Jeelpigoree -- Cooches -- Alteration in the appearance of country by +fires, etc. -- Grasses -- Bamboos -- Cottages -- Rajah of Cooch Behar +-- Condition of people -- Hooli festival -- Ascend Teesta -- Canoes +-- Cranes -- Forest -- Baikant-pore -- Rummai -- Religion -- Plants +at foot of mountains -- Exit of Teesta -- Canoe voyage down to +Rangamally -- English genera of plants -- Birds -- Beautiful Scenery +-- Botanizing on elephants -- Willow -- Siligoree -- Cross Terai -- +Geology -- Iron -- Lohar-ghur -- Coal and sandstone beds -- Mechi +fisherman -- Hailstorm -- Ascent to Khersiong -- To Dorjiling -- +Vegetation -- Geology -- Folded quartz-beds -- Spheres of feldspar -- +Lime deposits. + +Having arranged the collections (amounting to eighty loads) made +during 1848, they were conveyed by coolies to the foot of the hills, +where carts were provided to carry them five days' journey to the +Mahanuddy river, which flows into the Ganges, whence they were +transported by water to Calcutta. + +On the 27th of February, I left Dorjiling to join Mr. Hodgson, at +Titalya on the plains. The weather was raw, cold, and threatening: +snow lay here and there at 7000 feet, and all vegetation was very +backward, and wore a wintry garb. The laurels, maples, and +deciduous-leaved oaks, hydrangea and cherry, were leafless, but the +abundance of chesnuts and evergreen oaks, rhododendrons, _Aucuba, +Linonia,_ and other shrubs, kept the forest well clothed. The oaks +had borne a very unusual number of acorns during the last season, +which were now falling, and strewing the road in some places so +abundantly, that it was hardly safe to ride down hill. + +The plains of Bengal were all but obscured by a dense haze, partly +owing to a peculiar state of the atmosphere that prevails in the dry +months, and partly to the fires raging in the Terai forest, from +which white wreaths of smoke ascended, stretching obliquely for miles +to the eastward, and filling the air with black particles of +grass-stems, carried 4000 feet aloft by the heated ascending currents +that impinge against the flanks of the mountains. + +In the tropical region the air was scented with the white blossoms of +the _Vitex Agnus-castus,_ which grew in profusion by the road-side; +but the forest, which had looked so gigantic on my arrival at the +mountains the previous year, appeared small after the far more lofty +and bulky oaks and pines of the upper regions of the Himalaya. + +The evening was sultry and close, the heated surface of the earth +seemed to load the surrounding atmosphere with warm vapours, and the +sensation, as compared with the cool pure air of Dorjiling, was that +of entering a confined tropical harbour after a long sea-voyage. + +I slept in the little bungalow of Punkabaree, and was wakened next +morning by sounds to which I had long been a stranger, the voices of +innumerable birds, and the humming of great bees that bore large +holes for their dwellings in the beams and rafters of houses: never +before had I been so forcibly struck with the absence of animal life +in the regions of the upper Himalaya. + +Breakfasting early, I pursued my way in the so-called cool of the +morning, but this was neither bright nor fresh; the night having been +hazy, there had been no terrestrial radiation, and the earth was +dusty and parched; while the sun rose through a murky yellowish +atmosphere with ill-defined orb. Thick clouds of smoke pressed upon +the plains, and the faint easterly wind wafted large flakes of grass +charcoal sluggishly through the air. + +Vegetation was in great beauty, though past its winter prime. The +tropical forest of India has two flowering seasons; one in summer, of +the majority of plants; and the other in winter, of _Acanthaceae, +Bauhinia, Dillenia, Bombax,_ etc. Of these the former are abundant, +and render the jungle gay with large and delicate white, red, and +purple blossoms. Coarse, ill-favoured vultures wheeled through the +air, languid Bengalees had replaced the active mountaineers, +jackal-like curs of low degree teemed at every village, and ran +howling away from the onslaught of my mountain dog; and the tropics, +with all their beauty of flower and genial warmth, looked as forbidding +and unwholesome as they felt oppressive to a frame that had so long +breathed the fresh mountain air. + +Mounted on a stout pony, I enjoyed my scamper of sixteen miles over +the wooded plains and undulating gravelly slopes of the Terai, +intervening between the foot of the mountains and Siligoree bungalow, +where I rested for an hour. In the afternoon I rode on leisurely to +Titalya, sixteen miles further, along the banks of the Mahanuddy, the +atmosphere being so densely hazy, that objects a few miles off were +invisible, and the sun quite concealed, though its light was so +powerful that no part of the sky could be steadily gazed upon. +This state of the air is very curious, and has met with various +attempts at explanation,* [Dr. M'Lelland ("Calcutta Journal of +Natural History," vol. i, p. 52), attributes the haze of the +atmosphere during the north-west winds of this season, wholly to +suspended earthy particles. But the haze is present even in the +calmest weather, and extreme dryness is in all parts of the world +usually accompanied by an obscure horizon. Captain Campbell +("Calcutta Journal of Natural History," vol. ii, p. 44.) also objects +to Dr. M'Clelland's theory, citing those parts of Southern India +which are least likely to be visited by dust-storms, as possessing an +equally hazy atmosphere; and further denies its being influenced by +the hygrometric state of the atmosphere.] all unsatisfactory to me: +it accompanies great heat, dryness, and elasticity of the suspended +vapours, and is not affected by wind. During the afternoon the latter +blew with violence, but being hot and dry, brought no relief to my +still unacclimated frame. My pony alone enjoyed the freedom of the +boundless plains, and the gallop or trot being fatiguing in the heat, +I tried in vain to keep him at a walk; his spirits did not last long, +however, for he flagged after a few days' tropical heat. My little +dog had run thirty miles the day before, exclusive of all the detours +he had made for his own enjoyment, and he flagged so much after +twenty more this day, that I had to take him on my saddle-bow, where, +after licking his hot swollen feet, he fell fast asleep, in spite of +the motion. + +After leaving the wooded Terai at Siligoree, trees became scarce, and +clumps of bamboos were the prevalent features; these, with an +occasional banyan, peepul, or betel-nut palm near the villages, were +the only breaks on the distant horizon. A powerfully scented +_Clerodendron,_ and an _0sbeckia_ gay with blossoms like dog-roses, +were abundant; the former especially under trees, where the seeds are +dropped by birds. + +At Titalya bungalow, I received a hearty welcome from Mr. Hodgson, +and congratulations on the success of my Nepal journey, which +afforded a theme for many conversations. + +In the evening we had three sharp jerking shocks of an earthquake in +quick succession, at 9.8 p.m., appearing to come up from the +southward: they were accompanied by a hollow rumbling sound like that +of a waggon passing over a wooden bridge. The shock was felt strongly +at Dorjiling, and registered by Mr. Muller at 9.10 p.m.: we had +accurately adjusted our watches (chronometers) the previous morning, +and the motion may therefore fairly be assumed to have been +transmitted northwards through the intervening distance of forty +miles, in two minutes. Both Mr. Muller and Mr. Hodgson had noted a +much more severe shock at 6.10 p.m. the previous evening, which I, +who was walking down the mountain, did not experience; this caused a +good deal of damage at Dorjiling, in cracking well-built walls. +Earthquakes are frequent all along the Himalaya, and are felt far in +Tibet; they are, however, most common towards the eastern and western +extremities of India; owing in the former case to the proximity of +the volcanic forces in the bay of Bengal. Cutch and Scinde, as is +well known, have suffered severely on many occasions, and in several +of them the motion has been propagated through Affghanistan and +Little Tibet, to the heart of Central Asia.* [See "Wood's Travels to +the Oxus."] + +On the morning of the 1st of March, Dr. Campbell arrived at the +bungalow, from his tour of inspection along the frontier of Bhotan +and the Rungpore district; and we accompanied him hence along the +British and Sikkim frontier, as far west as the Mechi river, which +bounds Nepal on the east. + +Terai is a name loosely applied to a tract of country at the very +foot of the Himalaya: it is Persian, and signifies damp. Politically, +the Terai generally belongs to the hill-states beyond it; +geographically, it should appertain to the plains of India; and +geologically, it is a sort of neutral country, being composed neither +of the alluvium of the plains, nor of the rocks of the hills, but for +the most part of alternating beds of sand, gravel, and boulders +brought from the mountains. Botanically it is readily defined as the +region of forest-trees; amongst which the Sal, the most valuable +of Indian timber, is conspicuous in most parts, though not now in +Sikkim, where it has been destroyed. The Terai soil is generally +light, dry, and gravelly (such as the Sal always prefers), and varies +in breadth, from ten miles, along the Sikkim frontier, to thirty and +more on the Nepalese. In the latter country it is called the Morung, +and supplies Sal and Sissoo timber for the Calcutta market, the logs +being floated down the Konki and Cosi rivers to the Ganges. +The gravel-beds extend uninterruptedly upon the plains for fully +twenty miles south of the Sikkim mountains, the gravel becoming +smaller as the distance increases, and large blocks of stone not +being found beyond a few miles from the rocks of the Himalaya itself, +even in the beds of rivers, however large and rapid. Throughout its +breadth this formation is conspicuously cut into flat-topped +terraces, flanking the spurs of the mountains, at elevations varying +from 250 to nearly 1000 feet above the sea. These terraces are of +various breadth and length, the smallest lying uppermost, and the +broadest flanking the rivers below. The isolated hills beyond are +also flat-topped and terraced. This deposit contains no fossils; and +its general appearance and mineral constituents are the only evidence +of its origin, which is no doubt due to a retiring ocean that washed +the base of the Sikkim Himalaya, received the contents of its rivers, +and, wearing away its bluff spurs, spread a talus upwards of 1000 +feet thick along its shores. It is not at first sight evident whether +the terracing is due to periodic retirements of the ocean, or to the +levelling effects of rivers that have cut channels through the +deposit. In many places, especially along the banks of the great +streams, the gravel is smaller, obscurely interstratified with sand, +and the flattened pebbles over-lap rudely, in a manner characteristic +of the effects of running water; but such is not the case with the +main body of the deposit, which is unstratified, and much coarser. + +The alluvium of the Gangetic valley is both interstratified with the +gravel, and passes into it, and was no doubt deposited in deep water, +whilst the coarser matter* [This, too, is non-fossiliferous, and is +of unknown depth, except at Calcutta, where the sand and clay beds +have been bored through, to the depth of 120 feet, below which the +first pebbles were met with. Whence these pebbles were derived is a +curious problem. The great Himalayan rivers convey pebbles but a very +few miles from the mountains on to the plains of India; and there is +no rock _in situ_ above the surface, within many miles of Calcutta, +in any direction.] was accumulating at the foot of the mountains. + +This view is self-evident, and has occurred, I believe, to almost +every observer, at whatever part of the base of the Himalaya he may +have studied this deposit. Its position, above the sandstones of the +Sewalik range in the north-west Himalaya, and those of Sikkim, which +appear to be modern fossiliferous rocks, indicates its being +geologically of recent formation; but it still remains a subject of +the utmost importance to discover the extent and nature of the ocean +to whose agency it is referred. I have elsewhere remarked that the +alluvium of the Gangetic valley may to a great degree be the measure +of the denudation which the Himalaya has suffered along its Indian +watershed. It was, no doubt, during the gradual rise of that chain +from the ocean, that the gravel and alluvium were deposited; and in +the terraces and alternation of these, there is evidence that there +have been many subsidences and elevations of the coast-line, during +which the gravel has suffered greatly from denudation. + +I have never looked at the Sikkim Himalaya from the plains without +comparing its bold spurs enclosing sinuous river gorges, to the +weather-beaten front of a mountainous coast; and in following any of +its great rivers, the scenery of its deep valleys no less strikingly +resembles that of such narrow arms of the sea (or fiords) as +characterize every mountainous coast, of whatever geological +formation: such as the west coast of Scotland and Norway, of South +Chili and Fuegia, of New Zealand and Tasmania. There are too in these +Himalayan valleys, at all elevations below 600 feet, terraced +pebble-beds, rising in some cases eighty feet above the rivers, which +I believe could only have been deposited by them when they debouched +into deep water; and both these, and the beds of the rivers, are +strewed, down to 1000 feet, with masses of rock. Such accumulations +and transported blocks are seen on the raised beaches of our narrow +Scottish salt water lochs, exposed by the rising of the land, and +they are yet forming of immense thickness on many coasts by the joint +action of tides and streams. + +I have described meeting with ancient moraines in every Himalayan +valley I ascended, at or about 7000 or 8000 feet elevation, proving, +that at one period, the glaciers descended fully so much below the +position they now occupy: this can only be explained by a change of +climate,* [Such a change of temperature, without any depression or +elevation of the mountains, has been thought by Capt. R. Strachey +("Journal of Geological Society"), an able Himalayan observer, to be +the necessary consequence of an ocean at the foot of these mountains; +for the amount of perpetual snow, and consequent descent of the +glaciers, increasing indirectly in proportion to the humidity of the +climate, and the snow-fall, he conjectured that the proximity of the +ocean would prodigiously increase such a deposition of snow.--To me, +this argument appears inconclusive; for the first effect of such a +vast body of water would be to raise the temperature of winter; and +as it is the rain, rather than the sun of summer, which removes the +Sikkim snow, so would an increase of this rain elevate, rather than +depress, the level of perpetual snow.] or by a depression of the +mountain mass equal to 8000 feet, since the formation of these +moraines. + +The country about Titalya looks desert, from that want of trees and +cultivation, so characteristic of the upper level throughout this +part of the plains, which is covered with short, poor pasture-grass. +The bungalow stands close to the Mahanuddy, on a low hill, cut into +an escarpment twenty feet high, which exposes a section of river-laid +sand and gravel, alternating with thick beds of rounded pebbles. + +Shortly after Dr. Campbell's arrival, the meadows about the bungalow +presented a singular appearance, being dotted over with elephants, +brought for purchase by Government. It was curious to watch the +arrival of these enormous animals, which were visible nearly two +miles across the flat plains; nor less interesting was it to observe +the wonderful docility of these giants of the animal kingdom, often +only guided by naked boys, perched on their necks, scolding, +swearing, and enforcing their orders with the iron goad. +There appeared as many tricks in elephant-dealers as in +horse-jockeys, and of many animals brought, but few were purchased. +Government limits the price to about 75 pounds, and the height to the +shoulder must not be under seven feet, which, incredible as it +appears, may be estimated within a fraction as being three times the +circumference of the forefoot. The pedigree is closely inquired into, +the hoofs are examined for cracks, the teeth for age, and many other +points attended to. + +The Sikkim frontier, from the Mahanuddy westward to the Mechi, is +marked out by a row of tall posts. The country is undulating; and +though fully 400 miles from the ocean, and not sixty from the top of +the loftiest mountain on the globe, its average level is not 300 feet +above that of the sea. The upper levels are gravelly, and loosely +covered with scattered thorny jujube bushes, occasionally tenanted by +the _Florican,_ which scours these downs like a bustard. Sometimes a +solitary fig, or a thorny acacia, breaks the horizon, and there are a +few gnarled trees of the scarlet _Butea frondosa._ + +On our route I had a good opportunity of examining the line of +junction between the alluvial plains that stretch south to the +Ganges, and the gravel deposit flanking the hills. The rivers always +cut broad channels with scarped terraced sides, and their low banks +are very fertile, from the mud annually spread by the ever-shifting +streams that meander within their limits; there are, however, few +shrubs and no trees. The houses, which are very few and scattered, +are built on the gravelly soil above, the lower level being +very malarious. + +Thirty miles south of the mountains, numerous isolated flat-topped +hills, formed of stratified gravel and sand with large water-worn +pebbles, rise from 80 to 200 feet above the mean level, which is +about 250 feet above the sea; these, too, have always scarped sides, +and the channels of small streams completely encircle them. + +At this season few insects but grasshoppers are to be seen, even +mosquitos being rare. Birds, however, abound, and we noticed the +common sparrow, hoopoe, water-wagtail, skylark, osprey, and +several egrets. + +We arrived on the third day at the Mechi river, to the west of which +the Nepal Terai (or Morung) begins, whose belt of Sal forest loomed +on the horizon, so raised by refraction as to be visible as a dark +line, from the distance of many miles. It is, however, very poor, all +the large trees having been removed. We rode for several miles into +it, and found the soil dry and hard, but supporting a prodigious +undergrowth of gigantic harsh grasses that reached to our heads, +though we were mounted on elephants. Besides Sal there was abundance +of _Butea, Diospyros, Terminalia,_ and _Symplocos,_ with the dwarf +_Phoenix_ palm, and occasionally _Cycas._ Tigers, wild elephants, and +the rhinoceros, are said to be found here; but we saw none. + +The old and new Mechi rivers are several miles apart, but flow in the +same depression, a low swamp many miles broad, which is grazed at +this season, and cultivated during the rains. The grass is very rich, +partly owing to the moisture of the climate, and partly to the +retiring waters of the rivers; both circumstances being the effects +of proximity to the Himalaya. Hence cattle (buffalos and the common +humped cow of India) are driven from the banks of the Ganges 300 +miles to these feeding grounds, for the use of which a trifling tax +is levied on each animal. The cattle are very carelessly herded, and +many are carried off by tigers. + +Having returned to Titalya, Mr. Hodgson and I set off in an eastern +direction for the Teesta river, whose embouchure from the mountains +to the plains I was anxious to visit. Though the weather is hot, and +oppressively so in the middle of the day, there are few climates more +delicious than that of these grassy savannahs from December to March. +We always started soon after daybreak on ponies, and enjoyed a twelve +to sixteen miles' gallop in the cool of the morning before breakfast, +which we found prepared on our arrival at a tent sent on ahead the +night before. The road led across an open country, or followed paths +through interminable rice-fields, now dry and dusty. On poor soil a +white-flowered _Leucas_ monopolized the space, like our charlock and +poppy: it was apparently a pest to the agriculturist, covering the +surface in some places like a sprinkling of snow. Sometimes the +river-beds exposed fourteen feet of pure stratified sand, with only +an inch of vegetable soil above. + +At this season the mornings are very hazy, with the thermometer at +sunrise 60 degrees; one laid on grass during the night falling 7 +degrees below that temperature: dew forms, but never copiously: by +10 a.m. the temperature has risen to 75 degrees, and the faint +easterly morning breezes die away; the haze thickens, and covers the +sky with a white veil, the thermometer rising to 82 degrees at noon, +and the west wind succeeding in parching tornados and furious gusts, +increasing with the temperature, which attains its maximum in the +afternoon, and falling again with its decline at sunset. The evenings +are calm; but the earth is so heated, that the thermometer stands at +10 p.m. at 66 degrees, and the minimum at night is not below 55 +degrees: great drought accompanies the heat at this season, but not +to such a degree as in North-west India, or other parts of this +meridian further removed from the hills. In the month of March, and +during the prevalence of west winds, the mean temperature was 79 +degrees, and the dew-point 22 degrees lower, indicating great +drought. The temperature at Calcutta was 7 degrees warmer, and the +atmosphere very much damper. + +On the second day we arrived at Jeelpigoree, a large straggling +village near the banks of the Teesta, a good way south of the forest: +here we were detained for several days, waiting for elephants with +which to proceed northwards. The natives are Cooches, a Mogul +(Mongolian) race, who inhabit the open country of this district, +replacing the Mechis of the Terai forest. They are a fine athletic +people, not very dark, and formed the once-powerful house of Cooch +Behar. Latterly the upper classes have adopted the religion of the +Brahmins, and have had caste conferred upon them; while the lower +orders have turned Mahomedans: these, chiefly agriculturists, are a +timid, oppressed class, who everywhere fled before us, and were with +difficulty prevailed upon even to direct us along our road. A rude +police is established by the British Government all over the country, +and to it the traveller applies for guides and assistance; but the +Conches were so shy and difficult to deal with, that we were +generally left to our own resources. + +Grass is the prevailing feature of the country, as there are few +shrubs, and still fewer trees. Goats and the common Indian cow are +plentiful; but it is not swampy enough for the buffalo; and sheep are +scarce, on account of the heat of the climate. This uniformity of +feature over so immense an area is, however, due to the agency of +man, and is of recent introduction; as all concur in affirming, that +within the last hundred years the face of the country was covered +with the same long jungle-grasses which abound in the Terai forest; +and the troops cantoned at Titalya (a central position in these +plains) from 1816 to 1828, confirm this statement as far as their +immediate neighbourhood is concerned. + +These gigantic _Gramineae_ seem to be destroyed by fire with +remarkable facility at one season of the year; and it is well that +this is the case; for, whether as a retainer of miasma, a shelter for +wild beasts, both carnivorous and herbivorous, alike dangerous to +man, or from their liability to ignite, and spread destruction far +and wide, the grass-jungles are most serious obstacles to +civilization. Next to the rapidity with which it can be cleared, the +adaptation of a great part of the soil to irrigation during the +rains, has greatly aided the bringing of it under cultivation. + +By far the greater proportion of this universal short turf grass is +formed of _Andropogon acicularis, Cynodon Dactylon,_* [Called "Dhob." +This is the best pasture grass in the plains of India, and the only +one to be found over many thousands of square miles.] and in sandy +places, _Imperata cylindrica_; where the soil is wetter, _Ameletia +Indica_ is abundant, giving a heather-like colour to the turf, with +its pale purple flowers: wherever there is standing water, its +surface is reddened by the _Azolla,_ and _Salvinia_ is also common. + +At Jeelpigoree we were waited upon by the Dewan, who governs the +district for the Rajah, a boy about ten years old, whose estates are +locked up during the trial of an interminable suit for the +succession, that has been instituted against him by a natural son of +the late Rajah: we found the Dewan to be a man of intelligence, who +promised us elephants as soon as the great Hooli festival, now +commenced, should be over. + +The large village, at the time of our visit, was gay with holiday +dresses. It is surrounded by trees, chiefly of banyan, jack, mango, +peepul, and tamarind: interminable rice-fields extend on all sides, +and except bananas, slender betel-nut palms, and sometimes pawn, or +betel-pepper, there is little other extensive cultivation. +The rose-apple, orange, and pine-apple are rare, as are cocoa-nuts: +there are few date or fan-palms, and only occasionally poor crops of +castor-oil and sugar-cane. In the gardens I noticed jasmine, +_Justicia Adhatoda, Hibiscus,_ and others of the very commonest +Indian ornamental plants; while for food were cultivated +_Chenopodium,_ yams, sweet potatos, and more rarely peas, beans, and +gourds. Bamboos were planted round the little properties and smaller +clusters of houses, in oblong squares, the ridge on which the plants +grew being usually bounded by a shallow ditch. The species selected +was not the most graceful of its family; the stems, or culms, being +densely crowded, erect, as thick at the base as the arm, copiously +branching, and very feathery throughout their whole length of +sixty feet. + +A gay-flowered _Osbeckia_ was common along the roadsides, and, with +a _Clerodendron,_* [_Clerodendron_ leaves, bruised, are used to kill +vermin, fly-blows, etc., in cattle; and the twigs form toothpicks. +The flowers are presented to Mahadeo, as a god of peace; milk, honey, +flowers, fruit, amrit (ambrosia), etc., being offered to the pacific +gods, as Vishnu, Krishna, etc.; while Mudar (_Asclepias_), Bhang +(_Cannabis sativa_), _Datura,_ flesh, blood, and spirituous liquors, +are offered to Siva, Doorga, Kali, and other demoniacal deities.] +whose strong, sweet odour was borne far through the air, formed a low +undershrub beneath every tree, generally intermixed with three ferns +(a _Polypodium, Pteris,_ and _Goniopteris_). + +The cottages are remarkable, and have a very neat appearance, +presenting nothing but a low white-washed platform of clay, and an +enormous high, narrow, black, neatly thatched roof, so arched along +the ridge, that its eaves nearly touch the ground at each gable; and +looking at a distance like a gigantic round-backed elephant. +The walls are of neatly-platted bamboo: each window (of which there +are two) is crossed by slips of bamboo, and wants only glass to make +it look European; they have besides shutters of wattle, that open +upwards, projecting during the day like the port-hatches of a ship, +and let down at night. Within, the rooms are airy and clean: one end +contains the machans (bedsteads), the others some raised clay +benches, the fire, frequently an enormous Hookah, round wattled +stools, and various implements. The inhabitants appeared more than +ordinarily well-dressed; the men in loose flowing robes of fine +cotton or muslin, the women in the usual garb of a simple thick +cotton cloth, drawn tight immediately above the breast, and thence +falling perpendicularly to the knee; the colour of this is a bright +blue in stripes, bordered above and below with red. + +I anticipated some novelty from a visit to a Durbar (court) so +distant from European influence as that of the Rajah of Jeelpigoree. +All Eastern courts, subject to the Company, are, however, now shorn +of much of their glory; and the condition of the upper classes is +greatly changed. Under the Mogul rule, the country was farmed out to +Zemindars, some of whom assumed the title of Rajah: they collected +the revenue for the Sovereign, retaining by law ten per cent. on all +that was realized: there was no intermediate class, the peasant +paying directly to the Zemindar, and he into the royal treasury. +Latterly the Zemindars have become farmers under the Company's rule; +and in the adjudication of their claims, Lord Cornwallis (then +Governor-General) made great sacrifices in their favour, levying only +a small tribute in proportion to their often great revenues, in the +hope that they would be induced to devote their energies, and some of +their means, to the improvement of the condition of the peasantry. +This expectation was not realized: the younger Zemindars especially, +subject to no restraint (except from aggressions on their +neighbours), fell into slothful habits, and the collecting of the +revenue became a trading speculation, entrusted to "middle men." +The Zemindar selects a number, who again are at liberty to collect +through the medium of several sub-renting classes. Hence the peasant +suffers, and except a generally futile appeal to the Rajah, he has no +redress. The law secures him tenure as long as he can pay his rent, +and to do this he has recourse to the usurer; borrowing in spring (at +50, and oftener 100 per cent.) the seed, plough, and bullocks: he +reaps in autumn, and what is then not required for his own use, is +sold to pay off part of his original debt, the rest standing over +till the next season; and thus it continues to accumulate, till, +overwhelmed with difficulties, he is ejected, or flees to a +neighbouring district. The Zemindar enjoys the same right of tenure +as the peasant: the amount of impost laid on his property was fixed +for perpetuity; whatever his revenue be, he must pay so much to the +Company, or he forfeits his estates, and they are put up for auction. + +One evening we visited the young Rajah at his residence, which has +rather a good appearance at a distance, its white walls gleaming +through a dark tope of mango, betel, and cocoa-nut. A short rude +avenue leads to the entrance gate, under the trees of which a large +bazaar was being held; stocked with cloths, simple utensils, +ornaments, sweetmeats, five species of fish from the Teesta, and the +betel-nut. + +We entered through a guard-house, where were some of the Rajah's +Sepoys in the European costume, and a few of the Company's troops, +lent to the Rajah as a security against some of the turbulent +pretenders to his title. Within was a large court-yard, flanked by a +range of buildings, some of good stone-work, some of wattle, in all +stages of disrepair. A great crowd of people occupied one end of the +court, and at the other we were received by the Dewan, and seated on +chairs under a canopy supported by slender silvered columns. +Some slovenly Natch-girls were dancing before us, kicking up clouds +of dust, and singing or rather bawling through their noses, the usual +indelicate hymns in honour of the Hooli festival; there were also +fiddlers, cutting uncouth capers in rhythm with the dancers. +Anything more deplorable than the music, dancing, and accompaniments, +cannot well be imagined; yet the people seemed vastly pleased, and +extolled the performers. + +The arrival of the Rajah and his brothers was announced by a crash of +tom-toms and trumpets, while over their heads were carried great gilt +canopies. With them came a troop of relations, of all ages; and +amongst them a poor little black girl, dressed in honour of us in an +old-fashioned English chintz frock and muslin cap, in which she cut +the drollest figure imaginable; she was carried about for our +admiration, like a huge Dutch doll, crying lustily all the time. + +The festivities of the evening commenced by handing round trays full +of pith-balls, the size of a nutmeg, filled with a mixture of flour, +sand, and red lac-powder; with these each pelted his neighbour, the +thin covering bursting as it struck any object, and powdering it +copiously with red dust. A more childish and disagreeable sport +cannot well be conceived; and when the balls were expended, the dust +itself was resorted to, not only fresh, but that which had already +been used was gathered up, with whatever dirt it might have become +mixed. One rude fellow, with his hand full, sought to entrap his +victims into talking, when he would stuff the nasty mixture into +their mouths. + +At the end attar of roses was brought, into which little pieces of +cotton, fixed on slips of bamboo, were dipped, and given to each +person. The heat, dust, stench of the unwashed multitude, noise, and +increasing familiarity of the lower orders, warned us to retire, and +we effected our retreat with precipitancy. + +The Rajah and his brother were very fine boys, lively, frank, +unaffected, and well disposed: they have evidently a good guide in +the old Dewan; but it is melancholy to think how surely, should they +grow up in possession of their present rank, they will lapse into +slothful habits, and take their place amongst the imbeciles who now +represent the once powerful Rajahs of Bengal. + +We rode back to our tents by a bright moonlight, very dusty and +tired, and heartily glad to breathe the cool fresh air, after the +stifling ordeal we had undergone. + +On the following evening the elephants were again in waiting to +conduct us to the Rajah. He and his relations were assembled outside +the gates, mounted upon elephants, amid a vast concourse of people. +The children and Dewan were seated in a sort of cradle; the rest were +some in howdahs, and some astride on elephants' backs, six or eight +together. All the idols were paraded before them, and powdered with +red dust; the people howling, shouting, and sometimes quarrelling. +Our elephants took their places amongst those of the Rajah; and when +the mob had sufficiently pelted one another with balls and dirty red +powder, a torchlight procession was formed, the idols leading the +way, to a very large tank, bounded by a high rampart, within which +was a broad esplanade round the water. + +The effect of the whole was very striking, the glittering cars and +barbaric gaud of the idols showing best by torchlight; while the +white robes and turbans of the undulating sea of people, and the +great black elephants picking their way with matchless care and +consideration, contrasted strongly with the quiet moonbeams sleeping +on the still broad waters of the tank. + +Thence the procession moved to a field, where the idols were placed +on the ground, and all dismounted: the Dewan then took the children +by the hand, and each worshipped his tutelary deity in a short prayer +dictated by the attendant Brahmin, and threw a handful of red dust in +its face. After another ordeal of powder, singing, dancing, and +suffocation, our share in the Hooli ended; and having been promised +elephants for the following morning, we bade a cordial farewell to +our engaging little hosts and their staid old governor. + +On the 10th of March we were awakened at an early hour by a heavy +thunder-storm from the south-west. The sunrise was very fine, through +an arch 10 degrees high of bright blue sky, above which the whole +firmament was mottled with cirrus. It continued cloudy, with light +winds, througbout the day, but clear on the horizon. From this tinge +such storms became frequent, ushering in the equinox; and the less +hazy sky and rising hygrometer predicted an accession of moisture in +the atmosphere. + +We left for Rangamally, a village eight miles distant in a northerly +direction, our course lying along the west bank of the Teesta. + +The river is here navigated by canoes, thirty to forty feet long, +some being rudely cut out of a solid log of Sal, while others are +built, the planks, of which there are but few, being sewed together, +or clamped with iron, and the seams caulked with the fibres of the +root of Dhak (_Butea frondosa_), and afterwards smeared with the +gluten of _Diospyros embryopteris._ The bed of the river is here +threequarters of a mile across, of which the stream does not occupy +one-third; its banks are sand-cliffs, fourteen feet in height. A few +small fish and water-snakes swarm in the pools. + +The whole country improved in fertility as we advanced towards the +mountains: the grass became greener, and more trees, shrubs, herbs, +and birds appeared. In front, the dark boundary-line of the Sal +forest loomed on the horizon, and to the east rose the low hills of +Bhotan, both backed by the outer ranges of the Himalaya. + +Flocks of cranes were abundant over-head, flying in wedges, or +breaking up into "open order," preparing for their migration +northwards, which takes place in April, their return occurring in +October; a small quail was also common on the ground. Tamarisk +("Jhow") grew in the sandy bed of the river; its flexible young +branches are used in various parts of India for wattling and +basket-making. + +In the evening we walked to the skirts of the Sal forest. The great +trunks of the trees were often scored by tigers' claws, this animal +indulging in the cat-like propensity of rising and stretching itself +against such objects. Two species of _Dillenia_ were common in the +forest, with long grass, _Symplocos, Emblica,_ and _Cassia Fistula,_ +now covered with long pods. Several parasitical air-plants grew on +the dry trees, as _Oberonia, Vanda,_ and _Aerides._ + +At Rangamally, the height of the sandy banks of the Teesta varies +from fifteen to twenty feet. The bed is a mile across, and all sand;* +[Now covered with _Anthistiria_ grass, fifteen feet high, a little +_Sissoo,_ and _Bombax._] the current much divided, and opaque green, +from the glacial origin of most of its head-streams. The west bank +was covered with a small Sal forest, mixed with _Acacia Catechu,_ and +brushwood, growing in a poor vegetable loam, over very dry sand. + +The opposite (or Bhotan) bank is much lower, and always flooded +during the rains, which is not the case on the western side, where +the water rises to ten feet below the top of the bank, or from seven +to ten feet above its height in the dry season, and it then fills its +whole bed. This information we had from a police Jemadar, who has +resided many years on this unhealthy spot, and annually suffers from +fever. The Sal forest has been encroached upon from the south, for +many miles, within the memory of man, by clearing in patches, and by +indiscriminate felling. + +About ten miles north of Rangamally, we came to an extensive flat, +occupying a recess in the high west bank, the site of the old capital +(Bai-kant-pore) of the Jeelpigoree Rajah. Hemmed in as it is on three +sides by a dense forest, and on all by many miles of malarious Terai, +it appears sufficiently secure from ordinary enemies, during a great +part of the year. The soil is sandy, overlying gravel, and covered +with a thick stratum of fine mud or silt, which is only deposited on +these low flats; on it grew many naturalized plants, as hemp, +tobacco, jack, mango, plantain, and orange. + +About eight miles on, we left the river-bed, and struck westerly +through a dense forest, to a swampy clearance occupied by the village +of Rummai, which appeared thoroughly malarious; and we pitched the +tent on a narrow, low ridge, above the level of the plain. + +It was now cool and pleasant, partly due, no doubt, to a difference +in the vegetation, and the proximity of swamp and forest, and partly +also to a change in the weather, which was cloudy and threatening; +much rain, too, had fallen here on the preceding day. + +Brahmins and priests of all kinds are few in this miserable country: +near the villages, and under the large trees, are, every here and +there, a few immature thatched cottages, four to six feet high, in +which the tutelary deities of the place are kept; they are idols of +the very rudest description, of Vishnu as an ascetic (Bai-kant Nath), +a wooden doll, gilt and painted, standing, with the hands raised as +if in exhortation, and one leg crossed over the other. Again, Kartik, +the god of war, is represented sitting astride on a peacock, with the +right hand elevated and holding a small flat cup. + +Some fine muscular Cooches were here brought for Mr. Hodgson's +examination, but we found them unable or unwilling to converse, in +the Cooch tongue, which appears to be fast giving place to Bengalee. + +We walked to a stream, which flows at the base of the retiring +sand-cliffs, and nourishes a dense and richly-varied jungle, +producing many plants, as beautiful _Acanthaceae,_ Indian +horse-chesnut, loaded with white racemes of flowers, gay +_Convolvuli,_ laurels, terrestrial and parasitic _Orchideae, +Dillenia,_ casting its enormous flowers as big as two fists, pepper, +figs, and, in strange association with these, a hawthorn, and the +yellow-flowered Indian strawberry, which ascends 7,500 feet on the +mountains, and _Hodgsonia,_ a new _Cucurbitaceous_ genus, clinging in +profusion to the trees, and also found 5000 feet high on the +mountains. + +In the evening we rode into the forest (which was dry and very +unproductive), and thence along the river-banks, through _Acacia +Catechu,_ belted by _Sissoo,_ which often fringes the stream, always +occupying the lowest flats. The foliage at this season is brilliantly +green; and as the evening advanced, a yellow convolvulus burst into +flower like magic, adorning the bushes over which it climbed. + +It rained on the following morning; after which we left for the exit +of the Teesta, proceeding northwards, sometimes through a dense +forest of Sal timber, sometimes dipping into marshy depressions, or +riding through grassy savannahs, breast-high. The coolness of the +atmosphere was delicious, and the beauty of the jungle seemed to +increase the further we penetrated these primaeval forests. + +Eight miles from Rummai we came on a small river from the mountains, +with a Cooch village close by, inhabited during the dry season by +timber-cutters from Jeelpigoree it is situated upon a very rich black +soil, covered with _Saccharum_ and various gigantic grasses, but no +bamboo. These long grasses replace the Sal, of which we did not see +one good tree. + +We here mounted the elephants, and proceeded several miles through +the prairie, till we again struck upon the high Sal forest-bank, +continuous with that of Rummai and Rangamally, but much loftier: it +formed one of many terraces which stretch along the foot of the +hills, from Punkabaree to the Teesta, but of which none are said to +occur for eight miles eastwards along the Bhotan Dooars: if true, +this is probably due in part to the alteration of the course of the +Teesta, which is gradually working to the westward, and cutting away +these lofty banks. + +The elephant-drivers appeared to have taken us by mistake to the exit +of the Chawa, a small stream which joins the Teesta further to the +eastward. The descent to the bed of this rivulet, round the first +spur of rock we met with, was fully eighty feet, through a very +irregular depression, probably the old bed of the stream; it runs +southwards from the hills, and was covered from top to bottom with +slate-pebbles. We followed the river to its junction with the Teesta, +along a flat, broad gulley, bounded by densely-wooded, steep banks of +clay slate on the north, and the lofty bank on the south: between +these the bed was strewed with great boulders of gneiss and other +rocks, luxuriantly clothed with long grass, and trees of wild +plantain, _Erythrina_ and _Bauhinia,_ the latter gorgeously +in flower. + +The Sal bank formed a very fine object: it was quite perpendicular, +and beautifully stratified with various coloured sands and gravel: it +tailed off abruptly at the junction of the rivers, and then trended +away south-west, forming the west bank of the Teesta. The latter +river is at its outlet a broad and rapid, but hardly impetuous +stream, now fifty yards across, gushing from between two low, +forest-clad spurs: it appeared about five feet deep, and was +beautifully fringed on both sides with green _Sissoo._ + +Some canoes were here waiting for us, formed of hollowed trunks of +trees, thirty feet long: two were lashed together with bamboos, and +the boatmen sat one at the head and one at the stern of each: we lay +along the bottom of the vessels, and in a second we were darting +down the river, at the rate of at least ten or fifteen miles an hour, +the bright waters leaping up on all sides, and bounding in +_jets-d'eau_ between prows and sterns of the coupled vessels. +Sometimes we glided along without perceptible motion, and at others +jolted down bubbling rapids, the steersmen straining every nerve to +keep their bark's head to the current, as she impatiently swerved +from side to side in the eddies. To our jaded and parched frames, +after the hot forenoon's ride on the elephants, the effect was +delicious: the fresh breeze blew on our heated foreheads and down our +open throats and chests; we dipped our hands into the clear, cool +stream, and there was "music in the waters" to our ears. +Fresh verdure on the banks, clear pebbles, soft sand, long English +river-reaches, forest glades, and deep jungles, followed in rapid +succession; and as often as we rounded a bend or shot a rapid, the +scene changed from bright to brighter still; so continuing until +dusk, when we were slowly paddling along the then torpid current +opposite Rangamally.* [The following temperatures of the waters of +the Teesta were taken at intervals during our passage from its exit +to Rangamally, a distance of fifteen linear miles, and thirty miles +following the bends:-- + + Water. Air. +Exit 2h. 30m. p.m. 62 degrees + 3 62.2 degrees 74 degrees + 3.30 63.2 degrees + 4 64 degrees + 4.30 65 degrees + 5 65.4 degrees 72.5 degrees opposite Rummai + 5.30 66 degrees + 6 66 degrees 71.7 degrees opposite Baikant] + +The absence of large stones or boulders of rock in the bed of the +Teesta is very remarkable, considering the great volume and rapidity +of the current, and that it shoots directly from the rocky hills to +the gravelly plains. At the _embouchure_ there are boulders as big +as the head, and in the stream, four miles below the exit, the +boatmen pointed out a stone as large as the body as quite a marvel. + +They assured us that the average rise at the mouth of the river, in +the rains, was not more than five feet: the mean breadth of the +stream is from seventy to ninety yards. From the point where it +leaves the mountains, to its junction with the Megna, is at this +season thirteen days' voyage, the return occupying from twenty to +twenty-five days, with the boats unladen. The name "Teesta" signifies +"quiet," this river being so in comparison with other Himalayan +torrents further west, the Cosi, Konki, etc., which are devastators +of all that bounds their course. + +We passed but two crossing-places: at one the river is divided by an +island, covered with the rude chaits and flags of the Boodhists. +We also saw some Cooch fishermen, who throw the net much as we do: +a fine "Mahaser" (a very large carp) was the best fish they had. +Of cultivation there was very little, and the only habitations were a +few grass-huts of the boatmen or buffalo herdsmen, a rare Cooch +village of Catechu and Sal cutters, or the shelter of +timber-floaters, who seem to pass the night in nests of long +dry grass. + +Our servants not having returned with the elephants from Rummai, we +spent the following day at Rangamally shooting and botanizing. +I collected about 100 species in a couple of hours, and observed +perhaps twice that number: the more common I have repeatedly alluded +to, and excepting some small terrestrial _Orchids,_ I added nothing +of particular interest to my collection.* [The following is a list of +the principal genera, most of which are English:--_Polygonum, +Quercus, Sonchus, Gnaphalium, Cratagus, Lobelia, Lactuca, +Hydrocotyle, Saponaria, Campanula, Bidens, Rubus, Oxalis, Artemisia, +Fragaria, Clematis, Dioscorea, Potamogeton, Chara, Veronica, +Viola, Smilax._] + +On the 14th of March we proceeded west to Siligoree, along the skirts +of the ragged Sal forest. Birds are certainly the most conspicuous +branch of the natural history of this country, and we saw many +species, interesting either from their habits, beauty, or extensive +distribution. We noticed no less than sixteen kinds of swimming +birds, several of which are migratory and English. The Shoveller, +white-eyed and common wild ducks; Merganser, Brahminee, and Indian +goose (_Anser Indica_); common and Gargany teal; two kinds of gull; +one of Shearwater (_Rhynchops ablacus_); three of tern, and one of +cormorant. Besides these there were three egrets, the large crane, +stork, green heron, and the demoiselle; the English sand-martin, +kingfisher, peregrine-falcon, sparrow-hawk, kestrel, and the European +vulture: the wild peacock, and jungle-fowl. There were at least 100 +peculiarly Indian birds in addition, of which the more remarkable +were several kinds of mina, of starling, vulture, kingfisher, magpie, +quail, and lapwing. + +The country gradually became quite beautiful, much undulated and +diversified by bright green meadows, sloping lawns, and deeply wooded +nullahs, which lead from the Sal forest and meander through this +varied landscape. More beautiful sites for fine mansions could not +well be, and it is difficult to suppose so lovely a country should be +so malarious as it is before and after the rains, excessive heat +probably diffusing widely the miasma from small stagnant surfaces. +We noticed a wild hog, absolutely the first wild beast of any size I +sawon the plains, except the hispid hare (_Lepus hispidus_) and the +barking deer (_Stylocerus ratna_). The hare we found to be the best +game of this part of India, except the teal. The pheasants of +Dorjiling are poor, the deer all but uneatable, and the florican, +however dressed, I considered a far from excellent bird. + +A good many plants grow along the streams, the sandy beds of which +are everywhere covered with the marks of tigers' feet. The only safe +way of botanizing is by pushing through the jungle on elephants; an +uncomfortable method, from the quantity of ants and insects which +drop from the foliage above, and from the risk of disturbing +pendulous bees' and ants' nests. + +A peculiar species of willow (_Salix tetrasperma_) is common here; +which is a singular fact, as the genus is characteristic of cold and +arctic latitudes; and no species is found below 5000 feet elevation +on the Sikkim mountain, where it grows on the inner Himalaya only, +some kinds ascending to 16,000 feet. + +East of Siligoree the plains are unvaried by tree or shrub, and are +barren wastes of short turf or sterile sand, with the dwarf-palm +(_Phoenix acaulis_), a sure sign of a most hungry soil. + +The latter part of the journey I performed on elephants during the +heat of the day, and a more uncomfortable mode of conveyance surely +never was adopted; the camel's pace is more fatiguing, but that of +the elephant is extremely trying after a few miles, and is so +injurious to the human frame that the Mahouts (drivers) never reach +an advanced age, and often succumb young to spine-diseases, brought +on by the incessant motion of the vertebral column. The broiling heat +of the elephant's black back, and the odour of its oily driver, are +disagreeable accompaniments, as are its habits of snorting water from +its trunk over its parched skin, and the consequences of the great +bulk of green food which it consumes. + +From Siligoree I made a careful examination of the gravel beds that +occur on the road north to the foot of the hills, and thence over the +tertiary sandstone to Punkabaree. At the Rukti river, which flows +south-west, the road suddenly rises, and crosses the first +considerable hill, about two miles south of any rock _in situ._ +This river cuts a cliff from 60 to 100 feet high, composed of +stratified sand and water-worn gravel: further south, the spur +declines into the plains, its course marked by the Sal that thrives +on its gravelly soil. The road then runs north-west over a plain to +an isolated hill about 200 feet high, also formed of sand and gravel. +We ascended to the top of this, and found it covered with blocks of +gneiss, and much angular detritus. Hence the road gradually ascends, +and becomes clayey. Argillaceous rocks, and a little ochreous +sandstone appeared in highly-inclined strata, dipping north, and +covered with great water-worn blocks of gneiss. Above, a flat +terrace, flanked to the eastward by a low wooded hill, and another +rise of sandstone, lead on to the great Baisarbatti terrace. + +_Bombax, Erythrina,_ and _Duabanga_ (_Lagaerstraemia grandiflora_), +were in full flower, and with the profusion of _Bauhinia,_ rendered +the tree-jungle gay: the two former are leafless when flowering. +The Duabanga is the pride of these forests. Its trunk, from eight to +fifteen feet in girth, is generally forked from the base, and the +long pendulous branches which clothe the trunk for 100 feet, are +thickly leafy, and terminated by racemes of immense white flowers, +which, especially when in bud, smell most disagreeably of +assafoetida. The magnificent Apocyneous climber, _Beaumontia,_ was in +full bloom, ascending the loftiest trees, and clothing their trunks +with its splendid foliage and festoons of enormous funnel-shaped +white flowers. + +The report of a bed of iron-stone eight or ten miles west of +Punkabaree determined our visiting the spot; and the locality being +in a dense jungle, the elephants were sent on ahead. + +We descended to the terraces flanking the Balasun river, and struck +west along jungle-paths to a loosely-timbered flat. A sudden descent +of 150 feet landed us on a second terrace. Further on, a third dip of +about twenty feet (in some places obliterated) flanks the bed of the +Balasun; the river itself being split into many channels at this +season. The west bank, which is forty feet high, is of stratified +sand and gravel, with vast slightly-worn blocks of gneiss: from the +top of this we proceeded south-west for three miles to some Mechi +villages, the inhabitants of which flocked to meet us, bringing milk +and refreshments. + +The Lohar-ghur, or "iron hill," lies in a dense dry forest. +Its plain-ward flanks are very steep, and covered with scattered +weather-worn masses of ochreous and black iron-stone, many of which +are several yards long: it fractures with faint metallic lustre, and +is very earthy in parts: it does not affect the compass. There are no +pebbles of iron-stone, nor water-worn rocks of any kind found +with it. + +The sandstones, close by, cropped out in thick beds (dip north 70 +degrees): they are very soft, and beds of laminated clay, and of a +slaty rock, are intercalated with them; also an excessively tough +conglomerate, formed of an indurated blue or grey paste, with nodules +of harder clay. There are no traces of metal in the rock, and the +lumps of ore are wholly superficial. + +Below Punkabaree the Baisarbatti stream cuts through banks of gravel +overlying the sandstone (dip north 65 degrees). The sandstone is +gritty and micaceous, intercalated with beds of indurated shale and +clay; in which I found the shaft (apparently) of a bone; there were +also beds of the same clay conglomerate which I had seen at +Lohar-ghur, and thin seams of brown lignite; with a rhomboidal +cleavage. In the bed of the stream were carbonaceous shales, with +obscure impressions of fern leaves, of _Trizygia,_ and _Vertebraria_: +both fossils characteristic of the Burdwan coal-fields (see Chapter +I), but too imperfect to justify any conclusion as to the relation +between these formations.* [These traces of fossils are not +sufficient to identify the formation with that of the sewalik hills +of North-west India; but its contents, together with its strike, dip, +and position relatively to the mountains, and its mineralogical +character, incline me to suppose it may be similar. Its appearance in +such small quantities in Sikkim (where it rises but a few hundred +feet above the level of the sea, whereas in Kumaon it reaches 4000 +feet), may be attributed to the greater amount of wearing which it +must have undergone; the plains from which it rises being 1000 feet +lower than those of Kumaon, and the sea having consequently retired +later, exposing the Sikkim sandstone to the effects of denudation for +a much longer period. Hitherto no traces of this rock, or of any +belonging to a similar geological epoch, have been found in the +valleys of Sikkim; but when the narrowness of these is considered, it +will not appear strange that such may have been removed from their +surfaces: first, by the action of a tidal ocean; and afterwards, by +that of tropical rains.] + +Ascending the stream, these shales are seen _in situ,_ overlain by +the metamorphic clay-slate of the mountains, and dipping inwards +(northwards) like them. This is at the foot of the Punkabaree spur, +and close to the bungalow, where a stream and land-slip expose good +sections. The carbonaceous beds dip north 60 degrees and 70 degrees, +and run east and west; much quartz rock is intercalated with them, +and soft white and pink micaceous sandstones. The coal-seams are few +in number, six to twelve inches thick, very confused and distorted, +and full of elliptic nodules, or spheroids of quartzy slate, covered +with concentric scaly layers of coal: they overlie the sandstones +mentioned above. These scanty notices of superposition being +collected in a country clothed with the densest tropical forest, +where a geologist pursues his fatiguing investigations under +disadvantages that can hardly be realized in England, will I fear +long remain unconfirmed. I may mention, however, that the appearance +of inversion of the strata at the foot of great mountain-masses has +been observed in the Alleghany chain, and I believe in the Alps.* +[Dr. M'Lelland informs me that in the Curruckpore hills, south of the +Ganges, the clay-slates are overlain by beds of mica-slate, gneiss, +and granite, which pass into one another.] + +Illustration--A MECH, NATIVE OF THE SIKKIM TERAI. + +A poor Mech was fishing in the stream, with a basket curiously formed +of a cylinder of bamboo, cleft all round in innumerable strips, held +together by the joints above and below; these strips being stretched +out as a balloon in the middle, and kept apart by a hoop: a small +hole is cut in the cage, and a mouse-trap entrance formed: the cage +is placed in the current with the open end upwards, where the fish +get in, and though little bigger than minnows, cannot find their +way out. + +On the 20th we had a change in the weather: a violent storm from the +south-west occurred at noon, with hail of a strange form, the stones +being sections of hollow spheres, half an inch across and upwards, +formed of cones with truncated apices and convex bases; these cones +were aggregated together with their bases outwards. The large masses +were followed by a shower of the separate conical pieces, and that by +heavy rain. On the mountains this storm was most severe: the stones +lay at Dorjiling for seven days, congealed into masses of ice several +feet long and a foot thick in sheltered places: at Purneah, fifty +miles south, stones one and two inches across fell, probably as +whole spheres. + +Ascending to Khersiong, I found the vegetation very backward by the +road-sides. The rain had cleared the atmosphere, and the view over +the plains was brilliant. On the top of the Khersiong spur a +tremendous gale set in with a cold west wind: the storm cleared off +at night, which at 10 p.m. was beautiful, with forked and sheet +lightning over the plains far below us. The equinoctial gales had now +fairly set in, with violent south-east gales, heavy thunder, +lightning, and rain. + +Whilst at Khersiong I took advantage of the very fair section +afforded by the road from Punkabaree, to examine the structure of the +spur, which seems to be composed of very highly inclined contorted +beds (dip north) of metamorphic rocks, gneiss, mica-slate, +clay-slate, and quartz; the foliation of which beds is parallel to +the dip of the strata. Over all reposes a bed of clay, capped with a +layer of vegetable mould, nowhere so thick and rich as in the more +humid regions of 7000 feet elevation. The rocks appeared in the +following succession in descending. Along the top are found great +blocks of very compact gneiss buried in clay. Half a mile lower the +same rock appears, dipping north-north-east 50 degrees. Below this, +beds of saccharine quartz, with seams of mica, dip north-north-west +20 degrees. Some of these quartz beds are folded on themselves, and +look like flattened trunks of trees, being composed of concentric +layers, each from two to four inches thick: we exposed twenty-seven +feet of one fold running along the side of the road, which was cut +parallel to the strike. Each layer of quartz was separated from its +fellows, by one of mica scales; and was broken up into cubical +fragments, whose surfaces are no doubt cleavage and jointing places. +I had previously seen, but not understood, such flexures produced by +metamorphic action on masses of quartz when in a pasty state, in the +Falkland Islands, where they have been perfectly well described by +Mr. Darwin;* [Journal of Geological Society for 1846, p. 267, and +"Voyage of the Beagle".] in whose views of the formation of these +rocks I entirely concur. + +The flexures of the gneiss are incomparably more irregular and +confused than those of the quartz, and often contain flattened +spheres of highly crystalline felspar, that cleave perpendicularly to +the shorter axis. These spheres are disposed in layers parallel to +the foliation of the gneiss: and are the result of a metamorphic +action of great intensity, effecting a complete rearrangement and +crystallization of the quartz and mica in parallel planes, whilst the +felspar is aggregated in spheres; just as in the rearrangement of the +mineral constituents of mica-schists, the alumina is crystallized in +the garnets, and in the clay-slates the iron into pyrites. + +The quartz below this dips north-north-west 45 degrees to 50 degrees, +and alternates with a very hard slaty schist, dipping north-west 45 +degrees, and still lower is a blue-grey clay-slate, dipping +north-north-west 30 degrees. These rest on beds of slate, folded like +the quartz mentioned above, but with cleavage-planes, forming lines +radiating from the axis of each flexure, and running through all the +concentric folds. Below this are the plumbago and clay slates of +Punkabaree, which alternate with beds of mica-schist with garnets, +and appear to repose immediately upon the carboniferous strata and +sandstone; but there is much disturbance at the junction. + +On re-ascending from Punkabaree, the rocks gradually appear more and +more dislocated, the clay-slate less so than the quartz and +mica-schist, and that again far less than the gneiss, which is so +shattered and bent, that it is impossible to say what is _in situ,_ +and what not. Vast blocks lie superficially on the ridges; and the +tops of all the outer mountains, as of Khersiong spur, of Tonglo, +Sinchul, and Dorjiling, appear a pile of such masses. Injected veins +of quartz are rare in the lower beds of schist and clay-slate, whilst +the gneiss is often full of them; and on the inner and loftier +ranges, these quartz veins are replaced by granite with tourmaline. + +Lime is only known as a stalactitic deposit from various streams, at +elevations from 1000 to 7000 feet; one such stream occurs above +Punkabaree, which I have not seen; another within the Sinchul range, +on the great Rungeet river, above the exit of the Rummai; a third +wholly in the great central Himalayan range, flowing into the Lachen +river. The total absence of any calcareous rock in Sikkim, and the +appearance of the deposit in isolated streams at such distant +localities, probably indicates a very remote origin of the +lime-charged waters. + +From Khersiong to Dorjiling, gneiss is the only rock, and is often +decomposed into clay-beds, 20 feet deep, in which the narrow, often +zigzag folia of quartz remain quite entire and undisturbed, whilst +every trace of the foliation of the softer mineral is lost. + +At Pacheem, Dorjiling weather, with fog and drizzle, commenced, and +continued for two days: we, reached Dorjiling on the 24th of March, +and found that the hail which had fallen on the 20th was still lying +in great masses of crumbling ice in sheltered spots. The fall had +done great damage to the gardens, and Dr. Campbell's tea-plants were +cut to pieces. + +Illustration--POCKET-COMB USED BY THE MECH TRIBES. + + + +END OF VOLUME I OF HIMALAYAN JOURNALS. + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Himalayan Journals, V1, by J. D. Hooker + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HIMALAYAN JOURNALS, V1 *** + +This file should be named 6476.txt or 6476.zip + +Scanned by Derek Thompson drthom@ihug.co.nz + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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