THE DENIZENS OF THE FOREST
So far we have paid attention almost exclusively to the plant life.
But all through Sikkim the insect life presses itself just as insistently
on our notice. In the tropical portion it is unbelievably abundant and
varied. It swarms about us and is ever present. And much of it is as
beautiful as the flowers. For sheer attractiveness the butterflies are
as compelling as the orchids. Mosquitoes, gnats, flies, leeches, every
torment there is. But we forgive everything for the chance of being
able to see alive and in the full glory of their colouring these brilliant
gems of the insect world which we can in places view in hundreds
and thousands at a time--and in extraordinary variety, for in this
little country more than six hundred species are found--about ten
times as many as are met with in England. Moreover, there is no
season when they are wholly absent, for in the hot valleys they may
be seen all the year round, though naturally there are more in the
summer than in the winter.
If it were not for other attractions we would like to concentrate our
attention on these beautiful creatures alone. For they fascinate us by
the daring of their colours, by their bold designs, by the way in
which they blend the colours with one another, and by the extreme
delicacy and chasteness of both colour and design. We are reluctant
to take the life of a single one of the thousands we see, but yet we
are itching, too, to lay hold of one after another as it sails into sight
displaying some fresh beauty. We want to handle it as we would a
flower, turn it about and examine it from every point of view till not
a shade or aspect of its beauty has escaped us. In the presence of
these brilliant butterflies we are children once more. We want to
have them in our hands and feel that they are in our possession. It is
tantalising merely to view them from a distance. We want to enjoy
their beauty to the full.
These butterflies of Sikkim are such complete strangers to us we do
not even know their names. From the "Gazetteer," however, we
learn that the most beautiful of them are the papilios, of which alone
there are no less than forty-two species. And three of these--namely,
the _Teinophalus imperialis_ (which occurs on Tiger Hill above
Darjiling) and two ornithopteras, or bird-butterflies--are among the
most splendid of all butterflies. The former is green on the upper
side with yellow spots on the hind-wing, and the long tails are tipped
with yellow. The two bird-butterflies are common in the low valleys
from May to October. They are truly magnificent insects, measuring
from 6 to 8 inches across. Their fore-wings are wholly of a velvety
black and the hind-wing golden yellow scolloped with black.
Of the well-known green species of papilio, with longish tails and
blue or green spots on the hindwing, there are four species, of which
one is European. Some have semi-transparent wings of a lace-like
pattern, with long slender tails to the hind-wings, and are of a very
elegant shape.
A most gorgeously-coloured butterfly is the _Thaumantis diores,_
black with large spots (which cover a great part of both fore and
hind wings) of a brilliant metallic, changeable blue. It measures 4
3/4 inches across the outspread wings. It avoids the direct sunlight
and dodges about among the scrub growing under the deep shade of
tall trees in the hottest and moistest valleys.
One of the most lovely butterflies in the world is the
_Stichophthalma camadeva,_ which is one of the largest of the
Sikkim butterflies, being from 5 to 6 1/2 inches in expanse. It is
more soberly coloured on the upper side than the last-named, being
chiefly white and brown, but the underside is more beautiful, having
a row of five red ocelli with black irides on each wing and other
pretty markings.
The lyccenides, or "blues," are represented by no less than 154
species, several of them of surpassing beauty. Many are marked
with changeable metallic hues on the upper side of the fore-wing:
some violet, some with green, and some with golden bronze. The
most lovely of all is the _Ilerea brahma,_ of which the colouring of
the upper side of the male is unique.
Then there is the curious leaf-butterfly, which has a marvellous
resemblance to a dead leaf with its wings folded over the back and
showing the underside only, the leaf-stalk veins being excellently
mimicked. But when flying about its upper side, which is a deep
violet-blue with a conspicuous yellowish bar across the fore-wing, is
exposed, and the butterfly is then most beautiful. I have seen many
of these lovely butterflies flying about in the Teesta Valley,
glistening in the dappled light of the forest, and then settle on a
branch; and unless I had actually seen them alight, I should never
have known them from leaves.
* * *
The moths, though naturally not as beautiful as the butterflies, are
far more numerous, there being something like two thousand species.
Several of them are the largest of the insect race. And one of them,
the famous atlas moth, is sometimes nearly a foot across. Next in
size come several species of the genus _Actias,_ of which _selene_
is the most common. It is of a pale green colour with a pinkish; spot,
and has long slender tails. It measures about 8 inches across the
fore-wings, and nearly as much from shoulder to the tip of the tail.
* * *
Other insects numerously represented in Sikkim are beetles, bugs,
grasshoppers, praying insects, walking-stick insects, dragon-flies,
ants, lantern-flies, cicadae, etc.
* * *
Plant life and insect life are abundant enough, but of birds there
seem to be comparatively few. As we travel through the forest we do
not notice many of them, and we do not hear many. We do not
everywhere find great flocks of birds as we see swarms of insects.
And we do not find the forest resounding with the songs of birds as
it does with the hum and crackle of insects. In this respect we are
disappointed.
But the birds of Sikkim, if few in number, are great in variety. Birds
feed on fruits, berries, seeds, insects, grubs, caterpillars, small
animals, and even little birds. Some birds like a still, hot, damp
climate. Other birds like a cold, dry climate. Some birds like the
shade and quiet and protection of the forest. Others like the open and
the sunshine. Some birds find their food in the water, others on the
land. And the Sikkim Himalaya, from the plains to the mountains,
provides such a rich variety of plant and insect life, such a variety of
climate and of country, and so plentiful a supply of water, that birds
of the widest difference of requirements can here be provided with
their needs.
Consequently birds of numerous different species make Sikkim their
habitat, either permanently or for certain seasons of the year. And
Gammie, who has specially studied the natural history of Sikkim,
says in the "Sikkim Gazetteer" that in no part of the world of an
equal area are birds more profusely represented in species. The birds
may not be so numerous as in other parts, but they are more varied.
Between five and six hundred species are represented, varying from
the great vulture known as the lammergeyer, which is 9 1/2 feet
across the outstretched wing, down to the tiny flower-pecker, barely
exceeding 3 inches from the end of its beak to the tip of its tail.
Of the birds found in the forest itself, the honey-suckers or sun-birds
are perhaps the most beautiful. There are no gorgeous birds of
paradise, and even resplendent parrots are not very numerous. But
these little sun-birds glitter like jewels among the leafy foliage, and
the lustrous metallic hues of different shades with which they are
richly coloured on the head and long tail-feathers change and flash
in the sunlight with every slightest movement.
Not all so brilliant in colour but very delightful to watch are the
fly-catchers. Of these there are no less than twenty-six species, the most
remarkable being the fairy blue-chat, which is brilliantly marked
with different shades of glistening blue, and another which is
strikingly coloured in almost uniform verditer blue. In the very
lowest valleys is found the beautiful paradise fly-catcher, with a
long-pointed black crest, the rest of the plumage white with black
shafts and the tail 14 inches in length. The quickness and agility this
lovely bird displays as it darts and twists and turns in the pursuit of
butterflies in their uneven dodging flight is one of the marvels of
forest life.
Game-birds are not abundant, but four species of pheasant are found,
of which the largest and handsomest is the moonal, bronze-green
glossed with gold and with a tail of cinnamon red. Sportsmen in the
Himalaya are familiar with the sight of this radiantly-coloured bird
swishing down the mountain-side with apparently the speed and
almost the brilliancy of a flash of lightning. Not so handsome as the
moonal, being small and greyish in colour on the back, is the
blood-pheasant, remarkable for its blood-red streaks on the breast and its
blood-red under-tail-coverts.
Bulbuls are largely represented and may be seen in large flocks
among the scrub--delightful, homely little birds with bright and
cheery ways which specially attract us. Not very common, but to be
found in the lower part of the valley, is the beautiful fairy bluebird, a
large bird 10 inches in length with a glistening cobalt-blue upper
part and velvet black beneath. The European cuckoo may be heard
all day long in the season from about 3,500 feet upwards. And about
a dozen other cuckoos visit Sikkim, of which by far the prettiest is
the emerald cuckoo, a small bird not much more than 6 inches long,
of a brilliant emerald green with golden sheen, and below white
barred with shining green. Kingfishers are not numerous, as fish are
scarce. But there are four species, of which the prettiest is a lovely
little creature about 5 inches long, coloured with rufous, white, and
different shades of blue and violet.
These are only a few of the most striking birds; but to give an idea
of the variety of other birds which may be found in Sikkim, many of
which are hardly less beautiful than those above described, we may
learn from Gammie that among the birds of prey there are eleven
eagles; the peregrine falcon, a little pigmy falcon, and five other
falcons; a big brown wood-owl, 2 feet in length, a pigmy owlet
measuring only 6 inches, and nine other owls; and six kites;--among
the game-birds, besides pheasants, three quails, two hill-partridges, a
jungle-fowl, woodcock, a snow-cock, and a snow-partridge;--among
other classes of birds, nine or ten species of pigeons and doves; the
European raven and a jungle crow; one jay and several magpies; two
hornbills, one of which is 4 feet in length; the common and the
Nepal swallow; about thirty species of finches, among them being
three bullfinches and eight rose-finches; three or four larks;
numerous and varied tits; wagtails; five species of parrots; eight or
nine species of wren; thrushes of a dozen species; ten species of
robin; and, lastly, many species of waders such as florekin, cranes,
plovers, snipe, sandpipers, coots, water-hen, storks, heron,
cormorants, terns, divers, and ducks.
* * *
Reptiles are not commonly accounted among the beauties of Nature;
but they must not be lost sight of in reviewing the life of the forest.
The largest is the python, whose usual length is 12 feet, though
individuals of 16 to 20 feet are not very rare. A very beautiful snake
found in the cool forests is green with a broad black band on each
side of the hinder half of the body and tail, the green scales being
margined with black. Another snake of the same length is a
handsome green whip-snake, graceful in its movements, but
ferocious and aggressive in its habits, although quite harmless. The
ordinary cobra is not uncommon. The giant cobra is also found in
the lower valleys, and grows to a length of 12 or 13 feet. Four
species of pit vipers are found. The krait occurs, but is not common.
Altogether there are nine species of venomous snakes and thirty
species of non-venomous snakes found in Sikkim.
Of lizards there are ten species. One is popularly known as the
chameleon on account of its rather showy colours, but does not
really belong to that family. And a beautiful grass-snake, which, as
it is limbless, is often mistaken for a tree-snake, is also of the lizard
genus.
Of frogs and toads there are about sixteen species. Among them are
several prettily-coloured tree-frogs. Several of the species are
recognised by their call.
* * *
Of mammals about eighty-one species are found. They include three
monkeys, eight of the cat tribe, two civet cats, one tree cat, two
mongooses, two of the dog tribe, five pole-cats and weasels, one
ferret-badger, three otters, one cat-bear, two bears, one tree-shrew,
one mole, six shrews, two water-shrews, twelve bats, four squirrels,
two marmots, eight rats and mice, one vole, one porcupine, four deer,
two forest-goats, one goat, one sheep, and one ant-eater.
The common monkey of India, the Bengal monkey, is found in large
companies at low elevations. The Himalayan monkey is abundant
from 3,000 to 6,000 feet; and the Himalayan langur frequents the
zone from 7,000 to 12,000 feet.
The tiger inhabits the Terai at the foot of the mountains, but is only
an occasional visitor to Sikkim proper. But the leopard and the
clouded leopard are permanent residents and fairly common. This
last is of a most beautiful mottled colouring. Another leopard is the
snow-leopard, which inhabits high altitudes only. The marbled-cat is
a miniature edition of the clouded leopard, and the leopard-cat of the
common leopard. The large Indian civet-cat is not uncommon, but
the spotted tiger-civet, a very beautiful and active creature, is rare.
The jackal is not uncommon, and there is at least one species of
wild-dog. These dogs hunt in packs and kill wild-pig, deer, goats,
etc. A very peculiar and interesting animal is the cat-bear, which has
the head and arms of a minute bear and the tail of a cat. The brown
bear occurs at high altitudes, and the Himalayan black bear is
common lower down. The black hill squirrel is a large handsome
animal of the lower forests, and a very handsome flying squirrel
inhabits the forests between 5,000 and 10,000 feet.
The great Sikkim stag is not found in Sikkim proper, but inhabits the
Chumbi Valley. The sambhar stag is abundant. The commonest of
the deer tribe is the khakar, or barking deer. It is, says Hodgson,
unmatched for flexibility and power of creeping through tangled
underwood. The musk deer remains at high elevations.
In addition to the above, elephants come up from the forests in the
plains, and in these plain forests are found (besides tigers and boars)
rhinoceros, bison, and buffalo.
* * *
This has been a long enumeration of the animal life, in its many
branches, which is found in the forest. The mere cataloguing of it is
sufficient to show the extent and variety of insect, bird, reptile, and
mammal life which the forest contains. But it is with the beauty of
this animal life, rather than with its extent and variety, that we are
concerned. And if the Artist is to see its full beauty, he must see it
with the eyes of the naturalist and sportsman--men whose eyes are
trained to observe in minutest detail the form and colour and
character of each animal, bird, or insect, and who know something
of the life each has to lead, and the conditions in which it is placed.
More sportsmen than naturalists, and more naturalists than artists,
observe these and other animals in their natural surroundings. But,
nowadays, at least photographers and cinematographers are going
into the wilds to portray them. And perhaps naturalist-artists will
arise who, every bit as keen as sportsmen now are to get to close
quarters with game animals, will want to get into positions from
which they will be able carefully to observe animals of all kinds and
take note of every characteristic. These artists will have to be fully
as alert as the sportsmen, and be able on the instant, and from a
fleeting glimpse, to note the lines and shades and character of the
animal. But, if they do this, they will, in all probability, bring back
more lasting and deeper impressions of the animals than the
sportsman with all his keen observation ever receives--and they will
enjoy a greater pleasure. An artist, who from observing an animal in
its own haunts, and from the sketches and notes he made there,
could paint a picture of it in its own surroundings, would assuredly
derive more pleasure from his enterprise than the sportsman who
simply brought back the animal's head. In addition he would have
enabled others to share his enjoyment with him. There is a great
field here for the painter; and many would welcome a change from
the same old cows and sheep tamely grazing in a meadow, which is
all that artists usually present to us of animal life.
Among the most conspicuous animals met with are the elephant, the
bison, the buffalo, and the rhinoceros. And it would be hard to
discover beauty in any of these. As we see the rhinoceros, for
example, in the Zoological Gardens nothing could be more ugly. Yet
we should not despair of finding beauty even in a rhinoceros if we
could study him in his natural surroundings and understand all the
circumstances of his life. If we observed him and his habits and
habitat with the knowledge of the naturalist and the keenness of the
sportsman, we might find that in his form and colour he does in his
own peculiar fashion fitly express the purpose of his being. And
whatever adequately expresses a definite purpose is beautiful.
Where a dainty antelope would be altogether out of place, the
ponderous rhinoceros may be completely in his element. Where a
tender-skinned horse would be driven mad by insects, the
thick-skinned beast passes the time untroubled. In a drawing-room a
daintily-dressed lady is a vision of loveliness. In a ploughed field
she would look ridiculous. In a drawing-room a peasant would look
uncouth. In a field, as Millet has shown us, he possesses a beauty,
dignified and touching. It is not impossible, therefore, that an artist
who had the opportunity of entering into the life of a rhinoceros, as
Millet had of entering into the life of a peasant, might discover
beauty even in that monstrosity. This, however, I allow is an
extreme case.
In a less extreme case beauty has already been discovered. The bison
does not at first sight strike us as a beautiful animal. Yet Mr.
Stebbing, the naturalist-sportsman, says that, as he caught sight of
one after a long stalk, and watched it with palpitating heart, he was
fascinated by the grand sight--18 hands of coal-black beauty shining
like satin in the light filtering through the branches of the trees.
When we move on from the bison to the stag the beauty is evident
enough. A stag carries himself right royally, and has a rugged,
majestic beauty all his own. There are few more beautiful sights in
the animal world than that of a lordly stag standing tense with
preparedness to turn swiftly, and, on the instant, bound away in any
direction.
Not majestic like the great deer, but of a more airy grace and
daintiness, are the smaller deer and antelope. The lightness of their
tread, their suppleness of movement, and their spring and litheness,
fill us with delight.
* * *
We now come to the crown of the animal kingdom--man. And in the
Sikkim Himalaya are to be found men of all the stages of civilisation
from the most primitive to the most advanced. Inhabiting the forests
at the foot of the mountains are certain jungle peoples of extreme
interest simply by reason of their primitiveness. They represent the
very early stages of man, and in observing them in their own haunts,
we shall understand something of the immensity and the delicacy of
man's task in gaining his ascendancy in the animal world and
acquiring a greater mastery over his surroundings.
In these forests teeming with animal life of all kinds man had to hold
his own against dangerous and stronger animals, and to supply
himself with food in the face of many rivals. He had to be as alert as
the sharpest-witted and as cunning as the most crafty, and to have
physical fitness and endurance to stand the strain of incessant rivalry.
This is what these jungle people have. Their alertness, their capacity
to glide through the forest almost as stealthily as an animal, their
keenness of sight, their acute sense of hearing, their knowledge of
jungle lore and of the habits of animals, and their ability to stand
long and hard physical strain, are the envy of us civilised men when
we find ourselves among them. Particularly is this shown when
tracking. They will note the slightest indication of the passage of the
animal they are after--the faintest footprint, a stone overturned and
showing the moisture on its under surface, a broken twig, a bitten
leaf, the bark rubbed--and they will be able to judge from the exact
appearance of these signs how long it is since the animal made them.
They will, too, detect sounds which we civilised men would
certainly never hear, and from a note of alarm in these sounds, or
from excitement among birds, infer the presence of a dangerous
animal.
When seen outside the forests these jungle men look wild and
unkempt, but seen in their natural surroundings and compared
_there_ with the white man, they have a Beauty which is wanting in
the white man. In _these_ surroundings they have a dignity and
composure and assurance which the European lacks. They are on
their own ground, and there they are beautiful.
And these primitive men are worthy of being painted by the very
greatest of painters, and of having their praises sung by the very first
of poets. For it is they and their like who, with only such weapons as
the forest affords and their own ingenuity devised, won the way
through for us civilised men, won the battle against the fierce and
much more powerful beasts around them, and by great daring and
through sheer skill, courage, and endurance led the way to the light.
It was a marvellous feat. For all the privileges and immunities which
we men of to-day enjoy we have to thank these primitive forest men,
and our gratitude could never be too great. They are deserving of the
closest attention and the warmest appreciation.
Not many of these really primitive peoples are nowadays left in the
jungles. But the tea-gardens have attracted a primitive people, the
Santals, who are typical of the true Dravidian stock of India--a jolly,
cheerful, easy-going, and, on the whole, law-abiding, truthful, and
honest people who love a roaming life, with plenty of hunting and
fishing.
The Lepchas of Sikkim have risen above the first primitive stage.
They clothe themselves well and dwell in well-built houses. They do
not possess for us the same essential interest as belongs to truly
primitive people. But on account of their intimate knowledge of the
forest and its denizens, and by reason also of their being a
remarkably simple, gentle, and likeable people, they have an
unusual attraction for travellers. Hooker, who was one of the first to
live among them, and Claude White, who lived among them for
many years, both write of them in affectionate terms. They are
child-like and engaging, good-humoured, cheery and amiable, free and
unrestrained. They have, too, a reputation for honesty and
truthfulness.
More vigorous, capable, and virile than the Lepchas are the
Nepalese, who, migrating from Nepal, are found in great numbers in
this region. They are more given to agriculture than the Lepchas,
and are thrifty, industrious, and resourceful. Though excitable and
aggressive, they are also law-abiding.
Less numerous but prominent inhabitants of this region are the
Bhutias, who consist of four classes; Bhutias, who are a mixed race
of Tibetans and Lepchas; Sherpa Bhutias, who come from the east
of Nepal, the word _sher_ merely meaning "east"; the Drukpa or
Dharma Bhutias, whose home is Bhutan; and the Tibetan Bhutias
from Tibet. They are strong, sturdy men, merry and cheerful.
These Lepchas, Nepalese, and Bhutias are all of Mongolian origin,
and therefore have the distinctively Mongolian appearance. But
besides these, in Darjiling and on the tea-gardens are to be found
Bengali clerks, Marwari merchants from Rajputana, Punjabi traders,
Hindustani mechanics, and Chinese carpenters. And in addition to
all these are British Government officials, tea-planters, and a
continual stream of visitors from all parts of Europe and America,
who come to Darjiling to view the snowy range.
So that in this small region may be found representatives of every
grade of civilisation and a great variety of types. And what an
amount of Beauty--as distinct from mere prettiness--there is to
discover in even the rough local people may be seen from the
pictures of the Russian painter Verestchagin, engravings from which
are given in his autobiographical sketches entitled "Vassili
Verestchagin." This great painter evidently succeeded in getting
inside the wild peoples he loved; and his pictures reveal to us
beauties we might without them never have known. In these people's
gait, their attitudes, their grouping, as well as in their features, he
was able to discern the hardihood, the patience, the impetuosity, the
gentleness of their character, and portray it for us.
Putting aside the obvious differences between us and them, we are
able to detect our fundamental identity of nature, have a
fellow-feeling with them, recognise sameness between us and so see their
beauty.