Himalayan Journals Part 24

CHAPTER XXIV.

Ascent of Bhomtso--View of snowy mountains--Chumulari--Arun river--Kiang-lah mountains--Jigatzi--Lha.s.sa--Dingcham province of Tibet--Misapplication of term "Plain of Tibet"-- Sheep, flocks of--Crops--Probable elevation of Jigatzi-- Yaru-Tsampu river--Tame elephants--Wild horses--Dryness of air --Sunset beams--Rocks of Kinchinjhow--Cholamoo lakes-- Limestone--Dip and strike of rocks--Effects of great elevation on party--Ascent of Donkia--Moving piles of debris--Cross Donkia pa.s.s--Second visit to Momay Samdong--Hot springs--Descent to Yeumtong--Lachoong--r.e.t.a.r.dation of vegetation again noticed-- Jerked meat--Fish--Lose a thermometer--Lepcha lad sleeps in hot spring--Keadom--_Bucklandia_--Arrive at Choongtam--Mendicant --Meepo--Lachen-Lachoong river--Wild grape--View from Singtam of Kinchinjunga--Virulent nettle.

CHAPTER XXV.

Journey to the Rajah's residence at Tumloong--Ryott valley-- Rajah's house--Tupgain Lama--Lagong nunnery--Phadong Goompa-- Phenzong ditto--Lepcha sepoys--Proceedings at Tumloong--Refused admittance to Rajah--Women's dresses--Meepo's and Tchebu Lama's families--Chapel--Leave for Chola pa.s.s--Ryott river--Rungpo, view from--Deputation of Kajees, etc.--Conference--Laghep-- Eatable fruit of _Decaisnea--Cathcartia_--Rhododendrons-- Phieung-goong--Pines--Rutto river--Barfonchen--Curling of rhododendron leaf--Woodc.o.c.k--Chola pa.s.s--Small lakes--Tibet guard and sepoys--Dingpun--Arrival of Sikkim sepoys--Their conduct--Meet Singtam Soubah--Chumanako--We are seized by the Soubah's party--Soubah's conduct--Dingpun Tinli--Treatment of Dr. Campbell--Bound and guarded--Separated from Campbell-- Marched to Tumloong--Motives for such conduct--Arrive at Rungpo --At Phadong--Presents from Rajah--Visits of Lama--Of Singtam Soubah--I am cross-questioned by Amlah--Confined with Campbell-- Seizure of my Coolies--Threats of attacking Dorjiling.

CHAPTER XXVI.

Dr. Campbell is ordered to appear at Durbar--Lamas called to council--Threats--Scarcity of food--Arrival of Dewan--Our jailer, Thoba-sing--Temperature, etc., at Tumloong--Services of Goompas--Lepcha girl--Jews'-harp--Terror of servants-- Ilam-sing's family--Interview with Dewan--Remonstrances--Dewan feigns sickness--Lord Dalhousie's letter to Rajah--Treatment of Indo-Chinese--Concourse of Lamas--Visit of Tchebu Lama--Close confinement--Dr. Campbell's illness--Conference with Amlah-- Relaxation of confinement--Pemiongchi Lama's intercession--Escape of Nimbo--Presents from Rajah, Ranee, and people--Protestations of friends.h.i.+p--Mr. Lus.h.i.+ngton sent to Dorjiling--Leave Tumloong --Cordial farewell--Dewan's merchandize--Gangtok Kajee-- Dewan's pomp--Governor-General's letter--Dikkeeling--Suspicion of poison--Dinner and pills--Tobacco--Bhotanese colony-- Katong-ghat on Teesta--Wild lemons--Sepoys' insolence--Dewan alarmed--View of Dorjiling--Threats of a rescue--Fears of our escape--Tibet flutes--Negotiate our release--Arrival at Dorjiling--Dr. Thomson joins me--Movement of troops at Dorjiling --Seizure of Rajah's Terai property.

CHAPTER XXVII.

Leave Dorjiling for Calcutta--Jung Bahadoor--Dr. Falconer-- Improvements in Botanic Gardens--Palmetum--Victoria-- _Amherstia_--Orchids spread by seed--Banyan--_Cycas_-- Importation of American plants in ice--Return to Dorjiling--Leave with Dr. Thomson for the Khasia mountains--Mahanuddy river-- Vegetation of banks--Maldah--Alligators--Rampore-Bauleah-- Climate of Ganges--Pubna--Jummul river--Altered course of Burrampooter and Megna--Dacca--Conch sh.e.l.ls--Saws--Cotton muslins--Fruit--Vegetation--Elevation--Rose of Bengal-- Burrampooter--Delta of Soormah river--Jheels--Soil-- Vegetation--Navigation--Mosquitos--Atmospheric pressure-- Effects of geological changes--Imbedding of plants--Teelas or islets--Chattuc--Salubrious climate--Rains--Canoes--Pundua --Mr. Harry Inglis--Terrya Ghat--Ascent to Churra--Scenery and vegetation at foot of mountains--Cascades.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Churra, English station of--Khasia people--Garrow people-- Houses--Habits--Dress--Arms--Dialects--Marriages--Food-- Funerals--Superst.i.tions--Flat of Churra--Scenery--Lime and coal--Mamloo--Cliffs--Cascades--_Chamaerops_ palm-- Jasper-rocks--Flora of Churra--Orchids--Rhododendrons--Pine --Climate--Extraordinaiy rain-fall--Its effects--Gardens of Lieuts. Raban and Cave--Leave Churra to cross the mountain range-- Coal, shale, and under-clay--Kala-panee river--Lailangkot-- _Luculia Pinceana_--Conglomerate--Surureem wood--Boga-panee river--View of Himalaya--Greenstone--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.

CHAPTER XXIX.

View of Himalaya from the Khasia--Great ma.s.ses of snow--Chumulari --Donkia--Gra.s.ses--Nunklow--a.s.sam valley and Burrampooter-- Tropical forest--Bor-panee--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 was.h.i.+ng--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-- _Yandaca coerulea_--Collections--November vegetation--Geology of Khasia--Sandstone--Coal--Lime--Gneiss--Greenstone-- Tidal action--Strike of rocks--Comparison with Rajmahal hills and the Himalaya.

CHAPTER x.x.x.

Best voyage to Silhet--River--Palms--Teelas--Botany--Fish weirs--Forests of Cachar--Sandal-wood, etc.--Porpoises-- Alligators--Silchar--Tigers--Rice crops--Cookies-- Munniporees--Hockey--Varnish--Dance--Nagas--Excursion to Munnipore frontier--Elephant bogged--Bamboos--_Cardiopteris_-- Climate, etc., of Cachar--Mosquitos--Fall of banks--Silhet-- Oaks--_Stylidium_--Tree-ferns--Chattuc--Megna--Meteorology --Palms--Noa-colly--Salt-smuggling--Delta of Ganges and Megna --Westward progress of Megna--Peat--Tide--Waves--Earthquakes --Dangerous navigation--Moonlight scenes--Mud island-- Chittagong--Mug tribes--Views--Trees--Churs--Flagstaff hill --Coffee--Pepper--Tea, etc.--Excursions from Chittagong-- _Dipterocarpi_ or Gurjun oil trees--Earthquake--Birds--Papaw-- Bleeding of stems--Poppy and Sun fields----Seetakoond-- Bungalow and hill--Perpetual flame--_Falconeria--Cycas_-- Climate--Leave for Calcutta--Hattiah island--Plants-- Sunderbunds--Steamer--Tides--_Nipa fruticans_--Fis.h.i.+ng-- Otters--Crocodiles--_Phoenix paludosa_--Departure from India.

APPENDIX

LIST OF ILl.u.s.tRATIONS

LITHOGRAPHIC VIEWS.

Fig. VI. View of Kinchinjunga from Singtam, looking north-westward.

p.14 Fig. VII. Kinchinjunga from the Thlonok river, with rhododendrons in flower. Frontispiece Fig. VIII. Tibet and Cholamoo lake from the summit of the Donkia pa.s.s, looking north-west. p.124 Fig. IX. Kinchinjhow, Donkia, and Cholamoo lake, from the summit of Bhomtso, looking south; the summit of Chumulari is introduced in the extreme left of the view. p.166 Fig. X. The table-land and station of Churra, with the Jheels, course of the Soormah river, and Tipperah hills in the extreme distance, looking south. p.277 Fig. XI. The Bhotan Himalaya, a.s.sam valley, and Burrampooter river, from Nunklow, looking north. p.300 Fig. XII. Seetakoond hill. p.352

WOOD ENGRAVINGS.

Fig. 1. Panda.n.u.s in the Teesta valley. p.9 Fig. 2. Cane-bridge over the Lachen-Lachoong river, below Choongtam.

Tukcham mountain is brought into the view, as seen from a higher elevation. p.21 Fig. 3. _Juniperus recurva,_ the weeping juniper. p.28 Fig. 4. Lamteng village, with Tukcham in the distance. p.35 Fig. 5. Black juniper and young larch. p.55 Fig. 6. Tungu village, with yaks in the foreground. p.73 Fig. 7. Women's head-dresses--the two outer, Lepcha girls; the two inner, Tibetan women. p.86 Fig. 8. Tibet marmot. Sketched by J. E. Winterbottom, Esq. p.93 Fig. 9. Lachoong valley (looking south), larch tree in the foreground. p.103 Fig. 10. Conical ancient moraines in the Lachoong valley, with _Abies brunoniana_ and _smithiana_. p.104 Fig. 11. Head and legs of Tibet marmot. Sketched by J. E.

Winterbottom, Esq. p.106 Fig. 12. Block of gneiss with granite bands, on the Kinchinjhow glacier. p.135 Fig. 13. Summit of forked Donkia mountain, with Goa antelopes in the foreground; from 17,500 feet elevation. p.139 Fig. 14. View of the eastern top of Kinchinjhow, and Tibet in the distance, with wild sheep in the foreground; from an elevation of 18,000 feet. p.140 Fig. 15. Head of Chiru antelope, the unicorn of Tibet. From a sketch by Lieut. H. Maxwell. p.158 Fig. 16. A Phud, or Tibetan mendicant. Sketched at Dorjiling by Miss Colvile. p.187 Fig. 17. Tea (brick of), tea-pot, wooden cup, etc. p.189 Fig. 18. Portrait of Aden Tchebu Lama. Sketched by Lieut. H. Maxwell.

p.193 Fig. 19. Silver chain and hooks, ornamented with turquoises, used to fasten women's cloaks. p.195 Fig. 20. Horns of the Showa stag of Tibet (_Cervus wallichii_).

Sketched by Lieut. H. Maxwell. p.214 Fig. 21. Rajah's house at Tumloong, in the foreground the cottage in which Dr. Campbell was confined, with the Dewan's retinue pa.s.sing.

This is partly executed from memory. p.217 Fig. 22. Tibetan tobacco-pipe and tinder-pouch, with steel attached.

p.219 Fig. 23. Lepcha sepoys, the right hand figures, and Tibetan ones on the left. p.235 Fig. 24. Dr. Falconer's residence, Calcutta Botanic Gardens; from Sir L. Peel's grounds, looking across the Hoogly. p.243 Fig. 25. View in the Jheels of Bengal, with Khasia mountains in the distance. p.261 Fig. 26. Living bridge, formed of the aerial roots of figs. p.269 Fig. 27. Dewan's ear-ring of pearl and turquoises. p.271 Fig. 28. Waterfalls at Mamloo, with fan-palms. p.279 Fig. 29. Kollong rock. p.295 Fig. 30. Chela, on the Boga-panee river. p.307 Fig. 31. Nonkreem village, with boulders of denudation. p.311 Fig. 32. Bellows of iron smelters in the Khasia mountains. p.312 Fig. 33. Old bridge at Amwee. p.315 Fig. 34. Stones at Nurtiung. p.320 Fig. 35. _Dipterocarpus turbinatus,_ gurjun or wood-oil tree. p.349

HIMALAYAN JOURNALS.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Arrangements for second journey into Sikkim--Opposition of Dewan-- La.s.soo Kajee--Tendong--Legend of flood--Lama of Sillok-foke-- Namtchi--Tchebu Lama--Top of Tendong--Gigantic oak--Plants-- Teesta valley--Commencement of rains--Bhomsong--Ascent to Lathiang--View--Bad road--Orchids--Gorh--Opposition of Lama --Arrival of Meepo--Cross Teesta--Difficulties of travelling-- Lepchas swimming--Moxa for sprains--Singtam--Grandeur of view of Kinchinjunga--Wild men--Singtam Soubah--Landslips-- Bees'-nests and honey-seekers--Leeches, etc.--Chakoong-- Vegetation--Gravel terraces--Unpleasant effects of wormwood-- Choongtam, scenery and vegetation of--Inhabitants--Tibetan salute --Lamas--Difficulty of procuring food--Contrast of vegetation of inner and outer Himalaya--Rhododendrons--Yew--_Abies Brunoniana_--Venomous snakes--Hornets and other insects-- Choongtam temple--Pictures of Lha.s.sa--Minerals--Scenery.

After my return from the Terai, I was occupied during the month of April in preparations for an expedition to the loftier parts of Sikkim. The arrangements were the same as for my former journey, except with regard to food, which it was necessary should be sent out to me at intervals; for we had had ample proof that the resources of the country were not equal to provisioning a party of from forty to fifty men, even had the Dewan been favourable to my travelling, which was clearly not the case.

Dr. Campbell communicated to the Rajah my intention of starting early in May for the upper Teesta valley, and, in the Governor-General's name, requested that he would facilitate my visiting the frontier of Sikkim, north-east of Kinchinjunga. The desired permission was, after a little delay, received; which appeared to rouse the Dewan to inst.i.tute a series of obstructions to my progress, which caused so many delays that my exploration of the country was not concluded till October, and I was prevented returning to Dorjiling before the following Christmas.

Since our visit to the Rajah in December, no Vakeel (agent) had been sent by the Durbar to Dorjiling, and consequently we could only communicate indirectly with his Highness, while we found it impossible to ascertain the truth of various reports promulgated by the Dewan, and meant to deter me from entering the country. In April, the La.s.soo Kajee was sent as Vakeel, but, having on a previous occasion been dismissed for insolence and incapacity, and again rejected when proposed by the Dewan at Bhomsong, he was refused an audience; and he encamped at the bottom of the Great Rungeet valley, where he lost some of his party through fever. He retired into Sikkim, exasperated, pretending that he had orders to delay my starting, in consequence of the death of the heir apparent; and that he was prepared to use strong measures should I cross the frontier.

No notice was taken of these threats: the Rajah was again informed of my intended departure, unless his own orders to the contrary were received through a proper accredited agent, and I left Dorjiling on the 3rd of May, accompanied by Dr. Campbell, who insisted on seeing me fairly over the frontier at the Great Rungeet river.

Arrangements were made for supplies of rice following me by instalments; our daily consumption being 80 lbs., a man's load.

After crossing into Sikkim, I mustered my party at the Great Rungeet river. I had forty-two in all, of whom the majority were young Lepchas, or Sikkim-born people of Tibetan races: all were active and cheerful looking follows; only one was goitred, and he had been a salt-trader. I was accompanied by a guard of five Sepoys, and had a Lepcha and Tibetan interpreter. I took but one personal servant, a Portuguese half-caste (John Hoffman by name), who cooked for me: he was a native of Calcutta, and though hardy, patient, and long-suffering, and far better-tempered, was, in other respects, very inferior to Clamanze, who had been my servant the previous year, and who, having been bred to the sea, was as handy as he was clever; but who, like all other natives of the plains, grew intolerably weary of the hills, and left me.

The first part of my route lay over Tendong, a very fine mountain, which rises 8,613 feet, and is a conspicuous feature from Dorjiling, where it is known as Mount Ararat. The Lepchas have a curious legend of a man and woman having saved themselves on its summit, during a flood that once deluged Sikkim. The coincidence of this story with the English name of Ararat suggests the probability of the legend being fabulous; but I am positively a.s.sured that it is not so, but that it was current amongst the Lepchas before its English name was heard of, and that the latter was suggested from the peculiar form of its summit resembling that given in children's books as the resting-place of the ark.

The ascent from the Great Rungeet (alt. 818 feet) is through dry woods of Sal and Pines (_P. longifolia_). I camped the first night at the village of Mikk (alt. 3,900 feet), and on the following day ascended to Namtc (alt. 5,600 feet).

On the route I was met by the Lama of Silokfoke Goompa. Though a resident on the La.s.soo Kajee's estates, he politely brought me a present, at the same time apologising for not waiting till I had encamped, owing to his excessive fat, which prevented his climbing.

I accepted his excuses, though well aware that his real reason was that he wished to pay his respects, and show his good feeling, in private. Besides his ordinary canonicals, he carried a tall crozier-headed staff, and had a curious horn slung round his neck, full of amulets; it was short, of a transparent red colour, and beautifully carved, and was that of the small cow of Lha.s.sa, which resembles the English species, and is not a yak (it is called "Tundro").

Namtchi was once a place of considerable importance; and still possesses a mendong, with six rows of inscribed slabs; a temple, and a Lama attached thereto: the latter waited on me soon after I had encamped, but he brought no present, and I was not long kept in suspense as to his motives. These people are poor dissemblers; if they intend to obstruct, they do it clumsily and hesitatingly: in this instance the Lama first made up to my people, and, being coolly received, kept gradually edging up to my tent-door, where, after an awkward salute, he delivered himself with a very bad grace of his mission, which was from the La.s.soo Kajee to stop my progress. I told him I knew nothing of the La.s.soo Kajee or his orders, and should proceed on the following morning: he then urged the bad state of the roads, and advised me to wait two days till he should receive orders from the Rajah; upon which I dismissed him.

Soon afterwards, as I sat at my tent-door, looking along the narrow bushy ridge that winds up the mountain, I saw twenty or thirty men rapidly descending the rocky path: they were Lepchas, with blue and white striped garments, bows and quivers, and with their long knives gleaming in the sun: they seemed to be following a figure in red Lama costume, with a scarlet silk handkerchief wound round his head, its ends streaming behind him. Though expecting this apparition to prove the renowned Kajee and his myrmidons, coming to put a sudden termination to my progress, I could not help admiring the exceeding picturesqueness of the scenery and party. My fears were soon dissipated by my men joyfully shouting, "The Tchebu Lama! the Tchebu Lama!" and I soon recognised the rosy face and twinkling eyes of my friend of Bhomsong, the only man of intelligence about the Rajah's court, and the one whose services as Vakeel were particularly wanted at Dorjiling.

He told me that the La.s.soo Kajee had orders (from whom, he would not say) to stop my progress, but that I should proceed nevertheless, and that there was no objection to my doing so; and he despatched a messenger to the Rajah, announcing my progress, and requesting him to send me a guide, and to grant me every facility, a.s.serting that he had all along fully intended doing so.

On the following morning the Lama proceeded to Dorjiling, and I continued the ascent of Tendong, sending my men round the shoulder to Temi in the Teesta valley, where I proposed to pa.s.s the night.

The road rapidly ascends by a narrow winding path, covered with a loose forest of oaks, rhododendrons, and various shrubs, not found at equal elevations on the wetter Dorjiling ranges: amongst, them the beautiful laburnum-like _Piptanthus Nepalensis,_ with golden blossoms, was conspicuous. Enormous blocks of white and red stratified quartz, and slate, some 20 and even 40 yards long, rest on the narrow ridge at 7000 feet elevation. The last ascent is up a steep rounded cone with a broad flat top, covered with dwarf bamboo, a few oaks, laurels, magnolias, and white-flowered rhododendron trees (_R. argenteum_), which obstructed the view. I hung the barometers near one of the many chaits on the summit, where there is also a rude temple, in which wors.h.i.+p is performed once a year. The elevation is 8,671 feet by my observations.* [8,663 by Col. Waugh's trigonometrical observations.] The geological formation of Tendong in some measure accounts for its peculiar form. On the conical summit are hard quartzoze porphyries, which have apparently forced up the gneiss and slates, which dip in all directions from the top, and are full of injected veins of quartz. Below 7000 feet, mica-schist prevails, always inclined at a very high angle; and I found jasper near Namtchi, with other indications of Plutonic action.

The descent on the north side was steep, through a rank vegetation, very different from that of the south face. The oaks are very grand, and I measured one (whose trunk was decayed, and split into three, however), which I found to be 49 feet in girth at 5 feet from the ground. Near Temi (alt. 4,770 feet) I gathered the fruit of _Kadsura,_ a climbing plant allied to Magnolia, bearing round heads of large fleshy red drupes, which are pleasantly acid and much eaten; the seeds are very aromatic.

From Temi the road descends to the Teesta, the course of which it afterwards follows. The valley was fearfully hot, and infested with mosquitos and peepsas. Many fine plants grew in it:* [Especially upon the broad terraces of gravel, some of which are upwards of a mile long, and 200 feet above the stream: they are covered with boulders of rock, and are generally opposite feeders of the river.]

I especially noticed _Aristolochia saccata,_ which climbs the loftiest trees, bearing its curious pitcher-shaped flowers near the ground only; its leaves are said to be good food for cattle.

_Houttuynia,_ a curious herb allied to pepper, grew on the banks, which, from the profusion of its white flowers, resembled strawberry-beds; the leaves are eaten by the Lepchas. But the most magnificent plant of these jungles is _Hodgsonia,_ (a genus I have dedicated to my friend, Mr. Hodgson), a gigantic climber allied to the gourd, bearing immense yellowish-white pendulous blossoms, whose petals have a fringe of buff-coloured curling threads, several inches long. The fruit is of a rich brown, like a small melon in form, and contains six large nuts, whose kernels (called "Katior-pot" by the Lepchas) are eaten. The stem, when cut, discharges water profusely from whichever end is held downwards. The "Took" (_Hydnocarpus_) is a beautiful evergreen tree, with tufts of yellow blossoms on the trunk: its fruit is as large as an orange, and is used to poison fish, while from the seeds an oil is expressed. Tropical oaks and Terminalias are the giants of these low forests, the latter especially, having b.u.t.tressed trunks, appear truly gigantic; one, of a kind called "Sung-lok," measured 47 feet in girth, at 5 feet, and 21 at 15 feet from the ground, and was fully 200 feet high. I could only procure the leaves by firing a ball into the crown. Some of their trunks lay smouldering on the ground, emitting a curious smell from the mineral matter in their ashes, of whose const.i.tuents an account will be found in the Appendix.

Birds are very rare, as is all animal life but insects, and a small fresh-water crab, _Thelphusa,_ ("Ti-hi" of the Lepchas). Sh.e.l.ls, from the absence of lime, are extremely scarce, and I scarcely picked up a single specimen: the most common are species of _Cyclostoma._

The rains commenced on the 10th of May, greatly increasing the discomforts of travelling, but moderating the heat by drenching thunder-storms, which so soaked the men's loads, that I was obliged to halt a day in the Teesta valley to have waterproof covers made of platted bamboo-work, enclosing Phrynium leaves. I was delighted to find that my little tent was impervious to water, though its thickness was but of one layer of blanket: it was a single ridge with two poles, 7 feet high, 8 feet long, and 8 feet broad at the base, forming nearly an equilateral triangle in front.

Bhomsong was looking more beautiful than ever in its rich summer clothing of tropical foliage. I halted during an hour of heavy rain on the spot where I had spent the previous Christmas, and could not help feeling doubly lonely in a place where every rock and tree reminded me of that pleasant time. The isolation of my position, the hostility of the Dewan, and consequent uncertainty of the success of a journey that absorbed all my thoughts, the prevalence of fevers in the valleys I was traversing, and the many difficulties that beset my path, all crowded on the imagination when fevered by exertion and depressed by gloomy weather, and my spirits involuntarily sank as I counted the many miles and months intervening between me and my home.