Donkia glaciers—Moraines—Dome of ice—Honey-combed surface—Rocks of
Donkia—Metamorphic action of granite veins—Accident to
instruments—Sebolah pass—Bees, and May-flies—View—Temperature—Pulses of
party—Lamas and travellers at Momay—Weather and climate—Dr. Campbell
leaves Dorjiling for Sikkim—Leave Momay—Yeumtong—Lachoong—Retardation
of vegetation at low elevations—Choongtam—Landslips and debacle—Meet
Dr. Campbell—Motives for his journey—Second visit to Lachen
valley—Autumnal tints—Red currants—Lachen
Phipun—Tungu—Scenery—Animals—Poisonous
rhododendrons—Fire-wood—Palung—Elevations—Sitong—Kongra
Lama—Tibetans—Enter Tibet—Desolate
scenery—Plants—Animals—Geology—Cholamoo lakes—Antelopes—Return to
Yeumtso—Dr. Campbell lost—Extreme cold—Headaches—Tibetan Dingpun and
guard—Arms and accoutrements—Temperature of Yeumtso—Migratory
birds—Visit of Dingpun—Yeumtso lakes.
On the 20th of September I ascended to the great Donkia glaciers, east
of Momay; the valley is much longer than that leading to the
Kinchinjhow glacier, and at 16,000 or 17,000 feet elevation, containing
four marshes or lakes, alternating with as many transverse moraines
that have dammed the river. These moraines seem in some cases to have
been deposited where rocks in the bed of the valley obstructed the
downward progress of the ancient glacier; hence, when this latter
finally retired, it rested at these obstructions, and accumulated there
great deposits, which do not cross the valley, but project from each
side obliquely into it. The rocks _in situ_ on the floor of the valley
are all _moutonnéed_ and polished on the top, sides, and face looking
up the valley, but are rugged on that looking down it: gigantic blocks
are poised on some. The lowest of the ancient moraines completely
crosses the river, which finds, its way between the boulders.
Under the red cliff of Forked Donkia the valley becomes very broad,
bare, and gravelly, with a confusion of moraines, and turns more
northwards. At the angle, the present terminal moraine rises like a
mountain (I assumed it to be about 800 feet high),[252] and crosses the
valley from N.N.E. to S.S.W. From the summit, which rises above the
level of the glacier, and from which I assume its present retirement, a
most striking scene opened. The ice filling an immense basin, several
miles broad and long, formed a low dome,[253] with Forked Donkia on the
west, and a serried range of rusty-red scarped mountains, 20,000 feet
high on the north and east, separating large tributary glaciers. Other
still loftier tops of Donkia appeared behind these, upwards of 22,000
feet high, but I could not recognise the true summit (23,176 feet). The
surface was very rugged, and so deeply honey-combed that the foot often
sank from six to eight inches in crisp wet ice. I proceeded a mile on
it, with much more difficulty than on any Swiss glacier: this was owing
to the elevation, and the corrosion of the surface into pits and pools
of water; the crevasses being but few and distant. I saw no dirt-bands
on looking down upon it from a point I attained under the red cliff of
Forked Donkia, at an elevation of 18,307 feet by barometer, and 18,597
by boiling-point. The weather was very cold, the thermometer fell from
41° to 34°, and it snowed heavily after 3 p.m.
[252] This is the largest and longest terminal moraine backed by an
existing glacier that I examined with care: I doubt its being so high
as the moraine of the Allalein glacier below the Mat-maark sea in the
Sachs valley (Valais, Switzerland); but it is impossible to compare
such objects from memory: the Donkia one was much the most uniform in
height.
[253] This convexity of the ice is particularly alluded to by Forbes
(“Travels in the Alps,” p.386), as the “renflément” of Rendu and
“surface bombee” of Agassiz, and is attributed to the effects of
hydrostatic pressure tending to press the lower layers of ice upwards
to the surface. My own impression at the time was, that the convexity
of the surface of the Donkia glacier was due to a subjacent mountain
spur running south from Donkia itself. I know, however, far too little
of the topography of this glacier to advance such a conjecture with
any confidence. In this case, as in all similar ones, broad expanses
being covered to an enormous depth with ice, the surface of the latter
must in some degree be modified by the ridges and valleys it conceals.
The typical “surface bombee,” which is conspicuous in the Himalaya
glaciers, I was wont (in my ignorance of the mechanical laws of
glaciers) to attribute to the more rapid melting of the edges of the
glacier by the radiated heat of its lateral moraines and of the flanks
of the valley that it occupies.
The strike of all the rocks (gneiss with granite veins) seemed to be
north-east, and dip north-west 30°. Such also were the strike and dip
on another spur from Donkia, north of this, which I ascended to 19,000
feet, on the 26th of September: it abutted on the scarped precipices,
3000 feet high, of that mountain. I had been attracted to the spot by
its bright orange-red colour, which I found to be caused by peroxide of
iron. The highly crystalline nature of the rocks, at these great
elevations, is due to the action of veins of fine-grained granite,
which sometimes alter the gneiss to such an extent that it appears as
if fused into a fine granite, with distinct crystals of quartz and
felspar; the most quartzy layers are then roughly crystallized into
prisms, or their particles are aggregated into spheres composed of
concentric layers of radiating crystals, as is often seen in agates.
The rearrangement of the mineral constituents by heat goes on here just
as in trap, cavities filled with crystals being formed in rocks exposed
to great heat and pressure. Where mica abounds, it becomes black and
metallic; and the aluminous matter is crystallised in the form of
garnets.
[Illustration: Summit of forked Donkia, and “Goa” antelopes]
At these great heights the weather was never fine for more than an hour
at a time, and a driving sleet followed by thick snow drove me down on
both these occasions. Another time I ascended a third spur from this
great mountain, and was overtaken by a heavy gale and thunderstorm, the
latter is a rare phenomenon: it blew down my tripod and instruments
which I had thought securely Propped with stones, and the thermometers
were broken, but fortunately not the barometer. On picking up the
latter, which lay with its top down the hill, a large bubble of air
appeared, which I passed up and down the tube, and then allowed to
escape; when I heard a rattling of broken glass in the cistern. Having
another barometer[254] at my tent, I hastened to ascertain by
comparison whether the instrument which had travelled with me from
England, and taken so many thousand observations, was seriously
damaged: to my delight an error of 0·020 was all I could detect at
Momay and all other lower stations. On my return to Dorjiling in
December, I took it to pieces, and found the lower part of the bulb of
the attached thermometer broken off, and floating on the mercury.
Having quite expected this, I always checked the observations of the
attached thermometer by another, but—how, it is not easy to say—the
broken one invariably gave a correct temperature.
[254] This barometer (one of Newman’s portable instruments) I have now
at Kew: it was compared with the Royal Society’s standard before
leaving England; and varied according to comparisons made with the
Calcutta standard 0·.012 during its travels; on leaving Calcutta its
error was 0; and on arriving in England, by the standard of the Royal
Society, +·004. I have given in the Appendix some remarks on the use
of these barometers, which (though they have obvious defects), are
less liable to derangement, far more portable, and stand much heavier
shocks than those of any other construction with which I am familiar.
View from an elevation of 18,000 feet of the east top of Kinchinjhow,
and of Tibet, over the ridge that connects it with Donkia. Wild sheep
(Ovis Ammon) in the foreground
The Kinchinjhow spurs are not accessible to so great an elevation as
those of Donkia, but they afford finer views over Tibet, across the
ridge connecting Kinchinjow with Donkia.
Broad summits here, as on the opposite side of the valley, are quite
bare of snow at 18,000 feet, though where they project as sloping
hog-backed spurs from the parent mountain, the snows of the latter roll
down on them and form glacial caps, the reverse of glaciers in valleys,
but which overflow, as it were, on all sides of the slopes, and are
ribboned[255] and crevassed.
[255] The convexity of the curves, however, seems to be upwards. Such
reversed glaciers, ending abruptly on broad stony shoulders quite free
of snow, should on no account be taken as indicating the lower limit
of perpetual snow.
On the 18th of September I ascended the range which divides the Lachen
from the Lachoong valley, to the Sebolah pass, a very sharp ridge of
gneiss, striking north-west and dipping north-east, which runs south
from Kinchinjhow to Chango-khang. A yak-track led across the
Kinchinjhow glacier, along the bank of the lake, and thence westward up
a very steep spur, on which was much glacial ice and snow, but few
plants above 16,000 feet. At nearly 17,000 feet I passed two small
lakes, on the banks of one of which I found bees, a May-fly
(_Ephemera_) and gnat; the two latter bred on stones in the water,
which (the day being fine) had a temperature of 53°, while that of the
large lake at the glacier, 1000 feet lower, was only 39°.
The view from the summit commands the whole castellated front of
Kinchinjhow, the sweep of the Donkia cliffs to the east, Chango-khang’s
blunt cone of ribbed snow[256] over head, while to the west, across the
grassy Palung dunes rise Chomiomo, the Thlonok mountains, and
Kinchinjunga in the distance.[257] The Palung plains, now yellow with
withered grass, were the most curious part of the view: hemmed in by
this range which rises 2000 feet above them, and by the Lachen hills on
the east, they appeared a dead level, from which Kinchinjhow reared its
head, like an island from the ocean.[258] The black tents of the
Tibetans were still there, but the flocks were gone. The broad
fosse-like valley of the Chachoo was at my feet, with the river winding
along its bottom, and its flanks dotted with black juniper bushes.
[256] This ridging or furrowing of steep snow-beds is explained at
vol. i, p. 237
[257] The latter bore 241° 30′; it was distant about thirty-four
miles, and subtended an angle of 3° 2′ 30″. The rocks on its north
flanks were all black, while those forming the upper 10,000 feet of
the south face were white: hence, the top is probably granite,
overlaid by the gneiss on the north.
[258] It is impossible to contemplate the abrupt flanks of all these
lofty mountains, without contrasting them with the sloping outlines
that prevail in the southern parts of Sikkim. All such precipices are,
I have no doubt, the results of sea action; and all posterior
influence of sub-aerial action, aqueous or glacial, tends to wear
these precipices into slopes, to fill up valleys and to level
mountains. Of all such influences heavy rain-falls and a luxuriant
vegetation are probably the most active; and these features are
characteristic of the lower valleys of Sikkim, which are consequently
exposed to very different conditions of wear and tear from those which
prevail on these loftier rearward ranges.
The temperature at this elevation, between 1 and 3 p.m., varied from
38° to 59°; the mean being 46·5°, with the dew-point 34·6°. The height
I made 17,585 feet by barometer, and 17,517 by boiling-point. I tried
the pulses of eight, persons after two hours’ rest; they varied from 80
to 112, my own being 104. As usual at these heights, all the party were
suffering from giddiness and headaches.
Throughout September various parties passed my tent at Momay, generally
Lamas or traders: the former, wrapped in blankets, wearing scarlet and
gilt mitres, usually rode grunting yaks, which were sometimes led by a
slave-boy or a mahogany-faced nun, with a broad yellow sheep-skin cap
with flaps over her ears, short petticoats, and striped boots. The
domestic utensils, pots, pans, and bamboos of butter, tea-churn,
bellows, stools, books, and sacred implements, usually hung rattling on
all sides of his holiness, and a sumpter yak carried the tents and mats
for sleeping. On several occasions large parties of traders, with
thirty or forty yaks[259] laden with planks, passed, and occasionally a
shepherd with Tibet sheep, goats, and ponies. I questioned many of
these travellers about the courses of the Tibetan rivers; they all
agreed[260] in stating the Kambajong or Chomachoo liver, north of the
Lachen, to be the Arun of Nepal, and that it rose near the Ramchoo lake
(of Turner’s route). The lake itself discharges either into the Arun,
or into the Painomchoo (flowing to the Yaru); but this point I could
never satisfactorily ascertain. The weather at Momay, during September,
was generally bad after 11 a.m.: little snow or rain fell, but thin
mists and drizzle prevailed; less than one inch and a half of rain was
collected, though upwards of eleven fell at Calcutta, and rather more
at Dorjiling. The mornings were sometimes fine, cold, and sunny, with a
north wind which had blown down the valley all night, and till 9 a.m.,
when the south-east wind, with fog, came on. Throughout the day a north
current blew above the southern; and when the mist was thin; the air
sparkled with spiculæ of snow, caused by the cold dry upper current
condensing the vapours of the lower. This southern current passes over
the tops of the loftiest mountains, ascending to 24,000 feet, and
discharging frequent showers in Tibet, as far north as Jigatzi, where,
however, violent dry easterly gales are the most prevalent.
[259] About 600 loaded yaks are said to cross the Donkia pass
annually.
[260] One lad only, declared that the Kambajong river flowed
north-west to Dobtah and Sarrh, and thence turned north to the Yaru;
but all Campbell’s itineraries, as well as mine, make the Dobtah lake
drain into the Chomachoo, north of Wallanchoon; which latter river the
Nepalese also affirm flows into Nepal, as the Arun. The Lachen and
Lachoong Phipuns both insisted on this, naming to me the principal
towns on the way south-west from Kambajong along the river to Tingri
Maidan, _via_ Tashirukpa Chait, which is north of Wallanchoon pass.
The equinoctial gales set in on the 21st, with a falling barometer, and
sleet at night; on the 23rd and 24th it snowed heavily, and being
unable to light a fire at the entrance of my tent, I spent two wretched
days, taking observations; on the 25th it cleared, and the snow soon
melted. Frosty nights succeeded, but the thermometer only fell to 31°
once during the month, and the maximum once rose to 62·5°. The mean
temperature from the 9th to the 30th September was 41·6°,[261] which
coincided with that of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.; the mean maximum, 52·2°,
minimum, 34·7°, and consequent range, 17·5°.[262] On seven nights the
radiating thermometer fell much below the temperature of the air, the
mean being 10·5° and maximum 14·2°; and on seven mornings the sun
heated the black-bulb thermometer considerably, on the mean to 62·6°
above the air; maximum 75·2°, and minimum, 43°. The greatest heat of
the day occurred at noon: the most rapid rise of temperature (5°)
between 8 and 9 a.m., and the greatest fall (5·5°), between 3 and 4
p.m. A sunk thermometer fell from 52·5° to 51·5° between the 11th and
14th, when I was obliged to remove the thermometer owing to the
accident mentioned above. The mercury in the barometer rose and fell
contemporaneously with that at Calcutta and Dorjiling, but the amount
of tide was considerably less, and, as is usual during the equinoctial
month, on some days it scarcely moved, whilst on others it rose and
fell rapidly. The tide amounted to 0·062 of an inch.
[261] The result of fifty-six comparative observations between
Calcutta and Momay, give 40·6° difference, which, after corrections,
allows 1° Fahr. for every 438 feet of ascent.
[262] At Dorjiling the September range is only 9·5°; and at Calcutta
10°.
On the 28th of the month the Singtam Soubah came up from Yeumtong, to
request leave to depart for his home, on account of his wife’s illness;
and to inform me that Dr. Campbell had left Dorjiling, accompanied (in
compliance with the Rajah’s orders) by the Tchebu Lama. I therefore
left Momay on the 30th, to meet him at Choongtam, arriving at Yeumtong
the same night, amid heavy rain and sleet.
Autumnal tints reigned at Yeumtong, and the flowers had disappeared
from its heath-like flat; a small eatable cherry with a wrinkled stone
was ripe, and acceptable in a country so destitute of fruit.[263]
Thence I descended to Lachoong, on the 1st of October, again through
heavy rain, the snow lying on the Tunkra mountain at 14,000 feet. The
larch was shedding its leaves, which turn red before they fall; but the
annual vegetation was much behind that at 14,000 feet, and so many late
flowerers, such as _Umbelliferæ_ and _Compositæ,_ had come into
blossom, that the place still looked gay and green: the blue climbing
gentian (_Crawfurdia_) now adorned the bushes; this plant would be a
great acquisition in English gardens. A _Polygonum_ still in flower
here, was in ripe fruit near Momay, 6000 feet higher up the valley.
[263] The absence of _Vaccinia_ (whortleberries and cranberries) and
eatable _Rubi_ (brambles) in the alpine regions of the Himalaya is
very remarkable, and they are not replaced by any substitute. With
regard to Vaccinium, this is the more anomalous, as several species
grow in the temperate regions of Sikkim.
On the following day I made a long and very fatiguing march to
Choongtam, but the coolies were not all able to accomplish it. The
backwardness of the flora in descending was even more conspicuous than
on the previous day: the jungles, at 7000 feet, being gay with a
handsome Cucurbitaceous plant. Crossing the Lachoong cane-bridge, I
paid the tribute of a sigh to the memory of my poor dog, and reached my
old camping-ground at Choongtam by 10 p.m., having been marching
rapidly for twelve hours. My bed and tent came up two hours later, and
not before the leeches and mosquitos had taxed me severely. On the 4th
of October I heard the nightingale for the first time this season.
Expecting Dr. Campbell on the following morning, I proceeded down the
river to meet him: the whole valley was buried under a torrent or
débacle of mud, shingle, and boulders, and for half a mile the stream
was dammed up into a deep lake. Amongst the gneiss and granite boulders
brought down by this débacle, I collected some actinolites; but all
minerals are extremely rare in Sikkim and I never heard of a gem or
crystal of any size or beauty, or of an ore of any consequence, being
found in this country.
I met my friend on the other side of the mud torrent, and I was truly
rejoiced to see him, though he was looking much the worse for his
trying journey through the hot valleys at this season; in fact, I know
no greater trial of the constitution than the exposure and hard
exercise that is necessary in traversing these valleys, below 5000
feet, in the rainy season: delay is dangerous, and the heat, anxiety,
and bodily suffering from fatigue, insects, and bruises, banish sleep,
and urge the restless traveller onward to higher and more healthy
regions. Dr. Campbell had, I found, in addition to the ordinary dangers
of such a journey, met with an accident which might have proved
serious; his pony having been dashed to pieces by falling over a
precipice, a fate he barely escaped himself, by adroitly slipping from
the saddle when he felt the animal’s foot giving way.
On our way back to Choongtam, he detailed to me the motives that had
led to his obtaining the authority of the Deputy-Governor of Bengal
(Lord Dalhousie being absent) for his visiting Sikkim. Foremost, was
his earnest desire to cultivate a better understanding with the Rajah
and his officers. He had always taken the Rajah’s part, from a
conviction that he was not to blame for the misunderstandings which the
Sikkim officers pretended to exist between their country and Dorjiling;
he had, whilst urgently remonstrating with the Rajah, insisted on
forbearance on my part, and had long exercised it himself. In detailing
the treatment to which I was subjected, I had not hesitated to express
my opinion that the Rajah was more compromised by it than his Dewan:
Dr. Campbell, on the contrary, knew that the Dewan was the head and
front of the whole system of annoyance. In one point of view it
mattered little who was in the right; but the transaction was a
violation of good faith on the part of the Sikkim government towards
the British, for which the Rajah, however helpless, was yet
responsible. To act upon my representations alone would have been
unjust, and no course remained but for Dr. Campbell to inquire
personally into the matter. The authority to do this gave him also the
opportunity of becoming acquainted with the country which we were bound
to protect, as well by our interest as by treaty, but from which we
were so jealously excluded, that should any contingency occur, we were
ignorant of what steps to take for defence, and, indeed, of what we
should have to defend.
On the 6th of October we left Choongtam for my second visit to the
Kongra Lama pass, hoping to get round by the Cholamoo lakes and the
Donkia pass. As the country beyond the frontier was uninhabited, the
Tchebu Lama saw no difficulty in this, provided the Lachen Phipun and
the Tibetans did not object. Our great obstacle was the Singtam Soubah,
who (by the Rajah’s order) accompanied us to clear the road, and give
us every facility, but who was very sulky, and undisguisedly rude to
Campbell; he was in fact extremely jealous of the Lama, who held higher
authority than he did, and who alone had the Rajah’s confidence.
Our first day’s march was of about ten miles to one of the river-flats,
which was covered with wild apple-trees, whose fruit, when stewed with
sugar, we found palatable. The Lachen river, though still swollen, was
comparatively clear; the rains usually ceasing, or at least moderating,
in October: its water was about 5° colder than in the beginning of
August.
During the second day’s march we were stopped at the Taktoong river by
the want of a bridge, which the Singtam Soubah refused to exert himself
to have repaired; its waters were, however, so fallen, that our now
large party soon bridged it with admirable skill. We encamped the
second night on Chateng, and the following day made a long march,
crossing the Zemu, and ascending half-way to Tallum Samdong. The alpine
foliage was rapidly changing colour; and that of the berberry turning
scarlet, gave a warm glow to the mountain above the forest. Lamteng
village was deserted: turnips were maturing near the houses, and
buckwheat on the slope behind; the latter is a winter-crop at lower
elevations, and harvested in April. At Zemu Samdong the willow-leaves
were becoming sear and yellow, and the rose-bushes bore enormous
scarlet hips, two inches long, and covered with bristles; they were
sweet, and rather good eating. Near Tungu (where we arrived on the 9th)
the great Sikkim currant was in fruit; its berries are much larger than
the English, and of the same beautiful red colour, but bitter and very
acid; they are, however, eaten by the Tibetans, who call them
“Kewdemah.”
Near the village I found Dr. Campbell remonstrating with the Lachen
Phipun on the delays and rude treatment I had received in June and
July: the man, of course, answered every question with falsehoods,
which is the custom of these people, and produced the Rajah’s orders
for my being treated with every civility, as a proof that he must have
behaved as he ought! The Singtam Soubah, as was natural, hung back, for
it was owing to him alone that the orders had been contravened, and the
Phipun appealed to the bystanders for the truth of this.
The Phipun (accompanied by his Larpun or subordinate officer) had
prepared for us a sumptuous refreshment of tea soup, which was brewing
by the road, and in which all animosities were soon washed away. We
took up our abode at Tungu in a wooden but under the great rock, where
we were detained for several days by bad weather. I was assured that
during all August and September the weather had been uniformly gloomy,
as at Momay, though little rain had fallen.
We had much difficulty in purchasing a sufficient number of
blankets[264] for our people, and in arranging for our journey, to
which the Lachen Phipun was favourable, promising us ponies for the
expedition. The vegetation around was wholly changed since my July
visit: the rhododendron scrub was verdigris-green from the young leaves
which burst in autumn, and expose at the end of each branchlet a
flower-bud covered with resinous scales, which are thrown off in the
following spring. The jungle was spotted yellow with the withered
birch, maple and mountain-ash, and scarlet with berberry bushes; while
above, the pastures were yellow-brown with the dead grass, and streaked
with snow.
[264] These were made of goat’s wool, teazed into a satiny surface by
little teazle-like brushes of bamboo.
Amongst other luxuries, we procured the flesh of yak calves, which is
excellent veal: we always returned the foot for the mother to lick
while being milked, without which she yields nothing. The yak goes nine
months with calf, and drops one every two years, bearing altogetber ten
or twelve: the common Sikkim cow of lower elevations, at Dorjiling
invariably goes from nine and a half to ten months, and calves
annually: ponies go eleven months, and foal nearly every year. In Tibet
the sheep are annually sheared; the ewes drop their young in spring and
autumn, but the lambs born at the latter period often die of cold and
starvation, and double lambing is unknown; whereas, in the plains of
Bengal (where, however, sheep cannot be said to thrive without pulse
fodder) twins are constantly born. At Dorjiling the sheep drop a lamb
once in the season. The Tibetan mutton we generally found dry and
stringy.
In these regions many of my goats and kids had died foaming at the
mouth and grinding their teeth; and I here discovered the cause to
arise from their eating the leaves of _Rhododendron cinnabarinum_[265]
(“Kema Kechoong,” Lepcha: Kema signifying Rhododendron): this species
alone is said to be poisonous; and when used as fuel, it causes the
face to swell and the eyes to inflame; of which I observed several
instances. As the subject of fire-wood is of every-day interest to the
traveller in these regions, I may here mention that the rhododendron
woods afford poor fires; juniper burns the brightest, and with least
smoke. _Abies Webbiana,_ though emitting much smoke, gives a cheerful
fire, far superior to larch,[266] spruce, or _Abies Brunoniana._ At
Dorjiling, oak is the common fuel; alder is also good. Chestnut is
invariably used for blacksmith’s charcoal. Magnolia has a disagreeable
odour, and laurel burns very badly.
[265] The poisonous honey produced by other species is alluded to at
vol. i., p. 201. An _Andromeda_ and a _Gualtheria,_ I have been
assured are equally deleterious.
[266] The larch of northern Asia (_Larix Europœa_) is said to produce
a pungent smoke, which I never observed to be the case with the Sikkim
species.
The phenomenon of phosphorescence is most conspicuous on stacks of
fire-wood. At Dorjiling, during the damp, warm, summer months (May to
October), at elevations of 5000 to 8000 feet, it may be witnessed every
night by penetrating a few yards into the forest—at least it was so in
1848 and 1849; and during my stay there billets of decayed wood were
repeatedly sent to me by residents, with inquiries as to the cause of
their luminosity. It is no exaggeration to say that one does not need
to move from the fireside to see this phenomenon, for if there is a
partially decayed log amongst the fire-wood, it is almost sure to glow
with a pale phosphoric light. A stack of fire-wood, collected near my
host’s (Mr. Hodgson) cottage, presented a beautiful spectacle for two
months (in July and August), and on passing it at night, I had to quiet
my pony, who was always alarmed by it. The phenomenon invariably
accompanies decay, and is common on oak, laurel (_Tetranthera_), birch,
and probably other timbers; it equally appears on cut wood and on
stumps, but is most frequent on branches lying close to the ground in
the wet forests. I have reason to believe that it spreads with great
rapidity from old surfaces to freshly cut ones. That it is a vital
phenomenon, and due to the mycelium of a fungus, I do not in the least
doubt, for I have observed it occasionally circumscribed by those black
lines which are often seen to bound mycelia on dead wood, and to
precede a more rapid decay. I have often tried, but always in vain, to
coax these mycelia into developing some fungus, by placing them in damp
rooms, etc. When camping in the mountains, I frequently caused the
natives to bring phosphorescent wood into my tent, for the pleasure of
watching its soft undulating light, which appears to pale and glow with
every motion of the atmosphere; but except in this difference of
intensity, it presents no change in appearance night after night.
Alcohol, heat, and dryness soon dissipate it; electricity I never
tried. It has no odour, and my dog, who had a fine sense of smell, paid
no heed when it was laid under his nose.[267]
[267] As far as my observations go, this phenomenon of light is
confined to the lower orders of vegetable life, to the fungi alone,
and is not dependent on irritability. I have never seen luminous
flowers or roots, nor do I know of any authenticated instance of such,
which may not be explained by the presence of mycelium or of animal
life. In the animal kingdom, luminosity is confined, I believe, to the
Invertebrata, and is especially common amongst the Radiata and
Mollusca; it is also frequent in the Entromostracous Crustacea, and in
various genera of most orders of insects. In all these, even in the
Sertulariæ, I have invariably observed the light to be increased by
irritation, in which respect the luminosity of animal life differs
from that of vegetable.
The weather continuing bad, and snow falling, the country people began
to leave for their winter-quarters at Lamteng. In the evenings we
enjoyed the company of the Phipun and Tchebu Lama, who relished a cup
of sugarless tea more than any other refreshment we could offer. From
them we collected much Tibetan information:—the former was an
inveterate smoker, using a pale, mild tobacco, mixed largely with
leaves of the small wild Tibetan Rhubarb, called “Chula.” Snuff is
little used, and is principally procured from the plains of India.
We visited Palung twice, chiefly in hopes that Dr. Campbell might see
the magnificent prospect of Kinchinjhow from its plains: the first time
we gained little beyond a ducking, but on the second (October the 15th)
the view was superb; and I likewise caught a glimpse of Kinchinjunga
from the neighbouring heights, bearing south 60° west and distant forty
miles. I also measured barometrically the elevation at the great chait
on the plains, and found it 15,620 feet, and by carefully boiled
thermometers, 15,283, on the 13th October, and 15,566 on the 15th: the
difference being due to the higher temperature on the latter day, and
to a rise of 0·3° on both boiling-point thermometers above what the
same instruments stood at on the 13th. The elevation of Tungu from the
October barometrical observations was only seven feet higher than that
given by those of July; the respective heights being 12,766 feet in
July, and 12,773 in October.[268] The mean temperature had fallen from
50° in July to 41°, and that of the sunk thermometer from 57° to 51·4°.
The mean range in July was 23·3°, and in October 13·8°; the weather
during the latter period being, however, uniformly cold and misty, this
was much below the mean monthly range, which probably exceeds 30°. Much
more rain fell in October at Tungu than at Dorjiling, which is the
opposite to what occurs during the rainy season.
[268] The elevation of Tungu by boiling-point was 12,650 feet by a set
of July observations, 12,818 by a set taken on the 11th of October,
and 12,544 by a set on the 14th of October: the discrepancies were
partly due to the temperature corrections, but mainly to the readings
of the thermometers, which were—
July 28, sunset
Oct. 11, noon
Oct. 14, sunset 189·5
189·5
190·1 air 47·3°
air 37·6°
air 45·3° elev. 12,650
elev. 12,818
elev. 12,544
_October 15th._ Having sent the coolies forward, with instructions to
halt and camp on this side of the Kongra Lama pass, we followed them,
taking the route by Palung, and thence over the hills to the Lachen, to
the east of which we descended, and further up its valley joined the
advanced party in a rocky glen, called Sitong, an advantageous camping
ground, from being sheltered by rocks which ward off the keen blasts:
its elevation is 15,370 feet above the sea, and the magnificent west
cliff of Kinchinjhow towers over it not a mile distant, bearing due
east, and subtending an angle of 24·3°. The afternoon was misty, but at
7 p.m. the south-east wind fell, and was immediately succeeded by the
biting north return current, which dispelled the fog: hoar-frost
sparkled on the ground, and the moon shone full on the snowy head of
Kinchinjhow, over which the milky-way and the broad flashing orbs of
the stars formed a jewelled diadem. The night was very windy and cold,
though the thermometer fell no lower than 22°, that placed in a
polished parabolic reflector to 20°, and another laid on herbage to
17·5°.
On the 16th we were up early. I felt very anxious about the prospect of
our getting round by Donkia pass and Cholamoo, which would enable me to
complete the few remaining miles of my long survey of the Teesta river,
and which promised immense results in the views I should obtain of the
country, and of the geology and botany of these lofty snowless regions.
Campbell, though extremely solicitous to obtain permission from the
Tibetan guard, (who were waiting for us on the frontier), was
nevertheless bound by his own official position to yield at once to
their wishes, should they refuse us a passage.
The sun rose on our camp at 7.30 a.m., when the north wind fell; and
within an hour afterwards the temperature had risen to 45°. Having had
our sticks[269] warmed and handed to us, we started on ponies,
accompanied by the Lama only, to hold a parley with the Tibetans;
ordering the rest of the party to follow at their leisure. We had not
proceeded far when we were joined by two Tibetan Sepoys, who, on our
reaching the pass, bellowed lustily for their companions; when Campbell
and the Lama drew up at the chait of Kongra Lama, and announced his
wish to confer with their commandant.
[269] It was an invariable custom of our Lepcba and Tibetan
attendants, to warm the handles of our sticks in cold weather, before
starting on our daily marches. This is one of many little instances I
could adduce, of their thoughtfulness and attention to the smallest
comforts of the stranger and wanderer in their lands.
My anxiety was now wound up to a pitch; I saw men with matchlocks
emerging from amongst the rocks under Chomiomo, and despairing of
permission being obtained, I goaded my pony with heels and stick, and
dashed on up the Lachen valley, resolved to make the best of a splendid
day, and not turn back till I had followed the river to the Cholamoo
lakes: The Sepoys followed me a few paces, but running being difficult
at 16,000 feet, they soon gave up the chase.
A few miles ride in a north-east direction over an open, undulating
country, brought me to the Lachen, flowing westwards in a broad, open,
stony valley, bounded by Kinchinjhow on the south, (its face being as
precipitous as that on the opposite side), and on the north by the
Peukathlo, a low range of rocky, sloping mountains, of which the
summits were 18,000 to 19,000 feet above the sea. Enormous erratic
blocks of gneiss strewed the ground, which was sandy or gravelly, and
cut into terraces along the shallow, winding river, the green and
sparkling waters of which rippled over pebbles, or expanded into
lagoons. The already scanty vegetation diminished rapidly: it consisted
chiefly of scattered bushes of a dwarf scrubby honeysuckle and tufts of
nettle, both so brittle as to be trodden into powder, and the short
leafless twiggy _Ephedra,_ a few inches higher. The most alpine
rhododendron (_R. nivale_) spread its small rigid branches close to the
ground; the hemispherical _Arenaria,_ another type of sterility, rose
here and there, and tufts of _Myosotis, Artemisia, Astragali,_ and
_Adrosace,_ formed flat cushions level with the soil. Grass was very
scarce, but a running wiry sedge (_Carex Moorcroftii_) bound the sand,
like the _Carex arenaria_ of our English coasts.
A more dismally barren country cannot well be conceived, nor one more
strongly contrasting with the pastures of Palung at an equal elevation.
The long lofty wall of Kinchinjhow and Donkia presents an effectual
barrier to the transmission of moisture to the head of the Lachen
valley, which therefore becomes a type of such elevations in Tibet. As
I proceeded, the ground became still more sandy, chirping under the
pony’s feet; and where harder, it was burrowed by innumerable marmots,
foxes, and the “Goomchen,” or tail-less rat (_Lagomys badius_),
sounding hollow to the tread, and at last becoming so dangerous that I
was obliged to dismount and walk.
The geological features changed as rapidly as those of the climate and
vegetation, for the strike of the rocks being north-west, and the dip
north-east, I was rising over the strata that overlie the gneiss. The
upper part of Kinchinjhow is composed of bold ice-capped cliffs of
gneiss; but the long spurs that stretch northwards from it are of
quartz, conglomerates, slates, and earthy red clays, forming the
rounded terraced hills I had seen from Donkia pass. Between these spurs
were narrow valleys, at whose mouths stupendous blocks of gneiss rest
on rocks of a much later geological formation.
Opposite the most prominent of these spurs the river (16,800 feet above
the sea) runs west, forming marshes, which were full of _Zannichellia
palustris_ and _Ranunculus aquatilis,_ both English and Siberian
plants: the waters contained many shells, of a species of
_Lymnæa_;[270] and the soil near the edge, which was covered with tufts
of short grass, was whitened with effloresced carbonate of soda. Here
were some square stone enclosures two feet high, used as pens, and for
pitching tents in; within them I gathered some unripe barley.
[270] This is the most alpine living shell in the world; my specimens
being from nearly 17,000 feet elevation; it is the _Lymnæa Hookeri,_
Reeve (“Proceedings of the Zoological Society,” No. 204).
Beyond this I recognised a hill of which I had taken bearings from
Donkia pass, and a few miles further, on rounding a great spur of
Kinchinjunga, I arrived in sight of Cholamoo lakes, with the Donkia
mountain rearing its stupendous precipices of rock and ice on the east.
My pony was knocked up, and I felt very giddy from the exertion and
elevation; I had broken his bridle, and so led him on by my plaid for
the last few miles to the banks of the lake; and there, with the
pleasant sound of the waters rippling at my feet, I yielded for a few
moments to those emotions of gratified ambition which, being unalloyed
by selfish considerations for the future; become springs of happiness
during the remainder of one’s life.
The landscape about Cholamoo lakes was simple in its elements, stern
and solemn; and though my solitary situation rendered it doubly
impressive to me, I doubt whether the world contains any scene with
more sublime associations than this calm sheet of water, 17,000 feet
above the sea, with the shadows of mountains 22,000 to 24,000 feet
high, sleeping on its bosom.
There was much short grass about the lake, on which large antelopes,
“Chiru” (_Antilope Hodgsoni_),[271] and deer, “Goa” (_Procapra
picticaudata,_ Hodgson), were feeding. There were also many
slate-coloured hales with white rumps (_Lepus oiostolus_), with marmots
and tail-less rats. The abundance of animal life was wonderful,
compared with the want of it on the south side of Donkia pass, not five
miles distant in a straight line! it is partly due to the profusion of
carbonate of soda, of which all ruminants are fond, and partly to the
dryness of the climate, which is favourable to all burrowing
quadrupeds. A flock of common English teal were swimming in the lake,
the temperature of which was 55°.
[271] I found the horns of this animal on the south side of the Donkia
pass, but I never saw a live one except in Tibet. The _Procapra_ is
described by Mr. Hodgson, “Bengal As. Soc. Jour., 1846, p. 388,” and
is introduced into the cut at p. 139.
[Illustration: Antelope’s head]
The accompanying figures of the heads of the Chiru (_Antilope
Hodgsoni_), were sketched by Lieut. Maxwell (of the Bengal Artillery),
from a pair brought to Dorjiling; it is the so-called unicorn of Tibet,
and of MM. HuC and Gabet’s narrative,—a name which the profile no doubt
suggested.
I had come about fifteen miles from the pass, and arrived at 1 p.m.,
remaining half an hour. I could not form an idea as to whether Campbell
had followed or not, and began to speculate on the probability of
passing the night in the open air, by the warm side of my steed. Though
the sun shone brightly, the wind was bitterly cold, and I arrived at
the stone dykes of Yeumtso at 3 p.m., quite exhausted with fatigue and
headache. I there found, to my great relief, the Tchebu Lama and Lachen
Phipun: they were in some alarm at my absence, for they thought I was
not aware of the extreme severity of the temperature on the north side
of the snows, or of the risk of losing my way; they told me that after
a long discourse with the Dingpun (or commander) of the Tibetan Sepoys,
the latter had allowed all the party to pass; that the Sepoys had
brought on the coolies, who were close behind, but that they themselves
had seen nothing of Campbell; of whom the Lama then went in search.
The sun set behind Chomiomo at 5 p.m., and the wind at once dropped, so
local are these violent atmospheric currents, which are caused by the
heating of the upper extremities of these lofty valleys, and consequent
rarefaction of the air. Intense terrestrial radiation immediately
follows the withdrawal of the sun’s rays, and the temperature sinks
rapidly.
Soon after sunset the Lama returned, bringing Campbell; who, having
mistaken some glacier-fed lakes at the back of Kinchinjhow for those of
Cholamoo, was looking for me. He too had speculated on having to pass
the night under a rock, with one plaid for himself and servant; in
which case I am sure they would both have been frozen to death, having
no pony to lie down beside. He told me that after I had quitted Kongra
Lama, leaving him with the Tchebu Lama and Phipun, the Dingpun and
twenty men came up, and very civilly but formally forbade their
crossing the frontier; but that upon explaining his motives, and
representing that it would save him ten days’ journey, the Dingpun had
relented, and promised to conduct the whole party to the Donkia pass.
We pitched our little tent in the corner of the cattle-pen, and our
coolies soon afterwards came up; mine were in capital health, though
suffering from headaches, but Campbell’s were in a distressing state of
illness and fatigue, with swollen faces and rapid pulses, and some were
insensible from symptoms like pressure on the brain;[272] these were
chiefly Ghorkas (Nepalese). The Tibetan Dingpun and his guard arrived
last of all, he was a droll little object, short, fat, deeply marked
with small-pox, swarthy, and greasy; he was robed in a green woollen
mantle, and was perched on the back of a yak, which also carried his
bedding, and cooking utensils, the latter rattling about its flanks,
horns, neck, and every point of support: two other yaks bore the tents
of the party. His followers were tall savage looking fellows, with
broad swarthy faces, and their hair in short pig-tails. They wore the
long-sleeved cloak, short trousers, and boots, all of thick woollen,
and felt caps on their heads. Each was armed with a long matchlock
slung over his back, with a moveable rest having two prongs like a
fork, and a hinge, so as to fold up along the barrel, when the prongs
project behind the shoulders like antelope horns, giving the uncouth
warrior a droll appearance. A dozen cartridges, each in an iron case,
were slung round the waist, and they also wore the long knife, flint,
steel, and iron tobacco-pipe, pouch, and purse, suspended to a leathern
girdle.
[272] I have never experienced bleeding at the nose, ears, lips or
eyelids, either in my person or that of my companions, on these
occasions; nor did I ever meet with a recent traveller who has. Dr.
Thomson has made the same remark, and when in Switzerland together we
were assured by Auguste Balmat, François Coutet, and other experienced
Mont Blanc guides, that they never witnessed these symptoms nor the
blackness of the sky, so frequently insisted upon by alpine
travellers.
The night was fine, but intensely cold, and the vault of heaven was
very dark, and blazing with stars; the sir was electrical, and flash
lightning illumined the sky; this was the reflection of a storm that
was not felt at Dorjiling, but which raged on the plains of India,
beyond the Terai, fully 120 miles, and perhaps 150, south of our
position. No thunder was heard. The thermometer fell to 5°, and that in
the reflector to 3.5°; at sunrise it rose to 10°, and soon after 8 a.m.
to 33°; till this hour the humidity was great, and a thin mist hung
over the frozen surface of the rocky ground; when this dispersed, the
air became very dry, and the black-bulb thermometer in the sun rose 60°
above the temperature in the shade. The light of the sun, though
sometimes intercepted by vapours aloft, was very brilliant.[273]
[273] My black glass photometer shut out the sun’s disc at 10.509
inches, from the mean of four sets of observations taken between 7 and
10 a.m.
This being the migrating season, swallows flitted through the air;
finches, larches, and sparrows were hopping over the sterile soil,
seeking food, though it was difficult to say what. The geese[274] which
had roosted by the river, cackled; the wild ducks quacked and plumed
themselves; ouzels and waders screamed or chirped; and all rejoiced as
they prepared themselves for the last flight of the year, to the
valleys of the southern Himalaya, to the Teesta, and other rivers of
the Terai and plains of India.
[274] An enormous quantity of water-fowl breed in Tibet, including
many Indian species that migrate no further north. The natives collect
their eggs for the markets at Jigatzi, Giantchi, and Lhassa, along the
banks of the Yarn river, Ramchoo, and Yarbru and Dochen lakes. Amongst
other birds the Sara, or great crane of India (see “Turner’s Tibet,”
p. 212), repairs to these enormous elevations to breed. The fact of
birds characteristic of the tropics dwelling for months in such
climates is a very instructive one, and should be borne in mind in our
speculations upon the climate supposed to be indicated by the imbedded
bones of birds.
The Dingpun paid his respects to us in the morning, wearing, besides
his green cloak, a white cap with a green glass button, denoting his
rank; he informed us that he had written to his superior officer at
Kambajong, explaining his motives for conducting us across the
frontier, and he drew from his breast a long letter, written on
_Daphne_[275] paper, whose ends were tied with floss silk, with a large
red seal; this he pompously delivered, with whispered orders, to an
attendant, and sent him off. He admired our clothes extremely,[276] and
then my percussion gun, the first he had seen; but above all he admired
rum and water, which he drank with intense relish, leaving a mere sip
for his comrades at the bottom of his little wooden cup, which they
emptied, and afterwards licked clean, and replaced in his breast for
him. We made a large basin full of very weak grog for his party, who
were all friendly and polite; and having made us the unexpected offer
of allowing us to rest ourselves for the day at Yeumtso, he left us,
and practised his men at firing at a mark, but they were very
indifferent shots.
[275] Most of the paper used in Tibet is, as I have elsewhere noticed,
made from the bark of various species of _Daphneæ,_ and especially of
_Edgeworthia Gardneri,_ and is imported from Nepal and Bhotan; but the
Tibetans, as MM. Huc and Gabet correctly state, manufacture a paper
from the root of a small shrub: this I have seen, and it is of a much
thicker texture and more durable than Daphne paper. Dr. Thomson
informs me that a species of _Astragalus_ is used in western Tibet for
this purpose, the whole shrub, which is dwarf, being reduced to pulp.
[276] All Tibetans admire sad value English broad-cloth beyond any of
our products. Woollen articles are very familiar to them, and warm
clothing is one of the first requisites of life.
I ascended with Campbell to the lake he had visited on the previous
day, about 600 or 800 feet above Yeumtso, and 17,500 feet above the
sea: it is a mile and a half long, and occupies a large depression
between two rounded spurs, being fed by glaciers from Kinchinjhow. The
rocks of these spurs were all of red quartz and slates, cut into broad
terraces, covered with a thick glacial talus of gneiss and granite in
angular pebbles, and evidently spread over the surface when the
glacier, now occupying the upper end of the lake, extended over the
valley.
The ice on the cliffs and summit of Kinchinjhow was much greener and
clearer than that on the south face (opposite Palung); and rows of
immense icicles hung from the cliffs. A conferva grew in the waters of
the lake, and short, hard tufts of sedge on the banks, but no other
plants were to be seen. Brahminee geese, teal, and widgeon, were
swimming in the waters, and a beetle (_Elaphrus_) was coursing over the
wet banks; finches and other small birds were numerous, eating the
sedge-seeds, and picking up the insects. No view was obtained to the
north, owing to the height of the mountains on the north flank of the
Lachen.
At noon the temperature rose to 52·5°, and the black-bulb to 104·5°;
whilst the north-west dusty wind was so dry, that the dew-point fell to
24·2°.