The sub-tropical scenery of the lower and outer Sikkim Himalaya,

though on a much more gigantic scale, is not comparable in beauty and

luxuriance with the really tropical vegetation induced by the hot,

damp, and insular climate of these perennially humid mountains.

At the Himalaya forests of gigantic trees, many of them deciduous,

appear from a distance as masses of dark gray foliage, clothing

mountains 10,000 feet high: here the individual trees are smaller,

more varied in kind, of a brilliant green, and contrast with gray

limestone and red sandstone rocks and silvery cataracts. Palms are

more numerous here;* [There are upwards of twenty kinds of Palm in

this district, including _Chamaerops,_ three species of _Areca,_ two

of _Wallichia, Arenga, Caryota,_ three of _Phoenix, Plectocomia,

Licuala,_ and many species of _Calamus._ Besides these there are

several kinds of _Pandanus,_ and the _Cycas pectinata._] the

cultivated _Areca_ (betel-nut) especially, raising its graceful stem

and feathery crown, "like an arrow shot down from heaven," in

luxuriance and beauty above the verdant slopes. This difference is at

once expressed to the Indian botanist by defining the Khasia flora as

of Malayan character; by which is meant the prevalence of brilliant

glossy-leaved evergreen tribes of trees (as _Euphorbiaceae_ and

_Urticeae_), especially figs, which abound in the hot gulleys, where

the property of their roots, which inosculate and form natural

grafts, is taken advantage of in bridging streams, and in

constructing what are called living bridges, of the most picturesque

forms. _Combretaceae,_ oaks, oranges, _Garcinia_ (gamboge),

_Diospyros,_ figs, Jacks, plantains, and _Pandanus,_ are more

frequent here, together with pinnated leaved _Leguminosae,

Meliaceae,_ vines and peppers, and above all palms, both climbing

ones with pinnated shining leaves (as _Calamus_ and _Plectocomia_),

and erect ones with similar leaves (as cultivated cocoa-nut, _Areca_

and _Arenga_), and the broader-leaved wild betel-nut, and beautiful

_Caryota_ or wine-palm, whose immense decompound leaves are twelve

feet long. Laurels and wild nutmegs, with _Henslowia, Itea,_ etc.,

were frequent in the forest, with the usual prevalence of parasites,

mistleto, epiphytical _Orchideae, AEshynanthus,_ ferns, mosses, and

_Lycopodia_; and on the ground were _Rubiaceae, Scitamineae,_ ferns,

_Acanthaceae,_ beautiful balsams, and herbaceous and shrubby nettles.

Bamboos* [The natives enumerate about fourteen different kinds of

bamboo, of which we found five in flower, belonging to three very

distinct genera. Uspar, Uspet, Uspit, Usken, Uskong, Uktang, Usto,

Silee, Namlang, Tirra, and Battooba are some of the names of Bamboos

vouched for by Mr. Inglis as correctly spelt. Of other Khasia names

of plants, Wild Plantains are called Kairem, and the cultivated

Kakesh; the latter are considered so nourishing that they are given

to newborn infants. Senteo is a flower in Khas, So a fruit, Ading a

tree, and Te a leaf. _Pandanus_ is Kashelan. _Plectocomia,_ Usmole.

_Licuala,_ Kuslow. _Caryota,_ Kalai-katang. _Wallichia,_ Kalai-nili.

_Areca,_ Waisola. Various _Calami_ are Rhimet, Uriphin, Ureek hilla,

Tindrio, etc. This list will serve as a specimen; I might increase it

materially, but as I have elsewhere observed, the value attached to

the supposed definite application of native names to natural objects

is greatly over-rated, and too much reliance on them has introduced a

prodigious amount of confusion into scientific works and philological

inquiries.] of many kinds are very abundant, and these hills further

differ remarkably from those of Sikkim in the great number of species

of grasses.

The ascent was at first gradual, along the sides of a sandstone spur.

At 2000 feet the slope suddenly became steep and rocky, at 3000 feet

tree vegetation disappeared, and we opened a magnificent prospect of

the upper scarped flank of the valley of Moosmai, which we were

ascending, with four or five beautiful cascades rolling over the

table top of the hills, broken into silvery foam as they leapt from

ledge to ledge of the horizontally stratified precipice, and throwing

a veil of silver gauze over the gulf of emerald green vegetation,

2000 feet below. The views of the many cataracts of the first class

that are thus precipitated over the bare table-land on which Churra

stands, into the valleys on either side, surpass anything of the kind

that I have elsewhere seen, though in many respects vividly recalling

the scenery around Rio de Janeiro: nor do I know any spot in the

world more calculated to fascinate the naturalist who, while

appreciating the elements of which a landscape is composed, is also

keenly alive to the beauty and grandeur of tropical scenery.

Illustration--"LIVING BRIDGE" FORMED BY THE AERIAL ROOTS OF THE

INDIA-RUBBER AND OTHER KINDS OF FIGS.

At the point where this view opens, a bleak stony region commences,

bearing numberless plants of a temperate flora and of European

genera, at a comparatively low elevation; features which continue to

the top of the flat on which the station is built, 4000 feet above

the sea.

Illustration--DEWAN'S EAR-RING.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Churra, English station of -- Khasia people -- Garrow people --

Houses -- Habits -- Dress -- Arms -- Dialects -- Marriages -- Food --

Funerals -- Superstitions -- Flat of Churra -- Scenery -- Lime and

coal -- Mamloo -- Cliffs -- Cascades -- _Chamaerops_ palm --

Jasper-rocks -- Flora of Churra -- Orchids -- Rhododendrons -- Pine

-- Climate -- Extraordinary rain-fall -- Its effects -- Gardens of

Lieuts. Raban and Cave -- Leave Churra to cross the mountain range --

Coal, shale, and underclay -- Kala-panee river -- Lailangkot --

_Luculia Pinceana_ -- Conglomerate Surureem wood -- Boga-panee river

-- View of Himalaya -- Green-stone -- Age of Pine-cones -- Moflong

plants -- _Coix_ -- Chillong mountain -- Extensive view -- Road to

Syong -- Broad valleys -- Geology -- Plants -- Myrung -- Granite

blocks -- Kollong rock -- Pine-woods -- Features of country --

Orchids -- Iron forges.

Churra Poonji is said to be so called from the number of streams in

the neighbourhood, and poonji, "a village" (Khas.): it was selected

for a European station, partly from the elevation and consequent

healthiness of the spot, and partly from its being on the high road

from Silhet to Gowahatty, on the Burrampooter, the capital of Assam,

which is otherwise only accessible by ascending that river, against

both its current and the perennial east wind. A rapid postal

communication is hereby secured: but the extreme unhealthiness of the

northern foot of the mountains effectually precludes all other

intercourse for nine months in the year.

On the first opening up of the country, the Europeans were brought

into sanguinary collision with the Khasias, who fought bravely with

bows and arrows, displaying a most blood-thirsty and cruel

disposition. This is indeed natural to them; and murders continued

very frequent as preludes to the most trifling robberies, until the

extreme penalty of our law was put in force. Even now, some of the

tributary Rajahs are far from quiet under our rule, and various parts

of the country are not safe to travel in. The Garrows, who occupy the

western extremity of this range, at the bend of the Burrampooter, are

still in a savage state. Human sacrifices and polyandry are said to

be frequent amongst them, and their orgies are detestable. Happily we

are hardly ever brought into collision with them, except by their

occasional depredations on the Assam and Khasia frontier: their

country is very unhealthy, and is said to contain abundance of coal,

iron, and lime.

We seldom employed fewer than twelve or fourteen of the natives as

collectors, and when travelling, from thirty to forty as coolies,

etc. They are averse to rising early, and are intolerably filthy in

their persons, though not so in their cottages, which are very poor,

with broad grass roofs reaching nearly to the ground, and usually

encircled by bamboo fences; the latter custom is not common in savage

communities, and perhaps indicates a dread of treachery. The beams

are of hewn wood (they do not use saws), often neatly carved, and the

doors turn on good wooden pivots. They have no windows, and the fire

is made on the floor: the utensils, etc. are placed on hanging

shelves and in baskets.

The Khasia people are of the Indo-Chinese race; they are short, very

stout, and muscular, with enormous calves and knees, rather narrow

eyes and little beard, broad, high cheekbones, flat noses, and open

nostrils. I believe that a few are tattooed. The hair is gathered

into a top-knot, and sometimes shaved off the forehead and temples.

A loose cotton shirt, often striped blue and red, without sleeves and

bordered with long thread fringes, is their principal garment; it is

gathered into a girdle of silver chains by people of rank. A cotton

robe is sometimes added, with a large cotton turban or small

skull-cap. The women wear a long cloth tied in a knot across the

breast. During festivals both men and women load themselves with silk

robes, fans, peacock's feathers, and gold and silver ornaments of

great value, procured from Assam, many of which are said to be

extremely curious, but I regret to say that I never saw any of them.

On these occasions spirits are drunk, and dancing kept up all night:

the dance is described as a slow ungraceful motion, the women being

tightly swathed in cloths.

All their materials are brought from Assam; the only articles in

constant use, of their own manufacture, being a rude sword or knife

with a wooden handle and a long, narrow, straight blade of iron, and

the baskets with head-straps, like those used by the Lepchas, but

much neater; also a netted bag of pine-apple fibre (said to come from

Silhet) which holds a clasp-knife, comb, flint, steel, and betel-nut

box. They are much addicted to chewing pawn (betel-nut, pepper

leaves, and lime) all day long, and their red saliva looks like blood

on the paths. Besides the sword I have described, they carry bows and

arrows, and rarely a lance, and a bamboo wicker-work shield.

We found the Khasias to be sulky intractable fellows, contrasting

unpleasantly with the Lepchas; wanting in quickness, frankness, and

desire to please, and obtrusively independent in manner; nevertheless

we had a head man who was very much the reverse of this, and whom we

had never any cause to blame. Their language is, I believe,

Indo-Chinese and monosyllabic: it is disagreeably nasal and guttural,

and there are several dialects and accents in contiguous villages.

All inflections are made by prefixing syllables, and when using the

Hindoo language, the future is invariably substituted for the past

tense. They count up to a hundred, and estimate distances by the

number of mouthfuls of pawn they eat on the road.

Education has been attempted by missionaries with partial success,

and the natives are said to have shown themselves apt scholars.

Marriage is a very loose tie amongst them, and hardly any ceremony

attends it. We were informed that the husband does not take his wife

home, but enters her father's household, and is entertained there.

Divorce and an exchange of wives is common, and attended with no

disgrace: thus the son often forgets his father's name and person

before he grows up, but becomes strongly attached to his mother.

The sister's son inherits both property and rank, and the

proprietors' or Rajahs' offspring are consequently often reared in

poverty and neglect. The usual toy of the children is the bow and

arrow, with which they are seldom expert; they are said also to spin

pegtops like the English, climb a greased pole, and run round with a

beam turning horizontally on an upright, to which it is attached by

a pivot.

The Khasias eat fowls, and all meat, especially pork, potatos and

vegetables, dried and half putrid fish in abundance, but they have an

aversion to milk, which is very remarkable, as a great proportion of

their country is admirably adapted for pasturage. In this respect,

however, they assimilate to the Chinese, and many Indo-Chinese

nations who are indifferent to milk, as are the Sikkim people.

The Bengalees, Hindoos, and Tibetans, on the other hand, consume

immense quantities of milk. They have no sheep, and few goats or

cattle, the latter of which are kept for slaughter; they have,

however, plenty of pigs and fowls. Eggs are most abundant, but used

for omens only, and it is a common, but disgusting occurrence, to see

large groups employed for hours in breaking them upon stones,

shouting and quarrelling, surrounded by the mixture of yellow yolks

and their red pawn saliva.

The funeral ceremonies are the only ones of any importance, and are

often conducted with barbaric pomp and expense; and rude stones of

gigantic proportions are erected as monuments, singly or in rows,

circles, or supporting one another, like those of Stonehenge, which

they rival in dimensions and appearance. The body is burned, though

seldom during the rains, from the difficulty of obtaining a fire; it

is therefore preserved in honey (which is abundant and good) till the

dry season: a practice I have read of as prevailing among some tribes

in the Malay peninsula. Spirits are drunk on these occasions; but the

hill Khasia is not addicted to drunkenness, though some of the

natives of the low valleys are very much so. These ascend the rocky

faces of the mountains by ladders, to the Churra markets, and return

loaded at night, apparently all but too drunk to stand; yet they

never miss their footing in places which are most dangerous to

persons unaccustomed to such situations.

Illustration--THE TABLE-LAND AND STATION OF CHURRA, WITH THE JHEELS,

COURSE OF THE SOORMAH RIVER, AND TIPPERAH HILLS IN THE EXTREME

DISTANCE, LOOKING SOUTH.

The Khasias are superstitious, but have no religion; like the

Lepchas, they believe in a supreme being, and in deities of the

grove, cave, and stream. Altercations are often decided by holding

the disputants' heads under water, when the longest winded carries

his point. Fining is a common punishment, and death for grave

offences. The changes of the moon are accounted for by the theory

that this orb, who is a man, monthly falls in love with his wife's

mother, who throws ashes in his face. The sun is female; and Mr.

Yule* [I am indebted to Mr. Inglis for most of this information

relating to the Khasias, which I have since found, with much more

that is curious and interesting, in a paper by Lieut. Yule in Bengal

Asiat. Soc. Journal.] (who is my authority) says that the Pleiades

are called "the Hen-man" (as in Italy "the chickens"); also that they

have names for the twelve months; they do not divide their time by

weeks, but hold a market every four days. These people are

industrious, and good cultivators of rice, millet, and legumes of

many kinds. Potatoes were introduced amongst them about twenty years

ago by Mr. Inglis, and they have increased so rapidly that the

Calcutta market is now supplied by their produce. They keep bees in

rude hives of logs of wood.

The flat table-land on which Churra Poonji is placed, is three miles

long and two broad, dipping abruptly in front and on both sides, and

rising behind towards the main range, of which it is a spur.

The surface of this area is everywhere intersected by shallow, rocky

watercourses, which are the natural drains for the deluge that

annually visits it. The western part is undulated and hilly, the

southern rises in rocky ridges of limestone and coal, and the eastern

is very flat and stony, broken only by low isolated conical mounds.

The scenery varies extremely at different parts of the surface.

Towards the flat portion, where the English reside, the aspect is as

bleak and inhospitable as can be imagined: a thin stratum of marshy

or sandy soil covers a tabular mass of cold red sandstone; and there

is not a tree, and scarcely a shrub to be seen, except occasional

clumps of Pandanus. The low white bungalows are few in number, and

very scattered, some of them being a mile asunder, enclosed with

stone walls and shrubs; and a small white church, disused on account

of the damp, stands lonely in the centre of all.

The views from the margins of this plateau are magnificent: 4000 feet

below are bay-like valleys, carpetted as with green velvet, from

which rise tall palms, tree-ferns with spreading crowns, and rattans

shooting their pointed heads, surrounded with feathery foliage, as

with ostrich plumes, far above the great trees. Beyond are the

Jheels, looking like a broad shallow sea with the tide half out,

bounded in the blue distance by the low-hills of Tipperah. To the

right and left are the scarped red rocks and roaring waterfalls,

shooting far over the cliff's, and then arching their necks as they

expand in feathery foam, over which rainbows float, forming and

dissolving as the wind sways the curtains of spray from side to side.

To the south of Churra the lime and coal measures rise abruptly in

flat-topped craggy hills, covered with brushwood and small trees.

Similar hills are seen far westward across the intervening valleys in

the Garrow country, rising in a series of steep isolated ranges, 300

to 400 feet above the general level of the country, and always

skirting the south face of the mountains. Considerable caverns

penetrate the limestone, the broken surface of which rock presents

many picturesque and beautiful spots, like the same rocks in England.

Westward the plateau becomes very hilly, bare, and grassy, with the

streams broad and full, but superficial and rocky, precipitating

themselves in low cascades over tabular masses of sand-stone.

At Mamloo their beds are deeper, and full of brushwood, and a

splendid valley and amphitheatre of red cliffs and cascades,

rivalling those of Moosmai (chapter xxvii), bursts suddenly into

view. Mamloo is a large village, on the top of a spur, to the

westward: it is buried in a small forest, particularly rich in

plants, and is defended by a stone wall behind: the only road is

tunnelled through the sandstone rock, under the wall; and the spur on

either side dips precipitously, so that the place is almost

impregnable if properly defended. A sanguinary conflict took place

here between the British and the Khasias, which terminated in the

latter being driven over the precipices, beneath which many of them

were shot. The fan-palm, _Chamaerops Khasiana_ ("Pakha," Khas.),

grows on the cliff's near Mamloo: it may be seen on looking over the

edge of the plateau, its long curved trunk rising out of the naked

rocks, but its site is generally inaccessible;* [This species is very

closely allied to, if not identical with _P. Martiana_ of Nepal;

which ascends to 8000 feet in the western Himalaya, where it is

annually covered with snow: it is not found in Sikkim, but an allied

species occurs in Affghanistan, called _P. Ritcheana_: the dwarf palm

of southern Europe is a fourth species.] while near it grows the

_Saxifragis ciliaris_ of our English gardens, a common plant in the

north-west Himalaya, but extremely scarce in Sikkim and the

Khasia mountains.

Illustration--MAMLOO CASCADES.

The descent of the Mamloo spur is by steps, alternating with pebbly

flats, for 1500 feet, to a saddle which connects the Churra hills

with those of Lisouplang to the westward. The rise is along a very

steep narrow ridge to a broad long grassy hill, 3,500 feet high,

whence an extremely steep descent leads to the valley of the

Boga-panee, and the great mart of Chela, which is at the embouchure

of that river. The transverse valley thus formed by the Mamloo spur,

is full of orange groves, whose brilliant green is particularly

conspicuous from above. At the saddle below Mamloo are some jasper

rocks, which are the sandstone altered by basalt. Fossil shells are

recorded to have been found by Dr. M'Lelland* [See a paper on the

geology of the Khasia mountains by Dr. M'Lelland in the "Bengal

Asiatic Society's Journal."] on some of the flats, which he considers

to be raised beaches: but we sought in vain for any evidence of this

theory beyond the pebbles, whose rounding we attributed to the action

of superficial streams.

It is extremely difficult to give within the limits of this narrative

any idea of the Khasia flora, which is, in extent and number of fine

plants, the richest in India, and probably in all Asia. We collected

upwards of 2000 flowering plants within ten miles of the station of

Churra, besides 150 ferns, and a profusion of mosses, lichens, and

fungi. This extraordinary exuberance of species is not so much

attributable to the elevation, for the whole Sikkim Himalaya (three

times more elevated) does not contain 500 more flowering plants, and

far fewer ferns, etc.; but to the variety of exposures; namely,

1. the Jheels, 2. the tropical jungles, both in deep, hot, and wet

valleys, and on drier slopes; 3. the rocks; 4. the bleak table-lands

and stony soils; 5. the moor-like uplands, naked and exposed, where

many species and genera appear at 5000 to 6000 feet, which are not

found on the outer ranges of Sikkim under 10,000.* [As _Thalictrum,

Anemone,_ primrose, cowslip, _Tofieldia,_ Yew, Pine, Saxifrage,

_Delphinium, Pedicularis._] In fact, strange as it may appear, owing

to this last cause, the temperate flora descends fully 4000 feet

lower in the latitude of Khasia (25 degrees N.) than in that of

Sikkim (27 degrees N.), though the former is two degrees nearer

the equator.

The _Pandanus_ alone forms a conspicuous feature in the immediate

vicinity of Churra; while the small woods about Mamloo, Moosmai, and

the coal-pits, are composed of _Symplocos,_ laurels, brambles, and

jasmines, mixed with small oaks and _Photinia,_ and many tropical

genera of trees and shrubs.

_Orchideae_ are, perhaps, the largest natural order in the Khasia,

where fully 250 kinds grow, chiefly on trees and rocks, but many are

terrestrial, inhabiting damp woods and grassy slopes. I doubt whether

in any other part of the globe the species of orchids outnumber those

of any other natural order, or form so large a proportion of the

flora. Balsams are next in relative abundance (about twenty-five),

both tropical and temperate kinds, of great beauty and variety in

colour, form, and size of blossom. Palms amount to fourteen, of which

the _Chamaerops_ and _Arenga_ are the only genera not found in

Sikkim. Of bamboos there are also fifteen, and of other grasses 150,

which is an immense proportion, considering that the Indian flora

(including those of Ceylon, Kashmir, and all the Himalaya), hardly

contains 400. _Scitamineae_ also are abundant, and extremely

beautiful; we collected thirty-seven kinds.

No rhododendron grows at Churra, but several species occur a little

further north: there is but one pine (_P. Khasiana_) besides the yew,

(and two _Podocarpi_), and that is only found in the drier interior

regions. Singular to say, it is a species not seen in the Himalaya or

elsewhere, but very nearly allied to _Pinua longifolia,_*

[Cone-bearing pines with long leaves, like the common Scotch fir, are

found in Asia, and as far south as the Equator (in Borneo) and also

inhabit Arracan, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and South China. It is

a very remarkable fact that no Gymnospermous tree inhabits the

Peninsula of India; not even the genus _Podocarpus,_ which includes

most of the tropical Gymnosperms, and is technically coniferous, and

has glandular woody fibre; though like the yew it bears berries.

Two species of this genus are found in the Khasia, and one advances

as far west as Nepal. The absence of oaks and of the above genera

(_Podocarpus_ and _Pinus_) is one of the most characteristic

differences between the botany of the east and west shores of the Bay

of Bengal.] though more closely resembling the Scotch fir than that

tree does.

The natural orders whose rarity is most noticeable, are _Cruciferae,_

represented by only three kinds, and _Caryophylleae._ Of

_Ranunculaceae,_ there are six or seven species of _Clematis,_ two of

_Anemone,_ one _Delphinium,_ three of _Thalictrum,_ and two

_Ranunculi._ _Compsitae_ and _Leguminosae_ are far more numerous than

in Sikkim.

The climate of Khasia is remarkable for the excessive rain-fall.

Attention was first drawn to this by Mr. Yule, who stated, that in

the month of August, 1841, 264 inches fell, or twenty-two feet; and

that during five successive days, thirty inches fell in every

twenty-four hours! Dr. Thomson and I also recorded thirty inches in

one day and night, and during the seven months of our stay, upwards

of 500 inches fell, so that the total annual fall perhaps greatly

exceeded 600 inches, or fifty feet, which has been registered in

succeeding years! From April, 1849, to April, 1850, 502 inches

(forty-two feet) fell. This unparalleled amount is attributable to

the abruptness of the mountains which face the Bay of Bengal, from

which they are separated by 200 miles of Jheels and Sunderbunds.

This fall is very local: at Silhet, not thirty miles further south,

it is under 100 inches; at Gowahatty, north of the Khasia in Assam,

it is about 80; and even on the hills, twenty miles inland from

Churra itself, the fall is reduced to 200. At the Churra station, the

distribution of the rain is very local; my gauges, though registering

the same amount when placed beside a good one in the station; when

removed half a mile, received a widely different quantity, though the

different gauges gave nearly the same mean amount at the end of each

whole month.

The direct effect of this deluge is to raise the little streams about

Churra fourteen feet in as many hours, and to inundate the whole

flat; from which, however, the natural drainage is so complete, as to

render a tract, which in such a climate and latitude should be

clothed with exuberant forest, so sterile, that no tree finds

support, and there is no soil for cultivation of any kind whatsoever,

not even of rice. Owing, however, to the hardness of the horizontally

stratified sandstone, the streams have not cut deep channels, nor

have the cataracts worked far back into the cliffs. The limestone

alone seems to suffer, and the turbid streams from it prove how

rapidly it is becoming denuded. The great mounds of angular gravel on

the Churra flat, are perhaps the remains of an extensive deposit,

fifty feet thick, elsewhere washed away by these rains; and I have

remarked traces of the same over many slopes of the hills around.

The mean temperature of Churra (elev. 4000 feet) is about 66 degrees,

or 16 degrees below that of Calcutta; which, allowing for 22 degrees

of northing, gives 1 degree of temperature to every 290 to 300 feet

of ascent. In summer the thermometer often rises to 88 degrees and 90

degrees; and in the winter, owing to the intense radiation,

hoar-frost is frequent. Such a climate is no less inimical to the

cultivation of plants, than is the wretched soil: of this we saw

marked instances in the gardens of two of the resident officers,

Lieutenants Raban and Cave, to whom we were indebted for the greatest

kindness and hospitality. These gentlemen are indefatigable

horticulturists, and took a zealous interest in our pursuits,

accompanying us in our excursions, enriching our collections in many

ways, and keeping an eye to them and to our plant-driers during our

absence from the station. In their gardens the soil had to be brought

from a considerable distance, and dressed copiously with vegetable

matter. Bamboo clumps were planted for shelter within walls, and

native shrubs, rhododendrons, etc., introduced. Many _Orchideae_

throve well on the branches of the stunted trees which they had

planted, and some superb kinds of _Hedychium_ in the ground; but a

very few English garden plants throve in the flower-beds. Even in

pots and frames, geraniums, etc., would rot, from the rarity of

sunshine, which is as prejudicial as the damp and exposure.

Still many wild shrubs of great interest and beauty flourished, and

some European ones succeeded with skill and management; as geraniums,

_Salvia, Petunia,_ nasturtium, chrysanthemum, _Kennedya rubicunda,

Maurandya,_ and Fuchsia. The daisy seed sent from England as double,

came up very poor and single. Dahlias do not thrive, nor double

balsams. Now they have erected small but airy green-houses, and

sunlight is the only desideratum.

At the end of June, we started for the northern or Assam face of the

mountains. The road runs between the extensive and populous native

village, or poonji, on the left, and a deep valley on the right, and

commands a beautiful view of more waterfalls. Beyond this it ascends

steeply, and the sandstone on the road itself is curiously divided

into parallelograms, like hollow bricks,* [I have seen similar bricks

in the sandstones of the coal-districts of Yorkshire; they are very

puzzling, and are probably due to some very obscure crystalline

action analogous to jointing and cleavage.] enclosing irregularly

shaped nodules, while in other places it looks as if it had been run

or fused: spherical concretions of sand, coloured concentrically by

infiltration, are common in it, which have been regarded as seeds,

shells, etc.; it also contained spheres of iron pyrites. The general

appearance of much of this rock is as if it had been bored by

_Teredines_ (ship worms), but I never detected any trace of fossils.

It is often beautifully ripple-marked, and in some places much

honeycombed, and full of shales and narrow seams of coal, resting on

a white under-clay full of root-fibres, like those of _Stigmaria._

At about 5000 feet the country is very open and bare, the ridges

being so uniform and flat-topped, that the broad valleys they divide

are hidden till their precipitous edges are reached; and the eye

wanders far east and west over a desolate level grassy country,

unbroken, save by the curious flat-topped hills I have described as

belonging to the limestone formation, which lie to the south-west.

These features continue for eight miles, when a sudden descent of 600

or 700 feet, leads into the valley of the Kala-panee (Black water)

river, where there is a very dark and damp bungalow, which proved a

very great accommodation to us.* [It may be of use to the future

botanist in this country to mention a small wood on the right of this

road, near the village of Surureem, as an excellent botanical

station: the trees are chiefly _Rhododendron arboreum,_ figs, oaks,

laurels, magnolias, and chestnuts, on whose limbs are a profusion of

_Orchideae,_ and amongst which a Rattan palm occurs.

Lailang-kot is another village full of iron forges, from a height

near which a splendid view is obtained over the Churra flat. A few

old and very stunted shrubs of laurel and _Symplocos_ grow on its

bleak surface, and these are often sunk from one to three feet in a

well in the horizontally stratified sandstone. I could only account

for this by supposing it to arise from the drip from the trees, and

if so, it is a wonderful instance of the wearing effects of water,

and of the great age which small bushes sometimes attain.

The vegetation is more alpine at Kala-panee (elevation, 5,300 feet);

_Benthamia, Kadsura, Stauntonia, Illicium, Actinidia, Helwingia,

Corylopsis,_ and berberry--all Japan and Chinese, and most of them

Dorjiling genera--appear here, with the English yew, two

rhododendrons, and _Bucklandia._ There are no large trees, but a

bright green jungle of small ones and bushes, many of which are very

rare and curious. _Luculia Pinceana_ makes a gorgeous show here

in October.

The sandstone to the east of Kala-panee is capped by some beds, forty

feet thick, of conglomerate worn into cliffs; these are the remains

of a very extensive horizontally stratified formation, now all but

entirely denuded. In the valley itself, the sandstone alternates with

alum shales, which rest on a bed of quartz conglomerate, and the

latter on black greenstone. In the bed of the river, whose waters are

beautifully clear, are hornstone rocks, dipping north-east, and

striking north-west. Beyond the Kalapanee the road ascends about 600

feet, and is well quarried in hard greenstone; and passing through a

narrow gap of conglomerate rock,* [Formed of rolled masses of

greenstone and sandstone, united by a white and yellow cement.]

enters a shallow, wild, and beautiful valley, through which it runs

for several miles. The hills on either side are of greenstone capped

by tabular sandstone, immense masses of which have been precipitated

on the floor of the valley, producing a singularly wild and

picturesque scene. In the gloom of the evening it is not difficult

for a fertile imagination to fancy castles and cities cresting the

heights above.* [_Hydrangea_ grows here, with ivy, _Mussoenda,

Pyrua,_ willow, _Viburnum, Parnassia, Anemone, Leycesteria formosa,

Neillia, Rubus, Astilbe,_ rose, _Panax,_ apple, _Bucklandia, Daphne,_

pepper, _Scindapsus, Pierix,_ holly, _Lilium giganteum_ ("Kalang

tatti," Khas.), _Camellia, Elaeocarpus, Buddleia,_ etc. Large bees'

nests hang from the rocks.]

There is some cultivation here of potatoes, and of _Rhysicosia

vestita_ a beautiful purple-flowered leguminous plant, with small

tuberous roots. Beyond this, a high ridge is gained above the valley

of the Boga-panee, the largest river in the Khasia; from this the

Bhotan Himalaya may be seen in clear weather, at the astonishing

distance of from 160 to 200 miles! The vegetation here suddenly

assumes a different aspect, from the quantity of stunted fir-trees

clothing the north side of the valley, which rises very steeply 1000

feet above the river: quite unaccountably, however, not one grows on

the south face. A new oak also appears abundantly; it has leaves like

the English, whose gnarled habit it also assumes.

The descent is very steep, and carried down a slope of greenstone;*

[This greenstone decomposes into a thick bed of red clay; it is much

intersected by fissures or cleavage planes at all angles, whose

surfaces are covered with a shining polished superficial layer; like

the fissures in the cleavage planes of the gneiss granite of

Kinchinjhow, whose adjacent surfaces are coated with a glassy waved

layer of hornblende. This polishing of the surfaces is generally

attributed to their having been in contact and rubbed together, an

explanation which is wholly unsatisfactory to me; no such motion

could take place in cleavage planes which often intersect, and were

it to occur, it would not produce two polished surfaces of an

interposed layer of a softer mineral. It is more probably due to

metamorphic action.] the road then follows. a clear affluent of the

Boga-panee, and afterwards winds along the margin of that river,

which is a rapid turbulent stream, very muddy, and hence contrasting

remarkably with the Kala-panee. It derives its mud from the

decomposition of granite, which is washed by the natives for iron,

and in which rock it rises to the eastward. Thick beds of slate crop

out by the roadside (strike north-east and dip north-west), and are

continued along the bed of the river, passing into conglomerates,

chert, purple slates, and crystalline sandstones, with pebbles, and

angular masses of schist. Many of these rocks are much crumpled,

others quite flat, and they are overlaid by soft, variegated gneiss,

which is continued alternately with the slates to the top of the

hills on the opposite side.

Small trees of hornbeam grow near the river, with _Rhus, Xanthoxylon,

Vaccinium, Gualtheria,_ and _Spiraea,_ while many beautiful ferns,

mosses, and orchids cover the rocks. An elegant iron suspension-

bridge is thrown across the stream, from a rock matted with tufts of

little parasitic _Orchideae._ Crossing it, we came on many

pine-trees; these had five-years' old cones on them, as well as those

of all succeeding years; they bear male flowers in autumn, which

impregnate the cones formed the previous year. Thus, the cones formed

in the spring of 1850 are fertilised in the following autumn, and do

not ripen their seeds till the second following autumn, that of 1852.

A very steep ascent leads to the bungalow of Moflong, on a broad,

bleak hill-top, near the axis of the range (alt. 6,062 feet). Here

there is a village, and some cultivation, surrounded by hedges of

_Erythrina, Pieris, Viburnum,_ _Pyres, Colquhounia,_ and

_Corylopsis,_ amongst which grew an autumn-flowering lark-spur, with

most foetid flowers.* [There is a wood a mile to the west of the

bungalow, worth visiting by the botanist: besides yew, oak, _Sabia_

and _Camellia,_ it contains _Olea, Euonymus,_ and _Sphaerocarya,_ a

small tree that bears a green pear-shaped sweet fruit, with a large

stone: it is pleasant, but leaves a disagreeable taste in the mouth.

On the grassy flats an _Astragalus_ occurs, and _Roscoea purpurea,

Tofieldia,_ and various other fine plants are common.] The rocks are

much contorted slates and gneiss (strike north-east and dip

south-east). In a deep gulley to the northward, greenstone appears,

with black basalt and jasper, the latter apparently altered gneiss:

beyond this the rocks strike the opposite way, but are much disturbed.

We passed the end of June here, and experienced the same violent

weather, thunder, lightning, gales, and rain, which prevailed during

every midsummer I spent in India. A great deal of _Coix_ (Job's

tears) is cultivated about Moflong: it is of a dull greenish purple,

and though planted in drills, and carefully hoed and weeded, is a

very ragged crop. The shell of the cultivated sort is soft, and the

kernel is sweet; whereas the wild _Coix_ is so hard that it cannot be

broken by the teeth. Each plant branches two or three times from the

base, and from seven to nine plants grow in each square yard of soil:

the produce is small, not above thirty or forty fold.

From a hill behind Moflong bungalow, on which are some stone altars,

a most superb view is obtained of the Bhotan Himalaya to the

northward, their snowy peaks stretching in a broken series from north

17 degrees east to north 35 degrees west; all are below the horizon

of the spectator, though from 17,000 to 20,000 feet above his level.

The finest view in the Khasia mountains, and perhaps a more extensive

one than has ever before been described, is that from Chillong hill,

the culminant point of the range, about six miles north-east from

Moflong bungalow. This hill, 6,660 feet above the sea, rises from an

undulating grassy country, covered with scattered trees and

occasional clumps of wood; the whole scenery about being park-like,

and as little like that of India at so low an elevation as it is

possible to be.

I visited Chillong in October with Lieutenant Cave; starting from

Churra, and reaching the bungalow, two miles from its top, the same

night, with two relays of ponies, which he had kindly provided.

We were unfortunate in not obtaining a brilliant view of the snowy

mountains, their tops being partially clouded; but the _coup d'oeil_

was superb. Northward, beyond the rolling Khasia hills, lay the whole

Assam valley, seventy miles broad, with the Burrampooter winding

through it, fifty miles distant, reduced to a thread. Beyond this,

banks of hazy vapour obscured all but the dark range of the Lower

Himalaya, crested by peaks of frosted silver, at the immense distance

of from 100 to 220 miles from Chillong. All are below the horizon of

the observer; yet so false is perspective, that they seem high in the

air. The mountains occupy sixty degrees of the horizon, and stretch

over upwards of 250 miles, comprising the greatest extent of snow

visible from any point with which I am acquainted.

Westward from Chillong the most distant Garrow hills visible are

about forty miles off; and eastward those of Cachar, which are

loftier, are about seventy miles. To the south the view is limited by

the Tipperah hills, which, where nearest, are 100 miles distant;

while to the south-west lies the sea-like Gangetic delta, whose

horizon, lifted by refraction, must be fully 120. The extent of this

view is therefore upwards of 340 miles in one direction, and the

visible horizon of the observer encircles an area of fully thirty

thousand square miles, which is greater than that of Ireland!

Scarlet-flowered rhododendron bushes cover the north side of

Chillong,* [These skirt a wood of prickly bamboo, in which occur fig,

laurel, _Aralia, Boemeria, Smilax, Toddalia,_ wild cinnamon, and

three kinds of oak.] whilst the south is grassy and quite bare; and

except some good _Orchideae_ on the trees, there is little to reward

the botanist. The rocks appeared to be sandstone at the summit, but

micaceous gneiss all around.

Continuing northward from Moflong, the road, after five miles, dips

into a very broad and shallow flat-floored valley, fully a mile

across, which resembles a lake-bed: it is bounded by low hills, and

is called "Lanten-tannia," and is bare of aught but long grass and

herbs; amongst these are the large groundsel (_Senecio_), _Dipsacus,

Ophelia,_ and _Campanula._ On its south flank the micaceous slates

strike north-east, and dip north-west, and on the top repose beds, a

foot in thickness, of angular water-worn gravel, indicating an

ancient water-level, 400 feet above the floor of the valley.

Other smaller lake-beds, in the lateral valleys, are equally evident.

A beautiful blue-flowered _Clitoria_ creeps over the path, with the

ground-raspberry of Dorjiling. From the top a sudden descent of 400

feet leads to another broad flat valley, called "Syong" (elevation,

5,725 feet), in which is a good bungalow, surrounded by hedges of

_Prinsepia utilis,_ a common north-west Himalayan plant, only found

at 8000 feet in Sikkim. The valley is grassy, but otherwise bare.

Beyond this the road passes over low rocky hills, wooded on their

north or sheltered flanks only, dividing flat-floored valleys: a red

sandy gneiss is the prevalent rock, but boulders of syenite are

scattered about. Extensive moors (elevation, 6000 feet) succeed,

covered with stunted pines, brake, and tufts of harsh grasses.*

[These are principally _Andropogon_ and _Brachypodium,_ amongst which

grow yellow _Corydalis, Thalictrum, Anemone, Parnassia, Prunella,_

strawberry, _Eupatorium, Hypericum,_ willow, a _Polygonum_ like

_Bistorta, Osmunda regalis_ and another species _Lycopodium alpinum,_

a _Senecio_ like _Jacobaea,_ thistles, _Gnaphalium,_ Gentians, _Iris,

Paris, Sanguisorba_ and _Agrimonia._]

Near the Dengship-oong (river), which flows in a narrow valley, is a

low dome of gneiss altered by syenite. The prevalent dip is uniformly

south-east, and the strike north-east; and detached boulders of

syenite become more frequent, resting on a red gneiss, full of black

garnets, till the descent to the valley of Myrung, one of the most

beautiful spots in the Khasia, and a favourite resort, having an

excellent bungalow which commands a superb view of the Himalaya:

it is 5,650 feet above the sea, and is placed on the north flank of a

very shallow marshy valley, two miles broad, and full of rice

cultivation, as are the flat heads of all the little valleys that

lead into it. There is a guard here of light infantry, and a little

garden, boasting a gardener and some tea-plants, so that we had

vegetables during our four visits to the place, on two of which

occasions we stayed some days.

From Kala-panee to Myrung, a distance of thirty-two miles, the road

does not vary 500 feet above or below the mean level of 5,700 feet,

and the physical features are the same throughout, of broad

flat-floored, steep-sided valleys, divided by bleak, grassy,

tolerably level-topped bills. Beyond Myrung the Khasia mountains

slope to the southward in rolling loosely-wooded hills, but the spurs

do not dip suddenly till beyond Nunklow, eight miles further north.

On the south side of the Myrung valley is Nungbree wood, a dense

jungle, occupying, like all the other woods, the steep north exposure

of the hill; many good plants grow in it, including some gigantic

_Balanophorae, Pyrola,_ and _Monotropa._ The bungalow stands on soft,

contorted, decomposing gneiss, which is still the prevalent rock,

striking north-east. On the hills to the east of it, enormous hard

blocks lie fully exposed, and are piled on one another, as if so

disposed by glacial action; and it is difficult to account for them

by denudation, though their surface scales, and similar blocks are

scattered around Myrung exactly similar to the syenite blocks of

Nunklow, and the granite ones of Nonkreem, to be described hereafter,

and which are undoubtedly due to the process of weathering. A great

mass of flesh-coloured crystalline granite rises in the centre of the

valley, to the east of the road: it is fissured in various

directions, and the surface scales concentrically; it is obscurely

stratified in some parts, and appears to be half granite and half

gneiss in mineralogical character.

We twice visited a very remarkable hill, called Kollong, which rises

as a dome of granite 5,400 feet high, ten or twelve miles south-west

of Myrung, and conspicuous from all directions. The path to it turns

off from that to Nunklow, and strikes westerly along the shallow

valley of Monai, in which is a village, and much rice and other

cultivation. Near this there is a large square stockade, formed of

tall bamboos placed close together, very like a New Zealand "Pa;"

indeed, the whole country hereabouts much recalls the grassy clay

hills, marshy valleys, and bushy ridges of the Bay of Islands.

The hills on either side are sometimes dotted with pinewoods,

sometimes conical and bare, with small clumps of pines on the summit

only; while in other places are broad tracts containing nothing but

young trees, resembling plantations, but which, I am assured, are not

planted; on the other hand, however, Mr. Yule states, that the

natives do plant fir-trees, especially near the iron forges, which

give employment to all the people of Monai.

All the streams rise in flat marshy depressions amongst the hills

with which the whole country is covered; and both these features,

together with the flat clay marshes into which the rivers expand, are

very suggestive of tidal action. Rock is hardly anywhere seen, except

in the immediate vicinity of Kollong, where are many scattered

boulders of fine-grained gneiss, of which are made the broad stone

slabs, placed as seats, and the other erections of this singular

people. We repeatedly remarked cones of earth, clay, and pebbles,

about twelve feet high, upon the hills, which appeared to be

artificial, but of which the natives could give no explanation.

Wild apple and birch are common trees, but there is little jungle,

except in the hollows, and on the north slopes of the higher hills.

Coarse long grass, with bushes of Labiate and Composite plants, are

the prevalent features.

Kollong rock is a steep dome of red granite,* [This granite is highly

crystalline, and does not scale or flake, nor is its surface

polished.] accessible from the north and east, but almost

perpendicular to the southward, where the slope is 80 degrees for 600

feet. The elevation is 400 feet above the mean level of the

surrounding ridges, and 700 above the bottom of the valleys.

The south or steepest side is encumbered with enormous detached

blocks, while the north is clothed with a dense forest, containing

red tree-rhododendrons and oaks; on its skirts grew a white bushy

rhododendron, which we found nowhere else. The hard granite of the

top was covered with matted mosses, lichens, Lycopodiums, and ferns,

amongst which were many curious and beautiful airplants.* [_Eria,

Coelogyne_ (_Wallichii, maculata,_ and _elata_), _Cymbidium,

Dendrobium, Sunipia_ some of them flowering profusely; and though

freely exposed to the sun and wind, dews and frosts, rain and

droughts, they were all fresh, bright, green and strong, under very

different treatment from that to which they are exposed in the damp,

unhealthy, steamy orchid-houses of our English gardens. A wild onion

was most abundant all over the top of the hill, with _Hymenopogon,

Vaccinium, Ophiopogon, Anisadenia, Commelyna, Didymocarpus,

Remusatia, Hedychium,_ grass and small bamboos, and a good many other

plants. Many of the lichens were of European kinds; but the mosses

(except _Bryum argenteum_) and ferns were different. A small

_Staphylinus,_ which swarmed under the sods, was the only insect

I remarked.]

Illustration--KOLLONG ROCK.

The view from the top is very extensive to the northward, but not

elsewhere: it commands the Assam valley and the Himalaya, and the

billowy range of undulating grassy Khasia mountains. Few houses were

visible, but the curling smoke from the valleys betrayed their

lurking-places, whilst the tinkling sound of the hammers from the

distant forges on all sides was singularly musical and pleasing; they

fell on the ear like "bells upon the wind," each ring being

exquisitely melodious, and chiming harmoniously with the others.

The solitude and beauty of the scenery, and the emotions excited by

the music of chimes, tended to tranquillise our minds, wearied by the

fatigues of travel, and the excitement of pursuits that required

unremitting attention; and we rested for some time, our imaginations

wandering to far-distant scenes, brought vividly to our minds by

these familiar sounds.

CHAPTER XXIX.

View of Himalaya from the Khasia -- Great masses of snow -- Chumulari

-- Donkia -- Grasses -- Nunklow -- Assam valley and Burrampooter --

Tropical forest -- Borpanee -- Rhododendrons -- Wild elephants --

Blocks of Syenite -- Return to Churra -- Coal -- August temperature

-- Leave for Chela -- Jasper hill -- Birds -- _Arundina_ -- Habits of

leaf-insects -- Curious village -- Houses -- Canoes -- Boga-panee

river -- Jheels -- Chattuc -- Churra -- Leave for Jyntea hills --

Trading parties -- Dried fish -- Cherries -- Cinnamon -- Fraud --

Pea-violet -- Nonkreem -- Sandstone -- Pines -- Granite boulders --

Iron washing -- Forges -- Tanks -- Siberian _Nymphaea_ -- Barren

country -- Pomrang -- _Podostemon_ -- Patchouli plant -- Mooshye --

Enormous stone slabs -- Pitcher-plant -- Joowye cultivation and

vegetation -- _Hydropeltis_ -- Sulky hostess -- Nurtiung --

_Hamamelis chinensis_ -- Bor-panee river -- Sacred grove and gigantic

stone structures -- Altars -- Pyramids, etc. -- Origin of names --

_Vanda coerulea_ -- Collections -- November vegetation -- Geology of

Khasia -- Sandstone -- Coal -- Lime -- Gneiss -- Greenstone -- Tidal

action -- Strike of rocks -- Comparison with Rajmahal hills and the

Himalaya.

The snowy Himalaya was not visible during our first stay at Myrung,

from the 5th to the 10th of July; but on three subsequent occasions,

viz., 27th and 28th of July, 13th to 17th October, and 22nd to 25th

October, we saw these magnificent mountains, and repeatedly took

angular heights and bearings of the principal peaks. The range, as

seen from the Khasia, does not form a continuous line of snowy

mountains, but the loftiest eminences are conspicuously grouped into

masses, whose position is probably between the great rivers which

rise far beyond them and flow through Bhotan. This arrangement

indicates that relation of the rivers to the masses of snow, which I

have dwelt upon in the Appendix; and further tends to prove that the

snowy mountains, seen from the southward, are not on the axis of a

mountain chain, and do not even indicate its position; but that they

are lofty meridional spurs which, projecting southward, catch the

moist vapours, become more deeply snowed, and protect the dry loftier

regions behind.

The most conspicuous group of snows seen from the Khasia bears N.N.E.

from Myrung, and consists of three beautiful mountains with

wide-spreading snowy shoulders. These are distant (reckoning from

west to east) respectively 164, 170, and 172 miles from Myrung, and

subtend angles of + 0 degrees 4 minutes 0 seconds, - 0 degrees 1

minute 30 seconds, and -0 degrees 2 minutes 28 seconds.* [These

angles were taken both at sunrise and sunset, and with an excellent

theodolite, and were repeated after two considerable intervals.

The telescopes were reversed after each observation, and every

precaution used to insure accuracy; nevertheless the mean of one set

of observations of angular height often varied 1 degree from that of

another set. This is probably much due to atmospheric refraction,

whose effect and amount it is impossible to estimate accurately in

such cases. Here the objects are not only viewed through 160 miles of

atmosphere, but through belts from between 6000 to 20,000 feet of

vertical height, varying in humidity and transparency at different

parts of the interval. If we divide this column of atmosphere into

sections parallel to those of latitude, we have first a belt fifteen

miles broad, hanging over the Khasia, 2000 to 4000 feet above the

sea; beyond it, a second belt, seventy miles broad, hangs over the

Assam valley, which is hardly 300 feet above the level of the sea;

and thirdly, the northern part of the column, which reposes on 60 to

100 miles of the Bhotan lower Himalaya: each of these belts has

probably a different refractive power.] From Nunklow (940 feet lower

than Myrung) they appear higher, the western peak rising 14 degrees

35 minutes above the horizon; whilst from Moflong (32 miles further

south, and elevation 6,062 feet) the same is sunk 2 degrees below the

horizon. My computations make this western mountain upwards of 24,000

feet high; but according to Col. Wilcox's angles, taken from the

Assam valley, it is only 21,600, the others being respectively 20,720

and 21,475. Captain Thuillier (the Deputy Surveyor General) agrees

with me in considering that Colonel Wilcox's altitudes are probably

much under-estimated, as those of other Himalayan peaks to the

westward were by the old surveyors. It is further evident that these

mountains have (as far as can be estimated by angles) fully 6-8000

feet of snow on them, which would not be the case were the loftiest

only 21,600 feet high.

It is singular, that to the eastward of this group, no snowy

mountains are seen, and the lower Himalaya also dip suddenly.

This depression is no doubt partly due to perspective; but as there

is no such sudden disappearance of the chain to the westward, where

peaks are seen 35 degrees to the west of north, it is far more

probable that the valley of the Soobansiri river, which rises in

Tibet far behind these peaks, is broad and open; as is that of the

Dihong, still farther east, which we have every reason to believe is

the Tibetan Yaru or Burrampooter.

Supposing then the eastern group to indicate the mountain mass

separating the Soobansiri from the Monass river, no other mountains

conspicuous for altitude or dimension rise between N.N.E. and north,

where there is another immense group. This, though within 120 miles

of Myrung, is below its horizon, and scarcely above that of Nunklow

(which is still nearer to it), and cannot therefore attain any

great elevation.

Far to the westward again, is a very lofty peaked mountain bearing

N.N.W., which subtends an angle of -3 degrees 30 minutes from Myrung,

and +6 degrees 0 minutes from Nunklow. The angles of this seem to

indicate its being either Chumulari, or that great peak which I saw

due east from Bbomtso top, and which I then estimated at ninety miles

off and 23,500 feet high. From the Khasia angles, its latitude and

longitude are 28 degrees 6 minutes and 89 degrees 30 minutes, its

elevation 27,000 feet, and its distance from Myrung 200 miles. I need

hardly add that neither the position nor the elevation computed from

such data is worthy of confidence.

Further still, to the extreme west, is an immense low hog-backed mass

of snow, with a small peak on it; this bears north-west, both from

Myrung and Nunklow, subtending an angle of -25 minutes from the

former, and -17 minutes from the latter station. It is in all

probability Chumulari, 210 miles distant from Nunklow. Donkia, if

seen, would be distant 230 miles from the same spot in the Khasia,

and Kinchinjunga 260; possibly they are visible (by refraction) from

Chillong, though even further from it.

The distance from Myrung to Nunklow is ten miles, along an excellent

road. The descent is at first sudden, beyond which the country is

undulating, interspersed with jungle (of low trees, chiefly oaks) and

marshes, with much rice cultivation. Grasses are exceedingly

numerous; we gathered fifty kinds, besides twenty _Cyperaceae_: four

were cultivated, namely sugar-cane, rice, _Coix,_ and maize. Most of

the others were not so well suited to pasturage as those of higher

localities. Dwarf Phoenix palm occurs by the roadside at 5000 feet

elevation.

Gneiss (with garnets) highly inclined, was the prevalent rock

(striking north-east), and scattered boulders of syenite became very

frequent. In one place the latter rock is seen bursting through the

gneiss, which is slaty and very crystalline at the junction.

Nunklow is placed at the northern extremity of a broad spur that

over-hangs the valley of the Burrampooter river, thirty miles

distant. The descent from it is very rapid, and beyond it none of the

many spurs thrown out by the Khasia attain more than 1000 feet

elevation; hence, though the range does not present so abrupt a face

to the Burrampooter as it does to the Jheels, Nunklow is considered

as on the brink of its north slope. The elevation of the bungalow is

4,688 feet, and the climate being hot, it swarms with mosquitos,

fleas, and rats. It commands a superb view to the north, of the

Himalayan snows, of the Burrampooter, and intervening malarious Terai

forest; and to the south, of the undulating Khasia, with Kollong rock

bearing south-west. All the hills between this and Myrung look from

Nunklow better wooded than they do from Myrung, in consequence of the

slopes exposed to the south being bare of forest.

A thousand feet below the bungalow, a tropical forest begins, of

figs, birch, horse-chestnut, oak, nutmeg. _Cedrela, Engelhardtia,

Artocarpeae,_ and _Elaeocarpus,_ in the gullies, and tall pines on

the dry slopes, which are continued down to the very bottom of the

valley in which flows the Bor-panee, a broad and rapid river that

descends from Chillong, and winds round the base of the Nunklow spur.

Many of the pines are eighty feet high, and three or four in

diameter, but none form gigantic trees. The quantity of balsams in

the wet ravines is very great, and tree-ferns of several kinds are

common.

The Bor-panee is about forty yards wide, and is spanned by an elegant

iron suspension-bridge, that is clamped to the gneiss rock (strike

north-east, dip north-west) on either bank; beneath is a series of

cascades, none high, but all of great beauty from the broken masses

of rocks and picturesque scenery on either side. We frequently

botanised up and down the river with great success: many curious

plants grow on its stony and rocky banks; and amongst them

_Rhododendron formosum_ at the low elevation of 2000 feet. A most

splendid fern, _Dipteris Wallichii,_ is abundant, with the dwarf

Phoenix palm and _Cycas pectinata._

Wild animals are very abundant here, though extremely rare on the

higher part of the Khasia range; tigers, however, and bears, ascend

to Nunklow. We saw troops of wild dogs ("Kuleam," Khas.), deer, and

immense quantities of the droppings of the wild elephant; an animal

considered in Assam dangerous to meet, whereas in other parts of

India it is not dreaded till provoked. There is, however, no

quadruped that varies more in its native state than this: the Ceylon

kind differs from the Indian in the larger size and short tusks, and

an experienced judge at Calcutta will tell at once whether the newly

caught elephant is from Assam, Silhet, Cuttack, Nepal, or Chittagong.

Some of the differences, in size, roundness of shoulders and back,

quantity of hair, length of limb, and shape of head, are very marked;

and their dispositions are equally various.

The lowest rocks seen are at a considerable distance down the

Bor-panee; they are friable sandstones that strike uniformly with the

gneiss. From the bridge upwards the rocks are all gneiss, alternating

with chert and quartz. The Nunklow spur is covered with enormous

rounded blocks of syenite, reposing on clay or on one another.

These do not descend the hill, and are the remains of an extensive

formation which we could only find _in situ_ at one spot on the road

to Myrung (see earlier), but which must have been of immense

thickness.* [The tendency of many volcanic rocks to decompose in

spheres is very well known: it is conspicuous in the black basalts

north of Edinburgh, but I do not know any instance equal to this of

Nunklow, for the extent of decomposition and dimensions of the

resulting spheres.] One block within ten yards of the bungalow door

was fifteen feet long, six high, and eight broad; it appeared half

buried, and was rapidly decomposing from the action of the rain.

Close by, to the westward, in walking amongst the masses we were

reminded of a moraine of most gigantic sized blocks; one which I

measured was forty feet long and eleven above the ground; its edges

were rounded, and its surface flaked off in pieces a foot broad and a

quarter of an inch thick. Trees and brushwood often conceal the

spaces between these fragments, and afford dens for bears and

leopards, into which man cannot follow them.

Sitting in the cool evenings on one of these great blocks, and

watching the Himalayan glaciers glowing with the rays of sunset,

appearing to change in form and dimensions with the falling shadows,

it was impossible to refrain from speculating on the possibility of

these great boulders heaped on the Himalayan-ward face of the Khasia

range, having been transported hither by ice at some former period;

especially as the Mont Blanc granite, in crossing the lake of Geneva

to the Jura, must have performed a hardly less wonderful ice journey:

but this hypothesis is clearly untenable; and unparalleled in our

experience as the results appear, if attributed to denudation and

weathering alone, we are yet compelled to refer them to these causes.

The further we travel, and the longer we study, the more positive

becomes the conviction that the part played by these great agents in

sculpturing the surface of our planet, is as yet but half recognised.

We returned on the 7th of August to Churra, where we employed

ourselves during the rest of the month in collecting and studying the

plants of the neighbourhood. We hired a large and good bungalow, in

which three immense coal fires* [This coal is excellent for many

purposes. We found it generally used by the Assam steamers, and were

informed on board that in which we traversed the Sunderbunds, some

months afterwards, that her furnaces consumed 729 lbs. per hour;

whereas the consumption of English coal was 800 lbs., of Burdwan coal

8401bs., and of Assam 900 lbs.] were kept up for drying plants and

papers, and fifteen men were always employed, some in changing, and

some in collecting, from morning till night. The coal was procured

within a mile of our door, and cost about six shillings a month; it

was of the finest quality, and gave great heat and few ashes.

Torrents of rain descended almost daily, twelve inches in as many

hours being frequently registered; and we remarked that it was

impossible to judge of the quantity by estimation, an apparent deluge

sometimes proving much less in amount than much lighter but steadier

falls; hence the greatest fall is probably that in which the drops

are moderately large; very close together, and which pass through a

saturated atmosphere. The temperature of the rain here and elsewhere

in India was always a degree or two below that of the air.

Though the temperature in August rose to 75 degrees, we never felt a

fire oppressive, owing to the constant damp, and absence of sun.

The latter, when it broke through the clouds, shone powerfully,

raising the thermometer 20 degrees and 30 degrees in as many minutes.

On such occasions, hot blasts of damp wind ascend the valleys, and

impinge suddenly against different houses on the flat, giving rise to

extraordinary differences between the mean daily temperatures of

places not half a mile apart.

On the 4th of September we started for the village of Chela, which

lies west from Churra, at the embouchure of the Boga-panee on the

Jheels. The path runs by Mamloo, and down the spur to the Jasper hill

(see chapter xxviii): the vegetation all along is very tropical, and

pepper, ginger, maize, and Betel palm, are cultivated around small

cottages, which are only distinguishable in the forest by their

yellow thatch of dry _Calamus_ (Rattan) leaves. From Jasper hill a

very steep ridge leads to another, called Lisouplang, which is

hardly so high as Mamloo; the rocks are the same sandstone, with

fragments of coal, and remains of the limestone formation capping it.

Hot gusts of wind blow up the valleys, alternating with clouds and

mists, and it is curious to watch the effects of the latter in

stilling the voices of insects (Cicadas) and birds. Common crows and

vultures haunt the villages, but these, and all other large birds,

are very rare in the Khasia. A very few hawks are occasionally seen,

also sparrows and kingfishers, and I once heard a cuckoo; pheasants

are sometimes shot, but we never saw any. Kites become numerous after

the rains, and are regarded as a sign of their cessation.

More remarkable than the rarity of birds is the absence of all

animals except domestic rats, as a more suitable country for hares

and rabbits could not be found. Reptiles, and especially Colubridae,

are very common in the Khasia mountains, and I procured sixteen

species and many specimens. The natives repeatedly assured us that

these were all harmless, and Dr. Gray, who has kindly examined all my

snakes, informs me of the remarkable fact (alluded to in a note in

chapter xviii), that whereas none of these are poisonous, four out of

the eleven species which I found in Sikkim are so. One of the Khasia

blind-worms (a new species) belongs to a truly American genus

(_Ophisaurus_), a fact as important as is that of the Sikkim skink

and _Agama_ being also American forms.

_Arundina,_ a beautiful purple grassy-leaved orchid, was abundantly

in flower on the hill-top, and the great white swallow-tailed moth

(_Saturnia Atlas_) was extremely common, with tropical butterflies

and other insects. The curious leaf-insect (_Mantis_) was very

abundant on the orange trees, on the leaves of which the natives

believe it to feed; nor indeed could we persuade some of our friends

that its thin sharp jaws are unsuited for masticating leaves, and

that these and its prehensile feet indicate its predacious nature:

added to which, its singular resemblance to a leaf is no less a

provision against its being discovered by its enemies, than an aid in

deceiving its prey.

We descended rapidly for many miles through beautiful rocky woods,

with villages nestling amongst groves of banana and trellised

climbers; and from the brow of a hill looked down upon a slope

covered with vegetation and huts, which formed the mart of Chela, and

below which the Boga-panee flowed in a deep gorge. The view was a

very striking one: owing to the steepness of the valley below our

feet, the roofs alone of the cottages were visible, from which

ascended the sounds and smells of a dense native population, and to

which there appeared to be no way of descending. The opposite side

rose precipitously in lofty table-topped mountains, and the river was

studded with canoes.

The descent was fully 800 feet, on a slope averaging 25 degrees to 35

degrees. The cottages were placed close together, each within a

little bamboo enclosure, eight to ten yards deep; and no two were on

the same level. Each was built against a perpendicular wall which

supported a cutting in the bank behind; and a similar wall descended

in front of it, forming the back of the compartment in which the

cottage next below it was erected. The houses were often raised on

platforms, and some had balconies in front, which overhung the

cottage below. All were mere hovels of wattle or mud, with very

high-pitched roofs: stone tanks resembling fonts, urns, coffins, and

sarcophagi, were placed near the better houses, and blocks of stone

were scattered everywhere.

We descended from hovel to hovel, alternately along the gravelled

flat of each enclosure, and perpendicularly down steps cut in the

sandstone or let into the walls. I counted 800 houses from the river,

and there must be many more: the inhabitants are Bengalees and

Khasias, and perhaps amount to 3000 or 4000; but this is a very

vague estimate.

Illustration--CHELA VILLAGE.

We lodged in a curious house, consisting of one apartment, twenty

feet long, and five high, raised thirty feet upon bamboos: the walls

were of platted bamboo matting, fastened to strong wooden beams, and

one side opened on a balcony that overhung the river. The entrance

was an oval aperture reached by a ladder, and closed by folding-doors

that turned on wooden pivots. The roof was supported by tressels of

great thickness, and like the rest of the woodwork, was morticed, no

nails being used throughout the building. The floor was of split

bamboos laid side by side.

We ascended the Boga-panee in canoes, each formed of a hollowed trunk

fifty feet long and four broad; we could not, however, proceed far,

on account of the rapids. The rocks in its bed are limestone, but a

great bluff cliff of sandy conglomerate (strike east-south-east and

dip south-south-west 70 degrees), several hundred feet high, rises on

the east bank close above the village, above which occurs

amygdaloidal basalt. The pebbles in the river (which was seventy

yards broad, and turbid) were of slate, basalt, sandstone, and

syenite: on the opposite bank were sandstones over-lain by limestone,

both dipping to the southward.

Beautiful palms, especially _Caryota urens_ (by far the handsomest in

India), and groves of betel-nut bordered the river, with oranges,

lemons, and citrons; intermixed with feathery bamboos,

horizontally-branched acacias, oaks, with pale red young leaves, and

deep green foliaged figs. Prickly rattans and _Plectocomia_ climbed

amongst these, their enormous plumes of foliage upborne by the matted

branches of the trees, and their arrowy tops shooting high above the

forest.

After staying three days at Chela, we descended the stream in canoes,

shooting over pebbly rapids, and amongst rocks of limestone,

water-worn into fantastic shapes, till we at last found ourselves

gliding gently along the still canals of the Jheels. Many of these

rapids are so far artificial, that they are enclosed by gravel banks,

six feet high, which, by confining the waters, give them depth; but,

Chela being hardly above the level of the sea, their fall is very

trifling. We proceeded across the Jheels* [The common water-plants of

the Jheels are _Vallisneria serrata, Damasonium,_ 2 _Myriophylla,_ 2

_Villarsiae, Trapa,_ blue, white, purple and scarlet water-lilies,

_Hydrilla, Utricularia, Limnophila, Azolla, Salvinia, Ceratopteris,_

and floating grasses.] to Chattuc, and then north again to Pundua,

and so to Churra.

Having pretty well exhausted the botany of Churra, Dr. Thomson and I

started on the 13th of September for the eastern part of the Khasia

and Jyntea mountains. On the Kala-panee road,* [The Pea-violet

(_Crotalaria occulta_) was very common by the road-side, and

smelt deliciously of violets: the English name suggests the

appearance of the flower, for which and for its fragrance it is well

worth cultivation.] which we followed, we passed crowds of market

people, laden with dried fish in a half-putrid state, which scented

the air for many yards: they were chiefly carp, caught and dried at

the foot of the hills. Large parties were bringing down baskets of

bird-cherries, cinnamon-bark, iron, pine planks, fire-wood, and

potatoes. Of these, the bird-cherries (like damsons) are made into an

excellent preserve by the English residents, who also make capital

cherry-brandy of them: the trade in cinnamon is of recent

introduction, and is much encouraged by the Inglis family, to whose

exertions these people are so greatly indebted; the cinnamon is the

peeled bark of a small species of _Cinnamomum_ allied to that of

Ceylon, and though inferior in flavour and mucilaginous (like

cassia), finds a ready market at Calcutta. It has been used to

adulterate the Ceylon cinnamon; and an extensive fraud was attempted

by some Europeans at Calcutta, who sent boxes of this, with a top

layer of the genuine, to England. The smell of the cinnamon loads was

as fragrant as that of the fish was offensive.

The road from Kala-panee bungalow strikes off north-easterly, and

rounds the head of the deep valley to the east of Churra; it then

crosses the head-waters of the Kala-panee river, still a clear

stream, the bed of which is comparatively superficial: the rocks

consist of a little basalt and much sandstone, striking east by

north, and dipping north by west. The Boga-panee is next reached,

flowing in a shallow valley, about 200 feet below the general level

of the hills, which are grassy and treeless. The river8 [The fall of

this river, between this elevation (which may be considered that of

its source) and Chela, is about 5,500 feet.] is thirty yards across,

shallow and turbid; its bed is granite, and beyond it scattered

stunted pines are met with; a tree which seems to avoid the

sandstone. In the evening we arrived at Nonkreem, a large village in

a broad marshy valley, where we procured accommodation with some

difficulty, the people being by no means civil, and the Rajah, Sing

Manuk, holding himself independent of the British Government.

Atmospheric denudation and weathering have produced remarkable

effects on the lower part of the Nonkreem valley, which is blocked up

by a pine-crested hill, 200 feet high, entirely formed of round

blocks of granite, heaped up so as to resemble an old moraine; but

like the Nunklow boulders, these are not arranged as if by glacial

action. The granite is micaceous, and usually very soft, decomposing

into a coarse reddish sand, that colours the Boga-panee. To procure

the iron-sand, which is disseminated through it, the natives conduct

water over the beds of granite sand, and as the lighter particles are

washed away, the remainder is removed to troughs, where the

separation of the ore is completed. The smelting is very rudely

carried on in charcoal fires, blown by enormous double-action

bellows, worked by two persons, who stand on the machine, raising the

flaps with their hands, and expanding them with their feet, as shown

in the cut further on. There is neither furnace nor flux used in the

reduction. The fire is kindled on one aide of an upright stone (like

the head-stone of a grave), with a small arched hole close to the

ground: near this hole the bellows are suspended; and a bamboo tube

from each of its compartments, meets in a larger one, by which the

draught is directed under the hole in the stone to the fire. The ore

is run into lumps as large as two fists, with a rugged surface: these

lumps are afterwards cleft nearly in two, to show their purity.

Illustration--NONKREEM VILLAGE.

The scenery about Nonkreem village is extremely picturesque, and we

procured many good plants on the rocks, which were covered with the

purple-flowered Orchid, _Coelogyne Wallichii._ The country is

everywhere intersected with trenches for iron-washing, and some

large marshes were dammed up for the same purpose: in these we found

some beautiful balsams, _Hypericum_ and _Parnassia_; also a

diminutive water-lily, the flower of which is no larger than a

half-crown; it proves to be the _Nymphaea pygmaea_ of China and

Siberia--a remarkable fact in the geographical distribution

of plants.

Illustration--BELLOWS.

From Nonkreem we proceeded easterly to Pomrang, leaving Chillong hill

on the north, and again crossing the Bega-panee, beyond which the

sandstone appeared (strike north-east and dip north-west 60

degrees); the soil was poor in the extreme; not an inhabitant or tree

was to be seen throughout the grassy landscape, and hardly a bush,

save an occasional rhododendron, dwarf oak, or _Pieris,_ barely a few

inches high.

At Pomrang we took up our quarters in an excellent empty bungalow,

built by Mr. Stainforth (Judge of Silhet), who kindly allowed us the

use of it. Its elevation was 5,143 feet, and it occupied the eastern

extremity of a lofty spur that overhangs the deep fir-clad valley of

the Oongkot, dividing Khasia from Jyntea. The climate of Pomrang is

so much cooler and less rainy than at Churra, that this place is more

eligible for a station; but the soil is quite impracticable, there is

an occasional scarcity of water, the pasture is wholly unsuited for

cattle or sheep, and the distance from the plains is too great.

A beautiful view extends eastwards to the low Jyntea hills, backed by

the blue mountains of Cachar, over the deep valley in front; to the

northward, a few peaks of the Himalaya are seen, and westward is

Chillong. We staid here till the 23rd September, and then proceeded

south-eastward to Mooshye. The path descends into the valley of the

Oongkot, passing the village of Pomrang, and then through woods of

pine, _Gordonia,_ and oak, the latter closely resembling the English,

and infested with galls. The slopes are extensively cultivated with

black awnless unirrigated rice, and poor crops of _Coix,_ protected

from the birds by scarecrows of lines stretched across the fields,

bearing tassels and tufts of fern, shaken by boys. This fern proved

to be a very curious and interesting genus, which is only known to

occur elsewhere at Hong-Kong in China, and has been called

_Bowringia,_ after the eminent Dr. Bowring.

We crossed the river* [_Podostemom_ grew on the stones at the bottom:

it is a remarkable waterplant, resembling a liver-wort in its mode of

growth. Several species occur at different elevations in the Khasia,

and appear only in autumn, when they often carpet the bottom of the

streams with green. In spring and summer no traces of them are seen;

and it is difficult to conceive what becomes of the seeds in the

interval, and how these, which are well known, and have no apparent

provision for the purpose, attach themselves to the smooth rocks at

the bottom of the torrents. All the kinds flower and ripen their

seeds under water; the stamens and pistil being protected by the

closed flower from the wet. This genus does not inhabit the Sikkim

rivers, probably owing to the great changes of temperature to which

these are subject.] twice, proceeding south-west to Mooshye, a

village placed on an isolated, flat-topped, and very steep-sided

hill, 4,863 feet above the sea, and perhaps 3,500 above the Oongkot,

which winds round its base. A very steep path led up slate rocks to

the top (which was of sandstone), where there is a stockaded

guard-house, once occupied by British troops, of which we took

possession. A Labiate plant (_Mesona Wallichiana_) grew on the

ascent, whose bruised leaves smelt as strongly of patchouli, as do

those of the plant producing that perfume, to which it is closely

allied. The _Pogostemon Patchouli_ has been said to occur in these

parts of India, but we never met with it, and doubt the accuracy of

the statement. It is a native of the Malay peninsula, whence the

leaves are imported into Bengal, and so to Europe.

The summit commands a fine view northward of some Himalayan peaks,

and southwards of the broad valley of the Oongkot, which is level,

and bounded by steep and precipitous hills, with flat tops. On the

25th we left Mooshye for Amwee in Jyntea, which lies to the

south-east. We descended by steps cut in the sandstone, and fording

the Oongkot, climbed the hills on its east side, along the grassy

tops of which we continued, at an elevation of 4000 feet. Marshy

flats intersect the hills, to which wild elephants sometimes ascend,

doing much damage to the rice crops. We crossed a stream by a bridge

formed of one gigantic block of sandstone, 20 feet long, close to the

village, which is a wretched one, and is considered unhealthy: it

stands on the high road from Jynteapore (at the foot of the hills to

the southward) to Assam: the only road that crosses the mountains

east of that from Churra to Nunklow.

Illustration--OLD BRIDGE AT AMWEE.

Though so much lower, this country, from the barrenness of the soil,

is more thinly inhabited than the Khasia. The pitcher-plant

(_Nepenthes_) grows on stony and grassy hills about Amwee, and crawls

along the ground; its pitchers seldom contain insects in the wild

state, nor can we suggest any special function for the wonderful

organ it possesses.

About eight miles south of the village is a stream, crossed by a

bridge, half of which is formed of slabs of stone (of which one is

twenty-one feet long, seven broad, and two feet three and a half

inches thick), supported on piers, and the rest is a well turned

arch, such as I have not seen elsewhere among the hill tribes of

India. It is fast crumbling away, and is covered with tropical

plants, and a beautiful white-flowered orchis* [_Diplomeris;

Apostasia_ also grew in this gulley, with a small _Arundina,_ some

beautiful species of _Sonerila,_ and _Argostemma._ The neighbourhood

was very rich in plants.] grew in the mossy crevices of its stones.

From Amwee our route lay north-east across the Jyntea hills to

Joowye, the hill-capital of the district. The path gradually

ascended, dipping into valleys scooped out in the horizontal

sandstone down to the basalt; and boulders of the same rock were

scattered about. Fields of rice occupy the bottoms of these valleys,

in which were placed gigantic images of men, dressed in rags, and

armed with bows and arrows, to scare away the wild elephants! Slate

rocks succeed the sandstone (strike north-east, dip north-west), and

with them pines and birch appear, clothing the deep flanks of the

Mintadoong valley, which we crossed.

The situation of Joowye is extremely beautiful: it occupies the

broken wooded slope of a large open flat valley, dotted with pines;

and consists of an immense number of low thatched cottages, scattered

amongst groves of bamboo, and fields of plantain, tobacco, yams,

sugar-cane, maize, and rice, surrounded by hedges of bamboo,

_Colquhounia,_ and _Erythrina._ Narrow steep lanes lead amongst

these, shaded with oak, birch, _Podocarpus,_ Camellia, and

_Araliaceae_; the larger trees being covered with orchids, climbing

palms, _Pothos, Scindapsus,_ pepper, and _Gnetum_; while masses of

beautiful red and violet balsams grew under every hedge and rock.

The latter was of sandstone, overlying highly inclined schists, and

afforded magnificent blocks for the natives to rear on end, or make

seats of. Some erect stones on a hill at the entrance are immensely

large, and surround a clump of fine fig and banyan trees.* [In some

tanks we found _Hydropeltis,_ an American and Australian plant allied

to _Nymphaea._ Mr. Griffith first detected it here, and afterwards in

Bhotan, these being the only known habitats for it in the Old World.

It grows with _Typha, Acorus Calamus_ (sweet flag), _Vallisneria,

Potamogeton, Sparganium,_ and other European water-plants.]

We procured a good house after many delays, for the people were far

from obliging; it was a clean, very long cottage, with low thatched

eaves almost touching the ground, and was surrounded by a high bamboo

paling that enclosed out-houses built on a well-swept floor of beaten

earth. Within, the woodwork was carved in curious patterns, and was

particularly well fitted. The old lady to whom it belonged got tired

of us before two days were over, and first tried to smoke us out by a

large fire of green wood at that end of the cottage which she

retained; and afterwards by inviting guests to a supper, with whom

she kept up a racket all night. Her son, a tall, sulky fellow, came

to receive the usual gratuity on our departure, which we made large

to show we bore no ill-will: he, however, behaved so scornfully,

pretending to despise it, that I had no choice but to pocket it

again; a proceeding which was received with shouts of laughter, at

his expense, from a large crowd of bystanders.

On the 30th of September we proceeded north-east from Joowye to

Nurtiung, crossing the watershed of the Jyntea range, which is

granitic, and scarcely raised above the mean level of the hills; it

is about 4,500 feet elevation. To the north the descent is at first

rather abrupt for 500 feet, to a considerable stream, beyond which is

the village of Nurtiung. The country gradually declines hence to the

north-east, in grassy hills; which to the east become higher and

more wooded: to the west the Khasia are seen, and several Himalayan

peaks to the north.

The ascent to the village from the river is by steps cut in a narrow

cleft of the schist rocks, to a flat, elevated 4,178 feet above the

sea: we here procured a cottage, and found the people remarkably

civil. The general appearance is the same as at Joowye, but there are

here extensive and very unhealthy marshes, whose evil effects we

experienced, in having the misfortune to lose one of our servants by

fever. Except pines, there are few large trees; but the quantity of

species of perennial woody plants contributing to form the jungles is

quite extraordinary: I enumerated 140, of which 60 were trees or

large shrubs above twenty feet high. One of these was the _Hamamelis

chinensis,_ a plant hitherto only known as a native of China.

This, the _Bowringia,_ and the little _Nymphaea,_ are three out of

many remarkable instances of our approach to the eastern

Asiatic flora.

From Nurtiung we walked to the Bor-panee river, sixteen or twenty

miles to the north-east (not the river of that name below Nunklow),

returning the same night; a most fatiguing journey in so hot and damp

a climate. The path lay for the greatest part of the way over grassy

hills of mica-schist, with boulders of granite, and afterwards of

syenite, like those of Nunklow. The descent to the river is through

noble woods of spreading oaks,* [We collected upwards of fifteen

kinds of oak and chesnut in these and the Khasia mountains; many are

magnificent trees, with excellent wood, while others are inferior as

timber.] chesnuts, magnolias, and tall pines: the vegetation is very

tropical, and with the exception of there being no sal, it resembles

that of the dry hills of the Sikkim Terai. The Bor-panee is forty

yards broad, and turbid; its bed, which is of basalt, is 2,454 feet

above the sea: it is crossed by a raft pulled to and fro by canes.

Nurtiung contains a most remarkable collection of those sepulchral

and other monuments, which form so curious a feature in the scenery

of these mountains and in the habits of their savage population.

They are all placed in a fine grove of trees, occupying a hollow;

where several acres are covered with gigantic, generally circular,

slabs of stone, from ten to twenty-five feet broad, supported five

feet above the ground upon other blocks. For the most part they are

buried in brushwood of nettles and shrubs, but in one place there is

an open area of fifty yards encircled by them, each with a gigantic

headstone behind it. Of the latter the tallest was nearly thirty feet

high, six broad, and two feet eight inches in thickness, and must

have been sunk at least five feet, and perhaps much more, in the

ground. The flat slabs were generally of slate or hornstone; but many

of them, and all the larger ones, were of syenitic granite, split by

heat and cold water with great art. They are erected by dint of sheer

brute strength, the lever being the only aid. Large blocks of syenite

were scattered amongst these wonderful erections.

Splendid trees of _Bombax,_ fig and banyan, overshadowed them: the

largest banyan had a trunk five feet in diameter, clear of the

buttresses, and numerous small trees of _Celtic_ grew out of it, and

an immense flowering tuft of _Vanda caerulea_ (the rarest and most

beautiful of Indian orchids) flourished on one of its limbs. A small

plantain with austere woolly scarlet fruit, bearing ripe seeds, was

planted in this sacred grove, where trees of the most tropical genera

grew mixed with the pine, birch, _Myrica,_ and _Viburnum._

The Nurtiung Stonehenge is no doubt in part religious, as the grove

suggests, and also designed for cremation, the bodies being burnt on

the altars. In the Khasia these upright stones are generally raised

simply as memorials of great events, or of men whose ashes are not

necessarily, though frequently, buried or deposited in hollow stone

sarcophagi near them, and sometimes in an urn placed inside a

sarcophagus, or under horizontal slabs.

Illustration--STONES AT NURTIUNG.

The usual arrangement is a row of five, seven, or more erect oblong

blocks with round heads (the highest being placed in the middle), on

which are often wooden discs and cones: more rarely pyramids are

built. Broad slabs for seats are also common by the wayside.

Mr. Yule, who first drew attention to these monuments, mentions one

thirty-two feet by fifteen, and two in thickness; and states that the

sarcophagi (which, however, are rare) formed of four slabs, resemble

a drawing in Bell's Circassia, and descriptions in Irby and Mangles'

Travels in Syria. He adds that many villages derive their names from

these stones, "mau" signifying "stone:" thus "Mausmai" is "the stone

of oath," because, as his native informant said, "there was war

between Churra and Mausmai, and when they made peace, they swore to

it, and placed a stone as a witness;" forcibly recalling the stone

Jacob set up for a pillar, and other passages in the old Testament:

"Mamloo" is "the stone of salt," eating salt from a sword's point

being the Khasia form of oath: "Mauflong" is "the grassy stone,"

etc.* [Notes on the Khasia mountains and people; by Lieutenant H.

Yule, Bengal Engineers. Analogous combinations occur in the south of

England and in Brittany, etc., where similar structures are found.

Thus _maen, man,_ or _men_ is the so-called Druidical name for a

stony, whence _Pen-maen-mawr,_ for "the hill of the big stone,"

_Maen-hayr,_ for the standing stones of Brittany, and _Dol-men,_ °the

table-stone," for a cromlech.] Returning from this grove, we crossed

a stream by a single squared block, twenty-eight feet long, five

broad, and two thick, of gray syenitic granite with large crystals

of felspar.

We left Nurtiung on the 4th of October, and walked to Pomrang, a very

long and fatiguing day's work. The route descends north-west of the

village, and turns due east along bare grassy hills of mica-schist

and slate (strike east and west, and dip north). Near the village of

Lernai oak woods are passed, in which _Vanda coerulea_ grows in

profusion, waving its panicles of azure flowers in the wind. As this

beautiful orchid is at present attracting great attention, from its

high price, beauty, and difficulty of culture, I shall point out how

totally at variance with its native habits, is the cultivation

thought necessary for it in England.* [We collected seven men's loads

of this superb plant for the Royal Gardens at Kew; but owing to

unavoidable accidents and difficulties, few specimens reached England

alive. A gentleman who sent his gardener with us to be shown the

locality, was more successful: he sent one man's load to England on

commission, and though it arrived in a very poor state, it sold for

300 pounds, the individual plants fetching prices varying from 3

pounds to 10 pounds. Had all arrived alive, they would have cleared

1000 pounds. An active collector, with the facilities I possessed,

might easily clear from 2000 pounds to 3000 pounds, in one season, by

the sale of Khasia orchids.] The dry grassy hills which it inhabits

are elevated 3000 to 4000 feet: the trees are small, gnarled, and

very sparingly leafy, so that the Vanda which grows on their limbs is

fully exposed to sun, rain, and wind. There is no moss or lichen on

the branches with the Vanda, whose roots sprawl over the dry rough

bark. The atmosphere is on the whole humid, and extremely so during

the rains; but there is no damp heat, or stagnation of the air, and

at the flowering season the temperature ranges between 60 degrees and

80 degrees, there is much sunshine, and both air and bark are dry

during the day: in July and August, during the rains, the temperature

is a little higher than above, but in winter it falls much lower, and

hoar-frost forms on the ground. Now this winter's cold, summer's

heat, and autumn's drought, and above all, this constant free

exposure to fresh air and the winds of heaven, are what of all things

we avoid exposing our orchids to in England. It is under these

conditions, however, that all the finer Indian _Orchideae,_ grow, of

which we found _Dendrobium Farmeri, Dalhousianum, Devonianum,_ etc.,

with _Vanda coerulea_; whilst the most beautiful species of

_Coelogyne, Cymbidium, Bolbophyllum,_ and _Cypripedium,_ inhabit cool

climates at elevations above 4000 feet in Khasia, and as high as 6000

to 7000 in Sikkim.

On the following day we turned out our Vanda to dress the specimens

for travelling, and preserve the flowers for botanical purposes.

Of the latter we had 360 panicles, each composed of from six to

twenty-one broad pale-blue tesselated flowers, three and a half to

four inches across and they formed three piles on the floor of the

verandah, each a yard high: what would we not have given to have been

able to transport a single panicle to a Chiswick fete!

On the 10th of October we sent twenty-four strong mountaineers to

Churra, laden with the collections of the previous month; whilst we

returned to Nonkreem, and crossing the shoulder of Chillong, passed

through the village of Moleem in a north-west direction to the Syong

bungalow. From this we again crossed the range to Nunklow and the

Bor-panee, and returned by Moflong and the Kala-panee to Churra

during the latter part of the month.

In November the vegetation above 4000 feet turns wintry and brown,

the weather becomes chilly, and though the cold is never great,

hoar-frost forms at Churra, and water freezes at Moflong. We prepared

to leave as these signs of winter advanced: we had collected upwards

of 2,500 species, and for the last few weeks all our diligence, and

that of our collectors, had failed to be rewarded by a single

novelty. We however procured many species in fruit, and made a

collection of upwards of 300 kinds of woods, many of very curious

structure. As, however, we projected a trip to Cachar before quitting

the neighbourhood, we retained our collectors, giving orders for them

to meet us at Chattuc, on our way down the Soormah in December, with

their collections, which amounted to 200 men's loads, and for the

conveyance of which to Calcutta, Mr. Inglis procured us boats.

Before dismissing the subject of the Khasia mountains, it will be

well to give a slight sketch of their prominent geographical

features, in connection with their geology. The general geological

characters of the chain may be summed up in a few words. The nucleus

or axis is of highly inclined stratified metamorphic rocks, through

which the granite has been protruded, and the basalt and syenite

afterwards injected. After extensive denudations of these, the

sandstone, coal, and limestone were successively deposited. These are

altered and displaced along the southern edge of the range, by black

amygdaloidal trap, and have in their turn been extensively denuded;

and it is this last operation that has sculptured the range, and

given the mountains their present aspect; for the same gneisses,

slates, and basalts in other countries, present rugged peaks, domes,

or cones, and there is nothing in their composition or arrangement

here that explains the tabular or rounded outline they assume, or the

uniform level of the spurs into which they rise, or the curious steep

sides and flat floors of the valleys which drain them.

All these peculiarities of outline are the result of denudation, of

the specific action of which agent we are very ignorant.

The remarkable difference between the steep cliffs on the south face

of the range, and the rounded outline of the hills on the northern

slopes, may be explained on the supposition that when the Khasia was

partially submerged, the Assam valley was a broad bay or gulf; and

that while the Churra cliffs were exposed to the full sweep of the

ocean, the Nunklow shore was washed by a more tranquil sea.

The broad flat marshy heads of all the streams in the central and

northern parts of the chain, and the rounded hills that separate

them, indicate the levelling action of a tidal sea, acting on a low

flat shore;* [Since our return to England, we have been much struck

with the similarity in contour of the Essex and Suffolk coasts, and

with the fact that the tidal coast sculpturing of this surface is

preserved in the very centre of High Suffolk, twenty to thirty miles

distant from the sea, in rounded outlines and broad flat marshy

valleys.]whilst the steep flat- floored valleys of the southern

watershed may be attributed to the scouring action of higher tides on

a boisterous rocky coast. These views are confirmed by an examination

of the east shores of the Bay of Bengal, and particularly by a

comparison of the features of the country about Silhet, now nearly

280 miles distant from the sea, with those of the Chittagong coast,

with which they are identical.

The geological features of the Khasia are in many respects so similar

to those of the Vindhya, Kymore, Behar, and Rajmahal mountains, that

they have been considered by some observers as an eastern

prolongation of that great chain, from which they are geographically

separated by the delta of the Ganges and Burrampooter. The general

contour of the mountains, and of their sandstone cliffs, is the same,

and the association of this rock with coal and lime is a marked point

of similarity; there is, however, this difference between them, that

the coal-shales of Khasia and limestone of Behar are

non-fossiliferous, while the lime of Khasia and the coal-shales of

Behar contain fossils.

The prevalent north-east strike of the gneiss is the same in both,

differing from the Himalaya, where the stratified rocks generally

strike north-west. The nummulites of the limestone are the only known

means we have of forming an approximate estimate of the age of the

Khasia coal, which is the most interesting feature in the geology of

the range: these fossils have been examined by MM. Archiac and Jules

Haines,* ["Description des Animaux Fossiles des Indes Orientales;"

p. 178. These species are _Nummulites scabra,_ Lamarck, _N. obtusa,_

Sowerby, _N. Lucasana,_ Deshayes, and _N. Beaumonti,_ d'Arch. and

Haines.] who have pronounced the species collected by Dr. Thomson and

myself to be the same as those found in the nummulite rocks of

north-west India, Scinde, and Arabia.

CHAPTER XXX.

Boat 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 -- Noacolly -- 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 --

Sunderbunds -- Steamer -- Tides -- _Nipa fruticans_ -- Fishing --

Otters -- Crocodiles -- _Phoenix paludosa_ -- Departure from India.

We left Churra on the 17th of November, and taking boats at Pundua,

crossed the Jheels to the Soormah, which we ascended to Silhet.

Thence we continued our voyage 120 miles up the river in canoes, to

Silchar, the capital of the district of Cachar: the boats were such

as I described at Chattuc, and though it was impossible to sit

upright in them, they were paddled with great swiftness. The river at

Silhet is 200 yards broad; it is muddy, and flows with a gentle

current of two to three miles an hour, between banks six to twelve

feet high. As we glided up its stream, villages became rarer, and

eminences more frequent in the Jheels. The people are a tall, bold,

athletic Mahometan race, who live much on the water, and cultivate

rice, sesamum, and radishes, with betel-pepper in thatched enclosures

as in Sikkim: maize and sugar are rarer, bamboos abound, and four

palms (_Borassus, Areca,_ cocoa-nut, and _Caryota_) are planted, but

there are no date-palms.

The Teelas (or hillocks) are the haunts of wild boars, tigers, and

elephants, but not of the rhinoceros; they are 80 to 200 feet high,

of horizontally stratified gravel and sand, slates, and clay

conglomerates, with a slag-like honey-combed sandstone; they are

covered with oaks, figs, _Heretiera,_ and bamboos, and besides a

multitude of common Bengal plants, there are some which, though

generally considered mountain or cold country genera, here descend to

the level of the sea; such are _Kadsura, Rubus, Camellia,_ and

_Sabia_; _Aerides_ and _Saccolabia_ are the common orchids, and

rattan-canes and _Pandani_ render the jungles impenetrable.

A very long sedge (_Scleria_) grows by the water, and is used for

thatching: boatloads of it are collected for the Calcutta market, for

which also were destined many immense rafts of bamboo, 100 feet long.

The people fish much, using square and triangular drop-nets stretched

upon bamboos, and rude basket-work weirs, that retain the fish as the

river falls. Near the villages we saw fragments of pottery three feet

below the surface of the ground, shewing that the bank, which is

higher than the surrounding country, increases from the

annual overflow.

About seventy miles up the river, the mountains on the north, which

are east of Jyntea, rise 4000 feet high in forest-clad ranges like

those of Sikkim. Swamps extend from the river to their base, and

penetrate their valleys, which are extremely malarious: these forests

are frequented by timber-cutters, who fell jarool (_Lagerstroemia

Reginae_), a magnificent tree with red wood, which, though soft, is

durable under water, and therefore in universal use for

boat-building. The toon is also cut, with red sandal-wood

(_Adenanthera pavonina_); also Nageesa,* [There is much dispute

amongst oriental scholars about the word Nageesa; the Bombay

philologists refer it to a species of _Garcinia,_ whilst the pundits

on the Calcutta side of India consider it to be _Mesua ferrea._

Throughout our travels in India, we were struck with the undue

reliance placed on native names of plants, and information of all

kinds; and the pertinacity with which each linguist adhered to his

own crotchet as to the application of terms to natural objects, and

their pronunciation. It is a very prevalent, but erroneous,

impression, that savage and half-civilised people have an accurate

knowledge of objects of natural history, and a uniform nomenclature

for them.] _Mesua ferrea,_ which is highly valued for its weight,

strength, and durability: _Aquilaria agallocha,_ the eagle-wood, a

tree yielding uggur oil, is also much sought for its fragrant wood,

which is carried to Silhet and Azmerigunj, where it is broken up and

distilled. Neither teak, sissoo, sal, nor other _Dipterocarpi,_ are

found in these forests.

Porpoises, and both the long and the short-nosed alligator, ascend

the Soormah for 120 miles, being found beyond Silchar, which place we

reached on the 22nd, and were most hospitably received by Colonel

Lister, the political agent commanding the Silhet Light Infantry, who

was inspecting the Cookie levy, a corps of hill-natives which had

lately been enrolled.

The station is a small one, and stands about forty feet above the

river, which however rises half that height in the rains. Long low

spurs of tertiary rocks stretch from the Tipperah hills for many

miles north, through the swampy Jheels to the river; and there are

also hills on the opposite or north side, but detached from the

Cookie hills, as the lofty blue range twelve miles north of the

Soormah is called. All these mountains swarm with tigers, wild

buffalos, and boars, which also infest the long grass of the Jheels.

The elevation of the house we occupied at Silchar was 116 feet above

the sea. The bank it stood on was of clay, with soft rocks of

conglomerate, which often assume the appearance of a brown

sandy slag.

During the first Birmese war, Colonel Lister was sent with a force up

to this remote corner of Bengal, when the country was an uninhabited

jungle, so full of tigers that not a day passed without one or more

of his grass or wood-cutters being carried off. Now, thousands of

acres are cultivated with rice, and during our stay we did not see a

tiger. The quantity of land brought into cultivation in this part of

Bengal, and indeed throughout the Gangetic delta, has probably been

doubled during the last twenty years, and speaks volumes for the

state of the peasant under the Indian Company's sway, as compared

with his former condition. The Silchar rice is of admirable quality,

and much is imported to Silhet, the Jheels not producing grain enough

for the consumption of the people. Though Silchar grows enough for

ten times its population, there was actually a famine six weeks

before our arrival, the demand from Silhet being so great.

The villages of Cachar are peopled by Mahometans, Munniporees, Nagas,

and Cookies; the Cacharies themselves being a poor and peaceful

jungle tribe, confined to the mountains north of the Soormah.

The Munniporees* [The Munnipore valley has never been explored by any

naturalist, its mountains are said to be pine-clad, and to rise 8000

feet above the level of the sea. The Rajah is much harassed by the

Birmese, and is a dependant of the British, who are in the very

frequent dilemma of supporting on the throne a sovereign opposed by a

strong faction of his countrymen, and who has very dubious claims to

his position. During our stay at Silchar, the supposed rightful Rajah

was prevailing over the usurper; a battle had been fought on the

hills on the frontier, and two bodies floated past our bungalow,

pierced with arrows.] are emigrants from the kingdom of that name,

which lies beyond the British possessions, and borders on Assam and

Birmah. Low ranges of forest-clad mountains at the head of the

Soormah, separate it from Silchar, with which it is coterminous; the

two chief towns being seven marches apart. To the south-east of

Silchar are interminable jungles, peopled by the Cookies, a wild

Indo-Chinese tribe, who live in a state of constant warfare, and

possess the whole hill-country from this, southward to beyond

Chittagong. Two years ago they invaded and ravaged Cachar, carrying

many of the inhabitants into slavery, and so frightening the people,

that land previously worth six rupees a biggah, is now reduced to one

and a half. Colonel Lister was sent with a strong party to rescue the

captives, and marched for many days through their country without

disturbing man or beast; penetrating deep forests of gigantic trees

and tall bamboos, never seeing the sun above, or aught to the right

and left, save an occasional clearance and a deserted village.

The incursion, however, had its effects, and the better inclined near

the frontier have since come forward, and been enrolled as the

Cookie levy.

The Munnipore emigrants are industrious settlers for a time, but

never remain long in one place: their religion is Hindoo, and they

keep up a considerable trade with their own country, whence they

import a large breed of buffalos, ponies, silks, and cotton cloths

dyed with arnotto (_Bixa_), and universally used for turbans.

They use bamboo blowing-tubes and arrows for shooting birds, make

excellent shields of rhinoceros hide (imported from Assam), and play

at hockey on horseback like the Western Tibetans. A fine black

varnish from the fruit of _Holigarna longifolia,_ is imported from

Munnipore, as is another made from _Sesuvium Anacardium_

(marking-nut), and a remarkable black pigment resembling that from

_Melanorhoea usitatissima,_ which is white when fresh, and requires

to be kept under water.* [This turns of a beautiful black colour when

applied to a surface, owing, according to Sir D. Brewster, to the

fresh varnish consisting of a congeries of minute organised

particles, which disperse the rays of light in all directions; the

organic structure is destroyed when the varnish dries and the rays of

light are consequently transmitted.]

One fine moonlight night we went to see a Munnipore dance. A large

circular area was thatched with plantain leaves, growing on their

trunks, which were stuck in the ground; and round the enclosure was a

border neatly cut from the white leaf-sheaths of the same tree.

A double enclosure of bamboo, similarly ornamented, left an inner

circle for the performers, and an outer for the spectators: the whole

was lighted with oil lamps and Chinese paper lanterns. The musicians

sat on one side, with cymbals, tomtoms, and flutes, and sang choruses.

The performances began by a copper-coloured Cupid entering and

calling the virgins with a flute; these appeared from a green-room,

to the number of thirty or forty, of all ages and sizes. Each had her

hair dressed in a topknot, and her head covered with a veil; a

scarlet petticoat loaded with tinsel concealed her naked feet, and

over this was a short red kirtle, and an enormous white shawl was

swathed round the body from the armpits to the waist. A broad belt

passed over the right shoulder and under the left arm, to which hung

gold and silver chains, corals, etc., with tinsel and small mirrors

sewed on everywhere: the arms and hands were bare, and decorated with

bangles and rings.

Many of the women were extremely tall, great stature being common

amongst the Munniporees. They commenced with a prostration to Cupid,

around whom they danced very slowly, with the arms stretched out, and

the hands in motion; at each step the free foot was swung backwards

and forwards. Cupid then chose a partner, and standing in the middle

went through the same motions, a compliment the women acknowledged by

curtseying and whirling round, making a sort of cheese with their

petticoats, which, however, were too heavy to inflate properly.

The Nagas are another people found on this frontier, chiefly on the

hills to the north: they are a wild, copper-coloured, uncouth jungle

tribe, who have proved troublesome on the Assam frontier.

Their features are more Tartar than those of the Munniporees,

especially amongst the old men. They bury their dead under the

threshold of their cottages. The men are all but naked, and stick

plumes of hornbills' feathers in their hair, which is bound with

strips of bamboo: tufts of small feathers are passed through their

ears, and worn as shoulder lappets. A short blue cotton cloth, with a

fringe of tinsel and tufts of goat's hair dyed red, is passed over

the loins in front only: they also wear brass armlets, and necklaces

of cowries, coral, amber, ivory, and boar's teeth. The women draw a

fringed blue cloth tightly across the breast, and wear a checked or

striped petticoat. They are less ornamented than the men, and are

pleasing looking; their hair is straight, and cut short over

the eyebrows.

The Naga dances are very different from those of the Munniporees;

being quick, and performed in excellent time to harmonious music.

The figures are regular, like quadrilles and country-dances: the men

hold their knives erect during the performance, the women extend

their arms only when turning partners, and then their hands are not

given, but the palms are held opposite. The step is a sort of polka

and balancez, very graceful and lively. A bar of music is always

played first, and at the end the spectators applaud with two short

shouts. Their ear for music, and the nature of their dance, are as

Tibetan as their countenances, and different from those of the

Indo-Chinese tribes of the frontier.

We had the pleasure of meeting Lieutenant Raban at Silchar, and of

making several excursions in the neighbourhood with him; for which

Colonel Lister here, as at Churra, afforded us every facility of

elephants and men. Had we had time, it was our intention to have

visited Munnipore, but we were anxious to proceed to Chittagong.

I however made a three days' excursion to the frontier, about thirty

miles distant, proceeding along the north bank of the Soormah. On the

way my elephant got bogged in crossing a deep muddy stream: this is

sometimes an alarming position, as should the animal become

terrified, he will seize his rider, or pad, or any other object

(except his driver), to place under his knees to prevent his sinking.

In this instance the driver in great alarm ordered me off, and I had

to flounder out through the black mud. The elephant remained fast all

night, and was released next morning by men with ropes.

The country continued a grassy level, with marshes and rice

cultivation, to the first range of hills, beyond which the river is

unnavigable; there also a forest commences, of oaks, figs, and the

common trees of east Bengal. The road hence was a good one, cut by

Sepoys across the dividing ranges, the first of which is not 500 feet

high. On the ascent bamboos abound, of the kind called Tuldah or

Dulloah, which has long very thin-walled joints; it attains no great

size, but is remarkably gregarious. On the east side of the range,

the road runs through soft shales and beds of clay, and

conglomerates, descending to a broad valley covered with gigantic

scattered timber-trees of jarool, acacia, _Diospyros, Urticeae,_ and

_Bauhiniae,_ rearing their enormous trunks above the bamboo jungle:

immense rattan-canes wound through the forest, and in the gullies

were groves of two kinds of tree-fern, two of _Areca, Wallichia_

palm, screw-pine, and _Dracaena._ Wild rice grew abundantly in the

marshes, with tal1 grasses; and _Cardiopteris_* [A remarkable plant

of unknown affinity; see Brown and Bennett, "Flora Java:" it is found

in the Assam valley and Chittagong.] covered the trees for upwards of

sixty feet, like hops, with a mass of pale-green foliage, and dry

white glistening seed-vessels. This forest differed from those of the

Silhet and Khasia mountains, especially in the abundance of bamboo

jungle, which is, I believe, the prevalent feature of the low hills

in Birmah, Ava, and Munnipore; also in the gigantic size of the

rattans, 1arger palms, and different forest trees, and in the scanty

undergrowth of herbs and bushes. I only saw, however, the skirts of

the forest; the mountains further east, which I am told rise several

thousand feet in limestone cliffs, are doubtless richer in

herbaceous plants.

The climate of Cachar partakes of that of the Jheels in its damp

equable character: during our stay the weather was fine, and dense

fogs formed in the morning: the mean maximum was 80 degrees, minimum

58.4 degrees.* [The temperature does not rise above 90 degrees in

summer, nor sink below 45 degrees or 50 degrees in January:

forty-seven comparative observations with Calcutta showed the mean

temperature to be 1.8 degrees lower at Silchar, and the air damper,

the saturation point being, at Calcutta 0.3791, at Silchar 0.4379.]

The annual rain-fall in 1850 was 111.60 inches, according to a

register kindly given me by Captain Verner. There are few mosquitos,

which is one of the most curious facts in the geographical

distribution of these capricious bloodsuckers; for the locality is

surrounded by swamps, and they swarm at Silhet, and on the river

lower down. Both on the passage up and down, we were tormented in our

canoes by them for eighty or ninety miles above Silhet, and thence

onwards to Cachar we were free.

On the 30th of November, we were preparing for our return to Silhet,

and our canoes were loading, when we were surprised by a loud rushing

noise, and saw a high wave coming down the river, swamping every boat

that remained on its banks, whilst most of those that pushed out into

the stream, escaped with a violent rocking. It was caused by a slip

of the bank three quarters of a mile up the stream, of no great size,

but which propagated a high wave. This appeared to move on at about

the rate of a mile in three or four minutes, giving plenty of time

for our boatmen to push out from the land on hearing the shouts of

those first overtaken by the calamity; but they were too timid, and

consequently one of our canoes, full of papers, instruments, and

clothes, was swamped. Happily our dried collections were not

embarked, and the hot sun repaired much of the damage.

We left in the evening of the 2nd of December, and proceeded to

Silhet, where we were kindly received by Mr. Stainforth, the district

judge. Silhet, the capital of the district of the same name, is a

large Mahometan town, occupying a slightly raised part of the Jheels,

where many of the Teelas seem joined together by beds of gravel and

sand. In the rains it, is surrounded by water, and all communication

with other parts is by boats: in winter, Jynteapore and Pundua may be

reached by land, crossing creeks innumerable on the way.

Mr. Stainforth's house, like those of most of the other Europeans,

occupies the top of one of the Teelas, 150 feet high, and is

surrounded by fine spreading oaks,* [It is not generally known that

oaks are often very tropical plants; not only abounding at low

elevations in the mountains, but descending in abundance to the level

of the sea. Though unknown in Ceylon, the Peninsula of India,

tropical Africa, or South America, they abound in the hot valleys of

the Eastern Himalaya, East Bengal, Malay Peninsula, and Indian

islands; where perhaps more species grow than in any other part of

the world. Such facts as this disturb our preconceived notions of the

geographical distribution of the most familiar tribes of plants, and

throw great doubt on the conclusions which fossil plants are supposed

to indicate.] _Garcinia,_ and _Diospyros_ trees. The rock of which

the hill is composed, is a slag-like ochreous sandstone, covered in

most places with a shrubbery of rose-flowered _Melastoma,_ and some

peculiar plants.* [_Gelonium, Adelia, Moacurra, Linostoma, Justicia,

Trophis, Connarus, Ixora, Congea, Dalhousiea, Grewia, Myrsine,

Buttneria_; and on the shady exposures a _Calamus, Briedelia,_ and

various ferns.]

Broad flat valleys divide the hills, and are beautifully clothed with

a bright green jungle of small palms, and many kinds of ferns.

In sandy places, blue-flowered _Burmannia, Hypoxis,_ and other pretty

tropical annuals, expand their blossoms, with an inconspicuous

_Stylidium,_ a plant belonging to a small natural family, whose

limits are so confined to New Holland, that this is almost the only

kind that does not grow in that continent. Where the ground is

swampy, dwarf _Pandanus_ abounds, with the gigantic nettle, _Urtica

crenulata_ ("Mealum-ma" of Sikkim, see chapter xxiv).

The most interesting botanical ramble about Silhet is to the

tree-fern groves on the path to Jynteapore, following the bottoms of

shallow valleys between the Teelas, and along clear streams, up whose

beds we waded for some miles, under an arching canopy of tropical

shrubs, trees, and climbers, tall grasses, screw-pines, and

_Aroideae._ In the narrower parts of the valleys the tree-ferns are

numerous on the slopes, rearing their slender brown trunks forty feet

high, with feathery crowns of foliage, through which the sun-beams

trembled on the broad shining foliage of the tropical herbage below.

Silhet, though hot and damp, is remarkably healthy, and does not

differ materially in temperature from Silchar, though it is more

equable and humid.* [During our stay of five days the mean maximum

temperature was 74 degrees, minimum 64.8 degrees: that of thirty-two

observations compared with Calcutta show that Silhet is only 1.7

degrees cooler, though Mr. Stainforth's house is upwards of 2 degrees

further north, and 160 feet more elevated. A thermometer sunk two

feet seven inches, stood at 73.5 degrees. The relative

saturation-points were, Calcutta .633, Silhet .821.] It derives some

interest from having been first brought into notice by the enterprise

of one of the Lindsays of Balcarres, at a time when the pioneers of

commerce in India encountered great hardships and much personal

danger. Mr. Lindsay, a writer in the service of the East India

Company, established a factory at Silhet, and commenced the lime

trade with Calcutta,* [For an account of the early settlement of

Silhet, see "Lives of the Lindsays," by Lord Lindsay.] reaping an

enormous fortune himself, and laying the foundation of that

prosperity amongst the people which has been much advanced by the

exertions of the Inglis family, and has steadily progressed under the

protecting rule of the Indian government.

From Silhet we took large boats to navigate the Burrampooter and

Megna, to their embouchure in the Bay of Bengal at Noacolly, a

distance of 250 miles, whence we were to proceed across the head of

the bay to Chittagong, about 100 miles farther. We left on the 7th of

December, and arrived at Chattuc on the 9th, where we met our Khasia

collectors with large loads of plants, and paid them off. The river

was now low, and presented a busy scene, from the numerous trading

boats being confined to its fewer and deeper channels. Long grasses

and sedges (_Arundo, Saccharum_ and _Scleria_), were cut, and stacked

along the water's edge, in huge brown piles, for export

and thatching.