Gutenkarte

IN BENGAL, THE SIKKIM AND NEPAL HIMALAYAS, THE KHASIA MOUNTAINS, etc.

Difficulty in procuring leave to enter Sikkim -- Obtain permission to travel in East Nepal -- Arrangements -- Coolies -- Stores -- Servants -- Personal equipment -- Mode of travelling -- Leave Dorjiling -- Goong ridge -- Behaviour of Bhotan coolies -- Nepal frontier -- Myong valley -- Ilam -- Sikkim massacre -- Cultivation -- Nettles -- Camp at Nanki on Tonglo -- Bhotan coolies run away -- View of Chumulari -- Nepal peaks to west -- Sakkiazong -- _Buceros_ -- Road to Wallanchoon -- Oaks -- Scarcity of water -- Singular view of mountain-valleys -- Encampment -- My tent and its furniture -- Evening occupations -- Dunkotah-Cross ridge of Sakkiazong -- Yews -- Silver-firs-View of Tambur valley -- Pemmi river -- Pebbly terraces -- Geology -- Holy springs -- Enormous trees -- _Luculia gratissima_ -- Khawa river, rocks of -- Arrive at Tambur -- Shingle and gravel terraces -- Natives, indolence of -- Canoe ferry -- Votive offerings -- Bad road -- Temperature, etc. -- Chingtam village, view from -- Mywa river and Guola -- House -- Boulders -- Chain-bridge -- Meepo, arrival of -- Fevers.

Ascend to Nango mountain -- Moraines -- Glaciers -- Vegetation -- _Rhododendron Hodgsoni_ -- Rocks -- Honey-combed surface of snow -- Perpetual snow -- Top of pass -- View -- Elevation -- Geology -- Distance of sound -- Plants -- Temperature -- Scenery -- Cliffs of granite and hurled boulders -- Camp -- Descent -- Pheasants -- Larch -- Himalayan pines -- Distribution of Deodar, note on -- Tassichooding temples -- Kambachen village -- Cultivation -- Moraines in valley, distribution of -- Picturesque lake-beds, and their vegetation -- Tibetan sheep and goats -- _Cryptogramma crispa_ -- Ascent to Choonjerma pass -- View of Junnoo -- Rocks of its summit -- Misty ocean -- Nepal peaks -- Top of pass -- Temperature, and observations -- Gorgeous sunset -- Descent to Yalloong valley -- Loose path -- Night scenes -- Musk deer.

Dispatch collections -- Acorns -- Heat -- Punkabaree -- Bees -- Vegetation -- Haze -- Titalya -- Earthquake -- Proceed to Nepal frontier -- Terai, geology of -- Physical features of Himalayan valleys -- Elephants, purchase of, etc. -- River-beds -- Mechi river -- Return to Titalya -- Leave for Teesta -- Climate of plains -- Jeelpigoree -- Cooches -- Alteration in the appearance of country by fires, etc. -- Grasses -- Bamboos -- Cottages -- Rajah of Cooch Behar -- Condition of people -- Hooli festival -- Ascend Teesta -- Canoes -- Cranes -- Forest -- Baikant-pore -- Rummai -- Religion -- Plants at foot of mountains -- Exit of Teesta -- Canoe voyage down to Rangamally -- English genera of plants -- Birds -- Beautiful scenery -- Botanizing on elephants -- Willow -- Siligoree -- Cross Terai -- Geology -- Iron -- Lohar-ghur -- Coal and sandstone beds -- Mechi fisherman -- Hailstorm -- Ascent to Kursiong -- To Dorjiling -- Vegetation -- Geology -- Folded quartz-beds -- Spheres of feldspar -- Lime deposits.

Though now all but extinct (except in Cuttack), through ten or fifteen years of unceasing vigilance on the part of Government, and incredible activity and acuteness in the officers employed, the Thugs were formerly a wonderfully numerous body, who abstained from their vocation solely in the immediate neighbourhood of their own villages; which, however, were not exempt from the visits of other Thugs; so that, as Major Sleeman says,--"The annually returning tide of murder swept unsparingly over the whole face of India, from the Sutlej to the sea-coast, and from the Himalaya to Cape Comorin. One narrow district alone was free, the Concan, beyond the ghats, whither they never penetrated." In Bengal, river Thugs replace the travelling practitioner. Candeish and Rohilkund alone harboured no Thugs as residents, but they were nevertheless haunted by the gangs.

In descending from Dorjiling, the zones of vegetation are well marked between 6000 and 7000 feet by--1. The oak, chesnut, and Magnolias, the main features from 7000 to 10,000 feet.--2. Immediately below 6,500 feet, the tree-fern appears (_Alsophila gigantea,_ Wall.), a widely-distributed plant, common to the Himalaya, from Nepal eastward to the Malayan peninsula, Java, and Ceylon.--3. Of palms, a species of _Calamus,_ and _Plectocomia,_ the "Rhenoul" of the Lepchas. The latter, though not a very large plant, climbs lofty trees, and extends about 40 yards through the forest; 6,500 feet is the upper limit of palms in the Sikkim Himalaya, the Rhenoul alone attaining this elevation.*--4. [Four other _Calami_ range between 1000 and 6000 feet on the outer hills, some of them being found forty miles distant from the plains of India. The other palms of Sikkim are, "Simong" (_Caryota urens_); it is rare, and ascends to nearly 5000 feet. _Phoenix_ (probably _P. acaulis,_ Buch.), a small, stemless species, which grows on the driest soil in the deep valleys; it is the "Schaap" of the Lepchas, who eat the young seeds, and use the feathery fronds as screens in hunting. _Wallichia oblongifolia,_ the "Ooh" of the Lepchas, who make no use of it; Dr. Campbell and myself, however, found that it is an admirable fodder for horses, who prefer it to any other green food to be had in these mountains. _Areca gracilis_ and _Licuala peltata_ are the only other palms in Sikkim; but _Cycas pectinata,_ with the India-rubber fig, occurs in the deepest and hottest valleys--the western limit of both these interesting plants. Of _Pandanus_ there is a graceful species at elevations of 1000 to 4000 feet ("Borr," Lepcha).] The fourth striking feature is a wild plantain, which ascends to nearly the same elevation ("Lukhlo," Lepcha). This is replaced by another, and rather larger species, at lower elevations; both ripen austere and small fruits, which are full of seeds, and quite uneatable; that commonly grown in Sikkim is an introduced stock (nor have the wild species ever been cultivated); it is very large, but poor in flavour, and does not bear seeds. The zones of these conspicuous plants are very clearly defined, and especially if the traveller, standing on one of the innumerable spurs which project from the Dorjiling ridge, cast his eyes up the gorges of green on either hand.

A change in the population accompanies that in the natural features of the country, Tibetans replacing the Limboos and Khass-tribes of Nepal, who inhabit the lower region. We daily passed parties of ten or a dozen Tibetans, on their way to Mywa Guola, laden with salt; several families of these wild, black, and uncouth-looking people generally travelling together. The men are middle-sized, often tall, very square-built and muscular; they have no beard, moustache, or whiskers, the few hairs on their faces being carefully removed with tweezers. They are dressed in loose blanket robes, girt about the waist with a leather belt, in which they place their iron or brass pipes, and from which they suspend their long knives, chopsticks, tobacco-pouch, tweezers, tinder-box, etc. The robe, boots, and cap are grey, or striped with bright colours, and they wear skull-caps, and the hair plaited into a pig-tail.

On the 29th November, I continued my course north up the Yangma valley, which after five miles opened considerably, the trees disappearing, and the river flowing more tranquilly, and through a broader valley, when above 11,000 feet elevation. The Guobah of Wallanchoon overtook us on the road; on his way, he said, to collect the revenues at Yangma village, but in reality to see what I was about. He owns five considerable villages, and is said to pay a tax of 6000 rupees (600 pounds) to the Rajah of Nepal: this is no doubt a great exaggeration, but the revenues of such a position, near a pass frequented almost throughout the year, must be considerable. Every yak going and coming is said to pay 1s., and every horse 4s.; cattle, sheep, ponies, land, and wool are all taxed; he exports also quantities of timber to Tibet, and various articles from the plains of India. He joined my party and halted where I did, had his little Chinese rug spread, and squatted cross-legged on it, whilst his servant prepared his brick tea with salt, butter, and soda, of which he partook, snuffed, smoked, rose up, had all his traps repacked, and was off again.

The Tassiding temples and convents were founded upwards of 300 years ago, by the Lamas who accompanied the first Rajah to Sikkim; and they have been continuously served by Lamas of great sanctity, many of whom have been educated at Lhassa. They were formerly very wealthy, but during the Nepal war they were plundered of all their treasures, their silver gongs and bells, their best idols, dorjes, and manis, and stripped of their ornaments; since which time Pemiongchi has been more popular. In proof of their antiquity, it was pointed out that most of the symbols and decorations were those of pure Lama Boodhism, as practised in Tibet.

Leave Yoksun for Kinchinjunga -- Ascend Ratong valley -- Salt-smuggling over Ratong -- Landslips -- Plants -- Buckeem -- Blocks of gneiss -- Mon Lepcha -- View -- Weather -- View from Gubroo -- Kinchinjunga, tops of -- Pundim cliff -- Nursing -- Vegetation of Himalaya -- Coup d'oeil of Jongri -- Route to Yalloong -- Arduous route of salt-traders from Tibet -- Kinchin, ascent of -- Lichens -- Surfaces sculptured by snow and ice -- Weather at Jongri -- Snow -- Shades for eyes.

I need hardly say that this invocation of the gods of the woods and waters forms no part of Lama worship; but the Lepchas are but half Boodhists; in their hearts they dread the demons of the grove, the lake, the snowy mountain and the torrent, and the crafty Lama takes advantage of this, modifies his practices to suit their requirements, and is content with the formal recognition of the spiritual supremacy of the church. This is most remarkably shown in their acknowledgment of the day on which offerings had been made from time immemorial by the pagan Lepchas to the genius of Kinchinjunga, by holding it as a festival of the church throughout Sikkim.* [On that occasion an invocation to the mountain is chanted by priests and people in chorus. Like the Lama's address to the genius of Catsuperri lake, its meaning, if it ever had any, is not now apparent. It runs thus:-- "Kanchin-jinga, Pemi Kadup Gnetche Tangla, Dursha tember Zu jinga Pemsum Serkiem Dischze Kubra Kanchin tong." This was written for me by Dr. Campbell, who, like myself, has vainly sought its solution; it is probably a mixture of Tibetan and Lepcha, both as much corrupted as the celebrated "Om mani padmi boom," which is universally pronounced by Lepchas "Menny pemmy boom." This reminds me that I never got a solution of this sentence from a Lama, of whatever rank or learning; and it was only after incessant inquiry, during a residence of many years in Nepal, that Mr. Hodgson at last procured the interpretation, or rather paraphrase: "Hail to him (Sakya) of the lotus and the jewel," which is very much the same as M. Klaproth and other authorities have given.]

Dispatch collections -- Acorns -- Heat -- Punkabaree -- Bees -- Vegetation -- Haze -- Titalya -- Earthquake -- Proceed to Nepal frontier -- Terai, geology of -- Physical features of Himalayan valleys -- Elephants, purchase of, etc. -- Riverbeds -- Mechi river -- Return to Titalya -- Leave for Teesta -- Climate of plains -- Jeelpigoree -- Cooches -- Alteration in the appearance of country by fires, etc. -- Grasses -- Bamboos -- Cottages -- Rajah of Cooch Behar -- Condition of people -- Hooli festival -- Ascend Teesta -- Canoes -- Cranes -- Forest -- Baikant-pore -- Rummai -- Religion -- Plants at foot of mountains -- Exit of Teesta -- Canoe voyage down to Rangamally -- English genera of plants -- Birds -- Beautiful Scenery -- Botanizing on elephants -- Willow -- Siligoree -- Cross Terai -- Geology -- Iron -- Lohar-ghur -- Coal and sandstone beds -- Mechi fisherman -- Hailstorm -- Ascent to Khersiong -- To Dorjiling -- Vegetation -- Geology -- Folded quartz-beds -- Spheres of feldspar -- Lime deposits.