Routes from Choongtam to Tibet frontier—Choice of that by the Lachen
river—Arrival of Supplies—Departure—Features of the valley—Eatable
_Polygonum_—Tumlong—Cross Taktoong river—Pines, larches, and other
trees—Chateng pool—Water-plants and insects—Tukcham mountain—Lamteng
village—Inhabitants—Alpine monkey—Botany of temperate Himalaya—European
and American fauna—Japanese and Malayan genera—Superstitious objections
to shooting—Customs of people—Rain—Run short of provisions—Altered
position of Tibet frontier—Zemu Samdong—Imposition—Vegetation—Uses of
pines—Ascent to Thlonok river—Balanophora wood for making
cups—Snow-beds—Eatable mushrooms and _Smilacina_—Asarabacca—View of
Kinchinjunga—Arum-roots, preparation of for food—Liklo
mountain—Bebaviour of my party—Bridge constructed over Zemu—Cross
river—Alarm of my party—Camp on Zemu river.
From this place there were two routes to Tibet, each of about six days’
journey. One lay to the north-west up the Lachen valley to the Kongra
Lama pass, the other to the east up the Lachoong to the Donkia pass.
The latter river has its source in small lakes in Sikkim, south of the
Donkia mountain, a shoulder of which the pass crosses, commanding a
magnificent view into Tibet. The Lachen, on the other hand (the
principal source of the Teesta), rises beyond Sikkim in the Cholamoo
lakes. The frontier at Kongra Lama was described to me as being a
political, and not a natural boundary, marked out by cairns, standing
on a plain, and crossing the Lachen river. To both Donkia and Kongra
Lama I had every right to go, and was determined, if possible, to reach
them, in spite of Meepo’s ignorance, our guide’s endeavours to frighten
my party and mislead myself, and the country people’s dread of
incurring the Dewan’s displeasure.
The Lachen valley being pronounced impracticable in the height of the
rains, a month later, it behoved me to attempt it first, and it
possessed the attraction of leading to a frontier described as far to
the northward of the snowy Himalaya, on a lofty plateau, whose plants
and animals were different from anything I had previously seen.
After a week the coolies arrived with supplies: they had been delayed
by the state of the paths, and had consequently consumed a great part
of my stock, reducing it to eight days’ allowance. I therefore divided
my party, leaving the greater number at Choongtam, with a small tent,
and instructions to forward all food to me as it arrived. I started
with about fifteen attendants, on the 25th of May, for Lamteng, three
marches up the Lachen.
Descending the step-formed terraces, I crossed the Lachen by a good
cane bridge. The river is a headstrong torrent, and turbid from the
vast amount of earthy matter which it bears along; and this character
of extreme impetuosity, unbroken by any still bend, or even swirling
pool, it maintains uninterruptedly at this season from 4000 to 10,000
feet. It is crossed three times, always by cane bridges, and I cannot
conceive any valley of its nature to be more impracticable at such a
season. On both sides the mountains rose, densely forest-clad, at an
average angle of 35° to 40°, to 10,000 and 15,000 feet. Its extreme
narrowness, and the grandeur of its scenery, were alike recalled to my
mind, on visiting the Sachs valley in the Valais of Switzerland; from
which, however, it differs in its luxuriant forest, and in the slopes
being more uniform and less broken up into those imposing precipices so
frequent in Switzerland, but which are wanting in the temperate regions
of the Sikkim Himalaya.
At times we scrambled over rocks 1000 feet above the river, or
descended into gorges, through whose tributary torrents we waded, or
crossed swampy terraced flats of unstratified shingle above the stream;
whilst it was sometimes necessary to round rocky promontories in the
river, stemming the foaming torrent that pressed heavily against the
chest as, one by one, we were dragged along by powerful Lepchas. Our
halting-places were on flats close to the river, covered with large
trees, and carpeted with a most luxuriant herbage, amongst which a wild
buckwheat (_Polygonum_[148]) was abundant, which formed an excellent
spinach: it is called “Pullop-bi”; a name I shall hereafter have
occasion to mention with gratitude.
[148] _Polygonum cymosum,_ Wall. This is a common Himalayan plant, and
is also found in the Khasia mountains.
A few miles above Choongtam, we passed a few cottages on a very
extensive terrace at Tumlong; but between this and Lamteng, the country
is uninhabited, nor is it frequented during the rains. We consequently
found that the roads had suffered, the little bridges and aids to climb
precipices and cross landslips had been carried away, and at one place
we were all but turned back. This was at the Taktoong river, a
tributary on the east bank, which rushes down at an angle of 15°, in a
sheet of silvery foam, eighteen yards broad. It does not, where I
crossed it, flow in a deep gulley, having apparently raised its bed by
an accumulation of enormous boulders; and a plank bridge was thrown
across it, against whose slippery and narrow foot-boards the water
dashed, loosening the supports on either bank, and rushing between
their foundation stones.
My unwilling guide had gone ahead with some of the coolies: I had
suspected him all along (perhaps unjustly) of avoiding the most
practicable routes; but when I found him waiting for me at this bridge,
to which he sarcastically pointed with his bow, I felt that had he
known of it, to have made difficulties before would have been a work of
supererogation. He seemed to think I should certainly turn back, and
assured me there was no other crossing (a statement I afterwards found
to be untrue); so, comforting myself with the hope that if the danger
were imminent, Meepo would forcibly stop me, I took off my shoes, and
walked steadily over: the tremor of the planks was like that felt when
standing on the paddle-box of a steamer, and I was jerked up and down,
as my weight pressed them into the boiling flood, which shrouded me
with spray. I looked neither to the right nor to the left, lest the
motion of the swift waters should turn my head, but kept my eye on the
white jets d’eau springing up between the woodwork, and felt thankful
when fairly on the opposite bank: my loaded coolies followed, crossing
one by one without fear or hesitation. The bridge was swept into the
Lachen very shortly afterwards.
Towards Lamteng, the path left the river, and passed through a wood of
_Abies Smithiana._[149] Larch appears at 9000 feet, with _Abies
Brunoniana._ An austere crab-apple, walnut, and the willow of Babylon
(the two latter perhaps cultivated), yellow jessamine and ash, all
scarce trees in Sikkim, are more or less abundant in the valley, from
7000 to 8000 feet; as is an ivy, very like the English, but with fewer
and smaller yellow or reddish berries; and many other plants,[150] not
found at equal elevations on the outer ranges of the Himalaya.
[149] Also called _A. Khutrow_ and _Morinda._ I had not before seen
this tree in the Himalaya: it is a spruce fir, much resembling the
Norway spruce in general appearance, but with longer pendulous
branches. The wood is white, and considered indifferent, though
readily cleft into planks; it is called “Seh.”
[150] Wood-sorrel, a white-stemmed bramble, birch, some maples, nut
gigantic lily (_Lilium giganteum_), _Euphorbia, Pedicularis, Spiræa,
Philadelphus, Deutzia, Indigofera,_ and various other South Europe and
North American genera.
Chateng, a spur from the lofty peak of Tukcham,[151] 19,472 feet high,
rises 1000 feet above the west bank of the river; and where crossed,
commands one of the finest alpine views in Sikkim. It was grassy,
strewed with huge boulders of gneiss, and adorned with clumps of
park-like pines: on the summit was a small pool, beautifully fringed
with bushy trees of white rose, a white-blossomed apple, a _Pyrus_ like
_Aria,_ another like mountain-ash, scarlet rhododendrons (_arboreum_
and _barbatum_), holly, maples, and _Goughia,_[152] a curious evergreen
laurel-like tree: there were also Daphnes, purple magnolia, and a pink
sweet-blossomed _Sphærostema._ Many English water-plants[153] grew in
the water, but I found no shells; tadpoles, however, swarmed, which
later in the season become large frogs. The “painted-lady” butterfly
(_Cynthia Cardui_), and a pretty “blue” were flitting over the flowers,
together with some great tropical kinds, that wander so far up these
valleys, accompanying _Marlea,_ the only subtropical tree that ascends
to 8,500 feet in the interior of Sikkim.
[151] “Tuk” signifies head in Lepcha, and “cheam” or “chaum,” I
believe, has reference to the snow. The height of Tukcham has been
re-calculated by Capt. R. Strachey, with angles taken by myself, at
Dorjiling and Jillapahar, and is approximate only.
[152] This fine plant was named (Wight, “Ic. Plant.”) in honour of
Capt. Gough, son of the late commander-in-chief, and an officer to
whom the botany of the peninsula of India is greatly indebted. It is a
large and handsome evergreen, very similar in foliage to a fine
rhododendron, and would prove an invaluable ornament on our lawns, if
its hardier varieties were introduced into this country.
[153] _Sparganium, Typha, Potamogeton, Callitriche, Utricularia,_
sedges and rushes.
The river runs close tinder the eastern side of the valley, which
slopes so steeply as to appear for many miles almost a continuous
landslip, 2000 feet high.
Lamteng village, where I arrived on the 27th of May, is quite concealed
by a moraine to the south, which, with a parallel ridge on the north,
forms a beautiful bay in the mountains, 8,900 feet above the sea, and
1000 above the Lachen. The village stands on a grassy and bushy flat,
around which the pine-clad mountains rise steeply to the snowy peaks
and black cliffs which tower above. It contains about forty houses,
forming the winter-quarters of the inhabitants of the valley, who, in
summer, move with their flocks and herds to the alpine pastures of the
Tibet frontier. The dwellings are like those described at Wallanchoon,
but the elevation being lower, and the situation more sheltered, they
are more scattered; whilst on account of the dampness of the climate,
they are raised higher from the ground, and the shingles with which
they are tiled (made of _Abies Webbiana_) decay in two or three years.
Many are painted lilac, with the gables in diamonds of red, black, and
white: the roofs are either of wood, or of the bark of _Abies
Brunoniana,_ held down by large stones: within they are airy and
comfortable. They are surrounded by a little cultivation of buck-wheat,
radishes, turnips, and mustard. The inhabitants, though paying rent to
the Sikkim Rajah, consider themselves as Tibetans, and are so in
language, dress, features, and origin: they seldom descend to
Choongtam, but yearly travel to the Tibetan towns of Jigatzi,
Kambajong, Giantchi, and even to Lhassa, having always commercial and
pastoral transactions with the Tibetans, whose flocks are pastured on
the Sikkim mountains during summer, and who trade with the plains of
India through the medium of these villagers.
[Illustration: Lamteng village]
The snow having disappeared from elevations below 11,000 feet, the
yaks, sheep, and ponies had just been driven 2000 feet up the valley,
and the inhabitants were preparing to follow, with their tents and
goats, to summer quarters at Tallum and Tungu. Many had goîtres and
rheumatism, for the cure of which they flocked to my tent; dry-rubbing
for the latter, and tincture of iodine for the former, gained me some
credit as a doctor: I could, however, procure no food beyond trifling
presents of eggs, meal, and more rarely, fowls.
On arriving, I saw a troop of large monkeys[154] gambolling in a wood
of _Abies Brunoniana_: this surprised me, as I was not prepared to find
so tropical an animal associated with a vegetation typical of a boreal
climate. The only other quadrupeds seen here were some small earless
rats, and musk-deer; the young female of which latter sometimes
afforded me a dish of excellent venison; being, though dark-coloured
and lean, tender, sweet, and short-fibred. Birds were scarce, with the
exception of alpine pigeons (_Columba leuconota_), red-legged crows
(_Corvus graculus,_ L.), and the horned pheasant (_Meleagris Satyra,_
L.). In this month insects are scarce, _Elater_ and a black earwig
being the most frequent: two species of _Serica_ also flew into my
tent, and at night moths, closely resembling European ones, came from
the fir-woods. The vegetation in the, neighbourhood of Lamteng is
European and North American; that is to say, it unites the boreal and
temperate floras of the east and west hemispheres; presenting also a
few features peculiar to Asia. This is a subject of very great
importance in physical geography; as a country combining the botanical
characters of several others, affords materials for tracing the
direction in which genera and species have migrated, the causes that
favour their migrations, and the laws that determine the types or forms
of one region, which represent those of another. A glance at the map
will show that Sikkim is, geographically, peculiarly well situated for
investigations of this kind, being centrically placed, whether as
regards south-eastern Asia or the Himalayan chain. Again, the Lachen
valley at this spot is nearly equi-distant from the tropical forests of
the Terai and the sterile mountains of Tibet, for which reason
representatives both of the dry central Asiatic and Siberian, and of
the humid Malayan floras meet there.
[154] _Macacus Pelops?_ Hodgson. This is a very different species from
the tropical kind seen in Nepal, and mentioned at vol. i, p. 278.
The mean temperature of Lamteng (about 50°) is that of the isothermal
which passes through Britain in lat. 52°, and east Europe in lat. 48°,
cutting the parallel of 45° in Siberia (due north of Lamteng itself),
descending to lat. 42° on the east coast of Asia, ascending to lat. 48°
on the west of America, and descending to that of New York in the
United States. This mean temperature is considerably increased by
descending to the bed of the Lachen at 8000 feet, and diminished by
ascending Tukcham to 14,000 feet, which gives a range of 6000 feet of
elevation, and 20° of mean temperature. But as the climate and
vegetation become arctic at 12,000 feet, it will be as well to confine
my observations to the flora of 7000 to 10,000 feet; of the mean
temperature, namely, between 53° and 43°, the isothermal lines
corresponding to which embrace, on the surface of the globe, at the
level of the sea, a space varying in different meridians from three to
twelve degrees of latitude.[155] At first sight it appears incredible
that such a limited area, buried in the depths of the Himalaya, should
present nearly all the types of the flora of the north temperate zone;
not only, however, is this the case, but space is also found at Lamteng
for the intercalation of types of a Malayan flora, otherwise wholly
foreign to the north temperate region.
[155] On the west coast of Europe, where the distance between these
isothermal lines is greatest, this belt extends almost from Stockholm
and the Shetlands to Paris.
A few examples will show this. Amongst trees the Conifers are
conspicuous at Lamteng, and all are of genera typical both of Europe
and North America: namely, silver fir, spruce, larch, and juniper,
besides the yew: there are also species of birch, alder, ash, apple,
oak, willow, cherry, bird-cherry, mountain-ash, thorn, walnut, hazel,
maple, poplar, ivy, holly, Andromeda, _Rhamnus._ Of bushes; rose,
berberry, bramble, rhododendron, elder, cornel, willow, honeysuckle,
currant, _Spiræa, Viburnum, Cotoneaster, Hippophæ._ Herbaceous
plants[156] are far too numerous to be enumerated, as a list would
include most of the common genera of European and North American
plants.
[156] As an example, the ground about my tent was covered with grasses
and sedges, amongst which grew primroses, thistles, speedwell, wild
leeks, _Arum, Convallaria, Callitriche, Oxalis, Ranunculus,
Potentilla, Orchis, Chærophyllum, Galium, Paris,_ and _Anagallis_;
besides cultivated weeds of shepherd’s-purse, dock, mustard,
Mithridate cress, radish, turnip, _Thlaspi arvense,_ and _Poa annua._
Of North American genera, not found in Europe, were _Buddleia,
Podophyllum, Magnolia, Sassafras? Tetranthera, Hydrangea, Diclytra,
Aralia, Panax, Symplocos, Trillium,_ and _Clintonia._ The absence of
heaths is also equally a feature in the flora of North America. Of
European genera, not found in North America, the Lachen valley has
_Coriaria, Hypecoum,_ and various _Cruciferæ._ The Japanese and Chinese
floras are represented in Sikkim by _Camellia, Deutzia, Stachyurus,
Aucuba, Helwingia, Stauntonia, Hydrangea, Skimmia, Eurya, Anthogonium,_
and _Enkianthus._ The Malayan by Magnolias, _Talauma,_ many vacciniums
and rhododendrons, _Kadsura, Goughia, Marlea,_ both coriaceous and
deciduous-leaved _Cælogyne, Oberonia, Cyrtosia, Calanthe,_ and other
orchids; _Ceropegia, Parochetus, Balanophora,_ and many _Scitamineæ_;
and amongst trees, by _Engelhardtia, Goughia,_ and various laurels.
Shortly after my arrival at Lamteng, the villagers sent to request that
I would not shoot, as they said it brought on excessive rain,[157] and
consequent damage to the crops. My necessities did not admit of my
complying with their wish unless I could procure food by other means;
and I at first paid no attention to their request. The people, however,
became urgent, and the Choongtam Lama giving his high authority to the
superstition, it appeared impolitic to resist their earnest
supplication; though I was well aware that the story was trumped up by
the Lama for the purpose of forcing me to return. I yielded on the
promise of provisions being supplied from the village, which was done
to a limited extent; and I was enabled to hold out till more arrived
from Dorjiling, now, owing to the state of the roads, at the distance
of twenty days’ march. The people were always civil and kind: there was
no concealing the fact that the orders were stringent, prohibiting my
party being supplied with food, but many of the villagers sought
opportunities by night of replenishing my stores. Superstitious and
timorous, they regard a doctor with great veneration; and when to that
is added his power of writing, drawing, and painting, their admiration
knows no bounds: they flocked round my tent all day, scratching their
ears, lolling out their tongues, making a clucking noise, smiling, and
timidly peeping over my shoulder, but flying in alarm when my little
dog resented their familiarity by snapping at their legs. The men spend
the whole day in loitering about, smoking and spinning wool: the women
in active duties; a few were engaged in drying the leaves of a shrub
(_Symplocos_) for the Tibet market, which are used as a yellow dye;
whilst, occasionally, a man might be seen cutting a spoon or a
yak-saddle out of rhododendron wood.
[157] In Griffith’s narrative of “Pemberton’s Mission to Bhotan”
(“Posthumous Papers, Journal,” p. 283), it is mentioned that the
Gylongs (Lamas) attributed a violent storm to the members of the
mission shooting birds.
During my stay at Lamteng, the weather was all but uniformly cloudy and
misty, with drizzling rain, and a southerly, or up-valley wind, during
the day, which changed to an easterly one at night: occasionally
distant thunder was heard. My rain-gauges showed very little rain
compared with what fell at Dorjiling during the same period; the clouds
were thin, both sun and moon shining through them, without, however,
the former warming the soil: hence my tent was constantly wet, nor did
I once sleep in a dry bed till the 1st of June, which ushered in the
month with a brilliant sunny day. At night it generally rained in
torrents, and the roar of landslips and avalanches was then all but
uninterrupted for hour after hour: sometimes it was a rumble, at others
a harsh grating sound, and often accompanied with the crashing of
immense timber-trees, or the murmur of the distant snowy avalanches.
The amount of denudation by atmospheric causes is here quite
incalculable; and I feel satisfied that the violence of the river at
this particular part of its course (where it traverses those parts of
the valleys which are most snowy and rainy), is proximately due to
impediments thus accumulated in its bed.
It was sometimes clear at sunrise, and I made many ascents of Tukcham,
hoping for a view of the mountains towards the passes; but I was only
successful on one occasion, when I saw the table top of Kinchinjhow,
the most remarkable, and one of the most distant peaks of dazzling snow
which is seen from Dorjiling, and which, I was told, is far beyond
Sikkim, in Tibet.[158] I kept up a constant intercourse with Choongtam,
sending my plants thither to be dried, and gradually reducing my party
as our necessities urged my so doing; lastly, I sent back the shooters,
who had procured very little, and whose occupation was now gone.
[158] Such, however, is not the case; Kinchinjhow is on the frontier
of Sikkim, though a considerable distance behind the most snowy of the
Sikkim mountains.
On the 2nd of June, I received the bad news that a large party of
coolies had been sent from Dorjiling with rice, but that being unable
or afraid to pass the landslips, they had returned: we had now no food
except a kid, a few handfuls of flour, and some potatos, which had been
sent up from Choongtam. All my endeavours to gain information
respecting the distance and position of the frontier were unavailing;
probably, indeed, the Lama and Phipun (or chief man of the village),
were the only persons who knew; the villagers calling all the lofty
pastures a few marches beyond Lamteng “Bhote” or “Cheen” (Tibet). Dr.
Campbell had procured for me information by which I might recognise the
frontier were I once on it; but no description could enable me to find
my way in a country so rugged and forest-clad, through tortuous and
perpetually forking valleys, along often obliterated paths, and under
cloud and rain. To these difficulties must be added the deception of
the rulers, and the fact (of which I was not then aware), that the
Tibet frontier was formerly at Choongtam; but from the Lepchas
constantly harassing the Tibetans, the latter, after the establishment
of the Chinese rule over their country, retreated first to Zemu
Samdong, a few hours walk above Lamteng, then to Tallum Samdong, 2000
feet higher; and, lastly, to Kongra Lama, 16,000 feet up the west flank
of Kinchinjhow.
On the third of June I took a small party, with my tent, and such
provisions as I had, to explore up the river. On hearing of my
intention, the Phipun volunteered to take me to the frontier, which he
said was only two hours distant, at Zemu Samdong, where the Lachen
receives the Zemu river from the westward: this I knew must be false,
but I accepted his services, and we started, accompanied by a large
body of villagers, who eagerly gathered plants for me along the road.
The scenery is very pretty; the path crosses extensive and dangerous
landslips, or runs through fine woods of spruce and _Abies Brunoniana,_
and afterwards along the river-banks, which are fringed with willow
(called “Lama”), and _Hippophæ._ The great red rose (_Rosa
macrophylla_), one of the most beautiful Himalayan plants, whose single
flowers are as large as the palm of the hand, was blossoming, while
golden _Potentillas_ and purple primroses flowered by the stream, and
_Pyrola_ in the fir-woods.
Just above the fork of the valley, a wooden bridge (Samdong) crosses
the Zemu, which was pointed out to me as the frontier, and I was
entreated to respect two sticks and a piece of worsted stretched across
it; this I thought too ridiculous, so as my followers halted on one
side, I went on the bridge, threw the sticks into the stream, crossed,
and asked the Phipun to follow; the people laughed, and came over: he
then told me that he had authority to permit of my botanising there,
but that I was in Cheen, and that he would show me the guard-house to
prove the truth of his statement. He accordingly led me up a steep bank
to an extensive broad flat, several hundred feet above the river, and
forming a triangular base to the great spur which, rising steeply
behind, divides the valley. This flat was marshy and covered with
grass; and buried in the jungle were several ruined stone houses, with
thick walls pierced with loopholes: these had no doubt been occupied by
Tibetans at the time when this was the frontier.
The elevation which I had attained (that of the river being 8,970 feet)
being excellent for botanising, I camped; and the villagers, contented
with the supposed success of their strategy, returned to Lamteng.
My guide from the Durbar had staid behind at Lainteng, and though Meepo
and all my men well knew that this was not the frontier, they were
ignorant as to its true position, nor could we even ascertain which of
the rivers was the Lachen.[159] The only routes I possessed indicated
two paths northwards from Lamteng, neither crossing a river: and I
therefore thought it best to remain at Zemu Samdong till provisions
should arrive. I accordingly halted for three days, collecting many new
and beautiful plants, and exploring the roads, of which five (paths or
yak-tracks) diverged from this point, one on either bank of each river,
and one leading up the fork.
[159] The eastern afterwards proved to be the Lachen.
On one occasion I ascended the steep hill at the fork; it was dry and
rocky, and crowned with stunted pines. Stacks of different sorts of
pine-wood were stored on the flat at its base, for export to Tibet, all
thatched with the bark of _Abies Brunoniana._ Of these the larch
(_Larix Griffithii,_ “Sah”), splits well, and is the most durable of
any; but the planks are small, soft, and white.[160] The silver fir
(_Abies Webbiana,_ “Dunshing”) also splits well; it is white, soft, and
highly prized for durability. The wood of _Abies Brunoniana_
(“Semadoong”) is like the others in appearance, but is not durable; its
bark is however very useful. The spruce (_Abies Smithiana,_ “Seh”) has
also white wood, which is employed for posts and beams.[161] These are
the only pines whose woods are considered very useful; and it is a
curious circumstance that none produce any quantity of resin,
turpentine, or pitch; which may perhaps be accounted for by the
humidity of the climate.
[160] I never saw this wood to be red, close-grained, and hard, like
that of the old Swiss larch; nor does it ever reach so great a size.
[161] These woods are all soft and loose in grain, compared with their
European allies.
_Pinus longifolia_ (called by the Lepchas “Gniet-koong,” and by the
Bhoteeas “Teadong”) only grows in low valleys, where better timber is
abundant. The weeping blue juniper (_Juniperus recurva,_ “Deschoo”),
and the arboreous black one (called “Tchokpo”)[162] yield beautiful
wood, like that of the pencil cedar,[163] but are comparatively scarce,
as is the yew (_Taxus baccata,_ “Tingschi”), whose timber is red. The
“Tchenden,” or funereal cypress, again, is valued only for the odour of
its wood: _Pinus excelsa,_ “Tongschi,” though common in Bhotan, is, as
I have elsewhere remarked, not found in east Nepal or Sikkim; the wood
is admirable, being durable, close-grained, and so resinous as to be
used for flambeaux and candles. On the flat were flowering a beautiful
magnolia with globular sweet-scented flowers like snow-balls, several
balsams, with species of _Convallaria, Cotoneaster, Gentian, Spiræa,
Euphorbia, Pedicularis,_ and honeysuckle. On the hill-side were
creeping brambles, lovely yellow, purple, pink, and white primroses,
white-flowered _Thalictrum_ and _Anemone,_ berberry, _Podophyllum,_
white rose, fritillary, _Lloydia,_ etc. On the flanks of Tukcham, in
the bed of a torrent, I gathered many very alpine plants, at the
comparatively low elevation of 10,000 feet, as dwarf willows,
_Pinguicula,_ (a genus not previously found in the Himalaya), _Oxyria,
Adrosace, Tofieldia, Arenaria,_ saxifrages, and two dwarf heath-like
_Andromedas._[164] The rocks were all of gneiss, with granite veins,
tourmaline, and occasionally pieces of pure plumbago.
[162] This I have, vol. i. p. 256, referred to the _J. excelsa_ of the
north-west Himalaya, a plant which under various names is found in
many parts of Europe and many parts of Europe and North America; but
since then Dr. Thomson and I have had occasion to compare my Sikkim
conifers with the north-west Himalayan ones and we have found that
this Sikkim species is probably new, and that _J. excelsa_ is not
found east of Nepal.
[163] Also a juniper, from Bermuda (_J. Bermudiana_).
[164] Besides these, a month later, the following flowered in
profusion: scarlet _Buddleia?_ gigantic lily, yellow jasmine, _Aster,
Potentilla,_ several kinds of orchids, willow-herb (_Epilobium_),
purple _Roscœa, Neillia, Morina,_ many grasses and _Umbelliferæ._
These formed a rank and dense herbaceous, mostly annual vegetation,
six feet high, bound together with _Cuscuta,_ climbing _Leguminosæ,_
and _Ceropegia._ The great summer heat and moisture here favour the
ascent of various tropical genera, of which I found in August several
_Orchideæ_ (_Calanthe, Microstylis,_ and _Cœlogyne_), also _Begonia,
Bryonia, Cynanchum, Aristolochia, Eurya, Procris, Acanthaceæ,_ and
_Cyrtandraseæ._
Our guide had remained at Lamteng, on the plea of a sore on his leg
from leech-bites: his real object, however, was to stop a party on
their way to Tibet with madder and canes, who, had they continued their
journey, would inevitably have pointed out the road to me. The
villagers themselves now wanted to proceed to the pasturing-grounds on
the frontier; so the Phipun sent me word that I might proceed as far as
I liked up the east bank of the Zemu. I had explored the path, and
finding it practicable, and likely to intersect a less frequented route
to the frontier (that crossing the Tekonglah pass from Bah, see p. 13),
I determined to follow it. A supply of food arrived from Dorjiling on
the 5th of June, reduced, however, to one bag of rice, but with
encouraging letters, and the assurance that more would follow at once.
My men, of whom I bad eight, behaved admirably, although our diet had
for five days chiefly consisted of _Polygonum_ (“Pullop-bi”), wild
leeks (“Lagook”), nettles and _Procris_ (an allied, and more succulent
herb), eked out by eight pounds of Tibet meal (“Tsamba”), which I had
bought for ten shillings by stealth from the villagers. What concerned
me most was the destruction of my plants by constant damp, and the want
of sun to dry the papers; which reduced my collections to a tithe of
what they would otherwise have been.
From Zemu Samdong the valley runs north-west, for two marches, to the
junction of the Zemu with the Thlonok, which rises on the north-east
flank of Kinchinjunga: at this place I halted for several days, while
building a bridge over the Thlonok. The path runs first through a small
forest of birch, alder, and maple, on the latter of which I found
_Balanophora_[165] growing abundantly: this species produces the great
knots on the maple roots, from which the Tibetans form the cups
mentioned by MM. Huc and Gabet. I was so fortunate as to find a small
store of these knots, cleaned, and cut ready for the turner, and hidden
behind a stone by some poor Tibetan, who had never retained to the
spot: they had evidently been there a very long time.
[165] A curious leafless parasite, mentioned at vol. i, p. 133.
In the ravines there were enormous accumulations of ice, the result of
avalanches; one of them crossed the river, forming a bridge thirty feet
thick, at an elevation of only 9,800 feet above the sea. This
ice-bridge was 100 yards broad, and flanked by heaps of boulders, the
effects of combined land and snowslips. These stony places were covered
with a rich herbage of rhubarb, primroses, _Euphorbia, Sedum,
Polygonum, Convallaria,_ and a purple _Dentaria_ (“Kenroop-bi”) a
cruciferous plant much eaten as a pot-herb. In the pinewoods a large
mushroom (“Onglau,”[166] Tibet.) was abundant, which also forms a
favourite article of food. Another pot-herb (to which I was afterwards
more indebted than any) was a beautiful _Smilacina,_ which grows from
two to five feet high, and has plaited leaves and crowded panicles of
white bell-shaped flowers, like those of its ally the lily of the
valley, which it also resembles in its mucilaginous properties. It is
called “Chokli-bi,”[167] and its young flower-heads, sheathed in tender
green leaves, form an excellent vegetable. Nor must I forget to include
amongst the eatable plants of this hungry country, young shoots of the
mountain-bamboo, which are good either raw or boiled, and may be
obtained up to 12,000 feet in this valley. A species of _Asarum_
(Asarabacca) grows in the pine-woods; a genus not previously known to
be Himalayan. The root, like its English medicinal congener, has a
strong and peculiar smell. At 10,000 feet _Abies Webbiana_ commences,
with a close undergrowth of a small twiggy holly. This, and the dense
thicket of rhododendron[168] on the banks of the river and edges of the
wood, rendered the march very fatiguing, and swarms of midges kept up a
tormenting irritation.
[166] _Cortinarius Emodensis_ of the Rev. M. J. Berkeley, who has
named and described it from my specimens and drawings. It is also
called “Yungla tchamo” by the Tibetans, the latter word signifying a
toadstool. Mr. Berkeley informs me that the whole vast genus
_Cortinarius_ scarcely possesses a single other edible species; he
adds that _C. violaceus_ and _violaceo-cinereus_ are eaten in Austria
and Italy, but not always with safety.
[167] It is also found on the top of Sinchul, near Dorjiling.
[168] Of which I had already gathered thirteen kinds in this valley.
The Zemu continued an impetuous muddy torrent, whose hoarse voice,
mingled with the deep grumbling noise[169] of the boulders rolling
along its bed, was my lullaby for many nights. Its temperature at Zemu
Samdong was 45° to 46° in June. At its junction with the Thlonok, it
comes down a steep gulley from the north, foreshortened into a cataract
1000 feet high, and appearing the smaller stream of the two; whilst the
Thlonok winds down from the snowy face of Kinchinjunga, which is seen
up the valley, bearing W.S.W., about twenty miles distant. All around
are lofty and rocky mountains, sparingly wooded with pines and larch,
chiefly on their south flanks, which receive the warm, moist, up-valley
winds; the faces exposed to the north being colder and more barren:
exactly the reverse of what is the case at Choongtam, where the rocky
and sunny south-exposed flanks are the driest.
[169] The dull rumbling noise thus produced is one of the most
singular phenomena in these mountains, and cannot fail to strike the
observer. At night, especially, the sound seems increased, the reason
of which is not apparent, for in these regions, so wanting in animal
life, the night is no stiller than the day, and the melting of snow
being less, the volume of waters must be somewhat, though not
conspicuously, diminished. The interference of sound by heated
currents of different density is the most obvious cause of the
diminished reverberation during the day, to which Humboldt adds the
increased tension of vapour, and possibly an echo from its particles.
My tent was pitched on a broad terrace, opposite the junction of the
Zemu and Thlonok, and 10,850 feet above the sea. It was sheltered by
some enormous transported blocks of gneiss, fifteen feet high, and
surrounded by a luxuriant vegetation of most beautiful rhododendrons in
full flower, willow, white rose, white flowered cherry, thorn, maple
and birch. Some great tuberous-rooted _Arums_[170] were very abundant;
and the ground was covered with small pits, in which were large wooden
pestles: these are used in the preparation of food from the arums, to
which the miserable inhabitants of the valley have recourse in spring,
when their yaks are calving. The roots are bruised with the pestles,
and thrown into these holes with water. Acetous fermentation commences
in seven or eight days, which is a sign that the acrid poisonous
principle is dissipated: the pulpy, sour, and fibrous mass is then
boiled and eaten; its nutriment being the starch, which exists in small
quantities, and which they have not the skill to separate by grating
and washing. This preparation only keeps a few days, and produces bowel
complaints, and loss of the skin and hair, especially when
insufficiently fermented. Besides this, the “chokli-bi,” and many other
esculents, abounded here; and we had great need of them before leaving
this wild uninhabited region.
[170] Two species of _Arisæma,_ called “Tong” by the Tibetans, and
“Sinkree” by the Lepchas.
I repeatedly ascended the north flank of Tukcham along a watercourse,
by the side of which were immense slips of rocks and snow-beds; the
mountain-side being excessively steep. Some of the masses of gneiss
thus brought down were dangerously poised on slopes of soft shingle,
and daily moved a little downwards. All the rocks were gneiss and
granite, with radiating crystals of tourmaline as thick as the thumb.
Below 12,000 to 13,000 feet the mountain-sides were covered with a
dense scrub of rhododendron bushes, except where broken by rocks,
landslips, and torrents: above this the winter’s snow lay deep, and
black rocks and small glaciers, over which avalanches were constantly
falling with a sullen roar, forbade all attempts to proceed. My object
in ascending was chiefly to obtain views and compass-bearings, in which
I was generally disappointed: once only I had a magnificent prospect of
Kinchinjunga, sweeping down in one unbroken mass of glacier and ice,
fully 14,000 feet high, to the head of the Thlonok river, whose upper
valley appeared a broad bay of ice; doubtless forming one of the
largest glaciers in the Himalaya, and increased by lateral feeders that
flow into it from either flank of the valley. The south side of this
(the Thlonok) valley is formed by a range from Kinchinjunga, running
east to Tukcham, where it terminates: from it rises the beautiful
mountain Liklo,[171] 22,582 feet high, which, from Dorjiling, appears
as a sharp peak, but is here seen to be a jagged crest running north
and south. On the north flank of the valley the mountains are more
sloping and black, with patches of snow above 15,000 feet, but little
anywhere else, except on another beautiful peak (alt. 19,240 feet)
marked D3 on the map. This flank is also continuous from Kinchin; it
divides Sikkim from Tibet, and runs north-east to the great mountain
Chomiomo (which was not visible), the streams from its north flank
flowing into the Arun river (in Tibet). A beautiful blue arch of sky
spanned all this range, indicating the dry Tibetan climate beyond.
[171] D2 of the peaks laid down in Colonel Waugh’s “Trigonometrical
Survey from Dorjiling,” I believe to be the “Liklo” of Dr. Campbell’s
itineraries from Dorjiling to Lhassa, compiled from the information of
the traders (See “Bengal Asiatic Society’s Journal” for 1848); the
routes in which proved of the utmost value to me.
I made two futile attempts to ascend the Thlonok river to the great
glaciers at the foot of Kinchinjunga, following the south bank, and
hoping to find a crossing-place, and so to proceed north to Tibet. The
fall of the river is not great at this part of its course, nor up to
12,000 feet, which was the greatest height I could attain, and about
eight miles beyond my tents; above that point, at the base of Liklo,
the bed of the valley widens, and the rhododendron shrubbery was quite
impervious, while the sides of the mountain were inaccessible. We
crossed extensive snow-beds, by cutting holes in their steep faces, and
rounded rocks in the bed of the torrent, dragging one another through
the violent current, whose temperature was below 40°.
On these occasions, the energy of Meepo, Nimbo (the chief of the
coolies) and the Lepcha boys, was quite remarkable, and they were as
keenly anxious to reach the holy country of Tibet as I could possibly
be. It was sometimes dark before we got back to our tents, tired, with
torn clothes and cut feet and hands, returning to a miserable dinner of
boiled herbs; but never did any of them complain, or express a wish to
leave me. In the evenings and mornings they were always busy, changing
my plants, and drying the papers over a sulky fire at my tent-door; and
at night they slept, each wrapt in his own blanket, huddled together
under a rock, with another blanket thrown over them all. Provisions
reached us so seldom, and so reduced in quantity, that I could never
allow more than one pound of rice to each man in a day, and frequently
during this trying month they had not even that; and I eked out our
meagre supply with a few ounces of preserved meats, occasionally
“splicing the main brace” with weak rum and water.
At the highest point of the valley which I reached, water boiled at
191·3, indicating an elevation of 11,903 feet. The temperature at 1
p.m. was nearly 70°, and of the wet bulb 55°, indicating a dryness of
0·462, and dew point 47·0. Such phenomena of heat and dryness are rare
and transient in the wet valleys of Sikkim, and show the influence here
of the Tibetan climate.[172]
[172] I gathered here, amongst an abundance of alpine species, all of
European and arctic type, a curious trefoil, the _Parochetus
communis,_ which ranges through 9000 feet of elevation on the
Himalaya, and is also found in Java and Ceylon.
After boiling my thermometer on these occasions, I generally made a
little tea for the party; a refreshment to which they looked forward
with child-like eagerness. The fairness with which these good-hearted
people used to divide the scanty allowance, and afterwards the leaves,
which are greatly relished, was an engaging trait in their simple
character: I have still vividly before me their sleek swarthy faces and
twinkling Tartar eyes, as they lay stretched on the ground in the sun,
or crouched in the sleet and snow beneath some sheltering rock; each
with his little polished wooden cup of tea, watching my notes and
instruments with curious wonder, asking, “How high are we?” “How cold
is it?” and comparing the results with those of other stations, with
much interest and intelligence.
On the 11th June, my active people completed a most ingenious bridge of
branches of trees, bound by withes of willow; by which I crossed to the
north bank, where I camped on an immense flat terrace at the junction
of the rivers, and about fifty feet above their bed. The first step or
ascent from the river is about five feet high, and formed of water-worn
boulders, pebbles, and sand, scarcely stratified: the second, fully
1000 yards broad, is ten feet high, and swampy. The uppermost is
fifteen feet above the second, and is covered with gigantic boulders,
and vast rotting trunks of fallen pines, buried in an impenetrable
jungle of dwarf small-leaved holly and rhododendrons. The surface was
composed of a rich vegetable mould, which, where clear of forest,
supported a rank herbage, six to eight feet high.[173]
[173] This consisted of grasses, sedges, _Bupleurum,_ rhubarb,
_Ranunculus, Convallaria, Smilacina,_ nettles, thistles, _Arum,_
balsams, and the superb yellow _Meconopsis Nepalensis,_ whose racemes
of golden poppy-like flowers were as broad as the palm of the hand; it
grows three and even six feet high, and resembles a small hollyhock;
whilst a stately _Heracleum,_ ten feet high, towered over all. Forests
of silver fir, with junipers and larch, girdled these flats and on
their edges grew rhododendrons, scarlet _Spiræa,_ several
honeysuckles, white _Clematis,_ and _Viburnum._ Ferns are much scarcer
in the pine-woods than elsewhere in the forest regions of the
Himalaya. In this valley (alt. 10,850 feet), I found only two kinds;
_Hymenophyllum, Lomaria, Cystopteris, Davallia,_ two _Polypodia,_ and
several _Aspidia_ and _Asplenia. Selaginella_ ascends to Zemu Samdong
(9000 feet). The _Pteris aquilina_ (brake) does not ascend above
10,000 feet.
Our first discovery, after crossing, was of a good bridge across the
Zemu, above its junction, and of a path leading down to Zemu Samdong;
this was, however, scarcely traceable up either stream. My men were
better housed here in sheds: and I made several more ineffectual
attempts to ascend the valley to the glaciers. The path, gradually
vanishing, ran alternately through fir-woods, and over open grassy
spots, covered with vegetation, amongst which the gigantic arum was
plentiful, whose roots seemed to be the only attraction in this wet and
miserable valley.
On my return one day, I found my people in great alarm, the Phipun
having sent word that we were on the Tibet side of the rivers, and that
Tibetan troops were coming to plunder my goods, and carry my men into
slavery. I assured them he only wanted to frighten them; that the Cheen
soldiers were civil orderly people; and that as long as Meepo was with
us, there was no cause for fear. Fortunately a young musk-deer soon
afterwards broke cover close to the tent, and its flesh wonderfully
restored their courage: still I was constantly harassed by threats;
some of my people were suffering from cold and bowel complaints, and I
from rheumatism; while one fine lad, who came from Dorjiling, was
delirious with a violent fever, contracted in the lower valleys, which
sadly dispirited my party.
Having been successful in finding a path, I took my tent and a few
active lads 1000 feet up the Zemu, camping on a high rock above the
forest region, at 12,070 feet; hoping thence to penetrate northwards. I
left my collections in the interim at the junction of the rivers, where
the sheds and an abundance of firewood were great advantages for
preserving the specimens. At this elevation we were quite free from
midges and leeches (the latter had not appeared above 11,500 feet), but
the weather continued so uniformly rainy and bad, that we could make no
progress. I repeatedly followed the river for several miles, ascending
to 13,300 feet; but though its valley widened, and its current was less
rapid, the rhododendron thickets below, and the cliffs above, defeated
all endeavours to reach the drier climate beyond, of which I had
abundant evidence in the arch of brilliant blue that spanned the
heavens to the north, beyond a black canopy of clouds that hid
everything around, and poured down rain without one day’s intermission,
during the eight which I spent here.
[Illustration: Black juniper and young larch]