Best voyage to Silhet -- River -- Palms -- Teelas -- Botany -- Fish
weirs -- Forests of Cachar -- Sandal-wood, etc. -- Porpoises --
Alligators -- Silchar -- Tigers -- Rice crops -- Cookies --
Munniporees -- Hockey -- Varnish -- Dance -- Nagas -- Excursion to
Munnipore frontier -- Elephant bogged -- Bamboos -- _Cardiopteris_ --
Climate, etc., of Cachar -- Mosquitos -- Fall of banks -- Silhet --
Oaks -- _Stylidium_ -- Tree-ferns -- Chattuc -- Megna -- Meteorology
-- Palms -- Noa-colly -- Salt-smuggling -- Delta of Ganges and Megna
-- Westward progress of Megna -- Peat -- Tide -- Waves -- Earthquakes
-- Dangerous navigation -- Moonlight scenes -- Mud island --
Chittagong -- Mug tribes -- Views -- Trees -- Churs -- Flagstaff hill
-- Coffee -- Pepper -- Tea, etc. -- Excursions from Chittagong --
_Dipterocarpi_ or Gurjun oil trees -- Earthquake -- Birds -- Papaw --
Bleeding of stems -- Poppy and Sun fields -- -- Seetakoond --
Bungalow and hill -- Perpetual flame -- _Falconeria -- Cycas_ --
Climate -- Leave for Calcutta -- Hattiah island -- Plants --
8underbunds -- Steamer -- Tides -- _Nipa fruticans_ -- Fishing --
Otters -- Crocodiles -- _Phoenix paludosa_ -- Departure from India.
APPENDIX
=====================
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
LITHOGRAPHIC VIEWS.
Fig. VI. View of Kinchinjunga from Singtam, looking north-westward.
p.14
Fig. VII. Kinchinjunga from the Thlonok river, with rhododendrons in
flower. Frontispiece
Fig. VIII. Tibet and Cholamoo lake from the summit of the Donkia
pass, looking north-west. p.124
Fig. IX. 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. p.166
Fig. X. The table-land and station of Churra, with the Jheels, course
of the Soormah river, and Tipperah hills in the extreme distance,
looking south. p.277
Fig. XI. The Bhotan Himalaya, Assam valley, and Burrampooter river,
from Nunklow, looking north. p.300
Fig. XII. Seetakoond hill. p.352
WOOD ENGRAVINGS.
Fig. 1. Pandanus in the Teesta valley. p.9
Fig. 2. Cane-bridge over the Lachen-Lachoong river, below Choongtam.
Tukcham mountain is brought into the view, as seen from a higher
elevation. p.21
Fig. 3. _Juniperus recurva,_ the weeping juniper. p.28
Fig. 4. Lamteng village, with Tukcham in the distance. p.35
Fig. 5. Black juniper and young larch. p.55
Fig. 6. Tungu village, with yaks in the foreground. p.73
Fig. 7. Women's head-dresses--the two outer, Lepcha girls; the two
inner, Tibetan women. p.86
Fig. 8. Tibet marmot. Sketched by J. E. Winterbottom, Esq. p.93
Fig. 9. Lachoong valley (looking south), larch tree in the
foreground. p.103
Fig. 10. Conical ancient moraines in the Lachoong valley, with _Abies
brunoniana_ and _smithiana_. p.104
Fig. 11. Head and legs of Tibet marmot. Sketched by J. E.
Winterbottom, Esq. p.106
Fig. 12. Block of gneiss with granite bands, on the Kinchinjhow
glacier. p.135
Fig. 13. Summit of forked Donkia mountain, with Goa antelopes in the
foreground; from 17,500 feet elevation. p.139
Fig. 14. View of the eastern top of Kinchinjhow, and Tibet in the
distance, with wild sheep in the foreground; from an elevation of
18,000 feet. p.140
Fig. 15. Head of Chiru antelope, the unicorn of Tibet. From a sketch
by Lieut. H. Maxwell. p.158
Fig. 16. A Phud, or Tibetan mendicant. Sketched at Dorjiling by Miss
Colvile. p.187
Fig. 17. Tea (brick of), tea-pot, wooden cup, etc. p.189
Fig. 18. Portrait of Aden Tchebu Lama. Sketched by Lieut. H. Maxwell.
p.193
Fig. 19. Silver chain and hooks, ornamented with turquoises, used to
fasten women's cloaks. p.195
Fig. 20. Horns of the Showa stag of Tibet (_Cervus wallichii_).
Sketched by Lieut. H. Maxwell. p.214
Fig. 21. Rajah's house at Tumloong, in the foreground the cottage in
which Dr. Campbell was confined, with the Dewan's retinue passing.
This is partly executed from memory. p.217
Fig. 22. Tibetan tobacco-pipe and tinder-pouch, with steel attached.
p.219
Fig. 23. Lepcha sepoys, the right hand figures, and Tibetan ones on
the left. p.235
Fig. 24. Dr. Falconer's residence, Calcutta Botanic Gardens; from Sir
L. Peel's grounds, looking across the Hoogly. p.243
Fig. 25. View in the Jheels of Bengal, with Khasia mountains in the
distance. p.261
Fig. 26. Living bridge, formed of the aerial roots of figs. p.269
Fig. 27. Dewan's ear-ring of pearl and turquoises. p.271
Fig. 28. Waterfalls at Mamloo, with fan-palms. p.279
Fig. 29. Kollong rock. p.295
Fig. 30. Chela, on the Boga-panee river. p.307
Fig. 31. Nonkreem village, with boulders of denudation. p.311
Fig. 32. Bellows of iron smelters in the Khasia mountains. p.312
Fig. 33. Old bridge at Amwee. p.315
Fig. 34. Stones at Nurtiung. p.320
Fig. 35. _Dipterocarpus turbinatus,_ gurjun or wood-oil tree. p.349
HIMALAYAN JOURNALS.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Arrangements for second journey into Sikkim -- Opposition of Dewan --
Lassoo Kajee -- Tendong -- Legend of flood -- Lama of Sillok-foke --
Namtchi -- Tcbebu Lama -- Top of Tendong -- Gigantic oak -- Plants --
Teesta valley -- Commencement of rains -- Bhomsong -- Ascent to
Lathiang -- View -- Bad road -- Orcbids -- Gorh -- Opposition of Lama
-- Arrival of Meepo -- Cross Teesta -- Difficulties of travelling --
Lepchas swimming -- Moxa for sprains -- Singtam -- Grandeur of view
of Kinchinjunga -- Wild men -- Singtam Soubah -- Landslips --
Bees'-nests and honey-seekers -- Leeches, etc. -- Cbakoong --
Vegetation -- Gravel terraces -- Unpleasant effects of wormwood --
Choongtam, scenery and vegetation of -- Inhabitants -- Tibetan salute
-- Lamas -- Difficulty of procuring food -- Contrast of vegetation of
inner and outer Himalaya -- Rhododendrons -- Yew -- _Abies
Brunoniana_ -- Venomous snakes -- Hornets and other insects --
Choongtam temple -- Pictures of Lhassa -- Minerals -- Scenery.
After my return from the Terai, I was occupied during the month of
April in preparations for an expedition to the loftier parts of
Sikkim. The arrangements were the same as for my former journey,
except with regard to food, which it was necessary should be sent out
to me at intervals; for we had had ample proof that the resources of
the country were not equal to provisioning a party of from forty to
fifty men, even had the Dewan been favourable to my travelling, which
was clearly not the case.
Dr. Campbell communicated to the Rajah my intention of starting early
in May for the upper Teesta valley, and, in the Governor-General's
name, requested that he would facilitate my visiting the frontier of
Sikkim, north-east of Kinchinjunga. The desired permission was, after
a little delay, received; which appeared to rouse the Dewan to
institute a series of obstructions to my progress, which caused so
many delays that my exploration of the country was not concluded till
October, and I was prevented returning to Dorjiling before the
following Christmas.
Since our visit to the Rajah in December, no Vakeel (agent) had been
sent by the Durbar to Dorjiling, and consequently we could only
communicate indirectly with his Highness, while we found it
impossible to ascertain the truth of various reports promulgated by
the Dewan, and meant to deter me from entering the country. In April,
the Lassoo Kajee was sent as Vakeel, but, having on a previous
occasion been dismissed for insolence and incapacity, and again
rejected when proposed by the Dewan at Bhomsong, he was refused an
audience; and he encamped at the bottom of the Great Rungeet valley,
where he lost some of his party through fever. He retired into
Sikkim, exasperated, pretending that he had orders to delay my
starting, in consequence of the death of the heir apparent; and that
he was prepared to use strong measures should I cross the frontier.
No notice was taken of these threats: the Rajah was again informed of
my intended departure, unless his own orders to the contrary were
received through a proper accredited agent, and I left Dorjiling on
the 3rd of May, accompanied by Dr. Campbell, who insisted on seeing
me fairly over the frontier at the Great Rungeet river.
Arrangements were made for supplies of rice following me by
instalments; our daily consumption being 80 lbs., a man's load.
After crossing into Sikkim, I mustered my party at the Great Rungeet
river. I had forty-two in all, of whom the majority were young
Lepchas, or Sikkim-born people of Tibetan races: all were active and
cheerful looking follows; only one was goitred, and he had been a
salt-trader. I was accompanied by a guard of five Sepoys, and had a
Lepcha and Tibetan interpreter. I took but one personal servant, a
Portuguese half-caste (John Hoffman by name), who cooked for me: he
was a native of Calcutta, and though hardy, patient, and
long-suffering, and far better-tempered, was, in other respects, very
inferior to Clamanze, who had been my servant the previous year, and
who, having been bred to the sea, was as handy as he was clever; but
who, like all other natives of the plains, grew intolerably weary of
the hills, and left me.
The first part of my route lay over Tendong, a very fine mountain,
which rises 8,613 feet, and is a conspicuous feature from Dorjiling,
where it is known as Mount Ararat. The Lepchas have a curious legend
of a man and woman having saved themselves on its summit, during a
flood that once deluged Sikkim. The coincidence of this story with
the English name of Ararat suggests the probability of the legend
being fabulous; but I am positively assured that it is not so, but
that it was current amongst the Lepchas before its English name was
heard of, and that the latter was suggested from the peculiar form of
its summit resembling that given in children's books as the
resting-place of the ark.
The ascent from the Great Rungeet (alt. 818 feet) is through dry
woods of Sal and Pines (_P. longifolia_). I camped the first night at
the village of Mikk (alt. 3,900 feet), and on the following day
ascended to Namtc (alt. 5,600 feet).
On the route I was met by the Lama of Silokfoke Goompa. Though a
resident on the Lassoo Kajee's estates, he politely brought me a
present, at the same time apologising for not waiting till I had
encamped, owing to his excessive fat, which prevented his climbing.
I accepted his excuses, though well aware that his real reason was
that he wished to pay his respects, and show his good feeling, in
private. Besides his ordinary canonicals, he carried a tall
crozier-headed staff, and had a curious horn slung round his neck,
full of amulets; it was short, of a transparent red colour, and
beautifully carved, and was that of the small cow of Lhassa, which
resembles the English species, and is not a yak (it is
called "Tundro").
Namtchi was once a place of considerable importance; and still
possesses a mendong, with six rows of inscribed slabs; a temple, and
a Lama attached thereto: the latter waited on me soon after I had
encamped, but he brought no present, and I was not long kept in
suspense as to his motives. These people are poor dissemblers; if
they intend to obstruct, they do it clumsily and hesitatingly: in
this instance the Lama first made up to my people, and, being coolly
received, kept gradually edging up to my tent-door, where, after an
awkward salute, he delivered himself with a very bad grace of his
mission, which was from the Lassoo Kajee to stop my progress. I told
him I knew nothing of the Lassoo Kajee or his orders, and should
proceed on the following morning: he then urged the bad state of the
roads, and advised me to wait two days till he should receive orders
from the Rajah; upon which I dismissed him.
Soon afterwards, as I sat at my tent-door, looking along the narrow
bushy ridge that winds up the mountain, I saw twenty or thirty men
rapidly descending the rocky path: they were Lepchas, with blue and
white striped garments, bows and quivers, and with their long knives
gleaming in the sun: they seemed to be following a figure in red Lama
costume, with a scarlet silk handkerchief wound round his head, its
ends streaming behind him. Though expecting this apparition to prove
the renowned Kajee and his myrmidons, coming to put a sudden
termination to my progress, I could not help admiring the exceeding
picturesqueness of the scenery and party. My fears were soon
dissipated by my men joyfully shouting, "The Tchebu Lama! the Tchebu
Lama!" and I soon recognised the rosy face and twinkling eyes of my
friend of Bhomsong, the only man of intelligence about the Rajah's
court, and the one whose services as Vakeel were particularly wanted
at Dorjiling.
He told me that the Lassoo Kajee had orders (from whom, he would not
say) to stop my progress, but that I should proceed nevertheless, and
that there was no objection to my doing so; and he despatched a
messenger to the Rajah, announcing my progress, and requesting him to
send me a guide, and to grant me every facility, asserting that he
had all along fully intended doing so.
On the following morning the Lama proceeded to Dorjiling, and I
continued the ascent of Tendong, sending my men round the shoulder to
Temi in the Teesta valley, where I proposed to pass the night.
The road rapidly ascends by a narrow winding path, covered with a
loose forest of oaks, rhododendrons, and various shrubs, not found at
equal elevations on the wetter Dorjiling ranges: amongst, them the
beautiful laburnum-like _Piptanthus Nepalensis,_ with golden
blossoms, was conspicuous. Enormous blocks of white and red
stratified quartz, and slate, some 20 and even 40 yards long, rest on
the narrow ridge at 7000 feet elevation. The last ascent is up a
steep rounded cone with a broad flat top, covered with dwarf bamboo,
a few oaks, laurels, magnolias, and white-flowered rhododendron trees
(_R. argenteum_), which obstructed the view. I hung the barometers
near one of the many chaits on the summit, where there is also a rude
temple, in which worship is performed once a year. The elevation is
8,671 feet by my observations.* [8,663 by Col. Waugh's
trigonometrical observations.] The geological formation of Tendong in
some measure accounts for its peculiar form. On the conical summit
are hard quartzoze porphyries, which have apparently forced up the
gneiss and slates, which dip in all directions from the top, and are
full of injected veins of quartz. Below 7000 feet, mica-schist
prevails, always inclined at a very high angle; and I found jasper
near Namtchi, with other indications of Plutonic action.
The descent on the north side was steep, through a rank vegetation,
very different from that of the south face. The oaks are very grand,
and I measured one (whose trunk was decayed, and split into three,
however), which I found to be 49 feet in girth at 5 feet from the
ground. Near Temi (alt. 4,770 feet) I gathered the fruit of
_Kadsura,_ a climbing plant allied to Magnolia, bearing round heads
of large fleshy red drupes, which are pleasantly acid and much eaten;
the seeds are very aromatic.
From Temi the road descends to the Teesta, the course of which it
afterwards follows. The valley was fearfully hot, and infested with
mosquitos and peepsas. Many fine plants grew in it:* [Especially upon
the broad terraces of gravel, some of which are upwards of a mile
long, and 200 feet above the stream: they are covered with boulders
of rock, and are generally opposite feeders of the river.]
I especially noticed _Aristolochia saccata,_ which climbs the
loftiest trees, bearing its curious pitcher-shaped flowers near the
ground only; its leaves are said to be good food for cattle.
_Houttuynia,_ a curious herb allied to pepper, grew on the banks,
which, from the profusion of its white flowers, resembled
strawberry-beds; the leaves are eaten by the Lepchas. But the most
magnificent plant of these jungles is _Hodgsonia,_ (a genus I have
dedicated to my friend, Mr. Hodgson), a gigantic climber allied to
the gourd, bearing immense yellowish-white pendulous blossoms, whose
petals have a fringe of buff-coloured curling threads, several inches
long. The fruit is of a rich brown, like a small melon in form, and
contains six large nuts, whose kernels (called "Katior-pot" by the
Lepchas) are eaten. The stem, when cut, discharges water profusely
from whichever end is held downwards. The "Took" (_Hydnocarpus_) is a
beautiful evergreen tree, with tufts of yellow blossoms on the trunk:
its fruit is as large as an orange, and is used to poison fish, while
from the seeds an oil is expressed. Tropical oaks and Terminalias are
the giants of these low forests, the latter especially, having
buttressed trunks, appear truly gigantic; one, of a kind called
"Sung-lok," measured 47 feet in girth, at 5 feet, and 21 at 15 feet
from the ground, and was fully 200 feet high. I could only procure
the leaves by firing a ball into the crown. Some of their trunks lay
smouldering on the ground, emitting a curious smell from the mineral
matter in their ashes, of whose constituents an account will be found
in the Appendix.
Birds are very rare, as is all animal life but insects, and a small
fresh-water crab, _Thelphusa,_ ("Ti-hi" of the Lepchas). Shells, from
the absence of lime, are extremely scarce, and I scarcely picked up a
single specimen: the most common are species of _Cyclostoma._
The rains commenced on the 10th of May, greatly increasing the
discomforts of travelling, but moderating the heat by drenching
thunder-storms, which so soaked the men's loads, that I was obliged
to halt a day in the Teesta valley to have waterproof covers made of
platted bamboo-work, enclosing Phrynium leaves. I was delighted to
find that my little tent was impervious to water, though its
thickness was but of one layer of blanket: it was a single ridge with
two poles, 7 feet high, 8 feet long, and 8 feet broad at the base,
forming nearly an equilateral triangle in front.
Bhomsong was looking more beautiful than ever in its rich summer
clothing of tropical foliage. I halted during an hour of heavy rain
on the spot where I had spent the previous Christmas, and could not
help feeling doubly lonely in a place where every rock and tree
reminded me of that pleasant time. The isolation of my position, the
hostility of the Dewan, and consequent uncertainty of the success of
a journey that absorbed all my thoughts, the prevalence of fevers in
the valleys I was traversing, and the many difficulties that beset my
path, all crowded on the imagination when fevered by exertion and
depressed by gloomy weather, and my spirits involuntarily sank as I
counted the many miles and months intervening between me and my home.
The little flat on which I had formerly encamped was now covered with
a bright green crop of young rice. The house then occupied by the
Dewan was now empty and unroofed; but the suspension bridge had been
repaired, and its light framework of canes, spanning the boiling
flood of the Teesta, formed a graceful object in this most beautiful
landscape. The temperature of the river was 58 degrees, only 7
degrees above that of mid-winter, owing to the now melting snows.
I had rather expected to meet either with a guide, or with some
further obstruction here, but as none appeared, I proceeded onwards
as soon as the weather moderated.
Illustration--PANDANUS. SIKKIM SCREW-PINE.
Higher up, the scenery resembles that of Tchintam on the Tambur: the
banks are so steep as to allow of no road, and the path ascends from
the river, at 1000 feet, to Lathiang village, at 4,800 feet, up a
wild, rocky torrent that descends from Mainom to the Teesta.
The cliffs here are covered with wild plantains and screw-pines
(_Pandanus_), 50 feet high, that clasp the rocks with cable-like
roots, and bear one or two crowns of drooping leaves, 5 feet long:
two palms, Rattan (_Calamus_) and _Areca gracilis,_ penetrate thus
far up the Teesta valley, but are scarcely found further.
From the village the view was superb, embracing the tropical gulley
below, with the flat of Bhomsong deep down in the gorge, its bright
rice-fields gleaming like emeralds amid the dark vegetation that
surrounded it; the Teesta winding to the southward, the pine-clad
rocky top of Mainom, 10,613 feet high, to the south-west, the cone of
Mount Ararat far to the south, to the north black mountains tipped
with snow, and to the east the magnificent snowy range of Chola,
girdling the valley of the Ryott with a diadem of frosted silver.
The coolies, each carrying upwards of 80 lb. load, had walked twelve
hours that day, and besides descending 2000 feet, they had ascended
nearly 4000 feet, and gone over innumerable ups and downs besides.
Beyond Lathiang, a steep and dangerous path runs along the east flank
of Mainom, sometimes on narrow ledges of dry rock, covered with long
grass, sometimes dipping into wooded gullies, full of _Edgeworthia
Gardneri_ and small trees of Andromeda and rhododendron, covered with
orchids* [Especially some species of _Sunipia_ and _Cirrhopetalum,_
whicb have not yet been introduced into England.] of great beauty.
Descending to Gorh (4,100 feet), I was met by the Lama of that
district, a tall, disagreeable-looking fellow, who informed me that
the road ahead was impassable. The day being spent, I was obliged to
camp at any rate; after which he visited me in full canonicals,
bringing me a handsome present, but assuring me that he had no
authority to let me advance. I treated him with civility, and
regretted my objects being so imperative, and my orders so clear,
that I was obliged to proceed on the following morning: on which he
abruptly decamped, as I suspected, in order to damage the paths and
bridges. He came again at daylight, and expostulated further; but
finding it of no use, he volunteered to accompany me, officiously
offering me the choice of two roads. I asked for the coolest, knowing
full well that it was useless to try and out-wit him in such matters.
At the first stream the bridge was destroyed, but seeing the planks
peeping through the bushes in which they had been concealed, I
desired the Lama to repair it, which he did without hesitation. So it
was at every point: the path was cumbered with limbs of trees,
crossing-stones were removed from the streams, and all natural
difficulties were increased. I kept constantly telling the Lama that
as he had volunteered to show me the road, I felt sure he intended to
remove all obstacles, and accordingly I put him to all the trouble I
possibly could, which he took with a very indifferent grace. When I
arrived at the swinging bridge across the Teesta, I found that the
canes were loosened, and that slips of bamboo, so small as nearly to
escape observation, were ingeniously placed low down over the single
bamboo that formed the footing, intended to trip up the unwary
passenger, and overturn him into the river, which was deep, and with
a violent current. Whilst the Lama was cutting these, one of my party
found a charcoal writing on a tree, announcing the speedy arrival
from the Rajah of my old guide, Meepo; and he shortly afterwards
appeared, with instructions to proceed with me, though not to the
Tibetan frontier. The lateness of the season, the violence of the
rains, and the fears, on the Rajah's part, that I might suffer from
fever or accident, were all urged to induce me to return, or at least
only to follow the west branch of the Teesta to Kinchinjunga.
These reasons failing, I was threatened with Chinese interference on
the frontier. All these objections I overruled, by refusing to
recognise any instructions that were not officially communicated to
the Superintendent of Dorjiling.
The Gorh Lama here took leave of me: he was a friend of the Dewan,
and was rather surprised to find that the Rajah had sent me a guide,
and now attempted to pass himself off as my friend, pompously
charging Meepo with the care of me, and bidding me a very polite
farewell. I could not help telling him civilly, but plainly, what I
thought of him; and so we parted.
Meepo was very glad to join my party again: he is a thorough Lepcha
in heart, a great friend of his Rajah and of Tchebu Lama, and one who
both fears and hates the Dewan. He assured me of the Rajah's good
wishes and intentions, but spoke with great doubt as to the
probability of a successful issue to my journey: he was himself
ignorant of the road, but had brought a guide, whose appearance,
however, was against him, and who turned out to be sent as a spy on
us both.
Instead of crossing the Teesta here, we kept on for two days up its
west bank, to a cane bridge at Lingo, where the bed of the river is
still only 2000 feet above the sea, though 45 miles distant from the
plains, and flowing in a valley bounded by mountains 12,000 to 16,000
feet high. The heat was oppressive, from the closeness of the
atmosphere, the great power of the sun, now high at noon-day, and the
reflection from the rocks. Leeches began to swarm as the damp
increased, and stinging flies of various kinds. My clothes were
drenched with perspiration during five hours of every day, and the
crystallising salt irritated the skin. On sitting down to rest, I was
overcome with languor and sleep, and, but for the copious supply of
fresh water everywhere, travelling would have been intolerable.
The Coolies were all but naked, and were constantly plunging into the
pools of the rivers; for, though filthy in their persons, they revel
in cold water in summer. They are powerful swimmers, and will stem a
very strong current, striking out with each arm alternately. It is an
animated sight when twenty or thirty of these swarthy children of
nature are disporting their muscular figures in the water, diving
after large fish, and sometimes catching them by tickling them under
the stones.
Of plants I found few not common at similar elevations below
Dorjiling, except another kind of Tree-fern,* [_Alsophila spinulosa,_
the "Pugjik" of the Lepchas, who eat the soft watery pith: it is
abundant in East Bengal and the Peninsula of India. The other Sikkim
Tree-fern, _A. gigantea,_ is far more common from the level of the
plains to 6,500 elevation, and is found as far south as Java.] whose
pith is eaten in times of scarcity. The India-rubber fig penetrates
thus far amongst the mountains, but is of small size. A Gentian,
_Arenaria,_ and some sub-alpine plants are met with, though the
elevation is only 2000 feet, and the whole climate thoroughly
tropical: they were annuals usually found at 7000 to 10,000 feet
elevation, and were growing here on mossy rocks, cooled by the spray
of the river, whose temperature was only 56.3 degrees. My servant
having severely sprained his wrist by a fall, the Lepchas wanted to
apply a moxa, which they do by lighting a piece of puff-ball, or
Nepal paper that burns like tinder, laying it on the skin, and
blowing it till a large open sore is produced: they shook their heads
at my treatment, which consisted in transferring some of the leeches
from our persons to the inflamed part.
After crossing the Teesta by the cane bridge of Lingo, our route lay
over a steep and lofty spur, round which the river makes a great
sweep. On the ascent of this ridge we passed large villages on flats
cultivated with buckwheat. The saddle is 5,500 feet high, and thence
a rapid descent leads to the village of Singtam, which faces the
north, and is 300 feet lower, and 3000 feet above the river, which is
here no longer called the Teesta, but is known as the
Lachen-Lachoong, from its double origin in the rivers of these names,
which unite at Choongtam, twenty miles higher up. Of these, the
source of the Lachen is in the Cholamoo lakes in Tibet; while the
Lachoong rises on the south flank of Donkia mountain, both many
marches north of my present position. At Singtam the Lacben-Lachoong
runs westward, till joined by the Rihi from the north, and the
Rinoong from the west, after receiving which it assumes the name of
Teesta: of these affluents, the Rinoong is the largest, and drains
the south-east face of Kinchinjunga and Pundim, and the north of
Nursing: all which mountains are seen to the north-north-west of
Singtam. The Rinoong valley is cultivated for several miles up, and
has amongst others the village and Lamasery of Bah. Beyond this the
view of black, rugged precipices with snowy mountains towering above
them, is one of the finest in Sikkim. There is a pass in that
direction, from Bah over the Tckonglah to the Thlonok valley, and
thence to the province of Jigatzi in Tibet, but it is almost
impracticable.
Illustration--VIEW OF KINCHINJUNGA FROM SINGTAM, LOOKING
NORTH-WESTWARD.
A race of wild men, called "Harrum-mo," are said to inhabit the head
of the valley, living in the woods of a district called Mund-po,
beyond Bah; tbey shun habitations, speak an unintelligible tongue,
have more hair on the face than Lepchas, and do not plait that of
their heads, but wear it in a knot; they use the bow and arrow, and
eat snakes and vermin, which the Lepchas will not touch. Such is the
account I have heard, and which is certainly believed in Sikkim:
similar stories are very current in half civilized countries; and if
this has any truth, it possibly refers to the Chepangs,* [Hodgson, in
"Bengal Asiatic Society's Journal" for 1848.] a very remarkable race,
of doubtful affinity and origin, inhabiting the Nepal forests.
At Singtam I was waited on by the Soubah of the district, a tall
portly Bhoteea, who was destined to prove a most active enemy to my
pursuits. He governs the country between Gorh and the Tibet frontier,
for the Maha-Raanee (wife of the Rajah), whose dowry it is; and she
being the Dewan's relative, I had little assistance to expect from
her agent. His conduct was very polite, and he brought me a handsome
offering for myself; but after delaying me a day on the pretext of
collecting food for my people, of which I was in want, I was obliged
to move on with no addition to my store, and trust to obtaining some
at the next village, or from Dorjiling. Owing, however, to the
increasing distance, and the destruction of the roads by the rains,
my supplies from that place were becoming irregular: I therefore
thought it prudent to reduce my party, by sending back my guard of
Sepoys, who could be of no further use.
From this point the upper portion of the course of the Teesta
(Lachen-Lachoong) is materially different from what it is lower down;
becoming a boisterous torrent, as suddenly as the Tambur does above
Mywa Guola. Its bed is narrower, large masses of rock impede its
course, nor is there any place where it is practicable for rafts at
any season; the only means of passing it being by cane bridges that
are thrown across, high above the stream.
The slope on either side of the valley is very steep; that on the
north, in particular, appearing too precipitous for any road, and
being only frequented by honey seekers, who scale the rocks by cane
ladders, and thus reach the pendulous bees'-nests, which are so large
as in some instances to be conspicuous features at the distance of a
mile. This pursuit appeared extremely perilous, the long thread-like
canes in many places affording the only footing, over many yards of
cliff: the procuring of this honey, however, is the only means by
which many of the idle poor raise the rent which they must pay to
the Rajah.
The most prominent effect of the steepness of the valleys is the
prevalence of land-slips, which sometimes descend for 3000 feet,
carrying devastation along their course: they are caused either by
the melting of the snow-beds on the mountains, or by the action of
the rains on the stratified rocks, and are much increased in effect
and violence by the heavy timber-trees which, swaying forwards,
loosen the earth at their roots, and give impetus to the mass.
This phenomenon is as frequent and destructive as in Switzerland,
where, however, more lives are lost; from the country being more
populous, and from the people recklessly building in places
particularly exposed to such accidents. A most destructive one had,
however, occurred here the previous year, by which a village was
destroyed, together with twelve of its inhabitants, and all the
cattle. The fragments of rock precipitated are sometimes of enormous
size, but being a soft mica-schist, are soon removed by weathering.
It is in the rainy season that landslips are most frequent, and
shortly after rain they are pretty sure to be heard far or near.
I crossed the debris of the great one alluded to, on the first march
beyond Singtam: the whole face of the mountain appeared more or less
torn up for fully a mile, presenting a confused mass of white
micaceous clay, full of angular masses of rock. The path was very
difficult and dangerous, being carried along the steep slope, at an
angle, in some places, of 35 degrees; and it was constantly shifting,
from the continued downward sliding, and from the action of streams,
some of which are large, and cut deep channels. In one I had the
misfortune to lose my only sheep, which was carried away by the
torrent. These streams were crossed by means of sticks and ricketty
bamboos, and the steep sides (sometimes twenty or thirty feet high),
were ascended by notched poles.
The weather continued very hot for the elevation (4000 to 5000 feet),
the rain brought no coolness, and for the greater part of the three
marches between Singtam and Chakoong, we were either wading through
deep mud, or climbing over rocks. Leeches swarmed in incredible
profusion in the streams and damp grass, and among the bushes: they
got into my hair, hung on my eyelids, and crawled up my legs and down
my back. I repeatedly took upwards of a hundred from my legs, where
the small ones used to collect in clusters on the instep: the sores
which they produced were not healed for five months afterwards, and I
retain the scars to the present day. Snuff and tobacco leaves are the
best antidote, but when marching in the rain, it is impossible to
apply this simple remedy to any advantage. The best plan I found to
be rolling the leaves over the feet, inside the stockings, and
powdering the legs with snuf.
Another pest is a small midge, or sand-fly, which causes intolerable
itching, and subsequent irritation, and is in this respect the most
insufferable torment in Sikkim; the minutest rent in one's clothes is
detected by the acute senses of this insatiable bloodsucker, which is
itself so small as to be barely visible without a microscope.
We daily arrived at our camping-ground, streaming with blood, and
mottled with the bites of peepsas, gnats, midges, and mosquitos,
besides being infested with ticks.
As the rains advanced, insects seemed to be called into existence in
countless swarms; large and small moths, cockchafers, glow-worms, and
cockroaches, made my tent a Noah's ark by night, when the candle was
burning; together with winged ants, May-flies, flying earwigs, and
many beetles, while a very large species of _Tipula_
(daddy-long-legs) swept its long legs across my face as I wrote my
journal, or plotted off my map. After retiring to rest and putting
out the light, they gradually departed, except a few which could not
find the way out, and remained to disturb my slumbers.
Chakoong is a remarkable spot in the bottom of the valley, at an
angle of the Lachen-Lachoong, which here receives an affluent from
Gnarem, a mountain 17,557 feet high, on the Chola range to the east.*
[This is called Black Rock in Col. Waugh's map. I doubt Gnarem being
a generally known name: the people hardly recognise the mountain as
sufficiently conspicuous to bear a name.] There is no village, but
some grass huts used by travellers, which are built close to the
river on a very broad flat, fringed with alder, hornbeam, and birch:
the elevation is 4,400 feet, and many European genera not found about
Dorjiling, and belonging to the temperate Himalaya, grow intermixed
with tropical plants that are found no further north. The birch,
willow, alder, and walnut grow side by side with wild plantain,
_Erythrina, Wallichia_ palm, and gigantic bamboos: the _Cedrela
Toona,_ figs, _Melastoma, Scitamineae,_ balsams, _Pothos,_ peppers,
and gigantic climbing vines, grow mixed with brambles, speedwell,
_Paris,_ forget-me-not, and nettles that sting like poisoned arrows.
The wild English strawberry is common, but bears a tasteless fruit:
its inferiority is however counterbalanced by the abundance of a
grateful yellow raspberry. Parasitical Orchids (_Dendrobium nobile,_
and _densiflorum,_ etc.), cover the trunks of oaks, while
_Thalictrum_ and _Geranium_ grow under their shade. _Monotropa_ and
_Balanophora,_ both parasites on the roots of trees (the one a native
of north Europe and the other of a tropical climate), push their
leafless stems and heads of flowers through the soil together: and
lastly, tree-ferns grow associated with the _Pteris aquilina_ (brake)
and _Lycopodium clavatum_ of our British moors; and amongst mosses,
the superb Himalayan _Lyellia crispa,_* [This is one of the most
remarkable mosses in the Himalaya mountains, and derives additional
interest from having been named after the late Charles Lyell, Esq.,
of Kinnordy, the father of the most eminent geologist of the present
day.] with the English _Funaria hygrometrica._
The dense jungles of Chakoong completely cover the beautiful flat
terraces of stratified sand and gravel, which rise in three shelves
to 150 feet above the river, and whose edges appear as sharply cut as
if the latter had but lately retired from them. They are continuous
with a line of quartzy cliffs, covered with scarlet rhododendrons,
and in the holes of which a conglomerate of pebbles is found, 150
feet above the river. Everywhere immense boulders are scattered
about, some of which are sixty yards long: their surfaces are
water-worn into hollows, proving the river to have cut through nearly
300 feet of deposit, which once floored its valley. Lower down the
valley, and fully 2000 feet above the river, I had passed numerous
angular blocks resting on gentle slopes where no landslips could
possibly have deposited them; and which I therefore refer to ancient
glacial action: one of these, near the village of Niong, was nearly
square, eighty feet long, and ten high.
It is a remarkable fact, that this hot, damp gorge is never
malarious; this is attributable to the coolness of the river, and to
the water on the flats not stagnating; for at Choongtam, a march
further north, and 1500 feet higher, fevers and ague prevail in
summer on similar flats, but which have been cleared of jungle, and
are therefore exposed to the sun.
I had had constant headache for several mornings on waking, which I
did not fail to attribute to coming fever, or to the unhealthiness of
the climate; till I accidentally found it to arise from the wormwood,
upon a thick couch of the cut branches of which I was accustomed to
sleep, and which in dry weather produced no such effects.* [This
wormwood (_Artemisia Indaca_) is one of the most common Sikkim plants
at 2000 to 6000 feet elevation, and grows twelve feet high: it is a
favourite food of goats.]
From Chakoong to Choongtam the route lay northwards, following the
course of the river, or crossing steep spurs of vertical strata of
mica-schist, that dip into the valley, and leave no space between
their perpendicular sides and the furious torrent. Immense landslips
seamed the steep mountain flanks; and we crossed with precipitation
one that extended fully 4000 feet (and perhaps much more) up a
mountain 12,000 feet high, on the east bank: it moves every year, and
the mud and rocks shot down by it were strewn with the green leaves
and twigs of shrubs, some of the flowers on which were yet fresh and
bright, while others were crushed: these were mixed with gigantic
trunks of pines, with ragged bark and scored timbers. The talus which
had lately been poured into the valley formed a gently sloping bank,
twenty feet high, over which the Lachen- Lachoong rolled, from a pool
above, caused by the damming up of its waters. On either side of the
pool were cultivated terraces of stratified sand and pebbles, fifty
feet high, whose alder-fringed banks, joined by an elegant cane
bridge, were reflected in the placid water; forming a little spot of
singular quiet and beauty, that contrasted with the savage grandeur
of the surrounding mountains, and the headstrong course of the
foaming torrent below, amid whose deafening roar it was impossible to
speak and be heard.
Illustration--CANE-BRIDGE AND TUKCHAM MOUNTAIN.
The mountain of Choongtam is about 10,000 feet high; it divides the
Lachen from the Lachoong river, and terminates a lofty range that
runs for twenty-two miles south from the lofty mountain of
Kinchinjhow. Its south exposed face is bare of trees, except clumps
of pines towards the top, and is very steep, grassy, and rocky,
without water. It is hence quite unlike the forest-clad mountains
further south, and indicates a drier and more sunny climate. The
scenery much resembles that of Switzerland, and of the north-west
Himalaya, especially in the great contrast between the southern and
northern exposures, the latter being always clothed with a dense
vegetation. At the foot of this very steep mountain is a broad
triangular flat, 5,270 feet above the sea, and 300 feet above the
river, to which it descends by three level cultivated shelves.
The village, consisting of a temple and twenty houses, is placed on
the slope of the hill. I camped on the flat in May, before it became
very swampy, close to some great blocks of gneiss, of which many lie
on its surface: it was covered with tufts of sedge (like _Carex
stellulata_), and fringed with scarlet rhododendron, walnut,
_Andromeda, E1aeagnus_ (now bearing pleasant acid fruit), and small
trees of a _Photinia,_ a plant allied to hawthorn, of the leaves of
which the natives make tea (as they do of _Gualtheria, Andromeda,
Vaccinium,_ and other allied plants). Rice, cultivated* [Choongtam is
in position and products analogous to Lelyp, on the Tambur (vol. i,
Chapter IX). Rice cultivation advances thus high up each valley, and
at either place Bhoteeas replace the natives of the lower valleys.]
in pools surrounded by low banks, was just peeping above ground; and
scanty crops of millet, maize, and buckwheat flourished on the
slopes around.
The inhabitants of Choongtam are of Tibetan origin; few of them had
seen an Englishman before, and they flocked out, displaying the most
eager curiosity: the Lama and Phipun (or superior officer) of the
Lachoong valley came to pay their respects with a troop of followers,
and there was lolling out of tongues, and scratching of ears, at
every sentence spoken, and every object of admiration. This
extraordinary Tibetan salute at first puzzled me excessively, nor was
it until reading MM. Huc and Gabet's travels on my return to England,
that I knew of its being the _ton_ at Lhassa, and in all civilised
parts of Tibet.
As the valley was under the Singtam Soubah's authority, I experienced
a good deal of opposition; and the Lama urged the wrath of the gods
against my proceeding. This argument, I said, had been disposed of
the previous year, and I was fortunate in recognising one of my
Changachelling friends, who set forth my kindly offices to the Lamas
of that convent, and the friendship borne me by its monks, and by
those of Pemiongchi. Many other modes of dissuading me were
attempted, but with Meepo's assistance I succeeded in gaining my
point. The difficulty and delays in remittance of food, caused by the
landslips having destroyed the road, had reduced our provisions to a
very low ebb; and it became not only impossible to proceed, but
necessary to replenish my stores on the spot. At first provisions
enough were brought to myself, for the Rajah had issued orders for my
being cared for, and having some practice among the villagers in
treating rheumatism and goitres, I had the power of supplying my own
larder; but I found it impossible to buy food for my people. At last,
the real state of the case came out; that the Rajah having gone to
Choombi, his usual summer-quarters in Tibet, the Dewan had issued
orders that no food should be sold or given to my people, and that no
roads were to be repaired during my stay in the country; thus cutting
off my supplies from Dorjiling, and, in short, attempting to starve
me out. At this juncture, Meepo received a letter from the Durbar
purporting to be from the Rajah, commanding my immediate return, on
the grounds that I had been long enough in the country for my
objects: it was not addressed to me, and I refused to receive it as
an official communication; following up my refusal by telling Meepo
that if he thought his orders required it, he had better leave me and
return to the Rajah, as I should not stir without directions from Dr.
Campbell, except forwards. He remained, however, and said he had
written to the Rajah, urging him to issue stringent orders for my
party being provisioned.
We were reduced to a very short allowance before the long-expected
supplies came, by which time our necessities had almost conquered my
resolution not to take by force of the abundance I might see around,
however well I might afterwards pay. It is but fair to state that the
improvident villagers throughout Sikkim are extremely poor in
vegetable food at this season, when the winter store is consumed, and
the crops are still green. They are consequently obliged to purchase
rice from the lower valleys, which, owing to the difficulties of
transport, is very dear; and to obtain it they barter wool, blankets,
musk, and Tibetan produce of all kinds. Still they had cattle, which
they would willingly have sold to me, but for the Dewan's orders.
There is a great difference between the vegetation of Dorjiling and
that of similar elevations near Choongtam situated far within the
Himalaya: this is owing to the steepness and dryness of the latter
locality, where there is an absence of dense forest, which is
replaced by a number of social grasses clothing the mountain sides,
many new and beautiful kinds of rhododendrons, and a variety of
European genera,* [_Deutzia, Saxifraga caliata, Thalictrum,
Euphorbia,_ yellow violet, _Labiatae, Androsace, Leguminosae,
Coriaria, Delphinium,_ currant, _Umbelliferae,_ primrose, _Anemone,
Convallaria, Roscoea, Mitella, Herminium, Drosera.] which (as I have
elsewhere noticed) are either wholly absent from the damper ranges
of Dorjiling, or found there several thousand feet higher up. On the
hill above Choongtam village, I gathered, at 5000 to 6000 feet,
_Rhododendron arboreum_ and _Dalhousiae,_ which do not generally grow
at Dorjiling below 7,500 feet.* [I collected here ten kinds of
rhododendron, which, however, are not the social plants that they
become at greater elevations. Still, in the delicacy and beauty of
their flowers, four of them, perhaps, excel any others; they are, _R.
Aucklandii,_ whose flowers are five inches and a half in diameter;
_R. Maddeni, R. Dalhousiae,_ and _R. Edgeworthii,_ all white-flowered
bushes, of which the two first rise to the height of small trees.]
The yew appears at 7000 feet, whilst, on the outer ranges (as on
Tonglo), it is only found at 9,500 to 10,000 feet; and whereas on
Tonglo it forms an immense tall tree, with long sparse branches and
slender drooping twigs, growing amongst gigantic magnolias and oaks,
at Choongtam it is small and rigid, and much resembling in appearance
our churchyard yew.* [The yew spreads east from Kashmir to the Assam
Himalaya and the Khasia mountains; and the Japan, Philippine Island,
Mexican, and other North American yews, belong to the same
widely-diffused species. In the Khasia (its most southern limit) it
is found as low as 5000 feet above the sea-level.] At 8000 feet the
_Abies Brunoniana_ is found; a tree quite unknown further south; but
neither the larch nor the _Albies Smithiana_ (Khutrow) accompanied
it, they being confined to still more northern regions.
I have seldom had occasion to allude to snakes, which are rare and
shy in most parts of the Himalaya; I, however, found an extremely
venomous one at Choongtam; a small black viper, a variety of the
cobra di capello,* [Dr. Gray, to whom I am indebted for the following
information, assures me that this reptile is not specifically
distinct from the common Cobra of India; though all the mountain
specimens of it which he has examined retain the same small size and
dark colour. Of the other Sikkim reptiles which I procured seven are
_Colubridae_ and innocuous; five _Crotalidae_ are venomous, three of
which are new species belonging to the genera _Parias_ and
_Trimesurus._ Lizards are not abundant, but I found at Choongtam a
highly curious one, _Plestiodon Sikkimensis,_ Gray; a kind of Skink,
whose only allies are two North American congeners; and a species of
_Agama_ (a chameleon-like lizard) which in many important points more
resembled an allied American genus than an Asiatic one. The common
immense earth-worm of Sikkim, _Ichthyophis glutinosus,_ is a native
of the Khasia mountains, Singapore, Ceylon and Java. It is a most
remarkable fact, that whereas seven out of the twelve Sikkim snakes
are poisonous, the sixteen species I procured in the Khasia mountains
are innocuous.] which it replaces in the drier grassy parts of the
interior of Sikkim, the large cobra not inhabiting in the mountain
regions. Altogether I only collected about twelve species in Sikkim,
seven of which are venomous, and all are dreaded by the Lepchas.
An enormous hornet (_Vespa magnifica,_ Sm.), nearly two inches long,
was here brought to me alive in a cleft-stick, lolling out its great
thorn-like sting, from which drops of a milky poison distilled: its
sting is said to produce fatal fevers in men and cattle, which may
very well be the case, judging from that of a smaller kind, which
left great pain in my hand for two days, while a feeling of numbness
remained in the arm for several weeks. It is called Vok by the
Lepchas, a common name for any bee: its larvae are said to be
greedily eaten, as are those of various allied insects.
Choongtam boasts a profusion of beautiful insects, amongst which the
British swallow-tail butterfly (_Papilio Machaon_) disports itself in
company with magnificent black, gold, and scarlet-winged butterflies,
of the Trojan group, so typical of the Indian tropics. At night my
tent was filled with small water-beetles (_Berosi_) that quickly put
out the candle; and with lovely moths came huge cockchafers
(_Encerris Griffithii_), and enormous and foetid flying-bugs (of the
genus _Derecterix_), which bear great horns on the thorax.
The irritation of mosquito and midge bites, and the disgusting
insects that clung with spiny legs to the blankets of my tent and
bed, were often as effectual in banishing sleep, as were my anxious
thoughts regarding the future.
The temple at Choongtam is a poor wooden building, but contains some
interesting drawings of Lhassa, with its extensive Lamaseries and
temples; they convey the idea of a town, gleaming, like Moscow, with
gilded and copper roofs; but on a nearer aspect it is found to
consist of a mass of stone houses, and large religious edifices many
stories high, the walls of which are regularly pierced with small
square ornamented windows.* [MM. Huc and Gabet's account of Lhassa
is, I do not doubt, excellent as to particulars; but the trees which
they describe as magnificent, and girdling the city, have uniformly
been represented to me as poor stunted willows, apricots, poplars,
and walnuts, confined to the gardens of the rich. No doubt the
impression left by these objects on the minds of travellers from
tree-less Tartary, and of Sikkimites reared amidst stupendous
forests, must be widely different. The information concerning Lhassa
collected by Timkowski, "Travels of the Russian Mission to China" (in
1821) is greatly exaggerated, though containing much that is true and
curious. The dyke to protect the city from inundations I never heard
of; but there is a current story in Sikkim that Lhassa is built in a
lake-bed, which was dried up by a miracle of the Lamas, and that in
heavy rain the earth trembles, and the waters bubble through the
soil: a Dorjiling rain-fall, I have been assured, would wash away the
whole city. Ermann (Travels in Siberia, i., p. 186), mentions a town
(Klinchi, near Perm), thus built over subterraneous springs, and in
constant danger of being washed away. MM. Huc and Gabet allude to the
same tradition under another form. They say that the natives of the
banks of the Koko-nor affirm that the waters of that lake once
occupied a subterranean position beneath Lhassa, and that the waters
sapped the foundations of the temples as soon as they were built,
till withdrawn by supernatural agency.]
There is nothing remarkable in the geology of Choongtam: the base of
the hill consists of the clay and mica slates overlain by gneiss,
generally dipping to the eastward; in the latter are granite veins,
containing fine tourmalines. Actinolites are found in some highly
metamorphic gneisses, brought by landslips from the neighbouring
heights. The weather in May was cloudy and showery, but the rain
which fell was far less in amount than that at Dorjiling: during the
day the sun's power was great; but though it rose between five and
six a.m., it never appeared above the lofty peaked mountains that
girdle the valley till eight a.m. Dark pines crest the heights
around, and landslips score their flanks with white seams below;
while streaks of snow remain throughout the month at 9000 feet above;
and everywhere silvery torrents leap down to the Lachen and Lachoong.
Illustration--JUNIPERUS RECURVA (height 30 feet).
CHAPTER XIX.
Routes from Choongtam to Tibet frontier -- Choice of that by the
Lachen river -- Arrival of Supplies -- Departure -- Features of the
valley -- Eatable _Polygonum_ -- Tumlong -- Cross Taktoong river --
Pines, larches, and other trees -- Chateng pool -- Water-plants and
insects -- Tukcham mountain -- Lamteng village -- Inhabitants --
Alpine monkey -- Botany of temperate Himalaya -- European and
American fauna -- Japanese and Malayan genera -- Superstitious
objections to shooting -- Customs of people -- Rain -- Run short of
provisions -- Altered position of Tibet frontier -- Zemu Samdong --
Imposition -- Vegetation -- Uses of pines -- Ascent to Thlonok river
-- Balanophora wood for making cups -- Snow-beds -- Eatable mushrooms
and _Smilacina_ -- Asarabacca -- View of Kinchinjunga -- Arum-roots,
preparation of for food -- Liklo mountain -- Bebaviour of my party --
Bridge constructed over Zemu -- Cross river -- Alarm of my party --
Camp on Zemu river.
From this place there were two routes to Tibet, each of about six
days' journey. One lay to the north-west up the Lachen valley to the
Kongra Lama pass, the other to the east up the Lachoong to the Donkia
pass. The latter river has its source in small lakes in Sikkim, south
of the Donkia mountain, a shoulder of which the pass crosses,
commanding a magnificent view into Tibet. The Lachen, on the other
hand (the principal source of the Teesta), rises beyond Sikkim in the
Cholamoo lakes. The frontier at Kongra Lama was described to me as
being a political, and not a natural boundary, marked out by cairns,
standing on a plain, and crossing the Lachen river. To both Donkia
and Kongra Lama I had every right to go, and was determined, if
possible, to reach them, in spite of Meepo's ignorance, our guide's
endeavours to frighten my party and mislead myself, and the country
people's dread of incurring the Dewan's displeasure.
The Lachen valley being pronounced impracticable in the height of the
rains, a month later, it behoved me to attempt it first, and it
possessed the attraction of leading to a frontier described as far to
the northward of the snowy Himalaya, on a lofty plateau, whose plants
and animals were different from anything I had previously seen.
After a week the coolies arrived with supplies: they had been delayed
by the state of the paths, and had consequently consumed a great part
of my stock, reducing it to eight days' allowance. I therefore
divided my party, leaving the greater number at Choongtam, with a
small tent, and instructions to forward all food to me as it arrived.
I started with about fifteen attendants, on the 25th of May, for
Lamteng, three marches up the Lachen.
Descending the step-formed terraces, I crossed the Lachen by a good
cane bridge. The river is a headstrong torrent, and turbid from the
vast amount of earthy matter which it bears along; and this character
of extreme impetuosity, unbroken by any still bend, or even swirling
pool, it maintains uninterruptedly at this season from 4000 to 10,000
feet. It is crossed three times, always by cane bridges, and I cannot
conceive any valley of its nature to be more impracticable at such a
season. On both sides the mountains rose, densely forest-clad, at an
average angle of 35 degrees to 40 degrees, to 10,000 and 15,000 feet.
Its extreme narrowness, and the grandeur of its scenery, were alike
recalled to my mind, on visiting the Sachs valley in the Valais of
Switzerland; from which, however, it differs in its luxuriant forest,
and in the slopes being more uniform and less broken up into those
imposing precipices so frequent in Switzerland, but which are wanting
in the temperate regions of the Sikkim Himalaya.
At times we scrambled over rocks 1000 feet above the river, or
descended into gorges, through whose tributary torrents we waded, or
crossed swampy terraced flats of unstratified shingle above the
stream; whilst it was sometimes necessary to round rocky promontories
in the river, stemming the foaming torrent that pressed heavily
against the chest as, one by one, we were dragged along by powerful
Lepchas. Our halting-places were on flats close to the river, covered
with large trees, and carpeted with a most luxuriant herbage, amongst
which a wild buckwheat (_Polygonum_*) [_Polygonum cymosum,_ Wall.
This is a common Himalayan plant, and is alsu found in the Khasia
mountains.] was abundant, which formed an excellent spinach: it is
called "Pullop-bi"; a name I shall hereafter have occasion to mention
with gratitude.
A few miles above Choongtam, we passed a few cottages on a very
extensive terrace at Tumlong; but between this and Lamteng, the
country is uninhabited, nor is it frequented during the rains.
We consequently found that the roads had suffered, the little bridges
and aids to climb precipices and cross landslips had been carried
away, and at one place we were all but turned back. This was at the
Taktoong river, a tributary on the east bank, which rushes down at an
angle of 15 degrees, in a sheet of silvery foam, eighteen yards
broad. It does not, where I crossed it, flow in a deep gulley, having
apparently raised its bed by an accumulation of enormous boulders;
and a plank bridge was thrown across it, against whose slippery and
narrow foot-boards the water dashed, loosening the supports on either
bank, and rushing between their foundation stones.
My unwilling guide had gone ahead with some of the coolies: I had
suspected him all along (perhaps unjustly) of avoiding the most
practicable routes; but when I found him waiting for me at this
bridge, to which he sarcastically pointed with his bow, I felt that
had he known of it, to have made difficulties before would have been
a work of supererogation. He seemed to think I should certainly turn
back, and assured me there was no other crossing (a statement I
afterwards found to be untrue); so, comforting myself with the hope
that if the danger were imminent, Meepo would forcibly stop me, I
took off my shoes, and walked steadily over: the tremor of the planks
was like that felt when standing on the paddle-box of a steamer, and
I was jerked up and down, as my weight pressed them into the boiling
flood, which shrouded me with spray. I looked neither to the right
nor to the left, lest the motion of the swift waters should turn my
head, but kept my eye on the white jets d'eau springing up between
the woodwork, and felt thankful when fairly on the opposite bank: my
loaded coolies followed, crossing one by one without fear or
hesitation. The bridge was swept into the Lachen very shortly
afterwards.
Towards Lamteng, the path left the river, and passed through a wood
of _Abies Smithiana._* [Also called _A. Khutrow_ and _Morinda._ I had
not before seen this tree in the Himalaya: it is a spruce fir, much
resembling the Norway spruce in general appearance, but with longer
pendulous branches. The wood is white, and considered indifferent,
though readily cleft into planks; it is called "Seh."] Larch appears
at 9000 feet, with _Abies Brunoniana._ An austere crab-apple, walnut,
and the willow of Babylon (the two latter perhaps cultivated), yellow
jessamine and ash, all scarce trees in Sikkim, are more or less
abundant in the valley, from 7000 to 8000 feet; as is an ivy, very
like the English, but with fewer and smaller yellow or reddish
berries; and many other plants,* [Wood-sorrel, a white-stemmed
bramble, birch, some maples, nut gigantic lily (_Lilium giganteum_),
_Euphorbia, Pedicularis, Spiraea, Philadelphus, Deutzia, Indigofera,_
and various other South Europe and North American genera.] not found
at equal elevations on the outer ranges of the Himalaya.
Chateng, a spur from the lofty peak of Tukcham,* ["Tuk" signifies
head in Lepcha, and "cheam" or "chaum," I believe, has reference to
the snow. The height of Tukcham has been re-calculated by Capt. R.
Strachey, with angles taken by myself, at Dorjiling and Jillapahar,
and is approximate only.] 19,472 feet high, rises 1000 feet above the
west bank of the river; and where crossed, commands one of the finest
alpine views in Sikkim. It was grassy, strewed with huge boulders of
gneiss, and adorned with clumps of park-like pines: on the summit was
a small pool, beautifully fringed with bushy trees of white rose, a
white-blossomed apple, a _Pyrus_ like _Aria,_ another like
mountain-ash, scarlet rhododendrons (_arboreum_ and _barbatum_),
holly, maples, and _Goughia,_* [This fine plant was named (Wight,
"Ic. Plant.") in honour of Capt. Gough, son of the late
commander-in-chief, and an officer to whom the botany of the
peninsula of India is greatly indebted. It is a large and handsome
evergreen, very similar in foliage to a fine rhododendron, and would
prove an invaluable ornament on our lawns, if its hardier varieties
were introduced into this country.] a curious evergreen laurel-like
tree: there were also Daphnes, purple magnolia, and a pink
sweet-blossomed _Sphaerostema._ Many English water-plants*
[_Sparganium, Typha, Potamogeton, Callitriche, Utricularia,_ sedges
and rushes.] grew in the water, but I found no shells; tadpoles,
however, swarmed, which later in the season become large frogs.
The "painted-lady " butterfly (_Cynthia Cardui_), and a pretty "blue"
were flitting over the flowers, together with some great tropical
kinds, that wander so far up these valleys, accompanying _Marlea,_
the only subtropical tree that ascends to 8,500 feet in the interior
of Sikkim.
The river runs close tinder the eastern side of the valley, which
slopes so steeply as to appear for many miles almost a continuous
landslip, 2000 feet high.
Lamteng village, where I arrived on the 27th of May, is quite
concealed by a moraine to the south, which, with a parallel ridge on
the north, forms a beautiful bay in the mountains, 8,900 feet above
the sea, and 1000 above the Lachen. The village stands on a grassy
and bushy flat, around which the pine-clad mountains rise steeply to
the snowy peaks and black cliffs which tower above. It contains about
forty houses, forming the winter-quarters of the inhabitants of the
valley, who, in summer, move with their flocks and herds to the
alpine pastures of the Tibet frontier. The dwellings are like those
described at Wallanchoon, but the elevation being lower, and the
situation more sheltered, they are more scattered; whilst on account
of the dampness of the climate, they are raised higher from the
ground, and the shingles with which they are tiled (made of _Abies
Webbiana_) decay in two or three years. Many are painted lilac, with
the gables in diamonds of red, black, and white: the roofs are either
of wood, or of the bark of _Abies Brunoniana,_ held down by large
stones: within they are airy and comfortable. They are surrounded by
a little cultivation of buck-wheat, radishes, turnips, and mustard.
The inhabitants, though paying rent to the Sikkim Rajah, consider
themselves as Tibetans, and are so in language, dress, features, and
origin: they seldom descend to Choongtam, but yearly travel to the
Tibetan towns of Jigatzi, Kambajong, Giantchi, and even to Lhassa,
having always commercial and pastoral transactions with the Tibetans,
whose flocks are pastured on the Sikkim mountains during summer, and
who trade with the plains of India through the medium of these
villagers.
Illustration--LAMTENG VILLAGE.
The snow having disappeared from elevations below 11,000 feet, the
yaks, sheep, and ponies had just been driven 2000 feet up the valley,
and the inhabitants were preparing to follow, with their tents and
goats, to summer quarters at Tallum and Tungu. Many had goitres and
rheumatism, for the cure of which they flocked to my tent;
dry-rubbing for the latter, and tincture of iodine for the former,
gained me some credit as a doctor: I could, however, procure no food
beyond trifling presents of eggs, meal, and more rarely, fowls.
On arriving, I saw a troop of large monkeys* [_Macacus Pelops?_
Hodgson. This is a very different species from the tropical kind seen
in Nepal, and mentioned at vol. i, Chapter XII.] gambolling in a wood
of _Abies Brunoniana_: this surprised me, as I was not prepared to
find so tropical an animal associated with a vegetation typical of a
boreal climate. The only other quadrupeds seen here were some small
earless rats, and musk-deer; the young female of which latter
sometimes afforded me a dish of excellent venison; being, though
dark-coloured and lean, tender, sweet, and short-fibred. Birds were
scarce, with the exception of alpine pigeons (_Columba leuconota_),
red-legged crows (_Corvus graculus,_ L.), and the horned pheasant
(_Meleagris Satyra,_ L.). In this month insects are scarce, _Elater_
and a black earwig being the most frequent: two species of _Serica_
also flew into my tent, and at night moths, closely resembling
European ones, came from the fir-woods. The vegetation in the,
neighbourhood of Lamteng is European and North American; that is to
say, it unites the boreal and temperate floras of the east and west
hemispheres; presenting also a few features peculiar to Asia. This is
a subject of very great importance in physical geography; as a
country combining the botanical characters of several others, affords
materials for tracing the direction in which genera and species have
migrated, the causes that favour their migrations, and the laws that
determine the types or forms of one region, which represent those of
another. A glance at the map will show that Sikkim is,
geographically, peculiarly well situated for investigations of this
kind, being centrically placed, whether as regards south-eastern Asia
or the Himalayan chain. Again, the Lachen valley at this spot is
nearly equi-distant from the tropical forests of the Terai and the
sterile mountains of Tibet, for which reason representatives both of
the dry central Asiatic and Siberian, and of the humid Malayan floras
meet there.
The mean temperature of Lamteng (about 50 degrees) is that of the
isothermal which passes through Britain in lat. 52 degrees, and east
Europe in lat. 48 degrees, cutting the parallel of 45 degrees in
Siberia (due north of Lamteng itself), descending to lat. 42 degrees
on the east coast of Asia, ascending to lat. 48 degrees on the west
of America, and descending to that of New York in the United States.
This mean temperature is considerably increased by descending to the
bed of the Lachen at 8000 feet, and diminished by ascending Tukcham
to 14,000 feet, which gives a range of 6000 feet of elevation, and 20
degrees of mean temperature. But as the climate and vegetation become
arctic at 12,000 feet, it will be as well to confine my observations
to the flora of 7000 to 10,000 feet; of the mean temperature, namely,
between 53 degrees and 43 degrees, the isothermal lines corresponding
to which embrace, on the surface of the globe, at the level of the
sea, a space varying in different meridians from three to twelve
degrees of latitude.* [On the west coast of Europe, where the
distance between these isothermal lines is greatest, this belt
extends almost from Stockholm and the Shetlands to Paris.] At first
sight it appears incredible that such a limited area, buried in the
depths of the Himalaya, should present nearly all the types of the
flora of the north temperate zone; not only, however, is this the
case, but space is also found at Lamteng for the intercalation of
types of a Malayan flora, otherwise wholly foreign to the north
temperate region.
A few examples will show this. Amongst trees the Conifers are
conspicuous at Lamteng, and all are of genera typical both of Europe
and North America: namely, silver fir, spruce, larch, and juniper,
besides the yew: there are also species of birch, alder, ash, apple,
oak, willow, cherry, bird-cherry, mountain-ash, thorn, walnut, hazel,
maple, poplar, ivy, holly, Andromeda, _Rhamnus._ Of bushes; rose,
berberry, bramble, rhododendron, elder, cornel, willow, honeysuckle,
currant, _Spiraea, Viburnum, Cotoneaster, Hippophae._ Herbaceous
plants* [As an example, the ground about my tent was covered with
grasses and sedges, amongst which grew primroses, thistles,
speedwell, wild leeks, _Arum, Convallaria, Callitriche, Oxalis,
Ranunculus, Potentilla, Orchis, Chaerophyllum, Galium, Paris,_ and
_Anagallis_; besides cultivated weeds of shepherd's-purse, dock,
mustard, Mithridate cress, radish, turnip, _Thlaspi arvense,_ and
_Poa annua._] are far too numerous to be enumerated, as a list would
include most of the common genera of European and North American
plants.
Of North American genera, not found in Europe, were _Buddleia,
Podophyllum, Magnolia, Sassafras? Tetranthera, Hydrangea, Diclytra,
Aralia, Panax, Symplocos, Trillium,_ and _Clintonia._ The absence of
heaths is also equally a feature in the flora of North America.
Of European genera, not found in North America, the Lachen valley has
_Coriaria, Hypecoum,_ and various _Cruciferae._ The Japanese and
Chinese floras are represented in Sikkim by _Camellia, Deutzia,
Stachyurus, Aucuba, Helwingia, Stauntonia, Hydrangea, Skimmia, Eurya,
Anthogonium,_ and _Enkianthus._ The Malayan by Magnolias, _Talauma,_
many vacciniums and rhododendrons, _Kadsura, Goughia, Marlea,_ both
coriaceous and deciduous-leaved _Caelogyne, Oberonia, Cyrtosia,
Calanthe,_ and other orchids; _Ceropegia, Parochetus, Balanophora,_
and many _Scitamineae_; and amongst trees, by _Engelhardtia,
Goughia,_ and various laurels.
Shortly after my arrival at Lamteng, the villagers sent to request
that I would not shoot, as they said it brought on excessive rain,*
[In Griffith's narrative of "Pemberton's Mission to Bhotan"
("Posthumous Papers, Journal," p. 283), it is mentioned that the
Gylongs (Lamas) attributed a violent storm to the members of the
mission shooting birds.] and consequent damage to the crops.
My necessities did not admit of my complying with their wish unless I
could procure food by other means; and I at first paid no attention
to their request. The people, however, became urgent, and the
Choongtam Lama giving his high authority to the superstition, it
appeared impolitic to resist their earnest supplication; though I was
well aware that the story was trumped up by the Lama for the purpose
of forcing me to return. I yielded on the promise of provisions being
supplied from the village, which was done to a limited extent; and I
was enabled to hold out till more arrived from Dorjiling, now, owing
to the state of the roads, at the distance of twenty days' march.
The people were always civil and kind: there was no concealing the
fact that the orders were stringent, prohibiting my party being
supplied with food, but many of the villagers sought opportunities by
night of replenishing my stores. Superstitious and timorous, they
regard a doctor with great veneration; and when to that is added his
power of writing, drawing, and painting, their admiration knows no
bounds: they flocked round my tent all day, scratching their ears,
lolling out their tongues, making a clucking noise, smiling, and
timidly peeping over my shoulder, but flying in alarm when my little
dog resented their familiarity by snapping at their legs. The men
spend the whole day in loitering about, smoking and spinning wool:
the women in active duties; a few were engaged in drying the leaves
of a shrub (_Symplocos_) for the Tibet market, which are used as a
yellow dye; whilst, occasionally, a man might be seen cutting a spoon
or a yak-saddle out of rhododendron wood.
During my stay at Lamteng, the weather was all but uniformly cloudy
and misty, with drizzling rain, and a southerly, or up-valley wind,
during the day, which changed to an easterly one at night:
occasionally distant thunder was heard. My rain-gauges showed very
little rain compared with what fell at Dorjiling during the same
period; the clouds were thin, both sun and moon shining through them,
without, however, the former warming the soil: hence my tent was
constantly wet, nor did I once sleep in a dry bed till the 1st of
June, which ushered in the month with a brilliant sunny day. At night
it generally rained in torrents, and the roar of landslips and
avalanches was then all but uninterrupted for hour after hour:
sometimes it was a rumble, at others a harsh grating sound, and often
accompanied with the crashing of immense timber-trees, or the murmur
of the distant snowy avalanches. The amount of denudation by
atmospheric causes is here quite incalculable; and I feel satisfied
that the violence of the river at this particular part of its course
(where it traverses those parts of the valleys which are most snowy
and rainy), is proximately due to impediments thus accumulated in
its bed.
It was sometimes clear at sunrise, and I made many ascents of
Tukcham, hoping for a view of the mountains towards the passes; but I
was only successful on one occasion, when I saw the table top of
Kinchinjhow, the most remarkable, and one of the most distant peaks
of dazzling snow which is seen from Dorjiling, and which, I was told,
is far beyond Sikkim, in Tibet.* [Such, however, is not the case;
Kinchinjhow is on the frontier of Sikkim, though a considerable
distance behind the most snowy of the Sikkim mountains.] I kept up a
constant intercourse with Choongtam, sending my plants thither to be
dried, and gradually reducing my party as our necessities urged my so
doing; lastly, I sent back the shooters, who had procured very
little, and whose occupation was now gone.
On the 2nd of June, I received the bad news that a large party of
coolies had been sent from Dorjiling with rice, but that being unable
or afraid to pass the landslips, they had returned: we had now no
food except a kid, a few handfuls of flour, and some potatos, which
had been sent up from Choongtam. All my endeavours to gain
information respecting the distance and position of the frontier were
unavailing; probably, indeed, the Lama and Phipun (or chief man of
the village), were the only persons who knew; the villagers calling
all the lofty pastures a few marches beyond Lamteng "Bhote" or
"Cheen" (Tibet). Dr. Campbell had procured for me information by
which I might recognise the frontier were I once on it; but no
description could enable me to find my way in a country so rugged and
forest-clad, through tortuous and perpetually forking valleys, along
often obliterated paths, and under cloud and rain. To these
difficulties must be added the deception of the rulers, and the fact
(of which I was not then aware), that the Tibet frontier was formerly
at Choongtam; but from the Lepchas constantly harassing the Tibetans,
the latter, after the establishment of the Chinese rule over their
country, retreated first to Zemu Samdong, a few hours walk above
Lamteng, then to Tallum Samdong, 2000 feet higher; and, lastly, to
Kongra Lama, 16,000 feet up the west flank of Kinchinjhow.
On the third of June I took a small party, with my tent, and such
provisions as I had, to explore up the river. On hearing of my
intention, the Phipun volunteered to take me to the frontier, which
he said was only two hours distant, at Zemu Samdong, where the Lachen
receives the Zemu river from the westward: this I knew must be false,
but I accepted his services, and we started, accompanied by a large
body of villagers, who eagerly gathered plants for me along the road.
The scenery is very pretty; the path crosses extensive and dangerous
landslips, or runs through fine woods of spruce and _Abies
Brunoniana,_ and afterwards along the river-banks, which are fringed
with willow (called "Lama"), and _Hippophae._ The great red rose
(_Rosa macrophylla_), one of the most beautiful Himalayan plants,
whose single flowers are as large as the palm of the hand, was
blossoming, while golden _Potentillas_ and purple primroses flowered
by the stream, and _Pyrola_ in the fir-woods.
Just above the fork of the valley, a wooden bridge (Samdong) crosses
the Zemu, which was pointed out to me as the frontier, and I was
entreated to respect two sticks and a piece of worsted stretched
across it; this I thought too ridiculous, so as my followers halted
on one side, I went on the bridge, threw the sticks into the stream,
crossed, and asked the Phipun to follow; the people laughed, and came
over: he then told me that he had authority to permit of my
botanising there, but that I was in Cheen, and that he would show me
the guard-house to prove the truth of his statement. He accordingly
led me up a steep bank to an extensive broad flat, several hundred
feet above the river, and forming a triangular base to the great spur
which, rising steeply behind, divides the valley. This flat was
marshy and covered with grass; and buried in the jungle were several
ruined stone houses, with thick walls pierced with loopholes: these
had no doubt been occupied by Tibetans at the time when this was
the frontier.
The elevation which I had attained (that of the river being 8,970
feet) being excellent for botanising, I camped; and the villagers,
contented with the supposed success of their strategy, returned to
Lamteng.
My guide from the Durbar had staid behind at Lainteng, and though
Meepo and all my men well knew that this was not the frontier, they
were ignorant as to its true position, nor could we even ascertain
which of the rivers was the Lachen.* [The eastern afterwards proved
to be the Lachen.] The only routes I possessed indicated two paths
northwards from Lamteng, neither crossing a river: and I therefore
thought it best to remain at Zemu Samdong till provisions should
arrive. I accordingly halted for three days, collecting many new and
beautiful plants, and exploring the roads, of which five (paths or
yak-tracks) diverged from this point, one on either bank of each
river, and one leading up the fork.
On one occasion I ascended the steep hill at the fork; it was dry and
rocky, and crowned with stunted pines. Stacks of different sorts of
pine-wood were stored on the flat at its base, for export to Tibet,
all thatched with the bark of _Abies Brunoniana._ Of these the larch
(_Larix Griffithii,_ "Sah"), splits well, and is the most durable of
any; but the planks are small, soft, and white.* [I never saw this
wood to be red, close-grained, and hard, like that of the old Swiss
larch; nor does it ever reach so great a size.] The silver fir
(_Abies Webbiana,_ "Dunshing") also splits well; it is white, soft,
and highly prized for durability. The wood of _Abies Brunoniana_
("Semadoong") is like the others in appearance, but is not durable;
its bark is however very useful. The spruce (_Abies Smithiana,_
"Seh") has also white wood, which is employed for posts and beams.*
[These woods are all soft and loose in grain, compared with their
European allies.] These are the only pines whose woods are considered
very useful; and it is a curious circumstance that none produce any
quantity of resin, turpentine, or pitch; which may perhaps be
accounted for by the humidity of the climate.
_Pinus longifolia_ (called by the Lepchas "Gniet-koong," and by the
Bhoteeas "Teadong") only grows in low valleys, where better timber is
abundant. The weeping blue juniper (_Juniperus recurva,_ "Deschoo"),
and the arboreous black one (called "Tchokpo")* [This I have, vol. i.
Chapter XI, referred to the _J. excelsa_ of the north-west Himalaya,
a plant which under various names is found in many parts of Europe
and many parts of Europe and North America; but since then Dr.
Thomson and I have had occasion to compare my Sikkim conifers with
the north-west Himalayan ones and we have found that this Sikkim
species is probably new, and that _J. excelsa_ is not found east of
Nepal.] yield beautiful wood, like that of the pencil cedar,* [Also a
juniper, from Bermuda (_J. Bermudiana_).] but are comparatively
scarce, as is the yew (_Taxus baccata,_ "Tingschi"), whose timber is
red. The "Tchenden," or funereal cypress, again, is valued only for
the odour of its wood: _Pinus excelsa,_ "Tongschi," though common in
Bhotan, is, as I have elsewhere remarked, not found in east Nepal or
Sikkim; the wood is admirable, being durable, close-grained, and so
resinous as to be used for flambeaux and candles.
On the flat were flowering a beautiful magnolia with globular
sweet-scented flowers like snow-balls, several balsams, with species
of _Convallaria, Cotoneaster, Gentian, Spiraea, Euphorbia,
Pedicularis,_ and honeysuckle. On the hill-side were creeping
brambles, lovely yellow, purple, pink, and white primroses,
white-flowered _Thalictrum_ and _Anemone,_ berberry, _Podophyllum,_
white rose, fritillary, _Lloydia,_ etc. On the flanks of Tukcham, in
the bed of a torrent, I gathered many very alpine plants, at the
comparatively low elevation of 10,000 feet, as dwarf willows,
_Pinguicula,_ (a genus not previously found in the Himalaya),
_Oxyria, Adrosace, Tofieldia, Arenaria,_ saxifrages, and two dwarf
heath-like _Andromedas._* [Besides these, a month later, the
following flowered in profusion: scarlet _Buddleia?_ gigantic lily,
yellow jasmine, _Aster, Potentilla,_ several kinds of orchids,
willow-herb (_Epilobium_), purple _Roscoea, Neillia, Morina,_ many
grasses and _Umbelliferae._ These formed a rank and dense herbaceous,
mostly annual vegetation, six feet high, bound together with
_Cuscuta,_ climbing _Leguminosae,_ and _Ceropegia._ The great summer
heat and moisture here favour the ascent of various tropical genera,
of which I found in August several _Orchideae_ (_Calanthe,
Microstylis,_ and _Coelogyne_), also _Begonia, Bryonia, Cynanchum,
Aristolochia, Eurya, Procris, Acanthaceae,_ and _Cyrtandraseae._]
The rocks were all of gneiss, with granite veins, tourmaline, and
occasionally pieces of pure plumbago.
Our guide had remained at Lamteng, on the plea of a sore on his leg
from leech-bites: his real object, however, was to stop a party on
their way to Tibet with madder and canes, who, had they continued
their journey, would inevitably have pointed out the road to me.
The villagers themselves now wanted to proceed to the
pasturing-grounds on the frontier; so the Phipun sent me word that I
might proceed as far as I liked up the east bank of the Zemu. I had
explored the path, and finding it practicable, and likely to
intersect a less frequented route to the frontier (that crossing the
Tekonglah pass from Bah, see chapter XVIII), I determined to follow
it. A supply of food arrived from Dorjiling on the 5th of June,
reduced, however, to one bag of rice, but with encouraging letters,
and the assurance that more would follow at once. My men, of whom I
bad eight, behaved admirably, although our diet had for five days
chiefly consisted of _Polygonum_ ("Pullop-bi"), wild leeks
("Lagook"), nettles and _Procris_ (an allied, and more succulent
herb), eked out by eight pounds of Tibet meal ("Tsamba"), which I had
bought for ten shillings by stealth from the villagers.
What concerned me most was the destruction of my plants by constant
damp, and the want of sun to dry the papers; which reduced my
collections to a tithe of what they would otherwise have been.
From Zemu Samdong the valley runs north-west, for two marches, to the
junction of the Zemu with the Thlonok, which rises on the north-east
flank of Kinchinjunga: at this place I halted for several days, while
building a bridge over the Thlonok. The path runs first through a
small forest of birch, alder, and maple, on the latter of which I
found _Balanophora_* [A curious leafless parasite, mentioned at vol.
i, chapter v.] growing abundantly: this species produces the great
knots on the maple roots, from which the Tibetans form the cups
mentioned by MM. Huc and Gabet. I was so fortunate as to find a small
store of these knots, cleaned, and cut ready for the turner, and
hidden behind a stone by some poor Tibetan, who had never retained to
the spot: they had evidently been there a very long time.
In the ravines there were enormous accumulations of ice, the result
of avalanches; one of them crossed the river, forming a bridge thirty
feet thick, at an elevation of only 9,800 feet above the sea.
This ice-bridge was 100 yards broad, and flanked by heaps of
boulders, the effects of combined land and snowslips. These stony
places were covered with a rich herbage of rhubarb, primroses,
_Euphorbia, Sedum, Polygonum, Convallaria,_ and a purple _Dentaria_
("Kenroop-bi") a cruciferous plant much eaten as a pot-herb. In the
pinewoods a large mushroom ("Onglau,"* [_Cortinarius Emodensis_ of
the Rev. M. J. Berkeley, who has named and described it from my
specimens and drawings. It is also called "Yungla tchamo" by the
Tibetans, the latter word signifying a toadstool. Mr. Berkeley
informs me that the whole vast genus _Cortinarius_ scarcely possesses
a single other edible species; he adds that _C. violaceus_ and
_violaceo-cinereus_ are eaten in Austria and Italy, but not always
with safety.] Tibet.) was abundant, which also forms a favourite
article of food. Another pot-herb (to which I was afterwards more
indebted than any) was a beautiful _Smilacina,_ which grows from two
to five feet high, and has plaited leaves and crowded panicles of
white bell-shaped flowers, like those of its ally the lily of the
valley, which it also resembles in its mucilaginous properties. It is
called "Chokli-bi,"* [It is also found on the top of Sinchul, near
Dorjiling.] and its young flower-heads, sheathed in tender green
leaves, form an excellent vegetable. Nor must I forget to include
amongst the eatable plants of this hungry country, young shoots of
the mountain-bamboo, which are good either raw or boiled, and may be
obtained up to 12,000 feet in this valley. A species of _Asarum_
(Asarabacca) grows in the pine-woods; a genus not previously known to
be Himalayan. The root, like its English medicinal congener, has a
strong and peculiar smell. At 10,000 feet _Abies Webbiana_ commences,
with a close undergrowth of a small twiggy holly. This, and the dense
thicket of rhododendron* [Of which I had already gathered thirteen
kinds in this valley.] on the banks of the river and edges of the
wood, rendered the march very fatiguing, and swarms of midges kept up
a tormenting irritation.
The Zemu continued an impetuous muddy torrent, whose hoarse voice,
mingled with the deep grumbling noise* [The dull rumbling noise thus
produced is one of the most singular phenomena in these mountains,
and cannot fail to strike the observer. At night, especially, the
sound seems increased, the reason of which is not apparent, for in
these regions, so wanting in animal life, the night is no stiller
than the day, and the melting of snow being less, the volume of
waters must be somewhat, though not conspicuously, diminished.
The interference of sound by heated currents of different density is
the most obvious cause of the diminished reverberation during the
day, to which Humboldt adds the increased tension of vapour, and
possibly an echo from its particles.] of the boulders rolling along
its bed, was my lullaby for many nights. Its temperature at Zemu
Samdong was 45 degrees to 46 degrees in June. At its junction with
the Thlonok, it comes down a steep gulley from the north,
foreshortened into a cataract 1000 feet high, and appearing the
smaller stream of the two; whilst the Thlonok winds down from the
snowy face of Kinchinjunga, which is seen up the valley, bearing
W.S.W., about twenty miles distant. All around are lofty and rocky
mountains, sparingly wooded with pines and larch, chiefly on their
south flanks, which receive the warm, moist, up-valley winds; the
faces exposed to the north being colder and more barren: exactly the
reverse of what is the case at Choongtam, where the rocky and sunny
south-exposed flanks are the driest.
My tent was pitched on a broad terrace, opposite the junction of the
Zemu and Thlonok, and 10,850 feet above the sea. It was sheltered by
some enormous transported blocks of gneiss, fifteen feet high, and
surrounded by a luxuriant vegetation of most beautiful rhododendrons
in full flower, willow, white rose, white flowered cherry, thorn,
maple and birch. Some great tuberous-rooted _Arums_* [Two species of
_Arisaema,_ called "Tong" by the Tibetans, and "Sinkree" by the
Lepchas.] were very abundant; and the ground was covered with small
pits, in which were large wooden pestles: these are used in the
preparation of food from the arums, to which the miserable
inhabitants of the valley have recourse in spring, when their yaks
are calving. The roots are bruised with the pestles, and thrown into
these holes with water. Acetous fermentation commences in seven or
eight days, which is a sign that the acrid poisonous principle is
dissipated: the pulpy, sour, and fibrous mass is then boiled and
eaten; its nutriment being the starch, which exists in small
quantities, and which they have not the skill to separate by grating
and washing. This preparation only keeps a few days, and produces
bowel complaints, and loss of the skin and hair, especially when
insufficiently fermented. Besides this, the "chokli-bi," and many
other esculents, abounded here; and we had great need of them before
leaving this wild uninhabited region.
I repeatedly ascended the north flank of Tukcham along a watercourse,
by the side of which were immense slips of rocks and snow-beds; the
mountain-side being excessively steep. Some of the masses of gneiss
thus brought down were dangerously poised on slopes of soft shingle,
and daily moved a little downwards. All the rocks were gneiss and
granite, with radiating crystals of tourmaline as thick as the thumb.
Below 12,000 to 13,000 feet the mountain-sides were covered with a
dense scrub of rhododendron bushes, except where broken by rocks,
landslips, and torrents: above this the winter's snow lay deep, and
black rocks and small glaciers, over which avalanches were constantly
falling with a sullen roar, forbade all attempts to proceed.
My object in ascending was chiefly to obtain views and compass-
bearings, in which I was generally disappointed: once only I had a
magnificent prospect of Kinchinjunga, sweeping down in one unbroken
mass of glacier and ice, fully 14,000 feet high, to the head of the
Thlonok river, whose upper valley appeared a broad bay of ice;
doubtless forming one of the largest glaciers in the Himalaya, and
increased by lateral feeders that flow into it from either flank of
the valley. The south side of this (the Thlonok) valley is formed by
a range from Kinchinjunga, running east to Tukcham, where it
terminates: from it rises the beautiful mountain Liklo,* [D2 of the
peaks laid down in Colonel Waugh's "Trigonometrical Survey from
Dorjiling," I believe to be the "Liklo" of Dr. Campbell's itineraries
from Dorjiling to Lhassa, compiled from the information of the
traders (See "Bengal Asiatic Society's Journal" for 1848); the routes
in which proved of the utmost value to me.] 22,582 feet high, which,
from Dorjiling, appears as a sharp peak, but is here seen to be a
jagged crest running north and south. On the north flank of the
valley the mountains are more sloping and black, with patches of snow
above 15,000 feet, but little anywhere else, except on another
beautiful peak (alt. 19,240 feet) marked D3 on the map. This flank is
also continuous from Kinchin; it divides Sikkim from Tibet, and runs
north-east to the great mountain Chomiomo (which was not visible),
the streams from its north flank flowing into the Arun river (in
Tibet). A beautiful blue arch of sky spanned all this range,
indicating the dry Tibetan climate beyond.
I made two futile attempts to ascend the Thlonok river to the great
glaciers at the foot of Kinchinjunga, following the south bank, and
hoping to find a crossing-place, and so to proceed north to Tibet.
The fall of the river is not great at this part of its course, nor up
to 12,000 feet, which was the greatest height I could attain, and
about eight miles beyond my tents; above that point, at the base of
Liklo, the bed of the valley widens, and the rhododendron shrubbery
was quite impervious, while the sides of the mountain were
inaccessible. We crossed extensive snow-beds, by cutting holes in
their steep faces, and rounded rocks in the bed of the torrent,
dragging one another through the violent current, whose temperature
was below 40 degrees.
On these occasions, the energy of Meepo, Nimbo (the chief of the
coolies) and the Lepcha boys, was quite remarkable, and they were as
keenly anxious to reach the holy country of Tibet as I could possibly
be. It was sometimes dark before we got back to our tents, tired,
with torn clothes and cut feet and hands, returning to a miserable
dinner of boiled herbs; but never did any of them complain, or
express a wish to leave me. In the evenings and mornings they were
always busy, changing my plants, and drying the papers over a sulky
fire at my tent-door; and at night they slept, each wrapt in his own
blanket, huddled together under a rock, with another blanket thrown
over them all. Provisions reached us so seldom, and so reduced in
quantity, that I could never allow more than one pound of rice to
each man in a day, and frequently during this trying month they had
not even that; and I eked out our meagre supply with a few ounces of
preserved meats, occasionally "splicing the main brace" with weak rum
and water.
At the highest point of the valley which I reached, water boiled at
191.3, indicating an elevation of 11,903 feet. The temperature at 1
p.m. was nearly 70 degrees, and of the wet bulb 55 degrees,
indicating a dryness of 0.462, and dew point 47.0. Such phenomena of
heat and dryness are rare and transient in the wet valleys of Sikkim,
and show the influence here of the Tibetan climate.* [I gathered
here, amongst an abundance of alpine species, all of European and
arctic type, a curious trefoil, the _Parochetus communis,_ which
ranges through 9000 feet of elevation on the Himalaya, and is also
found in Java and Ceylon.]
After boiling my thermometer on these occasions, I generally made a
little tea for the party; a refreshment to which they looked forward
with child-like eagerness. The fairness with which these good-hearted
people used to divide the scanty allowance, and afterwards the
leaves, which are greatly relished, was an engaging trait in their
simple character: I have still vividly before me their sleek swarthy
faces and twinkling Tartar eyes, as they lay stretched on the ground
in the sun, or crouched in the sleet and snow beneath some sheltering
rock; each with his little polished wooden cup of tea, watching my
notes and instruments with curious wonder, asking, "How high are we?"
"How cold is it?" and comparing the results with those of other
stations, with much interest and intelligence.
On the 11th June, my active people completed a most ingenious bridge
of branches of trees, bound by withes of willow; by which I crossed
to the north bank, where I camped on an immense flat terrace at the
junction of the rivers, and about fifty feet above their bed.
The first step or ascent from the river is about five feet high, and
formed of water-worn boulders, pebbles, and sand, scarcely
stratified: the second, fully 1000 yards broad, is ten feet high, and
swampy. The uppermost is fifteen feet above the second, and is
covered with gigantic boulders, and vast rotting trunks of fallen
pines, buried in an impenetrable jungle of dwarf small-leaved holly
and rhododendrons. The surface was composed of a rich vegetable
mould, which, where clear of forest, supported a rank herbage, six to
eight feet high.* [This consisted of grasses, sedges, _Bupleurum,_
rhubarb, _Ranunculus, Convallaria, Smilacina,_ nettles, thistles,
_Arum,_ balsams, and the superb yellow _Meconopsis Nepalensis,_ whose
racemes of golden poppy-like flowers were as broad as the palm of the
hand; it grows three and even six feet high, and resembles a small
hollyhock; whilst a stately _Heracleum,_ ten feet high, towered over
all. Forests of silver fir, with junipers and larch, girdled these
flats and on their edges grew rhododendrons, scarlet _Spiraea,_
several honeysuckles, white _Clematis,_ and _Viburnum._ Ferns are
much scarcer in the pine-woods than elsewhere in the forest regions
of the Himalaya. In this valley (alt. 10,850 feet), I found only two
kinds; _Hymenophyllum, Lomaria, Cystopteris, Davallia,_ two
_Polypodia,_ and several _Aspidia_ and _Asplenia. Selaginella_
ascends to Zemu Samdong (9000 feet). The _Pteris aquilina_ (brake)
does not ascend above 10,000 feet.]
Our first discovery, after crossing, was of a good bridge across the
Zemu, above its junction, and of a path leading down to Zemu Samdong;
this was, however, scarcely traceable up either stream. My men were
better housed here in sheds: and I made several more ineffectual
attempts to ascend the valley to the glaciers. The path, gradually
vanishing, ran alternately through fir-woods, and over open grassy
spots, covered with vegetation, amongst which the gigantic arum was
plentiful, whose roots seemed to be the only attraction in this wet
and miserable valley.
On my return one day, I found my people in great alarm, the Phipun
having sent word that we were on the Tibet side of the rivers, and
that Tibetan troops were coming to plunder my goods, and carry my men
into slavery. I assured them he only wanted to frighten them; that
the Cheen soldiers were civil orderly people; and that as long as
Meepo was with us, there was no cause for fear. Fortunately a young
musk-deer soon afterwards broke cover close to the tent, and its
flesh wonderfully restored their courage: still I was constantly
harassed by threats; some of my people were suffering from cold and
bowel complaints, and I from rheumatism; while one fine lad, who came
from Dorjiling, was delirious with a violent fever, contracted in the
lower valleys, which sadly dispirited my party.
Having been successful in finding a path, I took my tent and a few
active lads 1000 feet up the Zemu, camping on a high rock above the
forest region, at 12,070 feet; hoping thence to penetrate northwards.
I left my collections in the interim at the junction of the rivers,
where the sheds and an abundance of firewood were great advantages
for preserving the specimens. At this elevation we were quite free
from midges and leeches (the latter had not appeared above 11,500
feet), but the weather continued so uniformly rainy and bad, that we
could make no progress. I repeatedly followed the river for several
miles, ascending to 13,300 feet; but though its valley widened, and
its current was less rapid, the rhododendron thickets below, and the
cliffs above, defeated all endeavours to reach the drier climate
beyond, of which I had abundant evidence in the arch of brilliant
blue that spanned the heavens to the north, beyond a black canopy of
clouds that hid everything around, and poured down rain without one
day's intermission, during the eight which I spent here.
Illustration--BLACH JUNIPER (height silty feet) AND YOUNG LARCH.
CHAPTER XX.
Camp on Zemu river -- Scenery -- Falling rocks -- Tukcham mountain --
Height of glaciers -- Botany -- Gigantic rhubarb -- Insects -- Storm
-- Temperature of rivers -- Behaviour of Lachen Phipun -- Hostile
conduct of Bhoteeas -- View from mountains above camp -- Descend to
Zemu Samdong -- Vegetation -- Letters from Dorjiling -- Arrival of
Singtam Soubah -- Presents from Rajah -- Parties collecting
Arum-roots -- Insects -- Ascend Lachen river -- Thakya-zong -- Tallum
Samdong village -- Cottages -- Mountains -- Plants -- Entomology --
Weather -- Halo -- Diseases -- Conduct of Singtam Soubah -- His
character and illness -- Agrees to take me to Kongra Lama -- Tungu --
Appearance of country -- Houses -- Poisoning by arum-roots -- Yaks
and calves -- Tibet ponies -- Journey to Kongra Lama -- Tibetan tents
-- Butter, curds, and churns -- Hospitality -- Kinchinjhow and
Chomiomo -- Magnificent Scenery -- Reach Kongra Lama Pass.
My little tent was pitched in a commanding situation, on a rock fifty
feet above the Zemu, overlooking the course of that river to its
junction with the Thlonok. The descent of the Zenlu in one thousand
feet is more precipitous than that of any other river of its size
with which I am acquainted in Sikkim, yet immediately above my camp
it was more tranquil than at any part of its course onwards to the
plains of India, whether as the Zemu, Lachen or Teesta. On the west
bank a fine mountain rose in steep ridges and shrubby banks to 15,000
feet; on the east a rugged cliff towered above the stream, and from
this, huge masses of rock were ever and anon precipitated into the
torrent, with a roar that repeatedly spread consternation amongst us.
During rains especially, and at night, when the chilled atmospheric
currents of air descend, and the sound is not dissipated as in the
day-time, the noise of these falls is sufficiently alarming. My tent
was pitched near the base of the cliff, and so high above the river,
that I had thought it beyond the reach of danger; but one morning I
found that a large fragment of granite had been hurled during the
night to my very door, my dog having had a very narrow escape.
To what depth the accumulation at the base of this cliff may reach, I
had no means of judging, but the rapid slope of the river-bed is
mainly due to this, and to old moraines at the mouth of the valley
below. I have seen few finer sights than the fall of these stupendous
blocks into the furious torrent, along which they are carried amid
feathery foam for many yards before settling to rest.
Across the Thlonok to the southwards, rose the magnificent mountain
of Tukcham, but I only once caught a glimpse of its summit, which
even then clouded over before I could get my instruments adjusted for
ascertaining its height. Its top is a sharp cone, surrounded by rocky
shoulders, that rise from a mass of snow. Its eastern slope of 8000
feet is very rapid (about 38 degrees) from its base at the Zemu river
to its summit.
Glaciers in the north-west Himalaya descend to 11,000 feet; but I
could not discover any in these valleys even so low as 14,000 feet,
though at this season extensive snowbeds remain unmelted at but
little above 10,000 feet. The foot of the stupendous glacier filling
the broad head of the Thlonok is certainly not below 14,000 feet;
though being continuous with the perpetual snow (or neve) of the
summit of Kinchinjunga, it must have 14,000 feet of ice, in
perpendicular height, to urge it forwards.
All my attempts to advance up the Zemu were fruitlesss and a snow
bridge by which I had hoped to cross to the opposite bank was carried
away by the daily swelling river, while the continued bad weather
prevented any excursions for days together. Botany was my only
resource, and as vegetation was advancing rapidly under the influence
of the southerly winds, I had a rich harvest: for though _Compositae,
Pedicularis,_ and a few more of the finer Himalayan plants flower
later, June is still the most glorious month for show.
Rhododendrons occupy the most prominent place, clothing the mountain
slopes with a deep green mantle glowing with bells of brilliant
colours; of the eight or ten species growing here, every bush was
loaded with as great a profusion of blossoms as are their northern
congeners in our English gardens. Primroses are next, both in beauty
and abundance; and they are accompanied by yellow cowslips, three
feet high, purple polyanthus, and pink large-flowered dwarf kinds
nestling in the rocks, and an exquisitely beautiful blue miniature
species, whose blossoms sparkle like sapphires on the turf. Gentians
begin to unfold their deep azure bells, aconites to rear their tall
blue spikes, and fritillaries and _Meconopsis_ burst into flower.
On the black rocks the gigantic rhubarb forms pale pyramidal towers a
yard high, of inflated reflexed bracts, that conceal the flowers, and
over-lapping one another like tiles, protect them from the wind and
rain: a whorl of broad green leaves edged with red spreads on the
ground at the base of the plant, contrasting in colour with the
transparent bracts, which are yellow, margined with pink. This is the
handsomest herbaceous plant in Sikkim: it is called "Tchuka," and the
acid stems are eaten both raw and boiled; they are hollow and full of
pure water: the root resembles that of the medicinal rhubarb, but it
is spongy and inert; it attains a length of four feet, and grows as
thick as the arm. The dried leaves afford a substitute for tobacco; a
smaller kind of rhubarb is however more commonly used in Tibet for
this purpose; it is called "Chula."
The elevation being 12,080 feet, I was above the limit of trees, and
the ground was covered with many kinds of small-flowered
honeysuckles, berberry, and white rose.* [Besides these I found a
prickly _Aralia,_ maple, two currants, eight or nine rhododendrons,
many _Sedums, Rhodiola,_ white _Clematis,_ red-flowered cherry,
birch, willow, _Viburnum,_ juniper, a few ferns, two _Andromedas,
Menziesia,_ and _Spircaea._ And in addition to the herbs mentioned
above, may be enumerated _Parnassia,_ many Saxifrages, _Soldanella,
Draba,_ and various other _Cruciferae, Nardostachys,_ (spikenard),
_Epilobium, Thalictrum,_ and very many other genera, almost all
typical of the Siberian, North European, and Arctic floras.]
I saw no birds, and of animals only an occasional muskdeer.
Insects were scarce, and quite different from what I had seen before;
chiefly consisting of _Phryganea_ (Mayfly) and some _Carabidae_ (an
order that is very scarce in the Himalaya); with various moths,
chiefly _Geometrae._
The last days of June (as is often the case) were marked by violent
storms, and for two days my tent proved no protection; similar
weather prevailed all over India, the barometer falling very low.
I took horary observations of the barometer in the height of the
storm on the 30th: the tide was very small indeed (.024 inch, between
9.50 a.m. and 4 p.m.), and the thermometer ranged between 47 degrees
and 57. degrees, between 7 a.m. and midnight. Snow fell abundantly as
low as 13,000 feet, and the rivers were much swollen, the size and
number of the stones they rolled along producing a deafening turmoil.
Only 3.7 inches of rain fell between the 23rd of June and the 2nd of
July; whilst 21 inches fell at Dorjiling, and 6.7 inches at Calcutta.
During the same period the mean temperature was 48 degrees; extremes,
62 degrees/36.5 degrees. The humidity was nearly at saturation-point,
the wind southerly, very raw and cold, and drizzling rain constantly
fell. A comparison of thirty observations with Dorjiling gave a
difference of 14 degrees temperature, which is at the rate of
1 degree for every 347 feet of ascent.* [Forty-seven observations,
comparative with Calcutta, gave 34. degrees difference, and if 5.5
degrees of temperature be deducted for northing in latitude, the
result is 1 degree for every 412 feet of ascent. My observations at
the junction of the rivers alt. 10,850 feet), during the early part
of the mouth, gave 1 degree to 304 feet, as the result of twenty-four
observations with Dorjiling, and 1 degree to 394 feet, from
seventy-four observations with Calcutta.]
The temperature of these rivers varies extremely at different parts
of their course, depending on that of their affluents. The Teesta is
always cool in summer (where its bed is below 2000 feet), its
temperature being 20 degrees below that of the air; whereas in
mid-winter, when there is less cloud, and the snows are not melting,
it is only a few degrees colder than the air.* [During my sojourn at
Bhomsong in mid-winter of 1848 (see v. i. chapter xiii), the mean
temperature of the Teesta was 51 degrees, and of the air 52.3
degrees; at that elevation the river water rarely exceeds 60 degrees
at midsummer. Between 4000 feet and 300 (the plains) its mean
temperature varies about 10 degrees between January and July; at 6000
feet it varies from 55 degrees to 43 degrees during the same period;
and at 10,000 feet it freezes at the edges in winter and rises to 50
degrees in July.] At this season, in descending from 12,000 feet to
1000 feet, its temperature does not rise 10 degrees, though that of
the air rises 30 degrees or 40 degrees. It is a curious fact, that
the temperature of the northern feeders of the Teesta, in some parts
of their course, rises with the increasing elevation! Of this the
Zemu afforded a curious example: during my stay at its junction with
the Thlonok it was 46 degrees, or 6 degrees warmer than that river;
at 1100 feet higher it was 48 degrees, and at 1100 feet higher still
it was 49 degrees! These observations were repeated in different
weeks, and several times on the same day, both in ascending and
descending, and always with the same result: they told, as certainly
as if I had followed the river to its source, that it rose in a drier
and comparatively sunny climate, and flowed amongst little
snowed mountains.
Meanwhile, the Lachen Phipun continued to threaten us, and I had to
send back some of the more timorous of my party. On the 28th of June
fifty men arrived at the Thlonok, and turned my people out of the
shed at the junction of the rivers, together with the plants they
were preserving, my boards, papers, and utensils. The boys came to me
breathless, saying that there were Tibetan soldiers amongst them, who
declared that I was in Cheen, and that they were coming on the
following morning to make a clean sweep of my goods, and drive me
back to Dorjiling. I had little fear for myself, but was anxious with
respect to my collections: it was getting late in the day, and
raining, and I had no mind to go down and expose myself to the first
brunt of their insolence, which I felt sure a night of such weather
would materially wash away. Meepo was too frightened, but Nimbo, my
Bhotan coolie Sirdar, volunteered to go, with two stout fellows; and
he accordingly brought away my plants and papers, having held a
parley with the enemy, who, as I suspected, were not Tibetans.
The best news he brought was, that they were half clad and without
food; the worst, that they swaggered and bullied: he added, with some
pride, that he gave them as good as he got, which I could readily
believe, Nimbo being really a resolute fellow,* [In East Nepal he
drew his knife on a Ghorka sepoy; and in the following winter was
bold enough to make his escape in chains from Tumloong.] and
accomplished in Tibet slang.
On the following morning it rained harder than ever, and the wind was
piercingly cold. My timid Lepchas huddled behind my tent, which, from
its position, was only to be stormed in front. I dismantled my little
observatory, and packed up the instruments, tied my dog, Kinchin, to
one of the tent-pegs, placed a line of stones opposite the door, and
seated myself on my bed on the ground, with my gun beside me.
The dog gave tongue as twenty or thirty people defiled up the glen,
and gathered in front of my tent; they were ragged Bhoteeas, with
bare heads and legs, in scanty woollen garments sodden with rain,
which streamed off their shaggy hair, and furrowed their sooty faces:
their whole appearance recalled to my mind Dugald Dalgetty's friends,
the children of the mist.
They appeared nonplussed at seeing no one with me, and at my paying
no attention to them, whilst the valiant Kinchin effectually scared
them from the tent-door. When they requested a parley, I sent the
interpreter to say that I would receive three men, and that only
provided all the rest were sent down immediately; this, as I
anticipated, was acceded to at once, and there remained only the
Lachen Phipun and his brother. Without waiting to let him speak, I
rated him soundly, saying, that I was ready to leave the spot when he
could produce any proof of my being in Bhote (or Cheen), which he
knew well I was not; that, since my arrival at Lachen, he had told me
nothing but lies, and had contravened every order, both of the Rajah
and of Tchebu Lama. I added, that I had given him and his people
kindness and medicine, their return was bad, and he must go about his
business at once, having, as I knew, no food, and I having none for
him. He behaved very humbly throughout, and finally took himself off
much discomfited, and two days afterwards sent men to offer to assist
me in moving my things.
The first of July was such a day as I had long waited for to obtain a
view, and I ascended the mountain west of my camp, to a point where
water boiling at 185.7 degrees (air 42 degrees), gave an elevation of
14,914 feet. On the top of the range, about 1000 feet above this,
there was no snow on the eastern exposures, except in hollows, but on
the west slopes it lay in great fields twenty or thirty feet thick;
while to the north, the mountains all appeared destitute of snow,
with grassy flanks and rugged tops.
Drizzling mist, which had shrouded Tukcham all the morning, soon
gathered on this mountain, and prevented any prospect from the
highest point reached; but on the ascent I had an excellent view up
the Zemu, which opened into a broad grassy valley, where I saw with
the glass some wooden sheds, but no cattle or people. To reach these,
however, involved crossing the river, which was now impossible; and I
reluctantly made up my mind to return on the morrow to Zemu Samdong,
and thence try the other river.
On my descent to the Thlonok, I found that the herbaceous plants on
the terraces had grown fully two feet during the fortnight, and now
presented almost a tropical luxuriance and beauty. Thence I reached
Zemu Samdong in one day, and found the vegetation there even more gay
and beautiful: the gigantic lily was in full flower, and scenting the
air, with the lovely red rose, called "Chirring" by the Tibetans.
_Neillia_ was blossoming profusely at my old camping-ground, to which
I now returned after a month's absence.
Soon after my arrival I received letters from Dr. Campbell, who had
strongly and repeatedly represented to the Rajah his opinion of the
treatment I was receiving; and this finally brought an explicit
answer, to the effect that his orders had been full and peremptory
that I should be supplied with provisions, and safely conducted to
the frontier. With these came letters on the Rajah's part from Tchebu
Lama to the Lachen Phipun, ordering him to take me to the pass, but
not specifying its position; fortunately, however, Dr. Campbell sent
me a route, which stated the pass to be at Kongra Lama, several
marches beyond this, and in the barren country of Tibet.
On the 5th of July the Singtam Soubah arrived from Chola (the Rajah's
summer residence): he was charged to take me to the frontier, and
brought letters from his highness, as well as a handsome present,
consisting of Tibet cloth, and a dress of China silk brocaded with
gold: the Ranee also sent me a basket of Lhassa sweetmeats,
consisting of Sultana raisins from Bokhara, sliced and dried apricots
from Lhassa, and _Diospyros_ fruit from China (called "Gubroon" by
the Tibetans). The Soubah wanted to hurry me on to the frontier and
back at once, being no doubt instigated to do so by the Dewan's
party, and by his having no desire to spend much time in the dreary
lofty regions I wanted to explore. I positively refused, however, to
start until more supplies arrived, except he used his influence to
provide me with food; and as he insisted that the frontier was at
Tallum Samdong, only one march up the Lachen, I foresaw that this
move was to be but one step forward, though in the right direction.
He went forward to Tallum at once, leaving me to follow.
The Lamteng people had all migrated beyond that point to Tungu, where
they were pasturing their cattle: I sent thither for food, and
procured a little meal at a very high price, a few fowls and eggs;
the messenger brought back word that Tungu was in Tibet, and that the
villagers ignored Kongra Lama. A large piece of yak-flesh being
brought for sale, I purchased it; but it proved the toughest meat I
ever ate, being no doubt that of an animal that had succumbed to the
arduous duties of a salt-carrier over the passes: at this season,
however, when the calves are not a month old, it was in vain to
expect better.
Large parties of women and children were daily passing my tent from
Tungu, to collect arum-roots at the Thlonok, all with baskets at
their backs, down to rosy urchins of six years old: they returned
after several days, their baskets neatly lined with broad
rhododendron leaves, and full of a nauseous-looking yellow acid pulp,
which told forcibly of the extreme poverty of the people.
The children were very fair; indeed the young Tibetan is as fair as
an English brunette, before his perennial coat of smoke and dirt has
permanently stained his face, and it has become bronzed and wrinkled
by the scorching sun and rigorous climate of these inhospitable
countries. Children and women were alike decked with roses, and all
were good-humoured and pleasant, behaving with great kindness to one
another, and unaffected politeness to me.
During my ten days' stay at Zemu Samdong, I formed a large collection
of insects, which was in great part destroyed by damp: many were new,
beautiful, and particularly interesting, from belonging to types
whose geographical distribution is analogous to that of the
vegetation. The caterpillar of the swallow-tail butterfly (_Papilio
Machaon_), was common, feeding on umbelliferous plants, as in
England; and a _Sphynx_ (like _S. Euphorbiae_) was devouring the
euphorbias; the English _Cynthia Cardui_ (painted-lady butterfly) was
common, as were "sulphurs," "marbles," _Pontia_ (whites), "blues,"
and _Thecla,_ of British aspect but foreign species. Amongst these,
tropical forms were rare, except one fine black swallow-tail.
Of moths, _Noctuae_ and _Geometrae_ abounded, with many flies and
_Tipulae. Hymenoptera_ were scarce, except a yellow _Ophion,_ which
lays its eggs in the caterpillars above-mentioned. Beetles were most
rare, and (what is remarkable) the wood-borers (_longicorns_ and
_Curculio_) particularly so. A large _Telephora_ was very common, and
had the usual propensity of its congeners for blood; _lamellicorns_
were also abundant.
On the 11th of July five coolies arrived with rice: they had been
twenty days on the road, and had been obliged to make great detours,
the valley being in many places impassable. They brought me a parcel
of English letters; and I started up the Lachen on the following day,
with renewed spirits and high hopes. The road first crossed the Zemu
and the spur beyond, and then ascended the west bank of the Lachen, a
furious torrent for five or six miles, during which it descends 1000
feet, in a chasm from which rise lofty black pine-clad crags, topped
by snowy mountains, 14,000 to 16,000 feet high. One remarkable mass
of rock, on the east bank, is called "Sakya-zong" (or the abode of
Sakya, often pronounced Thakya, one of the Boodhist Trinity); at its
base a fine cascade falls into the river.
Above 11,000 feet the valley expands remarkably, the mountains
recede, become less wooded, and more grassy, while the stream is
suddenly less rapid, meandering in a broader bed, and bordered by
marshes, covered with _Carex, Blysmus,_ dwarf Tamarisk, and many
kinds of yellow and red _Pedicularis,_ both tall and beautiful.
There are far fewer rhododendrons here than in the damper Zemu valley
at equal elevations, and more Siberian, or dry country types of
vegetation, as _Astragali_ of several kinds, _Habenaria, Epipactis,_
dandelion, and a caraway, whose stems (called in Tibet "Gzira") are
much sought for as a condiment.* [_Umbelliferae abound here; with
sage, _Ranunculus, Anemone,_ Aconites, _Halenia,_ Gentians, _Panax,
Euphrasia,_ speedwell, _Prunella vulgaris,_ thistles, bistort,
_Parnassia,_ purple orchis, _Prenanthes,_ and _Lactuca._ The woody
plants of this region are willows, birch, _Cotoneaster,_ maple, three
species of _Viburnum,_ three of _Spiraea, Vaccinium, Aralia, Deutzia,
Philadelphus,_ rhododendrons, two junipers, silver fir, larch, three
honeysuckles, _Neillia,_ and a _Pieris,_ whose white blossoms are so
full of honey as to be sweet and palatable.] The Singtam Soubah and
Lachen Phipun received me at the bridge (Samdong), at Tallum, and led
me across the river (into Cheen they affirmed) to a pretty green
sward, near some gigantic gneiss boulders, where I camped, close by
the river, and 11,480 feet above the sea.