Ascent of Bhomtso—View of snowy mountains—Chumulari—Arun
river—Kiang-lah mountains—Jigatzi—Lhama—Dingcham province of
Tibet—Misapplication of term “Plain of Tibet”—Sheep, flocks
of—Crops—Probable elevation of Jigatzi—Yarn—Tsampu river—Tame
elephants—Wild horses—Dryness of air—Sunset beams—Rocks of
Kinchinjhow—Cholamoo lakes—Limestone—Dip and strike of rocks—Effects of
great elevation on party—Ascent of Donkia—Moving piles of débris—Cross
Donkia pass—Second Visit to Momay Samdong—Hot springs—Descent to
Yeumtong—Lachoong—Retardation of vegetation again noticed—Jerked
meat—Fish—Lose a thermometer—Lepcha lad sleeps in hot
spring—Keadom—_Bucklandia_—Arrive at
Choongtam—Mendicant—Meepo—Lachen-Lachoong river—Wild grape—View from
Singtam of Kinchinjunga—Virulent nettle.
In the afternoon we crossed the valley, and ascended Bhomtso, fording
the river, whose temperature was 48°. Some stupendous boulders of
gneiss from Kinchinjhow are deposited in a broad sandy track on the
north bank, by ancient glaciers, which once crossed this valley from
Kinchinjhow.
The ascent was alternately over steep rocky slopes, and broad
shelf-like flats; many more plants grew here than I had expected, in
inconspicuous scattered tufts.[277] The rocks were nearly vertical
strata of quartz, hornstone, and conglomerate, striking north-west, and
dipping south-west 80°. The broad top of the hill was also of quartz,
but covered with angular pebbles of the rocks transported from
Kinchinjhow. Some clay-stone fragments were stained red with oxide of
iron, and covered with _Parmelia miniata_;[278] this, with _Borrera,_
another lichen, which forms stringy masses blown along by the wind,
were the only plants, and they are among the most alpine in the world.
[277] Besides those before mentioned, there were Fescue-grass
(_Festuca ovina_ of Scotland), a strong-scented silky wormwood
(_Artemisia_), and round tufts of _Oxytropis chiliophylla,_ a kind of
_Astralagus_ that inhabits eastern and western Tibet; this alone was
green: it formed great circles on the ground, the centre decaying, and
the annual shoots growing outwards, and thus constantly enlarging the
circle. A woolly _Leontopodium, Androsace,_ and some other plants
assumed nearly the same mode of growth. The rest of the vegetation
consisted of a _Sedum, Nardostachys Jatamansi, Meconopsis horridula,_
a slender _Androsace, Gnaphalium, Stipa, Salvia, Draba, Pedicularis,
Potentilla_ or _Sibbaldia, Gentiana_ and _Erigeron alpinus_ of
Scotland. All these grow nearly up to 18,000 feet.
[278] This minute lichen, mentioned at chapter xxxii, is the most
Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine in the world; often occurring so
abundantly as to colour the rocks of an orange red. This was the case
at Bhomtso, and is so also in Cockburn Island in the Antarctic ocean,
which it covers so profusely that the rocks look as if brightly
painted. See “Ross’s Voyage,” vol. ii. p. 339.
Bhomtso is 18,590 feet above the sea by barometer, and 18,305 by
boiling-point: it presented an infinitely more extensive prospect than
I had ventured to anticipate, commanding all the most important Sikkim,
North Bhotan, and Tibetan mountains, including Kinchinjunga
thirty-seven miles to the south-west, and Chumulari thirty-nine miles
south-east. Due south, across the sandy valley of the Lachen,
Kinchinjhow reared its long wall of glaciers and rugged precipices,
22,000 feet high, and under its cliffs lay the lake to which we had
walked in the morning: beyond Kongra Lama were the Thlonok mountains,
where I had spent the month of June, with Kinchinjunga in the distance.
Westward Chomiomo rose abruptly from the rounded hills we were on, to
22,000 feet elevation, ten miles distant. To the east of Kinchinjhow
were the Cholamoo lakes, with the rugged mass of Donkia stretching in
cliffs of ice and snow continuously southwards to forked Donkia, which
overhung Momay Samdong.
Kinchinjhow, Donkia and Cholamoo Lake, from the summit of Bhomtso,
looking south; the summit of Chumulari is introduced in the extreme
left of the view
A long sloping spur sweeps from the north of Donkia first north, and
then west to Bhomtso, rising to a height of more than 20,000 feet
without snow. Over this spur the celebrated Chumulari[279] peeps,
bearing south-east, and from its isolated position and sharpness
looking low and small; it appeared quite near, though thirty-nine miles
distant.
[279] Some doubt still hangs over the identity of this mountain,
chiefly owing to Turner’s having neglected to observe his geographical
positions. I saw a much loftier mountain than this, bearing from
Bhomtso north 87° east, and it was called Chumulari by the Tibetan
Sepoys; but it does not answer to Turner’s description of an isolated
snowy peak, such as he approached within three miles; and though in
the latitude he assigned to it, is fully sixty miles to the east of
his route. A peak, similar to the one he describes, is seen from
Tonglo and Sinchul (see vol. i., p. 125 and p. 185); this is the one
alluded to above, and it is identified by both Tibetans and Lepchas at
Dorjiling as the true Chumulari, and was measured by Colonel Waugh,
who placed it in lat. 27° 49′ north, long. 89° 18′ east. The latter
position, though fifteen miles south of what Turner gives it, is
probably correct; as Pemberton found that Turner had put other places
in Bhotan twenty miles too far north. Moreover, in saying that it is
visible from Purnea in the plains of Bengal, Turner refers to
Kinchinjunga, whose elevation was then unknown. Dr. Campbell (“Bengal
As. Soc. Jour.,” 1848), describes Chumulari from oral information, as
an isolated mountain encircled by twenty-one goompas, and perambulated
by pilgrims in five days; the Lachoong Phipun, on the other hand, who
was a Lama, and well acquainted with the country, affirmed that
Chumulari has many tops, and cannot be perambulated; but that detached
peaks near it may be, and that it is to a temple near one of these
that pilgrims resort. Again, the natives use these names very vaguely,
and as that of Kinchinjunga is often applied equally to all or any
part of the group of snows between the Lachen and Tambur rivers, so
may the term Chumulari have been used vaguely to Captain Turner or to
me. I have been told that an isolated, snow-topped, venerated mountain
rises about twenty miles south of the true Chumulari, and is called
“Sakya-khang” (Sakya’s snowy mountain), which may be that seen from
Dorjiling; but I incline to consider Campbell’s and Waugh’s mountain
as the one alluded to by Turner, and it is to it that I here refer as
bearing north 115° 30′ east from Bhomtso.
North-east of Chumulari, and far beyond it, are several meridional
ranges of very much loftier snowy mountains, which terminated the view
of the snowy Himalaya; the distance embraced being fully 150 miles, and
perhaps much more. Of one of these eastern masses[280] I afterwards
took bearings and angular heights from the Khasia mountains, in Bengal,
upwards of 200 miles south-east of its position.
[280] These are probably the Ghassa mountains of Turners narrative:
bearings which I took of one of the loftiest of them, from the Khasia
mountains, together with those from Bhomtso, would appear to place it
in latitude 28° 10′ and longitude 90°, and 200 miles from the former
station, and 90° east of the latter. Its elevation from Bhomtso angles
is 24,160 feet. I presume I also saw Chumulari from the Khasia; the
most western peak seen thence being in the direction of that mountain.
Captain R. Strachey has most kindly paid close attention to these
bearings and distances, and recalculated the distances and heights: no
confidence is, however, to be placed in the results of such minute
angles, taken from immense distances. Owing in part no doubt to
extraordinary refraction, the angles of the Ghassa mountain taken from
the Khasia give it an elevation of 26,500 feet! which is very much
over the truth; and make that of Chumulari still higher: the distance
from my position in the Khasia being 210 miles from Chumulari! which
is probably the utmost limit at which the human eye has ever discerned
a terrestrial object.
Turning to the northward, a singular contrast in the view was
presented: the broad sandy valley of the Arun lay a few miles off, and
perhaps 1,500 feet below me; low brown and red ridges, 18,000 to 19,000
feet high, of stony sloping mountains with rocky tops, divided its
feeders, which appeared to be dry, and to occupy flat sandy valleys.
For thirty miles north no mountain was above the level of the
theodolite, and not a particle of snow was to be seen beyond that,
rugged purple-flanked and snowy-topped mountains girdled the horizon,
appearing no nearer than they did from the Donkia pass, and their
angular heights and bearings being almost the same as from that point
of view. The nearer of these are said to form the Kiang-lah chain, the
furthest I was told by different authorities are in the salt districts
north of Jigatzi.
To the north-east was the lofty region traversed by Turner on his route
by the Ramchoo lakes to Teshoo Loombo; its elevation may be 17,000
feet[281] above the sea. Beyond it a gorge led through rugged
mountains, by which I was told the Painom river flows north-west to the
Yaru; and at an immense distance to the north-east were the Khamba
mountains, a long blue range, which it is said divides the Lhassan or
“U” from the “Tsang” (or Jigatzi) province of Tibet; it appeared fully
100 miles off, and was probably much more; it bore from N. 57° E. to N.
70° E., and though so lofty as to be heavily snowed throughout, was
much below the horizon-line of Bhomtso; it is crossed on the route from
Jigatzi, and from Sikkim to Lhassa,[282] and is considered very lofty,
from affecting the breathing. About twenty miles to the north-east are
some curious red conical mountains, said to be on the west side of the
Ramchoo lakes; they were unsnowed, and bore N. 45° 30′ E. and N. 60°
30′ E. A sparingly-snowed group bore N. 26° 30′ E., and another N. 79°
E., the latter being probably that mentioned by Turner as seen by him
from near Giantchi.
[281] It is somewhat remarkable that Turner nowhere alludes to
difficulty of breathing, and in one place only to head-ache (p. 209)
when at these great elevations. This is in a great measure accounted
for by his having been constantly mounted. I never suffered either in
my breathing, head, or stomach when riding, even when at 18,300 feet.
[282] Lhassa, which lies north-east, may be reached in ten days from
this, with relays of ponies; many mountains are crossed, where the
breath is affected, and few villages are passed after leaving
Giantchi, the “Jhansi jeung” of Turner’s narrative. See Campbell’s
“Routes from Dorjiling to Lhassa.” (“Bengal As. Soc. Journal.”)
But the mountains which appeared both the highest and the most distant
on the northern landscape, were those I described when at Donkia, as
being north of Nepal and beyond the Arun river, and the culminant peak
of which bore N. 55°. Both Dr. Campbell and I made repeated estimates
of its height and distance by the eye; comparing its size and
snow-level with those of the mountains near us; and assuming 4000 to
5000 feet as the minimum height of its snowy cap; this would give it an
elevation of 23,000 to 25,000 feet. An excellent telescope brought out
no features on its flanks not visible to the naked eye, and by the most
careful levellings with the theodolite, it was depressed more than 0°
7′ below the horizon of Bhomtso, whence the distance must be above 100
miles.
The transparency of the pale-blue atmosphere of these lofty regions can
hardly be described, nor the clearness and precision with which the
most distant objects are projected against the sky. From having
afterwards measured peaks 200 and 210 miles distant from the Khasia
mountains, I feel sure that I underrated the estimates made at Bhomtso,
and I have no hesitation in saying, that the mean elevation of the
sparingly-snowed[283] watershed between the Yaru and the Arun will be
found to be greater than that of the snowy Himalaya south of it, and to
follow the chain running from Donkia, north of the Arun, along the
Kiang-lah mountains, towards the Nepal frontier, at Tingri Maidan. No
part of that watershed perhaps rises so high as 24,000 feet, but its
lowest elevation is probably nowhere under 18,000 feet.
[283] Were the snow-level in Dingcham, as low as it is in Sikkim, the
whole of Tibet from Donkia almost to the Yaru-Tsampu river would be
everywhere intersected by glaciers and other impassable barriers of
snow and ice, for a breadth of fifty miles, and the country would have
no parallel for amount of snow beyond the Polar circles. It is
impossible to conjecture what would have been the effects on the
climate of northern India and central Asia under these conditions.
When, however, we reflect upon the evidences of glacial phenomena that
abound in all the Himalayan valleys at and above 9000 feet elevation,
it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that such a state of things
once existed, and that at a comparatively very recent period.
This broad belt of lofty country, north of the snowy Himalaya, is the
Dingcham province of Tibet, and runs along the frontier of Sikkim,
Bhotan, and Nepal. It gives rise to all the Himalayan rivers, and its
mean elevation is probably 15,000 to 15,500 feet: its general
appearance, as seen from greater heights, is that of a much less
mountainous country than the snowy and wet Himalayan regions; this is
because its mean elevation is so enormous, that ranges of 20,000 to
22,000 feet appear low and insignificant upon it. The absence of forest
and other obstructions to the view, the breadth and flatness of the
valleys, and the undulating character of the lower ranges that traverse
its surface, give it a comparatively level appearance, and suggest the
term “maidan” or “plains” to the Tibetan, when comparing his country
with the complicated ridges of the deep Sikkim valleys. Here one may
travel for many miles without rising or falling 3000 feet, yet never
descending below 14,000 feet, partly because the flat winding valleys
are followed in preference to exhausting ascents, and partly because
the passes are seldom more than that elevation above the valleys;
whereas, in Sikkim, rises and descents of 6000, and even 9000 feet, are
common in passing from valley to valley, sometimes in one day’s march.
The swarthy races of Dingcham have been elsewhere described; they are
an honest, hospitable, and very hardy people, differing from the
northern Tibetans chiefly in colour, and in invariably wearing the
pigtail, which MM. Huc and Gabet assure us is not usual in Lhassa.[284]
They are a pastoral race, and Campbell saw a flock of 400 hornless
sheep, grazing on short sedges (_Carex_) and fescue-grass, in the
middle of October, at 18,000 feet above the sea. An enormous ram
attended the flock, whose long hair hung down to the ground; its back
was painted red.
[284] Amongst Lhassan customs alluded to by these travellers, is that
of the women smearing their faces with a black pigment, the object of
which they affirm to be that they may render themselves odious to the
male sex, and thus avoid temptation. The custom is common enough, but
the real object is to preserve the skin, which the dry cold wind peels
from the face. The pigment is mutton-fat, blackened, according to
Tchebu Lama, with catechu and other ingredients; but I believe more
frequently by the dirt of the face itself. I fear I do not slander the
Tibetan damsels in saying that personal cleanliness and chastity are
both lightly esteemed amongst them; and as the Lama naïvely remarked,
when questioned on the subject, “the Tibetan women are not so
different from those of other countries as to wish to conceal what
charms they possess.”
There is neither tree nor shrub in this country; and a very little
wheat (which seldom ripens), barley, turnips, and radishes are, I
believe, the only crops, except occasionally peas. Other legumes,
cabbages, etc., are cultivated in the sheltered valleys of the Yaru
feeders, where great heat is reflected from the rocks; and there also
stunted trees grow, as willows, walnuts, poplars, and perhaps ashes;
all of which, however, are said to be planted and scarce. Even at
Teshoo Loombo and Jigatzi[285] buckwheat is a rare crop, and only a
prostrate very hardy kind is grown. Clay teapots and pipkins are the
most valuable exports to Sikkim from the latter city, after salt and
soda. Jewels and woollen cloaks are also exported, the latter
especially from Giantchi, which is famous for its woollen fabrics and
mart of ponies.
[285] Digarchi, Jigatzi, or Shigatzi jong (the fort of Shigatzi) is
the capital of the “Tsang” province, and Teshoo Loombo is the
neighbouring city of temples and monasteries, the ecclesiastical
capital of Tibet, and the abode of the grand (Teshoo) Lama, or
ever-living Boodh. Whether we estimate this man by the number of his
devotees, or the perfect sincerity of their worship, he is without
exception one of the most honoured beings living in the world. I have
assumed the elevation of Jigatzi to be 13–14,000 feet, using as data
Turner’s October mean temperature of Teshoo Loombo, and the decrement
for elevation of 400 feet to 1° Fahr.; which my own observations
indicate as an approximation to the truth. Humboldt (“Asie Centrale,”
iii., p. 223) uses a much smaller multiplier, and infers the elevation
of Teshoo Loombo to be between 9,500 and 10,000 feet. Our data are far
too imperfect to warrant any satisfactory conclusions on this
interesting subject; but the accounts I have received of the
vegetation of the Yaru valley at Jigatzi seem to indicate an elevation
of at least 13,000 feet for the bed of that river. Of the elevation of
Lhassa itself we have no idea: if MM. Huc and Gabet’s statement of the
rivers not being frozen there in March be correct, the climate must be
very different from what we suppose.
Of the Yaru river at Jigatzi, which all affirm becomes the Burrampooter
in Assam, I have little information to add to Turner’s description: it
is sixty miles north of Bhomtso, and I assume its elevation to be
13-14,000 feet;[286] it takes an immense bend to the northward after
passing Jigatzi, and again turns south, flowing to the west of Lhassa,
and at some distance from that capital. Lhassa, as all agree, is at a
much lower elevation than Jigatzi; and apricots (whose ripe stones Dr.
Campbell procured for me) and walnuts are said to ripen there, and the
Dama or Himalayan furze (_Caragana_), is said to grow there. The
Bactrian camel also thrives and breeds at Lhassa, together with a small
variety of cow (not the yak), both signs of a much more temperate
climate than Jigatzi enjoys. It is, however, a remarkable fact that
there are two tame elephants near the latter city, kept by the Teshoo
Lama. They were taken to Jigatzi, through Bhotan, by Phari; and I have
been informed that they have become clothed with long hair, owing to
the cold of the climate; but Tchebu Lama contradicted this, adding,
that his countrymen were so credulous, that they would believe blankets
grew on the elephants’ backs, if the Lamas told them so.
[286] The Yaru, which approaches the Nepal frontier west of Tingri,
and beyond the great mountain described at vol. i. p. 265, makes a
sweep to the northward, and turns south to Jigatzi, whence it makes
another and greater bend to the north, and again turning south flows
west of Lhassa, receiving the Kechoo river from that holy city. From
Jigatzi it is said to be navigable to near Lhassa by skin and
plank-built boats. Thence it flows south-east to the Assam frontier,
and while still in Tibet, is said to enter a warm climate, where tea,
silk, cotton, and rice, are grown. Of its course after entering the
Assam Himalaya little is known, and in answer to my enquiries why it
had not been followed, I was always told that the country through
which it flowed was inhabited by tribes of savages, who live on snakes
and vermin, and are fierce and warlike. These are no doubt the
Singpho, Bor and Bor-abor tribes who inhabit the mountains of upper
Assam. A travelling mendicant was once sent to follow up the Dihong to
the Burrampooter, under the joint auspices of Mr. Hodgson and Major
Jenkins, the Commissioner of Assam; but the poor fellow was speared on
the frontier by these savages. The concurrent testimony of the
Assamese, that the Dihong is the Yaru, on its southern course to
become the Burrampooter, renders this point as conclusively settled as
any, resting on mere oral evidence, is likely to be.
No village or house is seen throughout the extensive area over which
the eye roams from Bhomtso, and the general character of the desolate
landscape was similar to that which I have described as seen from
Donkia Pass (p. 124). The wild ass[287] grazing with its foal on the
sloping downs, the hare bounding over the stony soil, the antelope
scouring the sandy flats, and the fox stealing along to his burrow, are
all desert and Tartarian types of the animal creation. The shrill
whistle of the marmot alone breaks the silence of the scene, recalling
the snows of Lapland to the mind; the kite and raven wheel through the
air, 1000 feet over head, with as strong and steady a pinion as if that
atmosphere possessed the same power of resistance that it does at the
level of the sea. Still higher in the heavens, long black V-shaped
trains of wild geese cleave the air, shooting over the glacier-crowned
top of Kinchinjhow, and winging their flight in one day, perhaps, from
the Yaru to the Ganges, over 500 miles of space, and through 22,000
feet of elevation. One plant alone, the yellow lichen (_Borrera_), is
found at this height, and only as a visitor; for, Tartar-like, it
emigrates over these lofty slopes and ridges, blown about by the
violent winds. I found a small beetle on the very top,[288] probably
blown up also, for it was a flower-feeder, and seemed benumbed with
cold.
[287] This, the _Equus Hemionus_ of Pallas, the untameable Kiang of
Tibet, abounds in Dingcham, and we saw several. It resembles the ass
more than the horse, from its size, heavy head, small limbs, thin
tail, and the stripe over the shoulder. The flesh is eaten and much
liked. The Kiang-lah mountains are so named from their being a great
resort of this creature. It differs widely from the wild ass of
Persia, Sind, and Beloochistan, but is undoubtedly the same as the
Siberian animal.
[288] I observed a small red _Acarus_ (mite) at this elevation, both
on Donkia and Kinchinjhow, which reminds me that I found a species of
the same genus at Cockburn Island (in latitude 64° south, longitude
64° 49′ west). This genus hence inhabits a higher southern latitude
than any other land animal attains.
Every night that we spent in Tibet, we enjoyed a magnificent display of
sunbeams converging to the east, and making a false sunset. I detailed
this phenomenon when seen from the Kymore mountains, and I repeatedly
saw it again in the Khasia, but never in the Sikkim Himalaya, whence I
assume that it is most frequent in mountain plateaus. As the sun set,
broad purple beams rose from a dark, low, leaden bank on the eastern
horizon, and spreading up to the zenith, covered the intervening space:
they lasted through the twilight, from fifteen to twenty minutes,
fading gradually into the blackness of night. I looked in vain for the
beautiful lancet beam of the zodiacal light; its position was obscured
by Chomiomo.
On the 18th of October we had another brilliant morning, after a cold
night, the temperature having fallen to 4°. I took the altitude of
Yeumtso by carefully boiling two thermometers, and the result was
16,279 feet, the barometrical observations giving 16,808 feet. I
removed a thermometer sunk three feet in the gravelly soil, which
showed a temperature of 43°,[289] which is 12·7° above the mean
temperature of the two days we camped here.
[289] It had risen to 43·5° during the previous day.
Our fires were made of dry yak droppings which soon burn out with a
fierce flame, and much black smoke; they give a disagreeable taste to
whatever is cooked with them.
Having sent the coolies forward to Cholamoo lake, we re-ascended
Bhomtso to verify my observations. As on the previous occasion a
violent dry north-west wind blew, peeling the skin from our faces,
loading the air with grains of sand, and rendering theodolite
observations very uncertain; besides injuring all my instruments, and
exposing them to great risk of breakage.
The Tibetan Sepoys did not at all understand our ascending Bhomtso a
second time; they ran after Campbell, who was ahead on a stout pony,
girding up their long garments, bracing their matchlocks tight over
their shoulders, and gasping for breath at every step, the long horns
of their muskets bobbing up and down as they toiled amongst the rocks.
When I reached the top I found Campbell seated behind a little stone
wall which he had raised to keep off the violent wind, and the uncouth
warriors in a circle round him, puzzled beyond measure at his
admiration of the view. My instruments perplexed them extremely, and in
crowding round me, they broke my azimuth compass. They left us to
ourselves when the fire I made to boil the thermometers went out, the
wind being intensely cold. I had given my barometer to one of
Campbell’s men to carry, who not coming up, the latter kindly went to
search for him, and found him on the ground quite knocked up and
stupified by the cold, and there, if left alone, he would have lain
till overtaken by death.
The barometer on the summit of Bhomtso stood at 15·548 inches;[290] the
temperature between 11.30 a.m. and 2.30 p.m. fluctuated between 44° and
56°: this was very high for so great an elevation, and no doubt due to
the power of the sun on the sterile soil, and consequent radiated heat.
The tension of vapour was ·0763, and the dew-point was 5·8°, or 43·5°
below the temperature of the air. Such extraordinary dryness[291] and
consequent evaporation, increased by the violent wind, sufficiently
accounts for the height of the snow line; in further evidence of which,
I may add that a piece of ice or snow laid on the ground here, does not
melt, but disappears by evaporation.
[290] The elevation of Bhomtso, worked by Bessel’s tables, and using
corrected observations of the Calcutta barometer for the lower
station, is 18,590 feet. The corresponding dew-point 4·4° (49·6° below
that of the air at the time of observation). By Oltmann’s tables the
elevation is 18,540 feet. The elevation by boiling water is 18,305.
[291] The weight of vapour in a cubic foot of air was no more than
·087 of a grain, and the saturation-point ·208.
The difference between the dry cold air of this elevation and that of
the heated plains of India, is very great. During the driest winds of
the Terai, in spring, the temperature is 80° to 90°, the tension of
vapour is .400 to .500, with a dew-point 22° below the temperature, and
upwards of six grains of vapour are suspended in the cubic foot of air;
a thick haze obscures the heavens, and clouds of dust rise high in the
air; here on the other hand (probably owing to the rarity of the
atmosphere and the low tension of its vapours), the drought is
accompanied by perfect transparency, and the atmosphere is too
attenuated to support the dust raised by the wind.
We descended in the afternoon, and on our way up the Lachen valley
examined a narrow gulley in a lofty red spur from Kinchinjhow, where
black shales were _in situ,_ striking north-east, and dipping
north-west 45°. These shales were interposed between beds of yellow
quartz conglomerate, upon the latter of which rested a talus of earthy
rocks, angular fragments of which were strewed about opposite this
spur, but were not seen elsewhere.
It became dark before we reached the Cholamoo lake, where we lost our
way amongst glaciers, moraines, and marshes. We expected to have seen
the lights of the camp, but were disappointed, and as it was freezing
hard, we began to be anxious, and shouted till the echos of our voices
against the opposite bank were heard by Tchebu Lama, who met us in
great alarm for our safety. Our camp was pitched some way from the
shore, on a broad plain, 16,900 feet above the sea.[292] A cold wind
descended from Donkia; yet, though more elevated than Yeumtso, the
climate of Cholamoo, from being damper and misty, was milder. The
minimum thermometer fell to 14°.
[292] This, which is about the level of the lake, gives the Lachen
river a fall of about 1,500 feet between its source and Kongra Lama,
or sixty feet per mile following its windings. From Kongra Lama to
Tallum it is 140 feet per mile; from Tallum to Singtam 160 feet; and
from Singtam to the plains of India 50 feet per mile. The total fall
from Cholamoo lake to its exit on the plains of India is eighty-five
feet per mile. Its length, following its windings, is 195 miles,
upwards of double the direct distance.
Before starting for Donkia pass on the following morning, we visited
some black rocks which rose from the flat to the east of the lake. They
proved to be of fossiliferous limestone, the strata of which were much
disturbed: the strike appeared in one part north-west, and the dip
north-east 45°: a large fault passed east by north through the cliff,
and it was further cleft by joints running northwards. The cliff was
not 100 yards long, and was about 70 thick; its surface was shivered by
frost into cubical masses, and glacial boulders of gneiss lay on the
top. The limestone rock was chiefly a blue pisolite conglomerate, with
veins and crystals of white carbonate of lime, seams of shale, and iron
pyrites. A part was compact and blue, very crystalline, and full of
encrinitic fossils, and probably nummulites, but all were too much
altered for determination.
This, from its mineral characters, appears to be the same limestone
formation which occurs throughout the Himalaya and Western Tibet; but
the fossils I collected are in too imperfect a state to warrant any
conclusions on this subject. Its occurrence immediately to the
northward of the snowy mountains, and in such very small quantities,
are very remarkable facts. The neighbouring rocks of Donkia were gneiss
with granite veins, also striking north-west and dipping north-east
10°, as if they overlay the limestone, but here as in all similar
situations there was great confusion of the strata, and variation in
direction and strike.
And here I may once for all confess that though I believe the general
strike of the rocks on this frontier to be north-west, and the dip
north-east, I am unable to affirm it positively; for though I took
every opportunity of studying the subject, and devoted many hours to
the careful measuring and recording of dips and strikes, on both faces
of Kinchinjhow, Donkia, Bhomtso, and Kongra Lama, I am unable to reduce
these to any intelligible system.[293]
[293] North-west is the prevalent strike in Kumaon, the north-west
Himalaya generally, and throughout Western Tibet, Kashmir, etc.,
according to Dr. Thomson.
The coolies of Dr. Campbell’s party were completely knocked up by the
rarified air; they had taken a whole day to march here from Yeumtso,
scarcely six miles, and could eat no food at night. A Lama of our party
offered up prayers[294] to Kinchinjhow for the recovery of a stout
Lepcha lad (called Nurko), who showed no signs of animation, and had
all the symptoms of serous apoplexy. The Lama perched a saddle on a
stone, and burning incense before it, scattered rice to the winds,
invoking Kinchin, Donkia, and all the neighbouring peaks. A strong dose
of calomel and jalap, which we poured down the sick lad’s throat,
contributed materially to the success of these incantations.
[294] All diseases are attributed by the Tibetans to the four
elements, who are propitiated accordingly in cases of severe illness.
The winds are invoked in cases of affections of the breathing; fire in
fevers and inflammations; water in dropsy, and diseases whereby the
fluids are affected; and the God of earth when solid organs are
diseased, as in liver-complaints, rheumatism, etc. Propitiatory
offerings are made to the deities of these elements, but never
sacrifices.
The Tibetan Sepoys were getting tired of our delays, which so much
favoured my operations; but though showing signs of impatience and
sulkiness, they behaved well to the last; taking the sick man to the
top of the pass on their yaks, and assisting all the party: nothing,
however, would induce them to cross into Sikkim, which they considered
as “Company’s territory.”
Before proceeding to the pass, I turned off to the east, and
re-ascended Donkia to upwards of 19,000 feet, vainly hoping to get a
more distant view, and other bearings of the Tibetan mountains. The
ascent was over enormous piles of loose rocks split by the frost, and
was extremely fatiguing. I reached a peak overhanging a steep
precipice, at whose base were small lakes and glaciers, from which
flowed several sources of the Lachen, afterwards swelled by the great
affluent from Cholamoo lake. A few rocks striking north-east and
dipping north-west, projected at the very summit, with frozen snow
amongst them, beyond which the ice and precipices rendered it
impossible to proceed: but though exposed to the north, there was no
perpetual snow in the ordinary acceptation of the term, and an arctic
European lichen (_Lecidea oreina_) grew on the top, so faintly
discolouring the rocks as hardly to be detected without a
magnifying-glass.
I descended obliquely, down a very steep slope of 35°, over upwards of
a thousand feet of débris, the blocks on which were so loosely poised
on one another, that it was necessary to proceed with the utmost
circumspection, for I was alone, and a false step would almost
certainly have been followed by breaking a leg. The alternate freezing
and thawing of rain amongst these masses, must produce a constant
downward motion in the whole pile of débris (which was upwards of 2000
feet high), and may account for the otherwise unexplained phenomenon of
continuous shoots of angular rocks reposing on very gentle slopes in
other places.[295]
[295] May not the origin of the streams of quartz blocks that fill
gently sloping broad valleys several miles long, in the Falkland
Islands, be thus explained? (See “Darwin’s Journal,” in Murray’s Home
and Col. Lib.) The extraordinary shifting in the position of my
thermometer left among the rocks of the Donkia pass (see p. 129), and
the mobile state of the slopes I descended on this occasion, first
suggested this explanation to me. When in the Falkland Islands I was
wholly unable to offer any explanation of the phenomenon there, to
which my attention had been drawn by Mr. Darwin’s narrative.
The north ascent to the Donkia pass is by a path well selected amongst
immense angular masses of rock, and over vast piles of débris: the
strike on this, the north face, was again north-east, and dip
north-west: I arrived at the top at 3 p.m., throughly fatigued, and
found my faithful Lepcha lads (Cheytoong and Bassebo) nestling under a
rock with my theodolite and barometers, having been awaiting my arrival
in the biting wind for three hours. My pony stood there too, the
picture of patience, and laden with minerals. After repeating my
observations, I proceeded to Momay Samdong, where I arrived after dusk.
I left a small bottle of brandy and some biscuits with the lads, and it
was well I did so, for the pony knocked up before reaching Momay, and
rather than leave my bags of stones, they passed the night by the warm
flank of the beast, under a rock at 18,000 feet elevation, without
other food, fire, or shelter.
I found my companion encamped at Momay, on the spot I had occupied in
September; he had had the utmost difficulty in getting his coolies on,
as they threw down their light loads in despair, and lying with their
faces to the ground, had to be roused from a lethargy that would soon
have been followed by death.
We rested for a day at Momay, and on the 20th, attempted to ascend to
the Donkia glacier, but were driven back by a heavy snow-storm. The
scenery on arriving here, presented a wide difference to that we had
left; snow lying at 16,500 feet, whereas immediately to the north of
the same mountain there was none at 19,000 feet. Before leaving Momay;
I sealed two small glass flasks containing the air of this elevation,
by closing with a spirit lamp a very fine capillary tube, which formed
the opening to each; avoiding the possibility of heating the contents
by the hand or otherwise. The result of its analysis by Mr. Muller (who
sent me the prepared flasks), was that it contained 36·538 per cent. in
volume of oxygen; whereas his repeated analysis of the air of Calcutta
gives 21 per cent. Such a result is too anomalous to be considered
satisfactory.
I again visited the Kinchinjhow glacier and hot springs; the water had
exactly the same temperature as in the previous month, though the mean
temperature of the air was 8° or 9° lower. The minimum thermometer fell
to 22°, being 10° lower than it ever fell in September.
We descended to Yeumtong in a cold drizzle, arriving by sunset; we
remained through the following day, hoping to explore the lower glacier
on the opposite side of the valley: which, however, the weather
entirely prevented. I have before mentioned (p. 140) that in descending
in autumn from the drier and more sunny rearward Sikkim valleys, the
vegetation is found to be most backward in the lowest and dampest
regions. On this occasion, I found asters, grasses, polygonums, and
other plants that were withered, brown, and seeding at Momay (14,000 to
15,000 feet), at Yeumtong (12,000 feet) green and unripe; and 2000 feet
lower still, at Lachoong, the contrast was even more marked. Thus the
short backward spring and summer of the Arctic zone is overtaken by an
early and forward seed-time and winter: so far as regards the effects
of mean temperature, the warmer station is in autumn more backward than
the colder. This is everywhere obvious in the prevalent plants of each,
and is especially recognisable in the rhododendrons; as the following
table shows:—
16,000 to 17,000 feet, _R. nivale_ flowers in July; fruits in September
= 2 months.
13,000 to 14,000 feet, _R. anthopogon_ flowers in June; fruits in Oct.
= 4 months.
11,000 to 12,000 feet, _R. campanulatum_ flowers in May; fruits in Nov.
= 8 months.
8,000 to 9,000 feet, _R. argenteum_ flowers in April; fruits in Dec. =
8 months.
And so it is with many species of _Compositæ_ and _Umbelliferæ,_ and
indeed of all natural orders, some of which I have on the same day
gathered in ripe fruit at 13,000 to 14,000 feet, and found still in
flower at 9000 to 10,000 feet. The brighter skies and more powerful and
frequent solar radiation at the greater elevations, account for this
apparent inversion of the order of nature.[296]
[296] The distribution of the seasons at different elevations in the
Himalaya gives rise to some anomalies that have puzzled naturalists.
From the middle of October to that of May, vegetation is torpid above
14,000 feet, and indeed almost uniformly covered with snow. From
November till the middle of April, vegetation is also torpid above
10,000 feet, except that a few trees and bushes do not ripen all their
seeds till December. The three winter months (December, January, and
February) are all but dead above 6000 feet, the earliest appearance of
spring at Dorjiling (7000 feet) being at the sudden accession of heat
in March. From May till August the vegetation at each elevation is (in
ascending order) a month behind that below it; 4000 feet being about
equal to a month of summer weather in one sense. I mean by this, that
the genera and natural orders (and sometimes the species) which flower
at 8000 feet in May, are not so forward at 12,000 feet till June, nor
at 16,000 feet till July. After August, however, the reverse holds
good; then the vegetation is as forward at 16,000 feet as at 8000
feet. By the end of September most of the natural orders and genera
have ripened their fruit in the upper zone, though they have flowered
as late as July; whereas October is the fruiting month at 12,000, and
November below 10,000 feet. Dr. Thomson does not consider that the
more sunny climate of the loftier elevations sufficiently accounts for
this, and adds the stimulus of cold, which must act by checking the
vegetative organs and hastening maturation.
I was disappointed at finding the rhododendron seeds still immature at
Yeumtong, for I was doubtful whether the same kinds might be met with
at the Chola pass, which I had yet to visit; besides which, their tardy
maturation threatened to delay me for an indefinite period in the
country. _Viburnum_ and _Lonicera,_ however, were ripe and abundant;
the fruits of both are considered poisonous in Europe, but here the
black berries of a species of the former (called “Nalum”) are eatable
and agreeable; as are those of a _Gualtheria,_ which are pale blue, and
called “Kalumbo.” Except these, and the cherry mentioned above, there
are no other autumnal fruits above 10,000 feet: brambles, strange as it
may appear, do not ascend beyond that elevation in the Sikkim Himalaya,
though so abundant below it, both in species and individuals, and
though so typical of northern Europe.
At Lachoong we found all the yaks that had been grazing till the end of
September at the higher elevations, and the Phipun presented our men
with one of a gigantic size, and proportionally old and tough. The
Lepchas barbarously slaughtered it with arrows, and feasted on the
flesh and entrails, singed and fried the skin, and made soup of the
bones, leaving nothing but the horns and hoofs. Having a fine day, they
prepared some as jerked meat, cutting it into thin strips, which they
dried on the rocks. This (called “Schat-chew,” dried meat) is a very
common and favourite food in Tibet, I found it palatable; but on the
other hand, the dried saddles of mutton, of which they boast so much,
taste so strongly of tallow, that I found it impossible to swallow a
morsel of them.[297]
[297] Raw dried split fish are abundantly cured (without salt) in
Tibet; they are caught in the Yaru and great lakes of Ramchoo, Dobtah,
and Yarbru, and are chiefly carp, and allied fish, which attain a
large size. It is one of the most remarkable facts in the zoology of
Asia, that no trout or salmon inhabits any of the rivers that débouche
into the Indian Ocean (the so-called Himalayan trout is a species of
carp). This widely distributed natural order of fish (_Salmonidæ_) is
however, found in the Oxus, and in all the rivers of central Asia that
flow north and west, and the _Salmo orientalis,_ M’Clelland (“Calcutta
Journ. Nat. Hist.” iii., p. 283), was caught by Mr. Griffith
(Journals, p. 404) in the Bamean river (north of the Hindo Koosh)
which flows into the Oxus, and whose waters are separated by one
narrow mountain ridge from those of the feeders of the Indus. The
central Himalayan rivers often rise in Tibet from lakes full of fish,
but have none (at least during the rains) in that rapid part of their
course from 10,000 to 14,000 feet elevation: below that fish abound,
but I believe invariably of different species from those found at the
sources of the same rivers. The nature of the tropical ocean into
which all the Himalayan rivers débouche, is no doubt the proximate
cause of the absence of _Salmonidæ._ Sir John Richardson (Fishes of
China Seas, etc., “in Brit. Ass. Rep. etc.”), says that no species of
the order has been found in the Chinese or eastern Asiatic seas.
We staid two days at Lachoong, two of my lads being again laid up with
fever; one of them had been similarly attacked at the same place nearly
two months before: the other lad had been repeatedly ill since June,
and at all elevations. Both cases were returns of a fever caught in the
low unhealthy valleys some months previously, and excited by exposure
and hardship. The vegetation at Lachoong was still beautiful, and the
weather mild, though snow had descended to 14,000 feet on Tunkra.
_Compositæ_ were abundantly in flower, apples in young fruit, bushes of
_Cotoneaster_ covered with scarlet berries, and the brushwood silvery
with the feathery heads of _Clematis._
I here found that I had lost a thermometer for high temperatures, owing
to a hole in the bag in which Cheytoong carried those of my instruments
which were in constant use. It had been last used at the hot springs of
the Kinchinjhow glacier; and the poor lad was so concerned at his
mishap, that he came to me soon afterwards, with his blanket on his
back, and a few handfuls of rice in a bag, to make his salaam before
setting out to search for it. There was not now a single inhabitant
between Lachoong and that dreary spot, and strongly against my wish he
started, without a companion. Three days afterwards he overtook us at
Keadom, radiant with joy at having found the instrument: he had gone up
to the hot springs, and vainly sought around them that evening; then
rather than lose the chance of a day-light search on his way back, he
had spent the cold October night in the hot water, without fire or
shelter, at 16,000 feet above the sea. Next morning his search was
again fruitless; and he was returning disconsolate, when he descried
the brass case glistening between two planks of the bridge crossing the
river at Momay, over which torrent the instrument was suspended. The
Lepchas have generally been considered timorous of evil spirits, and
especially averse to travelling at night, even in company. However
little this gallant lad may have been given to superstition, he was
nevertheless a Lepcha, born in a warm region, and had never faced the
cold till he became my servant; and it required a stout heart and an
honest one, to spend a night in so awful a solitude as that which
reigns around the foot of the Kinchinjhow glacier.[298]
[298] The fondness of natives for hot springs wherever they occur is
very natural and has been noticed by Humboldt, “Pers. Narr.” iv. 195,
who states that on Christianity being introduced into Iceland, the
natives refused to be baptised in any but the water of the Geysers. I
have mentioned at p. 117 the uses to which the Yeumtong hot springs
are put; and the custom of using artificial hot baths is noticed at
vol. i., p. 305.
The villagers at Keadom, where we slept on the 26th, were busy cutting
the crops of millet, maize, and _Amaranthus._ A girl who, on my way
down the previous month, had observed my curiosity about a singular
variety of the maize, had preserved the heads on their ripening, and
now brought them to me. The peaches were all gathered, and though only
half ripe, were better than Dorjiling produce. A magnificent tree of
_Bucklandia,_ one of the most beautiful evergreens in Sikkim, grew near
this village; it had a trunk twenty-one feet seven inches in girth, at
five feet from the ground, and was unbranched for forty feet.[299]
Ferns and the beautiful air-plant _Cœlogyne Wallichii_ grew on its
branches, with other orchids, while _Clematis_ and _Stauntonia_ climbed
the trunk. Such great names (Buckland, Staunton, and Wallich) thus
brought before the traveller’s notice, never failed to excite lively
and pleasing emotions: it is the ignorant and unfeeling alone who can
ridicule the association of the names of travellers and naturalists
with those of animals and plants.
[299] This superb tree is a great desideratum in our gardens; I
believe it would thrive in the warm west of England. Its wood is
brown, and not valuable as timber, but the thick, bright, glossy,
evergreen foliage is particularly handsome, and so is the form of the
crown. It is also interesting in a physiological point of view, from
the woody fibre being studded with those curious microscopic discs so
characteristic of pines, and which when occurring on fossil wood are
considered conclusive as to the natural family to which such woods
belong. Geologists should bear in mind that not only does the whole
natural order to which _Bucklandia_ belongs, possess this character,
but also various species of _Magnoliaceæ_ found in India, Australia,
Borneo, and South America.
We arrived at Choongtam (for the fourth time) at noon, and took up our
quarters in a good house near the temple. The autumn and winter
flowering plants now prevailed here, such as _Labiatæ,_ which are
generally late at this elevation; and grasses, which, though rare in
the damp forest regions, are so common on these slopes that I here
gathered twenty-six kinds. I spent a day here in order to collect seeds
of the superb rhododendrons[300] which I had discovered in May, growing
on the hills behind. The ascent was now difficult, from the length of
the wiry grass, which rendered the slopes so slippery that it was
impossible to ascend without holding on by the tussocks.
[300] These Rhododendrons are now all flourishing at Kew and
elsewhere: they are _R. Dalhousiæ, arboreum, Maddeni, Edgeworthii,
Aucklandii_ and _virgatum._
A ragged Tibetan mendicant (Phud) was amusing the people: he put on a
black mask with cowrie shells for eyes, and danced uncouth figures with
a kind of heel and toe shuffle, in excellent time, to rude Tibetan
songs of his own: for this he received ample alms, which a little boy
collected in a wallet. These vagrants live well upon charity; they
bless, curse, and transact little affairs of all kinds up and down the
valleys of Sikkim and Tibet; this one dealt in red clay teapots, sheep
and puppies.
We found Meepo at Choongtam: I had given him leave (when here last) to
go back to the Rajah, and to visit his wife; and he had returned with
instructions to conduct me to the Chola and Yakla passes, in Eastern
Sikkim. These passes, like that of Tunkra (p. 110), lead over the Chola
range to that part of Tibet which is interposed between Sikkim and
Bhotan. My road lay past the Rajah’s residence, which we considered
very fortunate, as apparently affording Campbell an opportunity of a
conference with his highness, for which both he and the Tchebu Lama
were most anxious.
[Illustration: Tibetan Phud]
On the way down the Lachen-Lachoong, we found the valley still flooded
(as described at p. 20 and p. 146), and the alders standing with their
trunks twelve feet under water; but the shingle dam was now dry and
hard: it would probably soften, and be carried away by the first rains
of the following year. I left here the temperate flora of northern
Sikkim, tropical forms commencing to appear: of these the nettle tribe
were most numerous in the woods. A large grape, with beautiful clusters
of round purple berries, was very fair eating; it is not the common
vine of Europe, which nevertheless is probably an Himalayan plant, the
_Vitis Indica._[301]
[301] The origin of the common grape being unknown, it becomes a
curious question to decide whether the Himalayan _Vitis Indica_ is the
wild state of that plant: an hypothesis strengthened by the fact of
Bacchus, etc., having come from the East.
At Chakoong the temperature of the river, which in May was 54°, was now
51·5° at 3 p.m. We did not halt here, but proceeded to Namgah, a very
long and fatiguing march. Thence a short march took us to Singtam,
which we reached on the 30th of October. The road by which I had come
up was for half the distance obliterated in most parts by
landslips,[302] but they were hard and dry, and the leeches were gone.
[302] I took a number of dips and strikes of the micaceous rocks: the
strike of these was as often north-east as north-west; it was ever
varying, and the strata were so disturbed, as materially to increase
the number and vast dimensions of the landslips.
Bad weather, and Campbell’s correspondence with the Durbar, who
prevented all communication with the Rajah, detained us here two days,
after which we crossed to the Teesta valley, and continued along its
east bank to Tucheam, 2000 feet above the river. We obtained a
magnificent view of the east face of Kinchinjunga, its tops bearing
respectively N. 62° W., and N. 63° W.: the south slope of the snowed
portion in profile was 34°, and of the north 40°; but both appeared
much steeper to the eye, when unaided by an instrument.
The great shrubby nettle (_Urtica crenulata_) is common here: this
plant, called “Mealum-ma,” attains fifteen feet in height; it has broad
glossy leaves, and though apparently without stings, is held in so
great dread,[303] that I had difficulty in getting help to cut it down.
I gathered many specimens without allowing any part to touch my skin;
still the scentless effluvium was so powerful, that mucous matter
poured from my eyes and nose all the rest of the afternoon, in such
abundance, that I had to hold my head over a basin for an hour. The
sting is very virulent, producing inflammation; and to punish a child
with “Mealum-ma” is the severest Lepcha threat. Violent fevers and
death have been said to ensue from its sting; but this I very much
doubt.
[303] The stinging hairs are microscopic, and confined to the young
shoots, leaf and flower-stalks. Leschenault de la Tour describes being
stung by this nettle on three fingers of his hand only at the Calcutta
Botanical Gardens, and the subsequent sneezing and running at the
nose, followed by tetanic symptoms and two days’ suffering, nor did
the effects disappear for nine days. It is a remarkable fact that the
plant stings violently only at this season. I frequently gathered it
with impunity on subsequent occasions, and suspected some inaccuracy
in my observations; but in Silhet both Dr. Thomson and I experienced
the same effects in autumn. Endlicher (“Lindley’s Vegetable Kingdom”)
attributes the causticity of nettle-juice to bicarbonate of ammonia,
which Dr. Thomson and I ascertained was certainly not present in this
species.
[Illustration: Tibetan implements]