to \ S er>T- 
 
 
 *r> 3 
 
 CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 THE 
 
 CHARLES WILLIAM WASON 
 
 COLLECTION ON CHINA 
 
 AND THE CHINESE 
 
DS 485.S5E23 
 
 a visit to sikhim, i? nd, 1 ;s;s„ 1 {a 1 
 
 Report on J S i| 
 
s* 
 
 Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924023017829 
 
DO MANI (STONE OP PKAYEE). 
 
REPORT 
 
 A VISIT TO SIKHIM AND THE THIBETAN 
 
 FRONTIER 
 
 In October, November, and December, 1873. 
 
 ! 
 
 3 1 
 
 By J. WARE EDGAR, Esq., C.S.I., 
 
 ©fffl, JBcputg ffotnmtsstontr of UarjKltng. 
 
 Cdrutta: 
 
 PKINTED AT THE BENGAL SECRETARIAT PRESS. 
 
 1874. 
 

 
 0^1 
 
 /o 
 
From J. WARE EDGAR, Esq., 
 
 Deputy Commissioner of Darjeeling, 
 
 To the COMMISSIONER of COOCH BEHAR. 
 
 Darjeeling, the 20th January 1874. 
 Sir, 
 
 As directed in Government order No. 
 3888 of the 8th October 1873, 1 have the honor 
 to submit an account of my recent tour in 
 Sikhim, together with such information as I 
 have been able to collect on the state of affairs 
 there ; the condition, extent, and prospects 
 of the trade with Thibet ; the desirability of 
 making a road or roads through Sikhim ; 
 the best route or routes to be taken ; and the 
 other points raised in the correspondence 
 between the Government of Bengal and that 
 of India. 
 
 2. I take this opportunity of bringing to your 
 notice and that of Government the great help 
 I got during my whole trip from Lassoo Kazi, 
 the Sikhim vakeel at Darjeeling; from Gellong, 
 my Court interpreter; and from Tcndook 
 Mookhtear, the manager of the estate of the 
 late Cheeboo Lama, who with his nephew 
 accompanied me as volunteers without any 
 out-look of profit. During the whole of my tour 
 they worked untiringly at everything that came 
 to their hands to do ; and I am very anxious, 
 with the permission of Government, to make 
 them some acknowledgment for their good and 
 voluntary service. 
 
 I should like to give Tendook an inscribed 
 silver Murwa Jug, and a Silver Watch to his 
 nephew. 
 
If this be allowed, I could pay for the things 
 out of the unexpended balance of the sum of 
 Rs. 2,000 sanctioned for presents to be made 
 during the tour. 
 
 I have the honor to be, 
 Sir, 
 Tour most obedient servant, 
 
 J. WARE EDGAR, 
 
 Deputy Commissioner. 
 
^>A^TLT I. 
 
 THE THIBETAN FRONTIER. 
 
 L 
 
VIEW OP FROZEN LAKE, WITH THIBETAN TRADERS. 
 
 p.l. 
 
REPORT ON A VISIT TO SIKHIM AND 
 THE THIBETAN FRONTIER. 
 
 I WAS fortunate enough at the outset to 
 persuade Major Lindsay, k.e., to accom- 
 pany me on at least a portion of the trip> and 
 he undertook to make a rough survey of our 
 routes as a help towards selecting a line of 
 road if it should be ultimately decided that 
 one was to be made. Unluckily some very 
 necessary scientific instruments which I be- 
 lieve had been sent from Calcutta were not 
 received by us, and our only means of taking 
 heights were two aneroids, neither of which 
 registered up to 12,000 feet. 
 
 On the 23rd October we left Darjeeling, 
 and on the following day reached Pheydoong, 
 a village situated at an elevation of 4,892 
 feet on the south-east slope of the Dumsong 
 spur, nearly forty miles from Darjeeling. Here 
 we halted on the 25th, to make sure that all 
 our preparations were complete, and on the 
 morning of the 26th descended to the Rishi, 
 which is here the boundary between our terri- 
 tory and Sikhim. The path is for a couple of 
 miles very fair, running over wide natural 
 terraces, some of which were cultivated and 
 some fallow. After this there were some steep 
 descents alternating with level ledges down to 
 the river, which was crossed at a point about 
 2,800 feet below Pheydoong. The stream was 
 narrow and fordable when we crossed it;; but 
 during the rains it becomes a formidable 
 
 Departure 
 from Darjee- 
 ling. 
 
 Sikhim Fron- 
 tier. 
 
REPORT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 Rheinock. 
 
 The Eilli. 
 
 The Lingtam. 
 
 torrent eighty feet wide and ten or twelve feet 
 deep. 
 
 The path on the other side of the river had 
 been carefully zigzagged under the direction 
 of an officer of the Sikhim State, who had been 
 sent to put it in good order by the Rajah. It 
 was rather steep in some places ; but, on the 
 whole, the ascent of 2,700 feet to the Rheinock 
 slope, where we encamped, was not difficult. 
 We greatly admired the rich cultivation and 
 comfortable-looking homesteads scattered over 
 the face of the Rheinock hill ; but I afterwards 
 saw much finer villages in the interior and 
 longer-inhabited parts of Sikhim. 
 
 On the following day we crossed the 
 Rheinock ridge at a point about six hundred 
 feet higher than our camp, and then descended 
 a not very difficult slope to a stream called 
 the Rilli, which we crossed at about 2,817 
 feet. This stream is wider and deeper than 
 the Rishi; but a bridge over it would pro- 
 bably cost less than one over the former 
 stream. Before coming to the Rilli, we crossed 
 a small stream called the Sa, which would 
 also have to be crossed by a bridge during the 
 rains. From the Rilli we ascended a very 
 steep hill for 2,600 feet, to a confined place in 
 the forest, much infested by pipsas, where we 
 halted for the night. 
 
 On the 28th we at first ascended some 
 hundred feet to the Lingchung ridge, along 
 which we went for some miles, at an elevation 
 of upwards of 6,000 feet, through the heavy 
 temperate forest, in which leeches most abound 
 during the rains. We then descended a steep 
 and bad path to a stream called the Lingtam, 
 at about 4,800 feet. The Lingtam falls into 
 the Rilli, and I think that a good road might 
 be made with little difficulty along the bank 
 of the latter stream to its junction with the 
 
S1KHIM AND THE THIBETAN FRONTIER. 
 
 former, and then along the Lingtam to the 
 point at which we crossed it, thus avoiding the 
 troublesome ascent and descent of the Ling- 
 chung range. It is probable also that if this 
 line were taken, the Rilli could be more easily 
 and cheaply bridged than at the point where 
 we crossed. 
 
 The right bank of the Lingtam at the 
 crossing is a flat of considerable size, most 
 of which has been cleared for cultivation. It 
 is possible that the high hills which sur- 
 round this level space may make it unhealthy 
 at some seasons of the year ; but should this 
 not be the case, the place, in the event of a 
 road being made, would probably become the 
 chief halting-place between Rheinock and the 
 upland pastures. Here we met some Thibetan 
 traders, with their wives and families, on their 
 way to Darjeeling. Their merchandise con- 
 sisted of coarse blankets, which they meant 
 to exchange for tobacco. They had spent six 
 days in crossing from Choombi, travelling 
 very slowly. 
 
 From the Lingtam we went along a rather 
 uneven road, rising for the most part, to a 
 place called Keu Laka, where we encamped 
 for the night at an elevation of 5,654 feet, in a 
 clearance near to the winter station of a family 
 of herdsmen. 
 
 These people belonged to a numerous class, 
 who during the summer months live in the 
 valley of the Mochoo, in Thibet, where they 
 generally have some grain cultivation ; but their 
 chief support is derived from their flocks 
 and herds, which they put out to graze on the 
 great pastures which lie on both the Sikhim 
 and Thibet sides of the Chola Range. When 
 the snow begins to fall on the uplands, they 
 drive their sheep and cattle to the lower slopes 
 of Sikhim, where they cultivate patches of 
 
 Herdsmen at 
 Keu Laka. 
 
KEPOET ON A VISIT TO 
 
 wheat, barley, and buckwheat. The family 
 we saw at Keu Laka consisted of an old widow 
 and her children and grandchildren, ten in 
 number, besides servants. The old woman 
 was clearly undisputed mistress of everything, 
 although her sons were by no means young 
 men ; and it was pleasant to see the ready 
 obedience that every one paid to her orders. 
 We were told that there were over three hun- 
 dred head of cattle in her herd, and I counted 
 some seventy cows at milking time, all sleek 
 and in good case, and many of them really 
 handsome animals. 
 
 One of the old woman's sons told me that 
 a good cow gives six quarts of milk daily, 
 and that he valued such a cow at Rs. 34. 
 He said that they supply butter and a kind 
 of cream cheese to the Darjeeling market, as 
 well as to those of Thibet, all of which, in- 
 cluding Lassa, are mainly dependant for beef, 
 as well as butter and cheese, on the produce 
 of the herds of the Phari valley. 
 
 These herdsmen, as well as all the others I 
 met in this part of Sikhim, paid revenue, both 
 to the Rajah of Sikhim and to the Thibet 
 Government, through the ex-Dewan Namgnay. 
 The revenue is paid in kind — in butter and 
 cheese — to the value of about Rs. 6 yearly to 
 each Government ; besides this, my informant 
 said that they were liable to some other de- 
 mands, both in kind and service, but that these 
 last were occasional and not very heavy. He 
 said, too, that they were sometimes compelled 
 to sell a cow to the Sikhim Rajah or to a 
 Phari Jungpen for less than the market value, 
 and that they had from time to time to make 
 presents to the Sikhim officials ; but that this 
 last item did not come heavy on account of 
 the Rajah being near. On the whole, he did 
 not consider that they were very badly off. 
 
SIKHIM AND THE THIBETAN FRONTIER. 
 
 •I found out afterwards that the herd of the 
 old woman of Kcu Laka was considered by- 
 no means an unusually large one in her part 
 of Thibet, and that many persons own much 
 greater numbers of cattle ; while it is said to 
 be not uncommon for a family to keep a flock 
 of four or five thousand sheep. 
 
 On the 29th we left Keu Laka, at first 
 descending some hundred feet by a very steep 
 rocky path to a stream, which was crossed 
 by a bridge of logs. Leaving the stream, we 
 ascended another steep and rocky hill to a 
 lovely glade in the temperate forest, at about 
 7,000 feet. From this glade we ascended still 
 through the great oak forest to between 8,000 
 and 9,000 feet, when we got into heavy bamboo, 
 called by my people " maling," which seemed 
 to me the same as the " mooly " of the jungle 
 of East Bengal. This part of the route, as is 
 generally the case in bamboo jungle, was very 
 difficult and fatiguing ; but it would be quite 
 easy to make a good road. After a tedious 
 climb through bamboo, we came suddenly 
 upon tree rhododendrons, which became more 
 numerous, but smaller, as we got higher; 
 until at last, when we reached the ridge, the 
 bamboo had disappeared and was replaced by 
 dwarf rhododendron. 
 
 After going some little way along the ridge, 
 we found our camp pitched on an open, but 
 rather uneven, patch of ground, called Jeyluk. 
 Here I found Lasso Kazi, the Sikhim vakeel at 
 Darjeeling, whom I had sent to Chooixibi some 
 time before I started to inform the Rajah that 
 I was coming. He now brought a letter from 
 the Rajah, in which he said that his eldest 
 sister, a nun at Choombi, was dangerously ill, 
 and that his own health was bad; that the 
 Phari Jungpens and Changzed would meet me 
 near the Jeylep Pass ; and that he would come 
 
 Jeyluk. 
 
REPORT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 Mount I.ingtu. 
 
 Gnatong. 
 
 Xopha. 
 
 if I wished it, but hoped that I would excuse 
 him on account of his own and his sister's 
 health. I answered that I would not settle 
 anything about a meeting with him till I had 
 seen Changzed at the Pass. 
 
 Our road on the 30th, for some time after 
 we left Jeyluk, rose gradually through bamboo 
 and rhododendron till we came, at about 
 10,700 feet, to a level neck covered with 
 juniper and other new vegetation, which 
 connected the ridge we had been ascending with 
 a steep pine-clad hill called Lingtu, which rises 
 suddenly to a height of about 2,000 feet from the 
 neck. The path goes up this hill, and though 
 steep in some places, is far from being so diffi- 
 cult as it appears from below. I estimated the 
 height of the point where the path crosses the 
 hill to be more than 12,500 feet ; but this is a 
 mere guess, for the index hand of the aneroid 
 had got fixed between 20 and 31 long before 
 we got to the top. We had now got into the 
 upland pastures, which extend to the foot of the 
 Jeylep Pass, — a succession of low rolling hills, 
 generally covered with scrub rhododendron, and 
 slightly-depressed grassy valleys, with frequent 
 patches of silver fir and occasional masses 
 of rock covered with exquisitely-coloured 
 mosses and lichen. 
 
 We found very few cattle in the uplands 
 through which we passed, but numerous 
 unoccupied huts of herdsmen showed that these 
 pastures are much frequented during the rains ; 
 and we could see with a glass immense herds 
 grazing on a great expanse of grassy slopes 
 and valleys some miles to our north, where are 
 said to be the best pasturages in Sikhim. 
 
 We encamped on the night of the 30th in a 
 wide grassy valley called Gnatong, and next 
 day went on by an easy route over a compara- 
 tively level country to the foot of the Jeylep 
 
VIEW OF A SIDE VALLEY UN THE CHOLA KANGE, 
 
 p. o. 
 
SIKHIM AND THE THIBETAN FRONTIER. 
 
 Pass, where we encamped on the bank of a 
 frozen stream flowing through a grassy and 
 rather marshy valley called Kophu. Here we 
 found messengers from Choomhi awaiting our 
 arrival, who said that Changzed and the ex- 
 Dewan Namgnay were on their way from 
 Choombi and would arrive at the Pass that 
 evening, and that the Jungpen of Phari would 
 arrive next day. 
 
 These messengers had been directed to 
 ascertain whether I would allow the ex-Dewan 
 Namgnay to cross the frontier, as he had been 
 for ever excluded from Sikhini by the 7th 
 Article of the Treaty of 1861. After some 
 consideration, I decided that it would be well 
 to receive him, as such meeting might give 
 opportunities of finding out his exact position 
 and influence, as well as his present sentiments 
 towards our Government. Besides this, I had 
 heard on all sides that, if he liked, he could 
 give me more information on all subjects 
 connected with Thibet than any one else. I 
 therefore told the messengers to inform him that 
 I was willing to receive him unofficially, and 
 on my own responsibility, but that this did not 
 in any way affect the prohibition contained in 
 the treaty, which would still continue in full 
 force, nor was my action to be in any way 
 taken as an indication of any intention on the 
 part of Government to condone his past offences. 
 
 I may say here that I was not disappointed 
 in my hope of getting valuable information 
 from him, for he supplied more than I obtained 
 from all other sources together. He appeared 
 to me to be a man of great mental and bodily 
 activity, and an unusually quick intelligence. 
 He showed a great eagerness for information, 
 and a rare insight in grasping the .meaning 
 of subjects quite outside his own experience. 
 But these qualities were counterbalanced by 
 
 The ex-Dewan. 
 
 His character. 
 
a childish vanity, which 'he did not attempt 
 to conceal, and which, coupled with a sanguine 
 temperament, must make his judgment very- 
 unreliable in many important matters. 
 
 Still, in spite of these drawbacks, he is on the 
 whole the most considerable man with whom 
 I have had dealings either on this or the North- 
 East Frontier: and he has great weight in 
 ;■ po :"- Thibet. This was evident from the respect 
 
 paid to everything he said both by Changzed 
 and the Phari Jungpens, over whom he exercises 
 a kind of undefined authority, mainly based on 
 his influence with the high officials of Lassa, 
 and on the confidence which the latter place in 
 his experience and knowledge of the affairs of 
 the frontiers. But he is not Governor of 
 Choombi, as has frequently been stated, and 
 in fact has no recognized official position. 
 
 He has received a grant of land from the 
 Dalai Lama and a high-class button through 
 the Ampahs, or representatives of the Chinese 
 Emperor at Lassa. In consideration of these 
 favors he is supposed to give the Chechep 
 Depen of Giantzi and the Jungpens of Phari 
 the benefit of his advice when required. As 
 far as I could judge from my intercourse with 
 the ex-Dewan, he seemed very anxious to 
 regain the favour of our Government, and I 
 think that he really means to do us all the 
 service in his power. He 'clearly sees that he 
 has gained nothing by his former conduct, 
 while probably he fancies that something is 
 to be made by serving us now, and it was 
 quite evident that he is exceedingly fond of 
 gain. 
 
 I believe that much use might be made of 
 him in our dealings with Thibet, if our frontier 
 officers keep well in mind that his vanity 
 will often lead him to promise more than it is 
 
SIKHIM AND THE THIBETAN FRONTIER. 
 
 in his power to perform, and that his hopeful- 
 ness must always tend to make him underrate 
 the difficulties of every undertaking. 
 
 After the messengers left, Thibetans came 
 pouring down from the Pass, with tents made 
 of yaks' hair and canvas, ponies, flocks of 
 sheep, and provisions of various kinds ; ^Lnd in a 
 wonderfully short time a considerable encamp- 
 ment had sprung up on the opposite side of 
 the stream to ours. The Rajah sent a durbar 
 tent for me, which in shape, arrangement, and 
 even in ornament, bore a curious resemblance 
 to the great marble Audience Halls in the 
 palaces of Delhi and Agra. In the afternoon 
 Changzed and the Dewan arrived in their 
 camp. As they had come that day all the 
 way from Choombi, and it was getting very 
 cold, I put off receiving them till the next 
 morning. 
 
 Soon after this a telegram from the Lieu- 
 tenant-Governor, recalling Major Lindsay, 
 whose services were required to commence 
 the Northern Bengal Railway, came in, having 
 been forwarded by express. Major Lindsay 
 determined to start next morning, to my 
 great regret; for I lost in him a pleasant 
 companion at the time when I most wanted 
 his aid in the survey of the Passes. 
 
 The Jungpens of Phari arrived early on 
 the morning of the 1st, or rather one Jungpen 
 and a subordinate who acted as the_ representa- 
 tive of the other, said to be absent in Lassa. 
 
 About 10 a.m. I received Changzed and the 
 Dewan. I told them that I had been sent to 
 convey the orders of Government upon the 
 points raised in the memorial submitted by 
 the Rajah to the Lieutenant-Governor when 
 at Darjeeling. I said that, as I understood 
 my instructions, I was bound to communicate 
 
 Arrival of 
 Changzed, the 
 Dewan, and 
 the Jungpens. 
 
 Interviews 
 with Changzed. 
 
10 
 
 REPORT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 the orders to the Rajah in person ; but that I 
 was very unwilling to ask him to come into 
 tents on the Jeylep at this inclement season, 
 particularly as he was said to be in great 
 sorrow about his sister. I said that I was quite 
 willing to go to him at Choombi, but pointed 
 out that, as I had already informed them, I 
 had been distinctly forbidden by Government 
 to cross the frontier without special invitation 
 from the Thibetan authorities. I suggested 
 that they should use their influence with the 
 Phari Jungpens to procure me such an invita- 
 tion, and in this way save the Rajah the trouble 
 of coming to meet me. They promised to 
 try; but said that they had little hope of 
 success, as the Jungpens had been sent for the 
 purpose of preventing me from crossing the 
 frontier. 
 
 And with the 
 Jungpens. 
 
 They then went away and returned about two 
 hoars after with the Jungpen and his associate, 
 whom I shall call the Deputy Jungpen. The 
 former is a young man, tall and very stout, 
 with a heavy unprepossessing face; but his 
 manner was remarkably good. It was cour- 
 teous, dignified, and at the same time perfectly 
 unaffected. His voice was pleasant, and he 
 spoke in a quiet, refined tone. Altogether, he 
 gave me the idea of a man accustomed to live 
 in a society which had acquired a considerable 
 amount of cultivation. He is said to be the 
 son of a highly -placed Thibetan official, and to 
 have spent some years in the bureaus of Lassa 
 and Jigatzi. He was appointed to Phari about 
 a year ago, and it was his first independent 
 charge of importance. The Deputy Jung- 
 pen, though richly dressed and entitled to 
 wear a button, evidently belonged to a much 
 lower class, — not differing very much from the 
 ignorant and unpolished Bhooteas of Sikhirn 
 and Bhootan whom we are accustomed to meet. 
 
SIKHIM AND THE THIBETAN FRONTIER. 
 
 11 
 
 Objections to 
 my crossing 
 the frontier, 
 
 His opinion, as representing the absent Jung- 
 pen, was occasionally asked for in a formal 
 way, but he never volunteered an observation ; 
 and in all our interviews he took up, in a 
 marked way, a position of inferiority to Chang- 
 zed, the Jungpen, and ex-Dewan. 
 
 After some conversation on indifferent sub- 
 jects, I told the Jungpens that there were several 
 questions which I wished to discuss with them; 
 but that I must first settle about a meeting 
 with the Sikhim Rajah, which was the main 
 object of my visit. I repeated to them what I 
 had already said to Changzed and the Dewan, 
 and asked them to consult with them and 
 decide on the best thing to be done. The 
 Jungpen answered, with much circumlocution 
 and many compliments, that he was very sorry 
 that he could not give me the necessary invita- 
 tion to Choombi, as he had received special 
 instructions from the Ampahs to meet me on 
 the frontier, to hear all that I wished to say, 
 and to report it to Lassa ; but at the same time 
 to explain to me that there was an agreement 
 between Thibet and China that no foreigner 
 should cross the frontier, and that no European 
 had ever been allowed into Thibet. I said that, 
 as regards the invitation, I wished him to settle 
 that matter with the Sikhim people ; but that 
 he was mistaken in saying that no European 
 had visited Thibet. 
 
 I then told him about the missions of Bogle 
 and Turner, and showed him Turner's sketch 
 of the Tisshoo Lama's tomb, which he professed 
 not to recognize. The ex-Dewan took the 
 book to look at the picture, which however 
 seemed to convey no idea to his mind. But 
 when on turning over the leaves he came 
 accidentally on the picture of the temple called 
 Kugopea, he at once exclaimed, with evident 
 surprise, that he recognized it, and said that 
 
12 
 
 KEPORT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 Alleged 
 engagements 
 with the 
 Chinese. 
 
 Turner's sketch accurately represents the pre- 
 sent appearance of the building. The Jungpen 
 was obliged to allow that this was the case, and 
 seemed somewhat disconcerted at first; but, after 
 thinking for a little time, he said that though he 
 had never heard of Turner's mission, he sup- 
 posed he had been in Thibet ; but that I stated 
 that it is almost one hundred years since the 
 date of his visit, while the present arrangement 
 had been made by Kishen, the Tongtong (or 
 Prince) of the Chinese Empire, who had been 
 sent to settle the affairs of Thibet less than 
 thirty years ago. In answer to some questions 
 of mine, the Jungpen explained that by an 
 arrangement between Kishen and the Thibetan 
 authorities, the direct management of frontier 
 affairs had been committed to the Ampahs, and 
 that at the same time it was settled that there 
 should be no intercourse between .Thibet and 
 British India ; and, above all, that no Europeans 
 should be allowed to cross the Thibetan frontier. 
 He then said that I, as an official, would under- 
 stand that all he could do was to obey orders, 
 whether he approved of them or not. 
 
 Before this Changzed and the Dewan made an 
 attempt to persuade the Jungpen, as I afterwards 
 understood, that the orders of the Ampahs were 
 not so positive as to prevent their taking me to 
 Choombi, on the plea that I had been directed 
 by my Government to meet the Rajah there. 
 The Jungpen, on hearing this, said to me that 
 if I considered myself bound by my orders to 
 go to Choombi, he would not oppose me, but 
 that the results would be his absolute ruin, — a 
 rupture between Sikhim and Thibet, and no 
 improvement in our relations with the latter 
 state. He added that the Sikhim durbar were 
 well aware of this, and that the Ampahs had 
 written to the Rajah on the subject. I again 
 explained that I had received distinct orders not 
 
SIKHIM AND THE THIBETAN FRONTIER. 
 
 13 
 
 to go into Thibet without an express invitation, 
 but that I was also bound to meet the Sikhim 
 Rajah. The Jungpen offered to report the 
 matter to his immediate superior, the Chechep 
 Depen at Griantzi, and ask for his instructions. 
 I put off giving any answer to this proposition 
 till next day, as I wished, before settling any- 
 thing, to find out the exact nature of the letter 
 from the Ampahs to the Sikhim Rajah which 
 the Jungpen had alluded to. 
 
 Next morning I rode to the Jeylep Pass, 
 accompanied by the Dewan and the Deputy 
 Jungpen. The boundary was marked by 
 several cairns of stones, on one of which was an 
 oblong board with a Thibetan inscription on one 
 side stating that it showed the point where the 
 boundary between Sikhim and Thibet crossed 
 the Jeylep Pass. Above was a large red oblong 
 seal, said to be that of a Chinese official at 
 Griantzi, and below two small seals, one of 
 which I think was that of the Sikhim Rajah. 
 On the other side of the board was an inscription 
 in the Chinese character which no one with 
 me could read. 
 
 On my way back I stopped at Changzed's 
 tent. He had got breakfast for me, consisting of 
 precisely the same dishes as those described by 
 Mr. Blanford, in his narrative published in the 
 Journal of the Asiatic Society, Part II, No. 4, 
 of 1871. The Phari Jungpens were not pre- 
 sent at breakfast, and I had a long unrestrained 
 talk with Changzed and the Dewan about 
 Thibetan politics. They were clearly of 
 opinion that the main hindrance to free inter- 
 course with that country is the Chinese policy 
 of exclusiveness ; but they said that hitherto 
 this had coincided with a feeling in the minds 
 of the Thibet officials that it was safer to 
 have nothing to do with us. 
 
 The Jeylep 
 Pass. 
 
 Breakfast with 
 Changzed. 
 
14 
 
 REPORT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 Of late, however, there has been a movement 
 in favour of abandoning the policy of isolation, 
 and the Dewan said that at the present time 
 some of the leading officials are agitating in 
 that direction ; but he added that anything of 
 this kind takes a long time in Thibet, and that 
 it is very difficult to advance without the 
 co-operation of the Ampahs. Both he and 
 Changzed urged strongly the advisability of 
 getting a declaration from the Government of 
 Pekin that the obstacles now put in the way 
 of free intercourse are unauthorized. They 
 said that this would strengthen the hands of 
 the party favorable to a change of policy, while 
 it would deprive their opponents of their great 
 argument against innovation. 
 
 I gathered that much uneasiness was felt in 
 Thibet at the attitude of Sir Jung Bahadoor 
 and the threats of the Nepalese, and that in 
 consequence the Dalai Lama and his advisers 
 had made up their dispute with the Ampahs, 
 and were very anxious to stand well with 
 China. 
 
 Letter from 
 the Chinese 
 Ampahs at 
 
 Lassa. 
 
 I asked Changzed whether it was true that 
 the Ampahs had written to the Rajah about 
 my visit, as the Jungpen had said. He said it 
 was true, and, after a little hesitation, produced 
 a letter from a bundle of papers. 
 
 It was written in the Thibetan language and 
 character, on fine Daphne paper, and had a 
 large oblong red seal at foot, the device on 
 which was different from that on the board I 
 had seen at the Pass. It was said to be the 
 official seal of the Ampahs. The letter was 
 contained in an enormous envelope of China 
 paper, highly scented with musk, and covered 
 with red seals like that on the letter, and 
 with Chinese characters, under which were 
 translations in Thibetan. I subsequently got 
 
SIKHIM AND THE THIBETAN FRONTIER. 
 
 15 
 
 this letter with considerable difficulty from the 
 Sikhim people, who were much afraid that they 
 might get into trouble if we made = any use 
 of it at Pekin. Both letter and envelope will 
 accompany this report, but I give the following 
 translation of the letter, as it is important : — 
 
 " By order of our master, the Emperor of 
 China, we the Ampahs Jaw-lo-tin and Tin (a) 
 address you, the Sikhim Rajah, the four Kalons 
 (b) having made known to us the representation 
 addressed to the Dalai Lama Rimbochay 
 through the Chechep Depen of Giantzi, Gempo 
 Pinchow, by you conjointly with the Jungpens 
 of Phari, Undee Durjee, and Minjur Durjee, 
 dated the 4th day of the month Dow Dimpo, 
 and forwarded by horse express. In this it 
 was stated that you had a meeting with the 
 Peling Lord Sahib (c) during the month Dow 
 Napho at Darjeeling, and that he requested 
 you to have the roads through Sikhim repaired 
 during the 10th month, as a Commissioner 
 Sahib and a Deputy Commissioner Sahib 
 would visit the frontier during the 8th and 
 9th months (d). It was also stated that these 
 officers would proceed to Rinchingong and 
 Choombi unless met on the frontier by you, 
 the Phari Jungpens, and Dewan Namgnay. 
 
 " You furthermore promised a full report of 
 the proposed interview. 
 
 Translation of 
 letter. 
 
 (a.) In original " The Pho-to-thong Ampahs Jaw-lo-tin and 
 Tin. " According to another reading, Pho-to-thong and Jaw-lo-tin 
 are the names of the Ampahs ; some of my interpreters taking Pho- 
 to-thong as a title of hoth Ampahs, others taking it to be the name of 
 one of them. 
 
 (A.) Kalon is the Chinese term for the four Secretaries of the 
 Government of Lassa, called Shaffes in Thibetan ; the latter term is the 
 one best known here, but the former title is that used by Hue. 
 
 (e.) " Peling" was the word used to describe the English by 
 the Thibetans who talked with Hue. 
 
 (rf.) There is here clearly a mistake of the copyist of the letter. 
 The meaning intended must have been to prepare the roads during 
 the 8th and 9th months (i.e., August and September) for the visit to 
 be made in the 10th month. 
 
16 
 
 REPORT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 " On receipt of this letter we, in consultation 
 with the Thibet officials, took into considera- 
 tion the question whether the Peling Lord 
 Sahib did or did not express the wishes attri- 
 buted to him by you, and we came to the 
 conclusion that, according to the golden writing 
 of the Emperor of China, and the arrangement 
 which has hitherto existed and which we have 
 sworn to maintain, the Peling Sahibs should 
 not be allowed to cross the frontier (a). 
 
 " You should explain all this to the Sahibs, 
 and do all in your power to persuade them to 
 return without entering Thibet. In case you 
 should be successful, there will be no need of the 
 Phari Jungpens going to meet them. But should 
 you fail to induce the Sahibs to return, then 
 the Phari Jungpens should go to the frontier 
 and explain to them that it would be contrary 
 to custom for them to cross the frontier, and 
 that it is, as it were, a matter of life and death 
 for us to uphold the existing arrangements. 
 
 " But they should do all this in such a 
 manner as not to give offence, and should do 
 nothing which could possibly give rise to 
 complications in the future. 
 
 " You should report at once the result of the 
 steps taken ; and if on this, or any future 
 occasion, the Sahibs should insist on crossing 
 the frontier, immediate and frequent reports 
 should be made to us through the Chechep 
 Depen of Giantzi. 
 
 "Your State of Sikhim borders on Thibet: 
 you know what is in our minds, and what our 
 policy is ; you are bound to prevent the 
 Peling Sahibs from crossing the frontier ; yet 
 
 (a.) This passage appears a little obscure in the original. I have 
 had four independent translations made of it, all of which differ 
 more or less j but the one given above seems most nearly to represent 
 the meaning. 
 
SIKH1M AND THE THIBETAN FRONTIER. 
 
 17 
 
 it is entirely through your action in making 
 roads for the Sahibs through Sikhim that they 
 are going to make the projected attempt. 
 
 " If you continue to behave in this manner, 
 it will not be well with you. 
 
 " In future you should fulfil your obligations 
 and obey the orders of the Dalai Lama 
 Rimbochay and the twelfth Emperor of 
 China (a). 
 
 " Dated the Thibetan year Choojah, the 
 eighth month, the eleventh day of the month, 
 corresponding with August 1873." 
 
 On hearing the contents of this letter, which 
 seemed to me authentic, I began to think that 
 I might do most to further my great object of 
 establishing free intercourse with Thibet by 
 giving up all idea of crossing the frontier 
 during this visit. It seemed probable that I 
 should not gain much by going to ©hoombi, 
 while I might lose the opportunity of urging 
 upon the Jungpens, and through them on the 
 higher Thibet officials, the arguments against 
 the policy of isolation which they have 
 adopted. 
 
 Finally, I came to the conclusion that this 
 was the right course to take, and I told 
 Changzed that I did not wish him to press the 
 Jungpens any further for an invitation to 
 Choombi, but that he should arrange at once 
 for the Rajah to meet me at his own side of 
 the frontier at such place and time as might 
 be most convenient to him. I then asked to 
 have the Jungpens sent for, as they had 
 already said that they had not brought a tent 
 fit to receive me in. When they came, I told 
 them that I had settled that the Sikhim Rajah 
 
 (a.) That is, twelfth of the existing or Tsing dynasty. According 
 to our lists, Kitsiang is only the eighth Emperor of his dynasty. 
 
 Idea of going 
 to Choombi 
 given up. 
 
 Conversation 
 with the 
 Jungpens. 
 
18 
 
 REPORT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 was to come to meet me, and that I had given 
 up any idea I had of going to Choombi. The 
 Jungpen seemed greatly relieved at hearing 
 this, and said he was sorry that his orders had 
 not allowed him to invite me across the 
 frontier, again repeating that I, as an official, 
 could understand his position. 
 
 I then said that Government, not having 
 anticipated my meeting with any Thibetan 
 officials, had not given me any instructions 
 concerning such a meeting, and that therefore 
 anything I might say to him bad not the 
 authority of my Government, but was merely 
 the opinion of an experienced official about 
 its views and wishes. Under this explanation 
 I requested him to report what I should say in 
 full to his superiors. 
 
 Concerning 
 
 trade. 
 
 He said that he had received instructions to 
 make a full report, but that of course he could 
 not accept or reject any proposition which I 
 might make. I then said that one of the 
 objects of my visit was to inquire into the 
 question connected with the trade between our 
 territories and Thibet, and that I meant to 
 recommend strongly the construction of a road 
 through Sikhim, under our treaty with that 
 State, as well as some other measures which I 
 thought likely to encourage trade ; but I said 
 that I should also take occasion to bring 
 prominently to the notice of Government that, 
 while the majority of our subjects are not 
 allowed to enter Thibet for the purpose of 
 trade, crowds of Thibetans are constantly 
 pouring into our bazaars. 
 
 Our Government, I said, was very glad to 
 have these traders come 'in, and did what it 
 could to protect and encourage them, and I 
 thought it but fair that the Thibetan Govern- 
 ment should treat our people in the same way. 
 
SIKHIM AND THE THIBETAN PilONTIER. 
 
 19 
 
 This exclusion seemed the more indefensible 
 since people of Cashmere, Nepal, Sikhim, and 
 Bhootan — States dependant on, or allied with 
 us — were freely admitted. 
 
 The conversation which followed on this 
 subject led to some allusion to our policy with 
 regard to Himalayan States. I described this 
 as the encouragement of trade to the utmost 
 of our power, and the maintenance of strong 
 friendly States along our frontier. In sup- 
 port of this I instanced our treatment of Af- 
 ghanistan, Cashmere, and Nepal, and said that 
 I did not pretend that the policy was a purely 
 unselfish one ; that of course we were glad 
 when other States were prosperous ; but that we 
 ourselves derived great advantages from the 
 neighbourhood of strong, friendly, and flourish- 
 ing States. 
 
 In the first place, I said, large classes of our 
 people are manufacturers or traders, and it is an 
 object of great importance to find markets for 
 their goods. But it is a matter of far greater 
 moment that there should be powerful, well- 
 organized, and friendly States to preserve order 
 along the long and difficult northern frontier 
 which we do not want to hold ourselves, but 
 which without such States would be an intoler- 
 able nuisance to the defenceless low lands. 
 By keeping the peace along this frontier, such 
 States fully repay our support and occasional 
 aid, while prospering greatly themselves. I 
 pointed out that Thibet is now practically the 
 only considerable State on the frontier that is 
 not on such a friendly footing with us and 
 benefiting thereby, and asked the Jungpen to 
 contrast the result of the policy of isolation 
 in Thibet with that of the opposite policy as 
 carried out by Sir Jung Bahadoor's govern- 
 ment in Nepal. 
 
 Our policy 
 towards 
 Himalayan 
 States. 
 
20 
 
 REPOKT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 Relations of 
 Thibet with 
 Nepal. 
 
 The Jungpen, who had shown throughout 
 by his questions and remarks that he took an 
 intelligent interest in what I was saying, ac- 
 knowledged that the relative positions of Nepal 
 and Thibet had become very unsatisfactory, 
 and asked me, with much appearance of anxiety, 
 whether 1 had any late intelligence of the 
 intentions of Sir Jung Bahadoor, and how he 
 had received a proposal which had been made 
 some time previously that he should send Com- 
 missioners to the frontier to meet some Thibet 
 officials. I said that he had refused to send 
 Commissioners to the frontier, and had declared 
 that the Thibetans must go to Khatmandoo if 
 they wished to make any answer to the com- 
 plaints of the Nepali representative at Thibet. 
 This news evidently was not expected by the 
 Jungpen, and it seemed to make him very 
 uncomfortable. He said that the people of 
 Thibet would do much to avoid a rupture with 
 Nepal, for they were quite aware that the re- 
 sources of the latter State had increased greatly 
 of late ; but that they feared that Sir Jung 
 Bahadoor was determined to attack them, in 
 which case they would fight to the last. The 
 British Government, added the Jungpen, might 
 confer a great benefit on Thibet by using its 
 influence to moderate the aggressive policy of 
 Nepal. I answered that I knew our Govern- 
 ment to be anxious to have peace maintained 
 on the frontier, and to be of use to its 
 neighbours when possible ; but that, for my own 
 part, I could not see how it could interfere 
 between Nepal and Thibet. If differences 
 should arise between Bhootan and Nepal, or 
 Sikhim and Nepal, our Government would 
 certainly mediate between the two, and in all 
 probability effectually; but a dispute between 
 Nepal and Thibet is quite another matter. It 
 appeared to me that our Government would not 
 be justified in interfering unasked between a 
 
SIKHIM AND THE THIBETAN FftONTIER. 
 
 21 
 
 friendly State and one that refuses to have any 
 relations with us. And, further, that even if 
 -our Government were to interfere, it could only 
 hear the Nepal version of the dispute, and pro- 
 bably this would show Thibet to be altogether 
 wrong and Nepal worthy of our support. 
 
 I took occasion in this connection again to 
 dwell on the injury to Thibet caused by the 
 policy of isolation. The Jungpen said that 
 many people in Thibet had begun to distrust 
 its soundness. For his own part, he considered 
 it his duty to carry out orders without inquiry, 
 whether they were good or bad ; but he would 
 repeat all that I had said to the Chechep Depen 
 of Giantzi. I said that I was very sorry not to 
 have met the Depen this time ; but that it would 
 probably be necessary for me, or some other 
 officer of Government, to visit the frontier next 
 year, possibly before the rains, as I did not see 
 my way to settling finally all the matters about 
 which I had come. In this case I hoped that a 
 meeting with the Depen could be arranged, and 
 I begged the Jungpen to tell this to the Depen. 
 He said he would do so, but took care to 
 explain that it was not in his power to give any 
 promise that would bind the Depen. 
 
 On my return to camp I received a large 
 present of sheep, blankets, butter, flour, salt, 
 &c, from the Jungpens, to whom I gave in 
 return a small musical box and a pair of 
 binoculars. In the evening, as generally 
 happened, a great number of people from the 
 Phari Valley collected about my camp-fire and 
 talked about roads, trade, their crops, and flocks, 
 and herds, and other such matters. They 
 went away earlier than usual ; but after a little 
 while some of the elders came back, and after 
 making sure that none of the Jungpen's people 
 were hanging about, asked me when we were 
 going to take possession of the Phari Valley. 
 
 Conversation 
 with Thibetan 
 traders about 
 annexation. 
 
22 
 
 REPORT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 They were wearied, they said, of the oppressions 
 of the officials, and having seen, when on their 
 way to Darjeeling to trade, the prosperity of 
 the countries which we had taken from Bhootan 
 and Sikhim, they were anxious that we should 
 at once annex their country, as they had 
 heard we meant to do eventually. I told 
 them that we had not the slightest inten- 
 tion of taking their country ; that it was 
 in the highest degree improbable that we 
 should be compelled to do so ; that we were 
 very anxious to do what we could to help 
 them by encouraging trade, making roads and 
 bridges, and establishing marts ; but that more 
 than this we could not do. They then went 
 away. My people seemed convinced that these 
 people had made this inquiry of themselves ; 
 that there is a general belief that we shall 
 eventually annex these Himalayan valleys ; and 
 that their inhabitants greatly desired that we 
 should do so : but I am strongly inclined to 
 suspect that the men were instigated by the 
 Jungpens, with a view to sounding me, and 
 finding out if there were ulterior motives for 
 my visit ; and, in a subsequent conversation, I 
 took an opportunity of telling the Jungpens of 
 our great unwillingness to extend our frontiers 
 in any direction, and of explaining some of the 
 chief objections to such extension towards the 
 Himalayas. 
 
 Conversation 
 with Changzed 
 about the 
 orders of 
 Government. 
 
 On the morning of the 3rd, Changzed came 
 across to my camp and had a long interview 
 with me, in which I explained to him the 
 orders of Government and discussed fully the 
 different matters which I meant to take up 
 formally when I had a meeting with the Rajah. 
 I pointed out to him the conditions on which 
 the increase of pension had been granted, and 
 said that I relied on all the Sikhim officials 
 supporting the Rajah in complying with them. 
 
SIKHIM AND THE THIBETAN FRONTIER. 
 
 23 
 
 I told him that I was inclined to recommend 
 the construction of a road over Jeyluk to the 
 Jeylep, but that I should not make up my mind 
 until I had explored the remaining Passes. He 
 said that he thought I should find the route 
 to the foot of Jeylep and the Pass itself far 
 easier than any other line, and that if a road 
 were decided on they would help in "its con- 
 struction to the best of their ability. He took 
 up warmly the proposition of establishing a 
 mart somewhere on the frontier, but objected 
 to the sites proposed by me as being remote 
 from the inhabited parts of Sikhim and too near 
 the snows. He urged strongly the advantages 
 of Guntuck, where he said the Rajah had long 
 contemplated building a house, and where there 
 was much level land, with plenty of water, in 
 a perfect climate, neither too cold nor too hot. 
 I promised to visit Guntuck on my way back, 
 and to mention in my report that the Sikhim 
 durbar wished to have the mart established 
 there. 
 
 I explained to him fully the plan on which 
 it is proposed to start the Bhootea Boarding 
 School at Darjeeling, for the teaching of 
 English, Thibetan, and hill-surveying. He 
 expressed the most unqualified approval of the 
 idea, and said that he would undertake that it 
 should be attended by several young and pro- 
 mising boys belonging to families of influence 
 in Sikhim. He was particularly pleased that 
 hill-surveying was to be taught; and I may 
 mention in this connection, that while we 
 were at Pemiongchi, some of the Lamas at 
 that monastery told Major Judge, k.e., that 
 they wished to learn surveying. Changzed 
 promised to send his hare-lipped brother to 
 Darjeeling. He said that the boy would be 
 accompanied by his mother, and that he would 
 have come this cold weather if it had not been 
 
24 
 
 REPORT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 for the illness of the elder sister, which had 
 thrown everything into confusion. 
 
 Talk with the 
 Dewan. 
 
 Changzed, the 
 Jungpens, and 
 Dewaa dine 
 with me. 
 
 After much more talk Changzed went away, 
 and the Dewan brought me a pile of letters, 
 which he said would prove that he was not the 
 chief person concerned in the detention of 
 Doctors Campbell and Hooker. I refused to 
 look at his letters, and told him that I could not 
 hold out to him the slightest hope that Govern- 
 ment would consent to re-open the question of 
 his past conduct; but I said that there might be 
 some possibility of his obtaining forgiveness by 
 future good service. I added that I was willing 
 to believe that he was anxious to serve us, and 
 even that during the last few months he had been 
 working hard ; but I pointed out that there were 
 no results of this work which I could lay 
 before Government as proof that he had earned 
 forgiveness. I then told him that I could not 
 permit him to be present when I met the Rajah 
 in durbar. He said that all he asked now was 
 that I should believe that he was anxious for 
 forgiveness, and resolved to serve us faithfully 
 and to the best of his ability in future. In 
 proof of this, he said that he meant to go to 
 both Jigatzi and Lassa, and represent, in the 
 strongest manner he could, to all his friends 
 among the high officials and to the Dalai Lama 
 himself, all the arguments which I had urged 
 against the policy of isolation. 
 
 After this Changzed and the Jungpens, whom 
 I had asked to dinner, came over. The real 
 Jungpen, Changzed, and the Dewan, sat at table 
 with me; the Deputy Jungpen on a rug spread 
 on the ground. The Jungpen, who of course 
 had never seen a knife and fork before, took 
 everything as a matter of course, as a well-bred 
 man of the world, and made wonderfully few 
 mistakes ; Changzed, very curious about every- 
 thing, but more afraid of making solecisms, 
 
SIK.HIM AND THE THIBETAN FRONTIER. 
 
 25 
 
 carefully watched me and imitated me in 
 everything. The Dewan, who aoted the part 
 .of parasite to perfection, went into most 
 amusing rapture about all he saw. He, admired 
 my table appointments, which were in truth a 
 very rough camp assortment, as the perfection 
 of refined convenience. The biscuits far ex- 
 celled anything that could be procured in 
 Thibet, and could scarcely be equalled in 
 China; the meats were such as are rarely 
 tasted, except at the table of an Ampah newly 
 arrived at Lassa. From time to time he called 
 the attention of his fellow-guests to some 
 delicacy or elegance which seemed to him to 
 have escaped their notice. 
 
 Instead of wine I gave them tea, without milk 
 or sugar, having the cups constantly refilled 
 after their fashion. It was Darjeeling tea, and 
 they agreed, I think sincerely, that tea of such 
 quality could not be bought at Lassa, and that 
 it was superior to any imported from China, 
 except perhaps some sent from time to time by 
 the Emperor to the Dalai Lama for his own 
 use. They said that the prohibition on the 
 import of Indian tea is entirely due to the 
 Ampahs, and let it appear pretty clearly that 
 this part of the Chinese policy is not popular 
 with Thibet officials. 
 
 After dinner I showed them a photo- 
 graphic album, which I had filled with cartes of 
 the Queen, Royal Family, and various^ promi- 
 nent public men in England and India, and 
 a revolving stereoscope, with fifty _ views of 
 public buildings and landscapes in Great 
 Britain. I had a description of each photo- 
 graph written over it in Thibetan. My guests 
 showed great interest in these pictures. I 
 was somewhat amused to remark that the 
 Jungpen evidently fixed upon the Duke of 
 Argyle and Mr. Grant Duff as the real rulers 
 
 Photographs ; 
 
 stereoscopic 
 
 views. 
 
26 
 
 REPORT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 of India, and looked upon them as of greater 
 practical importance than the Queen and the 
 Viceroy. Indeed, he seemed to look upon the 
 rank of the Duke of Argyll and his connection 
 with the Royal House as presumptions against 
 his political importance, and to believe that 
 the work must be done by, and therefore the 
 power rest with, Mr. Grant Duff. The Dewan, 
 who had seen the stereoscopic views on a 
 previous day, explained them to the Jungpens, 
 and in doing so showed that he really under- 
 stood what the pictures represented. They 
 were all much interested in the views of 
 cathedrals and churches, the size and splen- 
 dour of which they seemed to think were 
 indications of the greatness and piety of the 
 nation. 
 
 Before the Jungpen left, I again spoke to 
 him about the desirability of free intercourse 
 and unimpeded trade between our respective 
 countries, and he once more promised to report 
 what I had said to him to the Chechep Depen, 
 and to inform that officer of my desire that he 
 should meet me or any one that might be 
 deputed to visit the frontier next year. 
 
 Arrival of the 
 Sikhim Rajah, 
 and my meet- 
 ing with him- 
 
 That evening we heard that the Rajah 
 had left Choombi, and would arrive at Kophu 
 next morning, and that his sister was in a 
 hopeless state, scarcely expected to survive till 
 his return to Choombi. I therefore settled with 
 Changzed that I should see the Rajah imme- 
 diately on his arrival, and communicate to him 
 the orders of Government without any delay. 
 He arrived on the forenoon of the 4th, and I 
 went over when I heard that he was ready to 
 receive me. Ho was evidently in deep dis- 
 tress; but received me in a friendly manner, and 
 inquired with some appearance of interest about 
 my journey, and whether I had been assisted 
 by his people, as he had directed. I thanked 
 
SIKHIM AND THE THIBETAN FRONTIER. 
 
 27 
 
 him for all the attention which had been shown, 
 which I promised to bring to the notice of 
 Government. I then informed him that 
 Government had increased his pension to 
 Rs. 12,000 per annum, and explained the con- 
 ditions on which the increase had been granted. 
 He assured me that it was his earnest desire 
 to comply with all the wishes of Government. 
 After having briefly mentioned the different 
 points in which we wished for their co-opera- 
 tion, I said that I had fully discussed all details 
 with Changzed, and that now, unless he wished, 
 I should not trouble him in his present sorrow 
 by asking for more than his general confirma- 
 tion of the promises made by Changzed. He 
 said that I might accept anything said by 
 Changzed as coming from himself, and that he 
 felt himself bound by any promises made by 
 the Minister. 
 
 Changzed, who had been present, then went 
 away, and I was about to go ; but the Rajah 
 would not let me till I had eaten with him. 
 When, however, he tried to eat some food 
 which had been laid before us, he fairly broke 
 down, quite over-mastered by his grief. It 
 seemed to me that there was something very 
 touching in the intense sorrow shown by this 
 ordinarily stolid old man, whom we have 
 scarcely credited with any human feeling. 
 I asked him when he meant to return to 
 Choombi. He said that he would return my 
 visit next day, and hoped that I would let him 
 go away on the day after. I said that I 
 would dispense with the return visit, and 
 that he might go next day if he wished. 
 He seemed grateful for this, and settled to 
 go, and I promised to ride up to the Pass 
 with him and see him off. I said that I 
 should not fail to represent to Government the 
 circumstances under which he had come to 
 
28 
 
 KT5P0RT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 Final inter- 
 view with 
 Changzed. 
 
 meet me, and at his request I gave him 
 permission to remain this year at Choombi, 
 while Changzed and the young brother were 
 to go to Tumlong. 
 
 Changzed returned with me to my camp, 
 and we had another long talk about the 
 matters previously discussed, and among other 
 things about the dispute between Bhootan 
 and Sikhim. He seemed very anxious to 
 make out that the real cause of quarrel is the 
 anger felt by Bhootan at the friendly relations 
 between our Government and Sikhim, and he 
 avoided in a remarkable way the question of 
 the Tassiding Lama. I had several times 
 previously observed this unwillingness on the 
 part of the Sikhim Durbar to discuss this 
 subject, and their desire to make out that the 
 interference of the Deb Rajah was merely 
 an excuse for annoying Sikhim, while I had 
 reason -to suspect that the dispute in reality 
 involved a question of spiritual jurisdiction. I 
 therefore resolved to visit Pemiongchi and Tas- 
 siding on my way back, and learn what I could 
 on the spot. 
 
 I had received considerable presents from 
 the Sikhim people, — a pair of yaks, three 
 mules, a pony, a large flock of sheep, blankets, 
 
 gave, 
 
 as 
 
 the 
 
 flour, butter, salt, &c. ; and I now 
 return presents, a large musical-box to 
 Rajah, a revolver to Changzed, and some 
 other things to the rest of the family. I gave 
 the revolving stereoscope to the Dewan, who 
 said that he would take it to Lassa and exhibit 
 it there. I shall submit a detailed account of 
 these presents when I have disposed of those 
 received by me. Changzed hurried off that 
 afternoon for Choombi, on getting still worse 
 accounts of his sister's condition. The Jung- 
 pens had already left for Giantzi, to make 
 their report to the Depen and to one of the 
 
SIKHIM AND THE THIBETAN FRONTIER. 
 
 29 
 
 Description of 
 the Jeylep 
 
 Pass. 
 
 Ampahs, who was expected to arrive there a few 
 days later. 
 
 Next morning I started with the Rajah to 
 accompany him to the Pass ; but as he was in a 
 litter, the bearers of which went very slowly, 
 and as I feared that a heavy mass of clouds, 
 which was drifting up from the south-west, 
 might shut out the view of the Phari Valley, I 
 rode on ahead and waited for the Rajah at the 
 Pass. When he came up, he got out of his litter, 
 and we exchanged white silk scarfs with many 
 expressions of friendliness. The Rajah showed 
 great anxiety lest I should be caught in 
 snow, and begged of me to hasten down to the 
 warmer parts of Sikhim. He then went down 
 the hill ; I was left with my people on the Pass 
 without a single Thibetan in sight. The 
 view over the valley was very fine. Chuma- 
 lari, on the north-north-east, rose far above all 
 the other peaks, though there were three snow- 
 capped peaks on the same ridge further east, 
 apparently of great height. South of Chu- 
 malari was another great range running nearly 
 east and west, the most conspicuous and only 
 snow-peak of which was Pemla, or Temla, on 
 the Bhootan boundary. The Mochoo rises be- 
 tween these two ridges, and flows for some way 
 in a westerly direction, possibly with a little 
 northing, passing Phari on, I understand, its 
 left bank. Some time after this it takes a turn 
 to the south, flowing round the Pemla range, 
 and having on its right bank at this part of 
 its course a great slope, on which are situated 
 the monastery and villages of Killoomsi. In 
 its southerly course it now passes by Choombi 
 and the great monastery and village of Rin- 
 chingong, and so under the Jeylep Pass 
 into Bhootan, through a Pass which is much 
 used as a road between the two countries. 
 Paro is said to be three days' journey from 
 
30 
 
 REPORT ON A VISIT TQ 
 
 Rinchingong by this route, which is described 
 as better than the one over Pemla taken by- 
 Turner. 
 
 A few feet below the Pass on the Thibet 
 side was a small frozen lake, the waters of 
 which drain into the Mochoo by a stream 
 flowing through dense fir-woods, which seem 
 to grow at a much higher elevation on the 
 Thibet side than they do to the west of the 
 Chola range. A few hundred feet lower down, 
 on a hill to the north-east, was an extensive 
 monastery, said to be dependent on that of 
 Rinchingong. This monastery is said to have 
 been once very flourishing, but to have de- 
 clined owing to a prolonged and violent contest 
 for the chair of Head Lama between rival 
 claimants, one of whom was a native of Bhoo- 
 tan and the other a native of Sikhim. The 
 dispute was finally settled by the Dalai Lama 
 in favour of the Bhootanese, as I have been 
 informed; but Dr. Campbell, in his generally 
 accurate account of the Choombi Valley, con- 
 tributed to the Royal Asiatic Society, says that 
 the decision was in favour of the Sikhim man. 
 I should think that the elevation of the Pass is 
 about 14,000 feet, and that it is not 1,000 feet 
 higher than Kophu. The road up is remarkably 
 easy. Even in its present state it may be ridden 
 both up and down, except for a short distance 
 not far from the Pass. The gradient is very 
 slight, except at the place just referred to, where 
 there is a steep rise of a couple of hundred feet. 
 The first part from Kophu runs along the bank 
 of a stream flowing from the Pass, and rises 
 almost imperceptibly ; then comes the sharp rise, 
 and then a gentle ascent leading up to the Pass. 
 There would be little difficulty in making a 
 carriage road the whole way. 
 
 On my return to camp I sent for the Dewan, 
 and got a great mass of information from him 
 
SIKHIM AND THE THIBETAN FRONTIER. 
 
 31 
 
 Visit the 
 Glial, ui Pass. 
 
 about Thibet. After which I let him go, on his 
 promising to come to meet me at the Chola, if 
 I should think of any further questions to put 
 to him. 
 
 Next morning I started for the Grnatui Pass. 
 For a little way the route lay along the level 
 plain of Kophu in a northerly direction; but 
 then went down a very steep descent, for 
 perhaps a thousand feet, into a fir-clad valley, 
 in which was a long lake called the Nemitzo. 
 I do not think that I have seen anything in 
 India so beautiful as this gorge, with its lake 
 surrounded by hills covered with fir-wood, and 
 partly-frozen streams falling over precipices 
 through a network of ice tracery. There are 
 many similar valleys between the compara- 
 tively level uplands of this part of Sikhim. 
 They form very singular features in the land- 
 scape, looking from a distance like huge earth- 
 quake-rents in the grassy plains. From the 
 valley we had a stiff climb to the flat on 
 the other side, which was more than usually 
 marshy, with a large sheet of water fringed 
 with sedge in the middle. My coolies went 
 along the west side of this marsh to Sharab, 
 where I meant to encamp, while I took a path 
 leading in a north-easterly direction to the 
 Gnatui Pass. Two Thibetans, who had been 
 directed by the Jungpens to put up at each 
 Pass a board similar to the one I saw at Jeylep, 
 accompanied me and acted as guides. After 
 leaving the marsh my route lay for some dis- 
 tance over low grassy hills, dotted with the 
 abandoned stone huts of herdsmen who had 
 taken their cattle to the lower hills for the 
 winter. Then we went along the south face 
 of the range to the north of the Pass, occa- 
 sionally finding some difficulty in getting along 
 the edge of landslips. In some places the 
 ascent was rather steep, but I do not think 
 that the Pass is very much higher than Jeylep; 
 
32 
 
 REPORT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 but it is said to be more snowy, and I was 
 shown a high cylinder of stone in the centre 
 of the Pass, put up as a guide to travellers at 
 times when the track is covered with snow. 
 The view of the Phari Valley is much less 
 extensive than that from Jeylep, but it gives 
 one a better idea of the villages and cultivation 
 about Choombi. A rather considerable stream 
 flows from the Gnatui to the Mochoo, or 
 Ammochoo, near Rinchingong. 
 
 Sikhim 
 traders. 
 
 Camp at 
 Sharab. 
 
 While we were at the Pass, a man from 
 Guntuck, with his wife, came up with murwa of 
 their own growing to the value of about six 
 rupees, which they were taking to Choombi for 
 sale. They said that they meant to take the 
 proceeds to Phari, where they would buy salt, 
 which they would bring in to Darjeeling, 
 where they might probably lay out the 
 proceeds of its sale in an investment for 
 the Thibet market, if they found time to do so 
 before next year's sowing "season. I mention 
 this case, as it is a typical one. There was 
 scarce a day during my stay in East Sikhim 
 that I did not meet people either coming from, 
 or on their way to, Darjeeling with goods, the 
 value of which at first sight seemed quite dis- 
 proportioned to the labour that had to be under- 
 gone in taking them to market ; but I have no 
 doubt they find the traffic pays them. These 
 merwa-sellers expected to get six rupees for their 
 merwa at Choombi, and with this sum to be 
 able to buy at Phari four maunds of salt, which 
 they could sell in Darjeeling for Rs. 32, while 
 the value of their murwa at Guntuck was only 
 Rs. 4-8. 
 
 The first part of our return route from the 
 Gnatui followed the road by which we had 
 ascended ; but before we got to the marsh we 
 turned off to the north-west, and took a difficult 
 and bad path running along the edge of a 
 
SIKH1M AND THE THIBETAN FRONTIER. 
 
 33 
 
 precipitous ravine resembling the one we had 
 crossed in the morning. On the way we 
 passed a cave in which some very poor Thi- 
 betan traders, on their way to Darjeeling, were 
 encamped for the night. After this we as- 
 cended continuously to Sharab, where I found 
 our tents pitched at an elevation of under 
 14,000 feet, according to my estimate. Major 
 Judge, e.e., however, who visited the place 
 some days later, thinks that the height of our 
 camp was not less than 15,000 feet. When I 
 got into camp the weather looked very threaten- 
 ing, — the west wind, which had blown as usual 
 throughout the day, having driven up huge 
 masses of clouds ; but as evening fell, the wind 
 made its customary change to the east and 
 dispersed the clouds, leaving a clear starry sky 
 and intense frost. 
 
 Next morning I ascended to the Yakla,, send- 
 ing my coolies round to the place fixed for our 
 encampment by a lower and shorter route. _ I 
 went up a very picturesque valley, in which 
 were a succession of glacier lakes, which 
 seemed clearly to be portions of the bed of a 
 torrent dammed up by moraines. In the valley 
 I found some ripe seeds of the giant rhubarb, 
 which I had previously searched for ifi vain, 
 as all the plants about the Grnatui and Jeylep 
 Passes had seeded and died down in October. 
 Some parts of the ascent to the Pass were 
 exceedingly difficult, and the construction of a 
 road would be very expensive and troublesome. 
 There is a fine view of Chumalari from the Pass 
 itself, but very little of the Phari Valley can be 
 seen. The road by which we descended was a 
 different one from that of the morning, and far 
 worse. We crossed some considerable moraines, 
 and in one place went over a Pass quite as diffi- 
 cult as the Yakla itself. At last a long and steep 
 descent brought us into the Byutan Valley, 
 
 Visited the 
 Yakla. 
 
34 
 
 KEPOKT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 Chomnaga 
 end the Chola 
 Pass. 
 
 where my camp was pitched on the bank of 
 a pretty stream, flowing through a wide flat 
 covered with grass and rhododendron scrub. 
 
 Next day I crossed oyer to Chomnaga, or 
 Chumanko, at the head of the beautiful fir-clad 
 valley of the Dikchu, and encamped at about 
 12,300 feet, a little lower than the place where 
 Doctors Hooker and Campbell were seized 
 in 1849. On the way I went to visit some 
 splendid pasture-lands, at the elevation of about 
 14,000 feet. On the following morning I went 
 up to visit the Chola Pass. The ascent to this 
 is much easier than that -to the Yakla from 
 Byutan ; but it is much longer, steeper, and 
 in every way more difficult, than that to the 
 Jeylep, or even than that of the Gnatui ; while 
 even the Yakla would be in almost every way 
 preferable as a trade route. At the Pass I met the 
 Dewan, to whom I had written from the Yakla, 
 asking him to meet me at Chomnaga, as several 
 points on which I required information had 
 occurred to me after he had left me at Jeylep. 
 We spent a couple of days at Chomnaga dis- 
 cussing matters connected with Thibet, and I 
 made the Dewan reduce to writing the answers 
 which he gave to my questions. He left me on 
 the 10th, and on the 11th I started for Tumlong. 
 
 Information 
 about Thibet. 
 
 Eoutes. 
 
 As during the rest of my tour I concerned 
 myself more with the affairs of Sikhim than 
 with Thibet, I may conveniently here throw 
 together some information regarding the latter 
 country which may be of interest. 
 
 I shall not attempt to make much addition 
 to what is known or conjectured of the 
 geography of Thibet ; for I believe that attempts 
 to piece together descriptions of a country 
 from the account of others are almost always 
 worse than useless. I may mention, as an illus- 
 tration of this, that the information received 
 by me concerning the road from Phari to 
 
SIKHIM AND THE THIBETAN ERONTIER. 
 
 35 
 
 Lassa differs very considerably from the itin- 
 eraries of Klaproth, Dr. Campbell, and Major 
 Lance, each of which differs from the other 
 two. The route, however, between Phari and 
 Giantzi, as described to me, coincides with that 
 actually taken by Turner, both taking five 
 days, while three out of the four intermediate 
 halting-places are identical. Klaprpth and 
 Major Lance makes Giantzi to be the ninth 
 stage from Phari, while according, to Dr. 
 Campbell it is the twelfth. From Giantzi to 
 Nagarchi I make three stages, crossing the 
 Kurula on the last day. Klaproth has four 
 stages, Dr. Campbell eight. From Nagarchi 
 to Lassa my information gives five days, 
 Klaproth eight, and Dr. Campbell twenty- 
 two. Major Lance has no place which I can 
 identify with Nagarchi, and he makes ten 
 stages between Giantzi and Lassa. The 
 Sampoo, in the accounts received by me,_ is 
 crossed on the second day after leaving 
 Nagarchi. If my information is correct, Lassa 
 is thirteen days from Phari, fifteen from Choombi, 
 and sixteen from any of the Passes. Jigatzi is 
 about two days from Giantzi. Turner arrived 
 there on the morning of the third day. 
 
 I collected a considerable amount of: informa- 
 tion regarding the history and present political 
 situation of Thibet. All that I heard on the 
 latter subject supports the views which I 
 submitted to Government in my report of the 
 13th of August last, and I shall only now give 
 such leading facts as seem necessary for the 
 proper understanding of the present report. 
 
 Bhuddism is said to have been introduced 
 into Thibet before the middle of the seventh 
 century after Christ, and there is still in exist- 
 ence at Lassa a monastery founded about a.d. 
 650, according to the Thibetan chronologists. 
 The sect now dominant in Thibet assert that 
 
 Early History 
 of Bhuddism 
 in Thibet. 
 
36 
 
 REPORT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 the form of Bhuddism which prevailed at first 
 was based on the purest teachings of Sakkia 
 Munni ; but that about the middle of the follow- 
 ing century Thibet was visited by Urgyen, or 
 Goor Rimbochay, an avafar who had miracu- 
 lously reappeared in India after an absence 
 from earth of some 1,600 years. It is alleged 
 that his teaching had a tendency to relax the 
 obligation of priestly celibacy, and that he 
 introduced many Brahminical symbols and 
 ritualistic observances. Goor Rimbochay, on 
 his way back to India, is said to have passed 
 through Sikhim, and to have chosen Tassiding 
 as the site of a monastery, which however was 
 not built till more than seven hundred years 
 later. For nearly two hundred years after 
 his departure, the modifications of the early 
 faith introduced by him were accepted without 
 question by all Bhuddists in Thibet; but in 
 the beginning of the eleventh century from 
 our era, Attisha, a native of Bengal, with his 
 disciple Bromston (pronounced Domton), pro- 
 tested against the Brahminical practices intro- 
 duced by Goor Rimbochay, and against the low 
 estimate of the spiritual importance of celibacy 
 that marked his teaching. The followers of 
 Attisha, like the European reformers of the 
 sixteenth century, affected to believe that 
 whatever they disapproved of in the doctrine 
 or practice of the contemporaneous church was 
 a departure from primitive purity, and they 
 rejected everything except what appeared to 
 them to be contained in the teachings of 
 Sakkia Munni. 
 
 Out of this movement arose the great schism 
 in the Thibetan church. The reformers adopted 
 as their distinctive badge a yellow head- 
 dress, both in every-day life and in their reli- 
 gious ceremonials. They are called by several 
 names, of which the best known is that of 
 
SIKHIM AND THE THIBETAN ERONTIER. 
 
 37 
 
 Rise of the 
 Dalai Lamas. 
 
 Gellookpa, which is really the name of a great 
 sub-division of the sect which took its rise 
 about the middle of the fifteenth century of our 
 era. The followers of Goor Rimbochay, called 
 Urgyenpa after him, are also styled Nying- 
 mapa (the old sect) ; but probably the names by 
 which the sect is best known to us are Brukpa 
 (pronounced Dookpa) and Shammar. They 
 adopted a red cap as their badge. The con- 
 tests between these two great parties in the 
 church lasted for several hundred years, and 
 it is said that an appeal to arms was made more 
 than once. For many years the adherents of 
 the old faith seem to have had success on their 
 side ; but eventually the Gellookpa doctrines 
 spread throughout all the Tartar tribes of Cen- 
 tral Asia, and seem to have obtained a marked 
 advantage in Thibet itself during the first half 
 of the fifteenth century, mainly through the 
 influence of two great teachers, one of whom 
 founded the Genden monastery, near Lassa, 
 which has ever since been one of the most 
 famous seats of Bhuddist learning. The other, 
 who founded the monastery of Bkrashis Lhunpo 
 (pronounced Teshoo Loornbo), near Jigatzi, it 
 is said, on the ruins of a great Dookpa 
 establishment, was the first Lama to whom 
 the title of Rgyalva Rin-po-chhe (pronounced 
 Gyow Rimbochay) was given, and he may 
 be considered as the founder of the suc- 
 cession of priest-kings known to Europeans 
 and the Chinese as Dalai Lamas. He died in 
 the year 1473, according to a Thibet chrono- 
 logy obtained by Csoma de Koros. The suc- 
 cessors of this Lama seem to have made use of 
 their influence over the tribes of Central Asia 
 to strengthen their position in Thibet ; and in 
 1640, the fifth Dalai Lama made himself master 
 of the entire country, with the assistance of a 
 Mongol prince, according to Csoma dc Koros; 
 but this is not confirmed by my authorities. 
 
38 
 
 REPORT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 Spread of the 
 Dookpa faith 
 south of 
 Thibet. 
 
 Relations 
 between Thibet 
 and China- 
 
 Meantime the adherents of the Dookpa sect, 
 although reduced to submission, seem to have 
 been allowed the free exercise of their religion, 
 and they are still numerous in Thibet, where 
 they retain many of their ancient seats, among 
 others the great Sakkia monastery, celebrated 
 for its library. There was, however, during the 
 sixteenth and early part of the seventeenth cen- 
 turies a steady flow of the more earnest members 
 of the sect towards the regions now known as 
 Bhootan, Sikhirn, and East Nepal, where the 
 Dookpa form of Bhuddism has prevailed to the 
 present day. It is probable that at the outset the 
 Dhurma Rajahs of Bhootan actually exercised 
 some kind of supremacy over the churches 
 established in all these regions. I have not 
 been able to obtain exact information on this 
 head ; but it is certain that he has long claimed 
 the headship of the whole sect. For instance, 
 the legend on his seal, of which Dr. Hooker 
 gives a transcript and translation, asserts that 
 he is above all the Lamas of the Dookpa creed. 
 
 The fifth Dalai Lama, who, as mentioned 
 above, became undisputed master of all Thibet, 
 built the great monastic palace of Pota La, 
 near Lassa, of which there is an interesting 
 notice in Hue's work. He is said to have 
 delegated the government of the province of 
 Chang to the avatari Lama of Teshoo Loombo, 
 who was called thenceforth Changpenchin Rim- 
 bochay, but who is best known to us as Teshoo 
 Lama. This Dalai Lama entered into very 
 close relations with the Mantchoo conquerors 
 of China, and paid a visit to the Emperor Shun- 
 che, who is said to have received him with great 
 honor, and to have enrolled himself among his 
 disciples. It is probable, however, that even 
 then the Chinese statesmen had initiated the 
 policy, which has up to the present day been 
 steadily adhered to, of attempting to neutralize 
 
SIKHIM AND THE THIBETAN FRONTIER. 
 
 39 
 
 the enormous influence which the Dalai Lama 
 could exercise over the Tartar subjects of the 
 empire, by weakening his position in Thibet 
 and making him a dependant on the Emperor's 
 protection. Csoma de Koros says that the death 
 of this Dalai Lama was concealed for twelve 
 (according to one account, for eighteen) years 
 by a regent or Desi named Sangye. It is 
 possible that the origin of the curious office of 
 Noumehen, or Geshub Rimbochay, may have 
 been somehow connected with this affair ; but 
 this is merely a conjecture; for I have not been 
 able to get any information about the begin- 
 ning of the office or its early history. All that 
 I could learn was that, from time immemorial, 
 the oldest among the occupants of the four chairs 
 of the Chemeling, Tengiling, Chcchooling, and 
 Kendooling monasteries, had the title of Geshub 
 Rimbochay, or image of the Gyow, was regent 
 during the Dalai Lama's minority, and, for 
 many years previous to 1844, practically the 
 temporal ruler of the country. These four 
 Lamas were avatari like the Dalai himself, 
 and seem to have been the natural leaders 
 of the party in Thibet opposed to Chinese 
 aggression. 
 
 The common historical handbooks state that 
 Thibet was completely conquered by China in 
 1720. I do not know what ground there is for 
 this assertion, except, perhaps, that about that 
 time the position and influence of the Chinese 
 representatives at Lassa, called Ampahs, may 
 have become greater and more defined than 
 before. Some time previous to that date, 
 the authority of the Dalai Lama over the 
 Bhuddist tribes of Central Asia had been used 
 by the Emperor Kang-He in putting down 
 a formidable religious rising, headed by 
 the great Lama of a monastery in the north of 
 Tartary, an interesting account of which is 
 
40 
 
 REPORT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 Massacre of 
 Chinese in 
 1770. 
 
 Missions of 
 Bogle and 
 Turner, and 
 attack of the 
 Nepalese. 
 
 given b)' the Abbe Hue ; but this great service 
 did not lessen the jealousy felt by the Imperial 
 Government of the power of the Dalai Lama. 
 For rather more than a century after this, 
 Chinese policy in Thibet seems to have been 
 mainly directed to lessen his spiritual influence 
 by raising up a rival in the Teshoo Lama, 
 whose rejDutation for sanctity was exalted by 
 all means possible, and to embarrass the Govern- 
 ment at Lassa by fostering the jealousy which 
 the Teshoo Lam*», as ruler of Chang under 
 the Dalai Lama, felt at the encroachments of 
 the Geshub Rimbochay, whom he looked upon 
 as merely the regent of the eastern pro- 
 vince of U, but who claimed to exercise 
 the delegated power of the Dalai Lama 
 throughout Thibet. 
 
 In 1770 a Geshub was murdered in the 
 house occupied by the Ampahs at Lassa, and 
 his death was avenged by a general massacre 
 of all the Chinese in Thibet. A war ensued, 
 in which the Chinese, according to some 
 accounts, were not very successful in the field ; 
 but were able, chiefly through the influence of 
 the Teshoo Lama, to get the Thibetans to 
 accept their terms. The Teshoo Lama seems 
 to have been nominated Geshub Rimbochay 
 by the Chinese Emperor as a reward for his 
 services ; but the Thibetans do not acknowledge 
 him as a lawful regent, and there seems to 
 have been a rival Geshub at Lassa. 
 
 The Teshoo Lama, however, as regent, 
 addressed Warren Hastings on behalf of the 
 Bhooteas, with whom we were at war about the 
 end of 1773. The Governor-General took 
 advantage of this opening to send a mission to 
 Teshoo Loombo. Mr. Bogle, who was selected 
 for this mission, spent six months with the 
 Teshoo Lama, who seems to have been really 
 desirous of cultivating friendly relations with 
 
our Government, but who died in 1779 of small- 
 pox in China, whither he had gone, according 
 to Thibetan tradition, to solicit the active assist- 
 ance of the Emperor against the rival Geshub 
 at Lassa. His death made the latter ruler of 
 Thibet for the time being, and Captain Turner, 
 who was sent on a second mission to Teshoo 
 Loombo in 1783, was obliged to return without 
 having gained any definite advantage, owing, 
 as his narrative clearly shows, to the opposition 
 of the Geshub Rimbochay at Lassa. In 1790 
 the Nepalese invaded Thibet, plundered Teshoo 
 Loombo, and returned to their own country 
 with much booty. Captain Turner says that 
 our Government declined to help the Thibetans 
 in the matter ; but I doubt whether its aid was 
 asked for. However this may be, an appeal 
 made to the Chinese Government was promptly 
 responded to by the despatch of an army, which 
 reduced the Nepalese to submission and exacted 
 from them full reparation for the losses suffered 
 by Thibet. The Imperial Government, how- 
 ever, took advantage of the opportunity to post 
 Chinese troops at several points on the frontier 
 of Nepal, Sikhim, and Bhootan, and to prevent 
 the Thibet Government from re-establishing 
 the trade between British India and the pro- 
 vinces of Chang which had existed previous to 
 the Nepalese invasion. 
 
 The fifty years that followed was chiefly 
 marked by Chinese encroachments, resisted 
 often with success by the Thibetan national 
 party, led by the Geshub for the time being. 
 The Teshoo Lama, of whose marvellous 
 precocity when aged eighteen months Turner 
 gives a rather incredible account, seems to 
 have grown up to be a man of uncommon 
 ability and force of character, to which were 
 joined the jealousy of the Geshub and the 
 leaning towards China which had become 
 
 Revolution of 
 1843. 
 
42 
 
 REPORT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 traditions of his office. A striking descrip- 
 tion of this Lama is given by the Abbe Hue, 
 whose account of the events which took 
 place in Lassa in 1843 has been corroborated 
 in almost every particular by the information 
 which I have received. 
 
 For many years previous to this time the 
 Lama of Chemiling had been Geshub. He 
 was an ambitious and imperious man, much 
 disliked by the subordinates, though apparently 
 not unpopular with the people generally, pro- 
 bably on account of his determined opposition 
 to all encroachment on the part of the Ampahs. 
 During his term of office two Dalai Lamas had 
 died while minors, and when a third minor died 
 in 1842-43, the enemies of the Geshub spread 
 a report that the three Lamas had met with foul 
 play at his hands. "When the avatar of the 
 Dalai Lama was again found, the Teshoo 
 Lama, the two Ampahs, and the four Shaffees, 
 or State Secretaries at Lassa, secretly signed 
 and forwarded to China a document soliciting 
 the Emperor to interfere to protect the child 
 from the fate of his three predecessors. The 
 Government of Pekin immediately despatched to 
 Lassa a special commissioner with full powers to 
 take any steps which he might think necessary 
 in the matter. Keshen, who was chosen for the 
 office, had been one of the eight Tong-Tongs, 
 the highest functionaries of the empire, and 
 had been sent in 1840 to Canton to conduct the 
 war against England. But instead of fighting 
 he concluded a treaty which was repudiated 
 by the Emperor, and Keshen was condemned 
 to death, a sentence which was afterwards 
 commuted to imprisonment in chains in Mant- 
 chooria. He now received a conditional pardon 
 and was sent to Lassa. On his arrival there 
 he, with the aid of Shaffee and the Teshoo 
 Lama, seized the chief adherents of the Geshub 
 
SIKHIM AND THE THIBETAN FRONTIER, 
 
 43 
 
 and extracted from them, while under torture, 
 statements implicating the Geshub. The latter, 
 when he discovered the Tong-Tong's object, 
 attempted a forcible resistance ; but, after some 
 show of fighting, he yielded and went off to 
 China, as he asserted, to defend his cause before 
 the Emperor. 
 
 After this the Tong-Tong and his supporters 
 promulgated an edict of the Dalai Lama and 
 the Emperor, declaring the four Lings for ever 
 incapable of holding the office of Geshub, 
 which, with some pretence of popular ielection, 
 was bestowed on the Rating Lama, a young 
 avatar of about eighteen. But the real ruler 
 under the Tong-Tong was Shete Shaffee, an 
 able and ambitious man, who probably had the 
 chief hand in bringing about the revolution. 
 He is the chief Kalon mentioned by the 
 Abbe Hue, who formed a high opinion of his 
 character and abilities. The Tong-Tong 
 seems to have made great changes in the 
 entire administration of Thibet, to have re- 
 modelled the whole of the civil offices, to have 
 obtained for the Ampahs the complete control 
 of frontier affairs, to have bound Over the 
 Thibet Government by very stringent agree- 
 ments to the policy of isolation, and to have 
 attempted the formation of something like a 
 militia. After some time he was made Go- 
 vernor of Szechnen, and then contests arose 
 between the Geshub Rating and Shete Shaffee, 
 which ended in the former taking refuge in 
 China and the latter assuming the office of 
 Geshub. He resisted successfully the attack 
 made by the Nepalese in, I think, 1855, and is 
 said to have taken several guns from them. 
 
 On his death, the aged Lama of Genden, a 
 man of great renown for learning and piety, 
 became Geshub; and when he died, some months 
 since, the Dalai Lama, who is a youth of about 
 
 Events since 
 the fall of 
 Chemeling- 
 
U 
 
 REPORT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 eighteen, declared the office to be in abeyance, 
 and undertook its duties in addition to his 
 own spiritual functions. He is said to be 
 much influenced by the advice of the Chechub 
 Kembo, a great officer with somewhat anoma- 
 lous functions, apparently partaking of those 
 of Private Secretary and those of President of 
 the Executive Board of Shaffees, or Secretaries, 
 in whose hands is the administration of the 
 province of U. The Teshoo Lama, who is at 
 present on good terms with the Government 
 of Lassa, is assisted in governing the 
 province of Chang by a Shaffee and four 
 Depens, of whom the Chechep Depen of Griantzi 
 is the most important. All these officers 
 are said to be appointed from Lassa, and 
 though the Ampahs do not interfere formally in 
 such appointments, their influence is said to be 
 very great, and to be always exercised in the 
 case of frontier posts. 
 
 Soon after the Dalai assumed the conduct 
 of affairs, he got involved in a dispute between 
 the Ampahs, which ended in the recall of one 
 of them. The successor of the latter has, it is 
 said, made up matters, and is on unusually 
 friendly terms with the Dalai Lama, to whom 
 he is represented to pay assiduous court. Since 
 my return I have heard from the Sikhim Rajah 
 that a special Commissioner of unusually high 
 rank is reported to be on his way from Pekin 
 to Lassa. 
 
 Military 
 strength of 
 Thibet- 
 
 I have been informed that the total strength 
 of regular troops in the four garrisons of Lassa, 
 Jigatzi, Griantzi, and Tingri, amounts at present 
 to 3,800, of whom 2,300 are Thibetans and 
 1,500 are Chinese. Besides these there are 
 said to be some Chinese soldiers stationed on 
 the Military post road. The numbers given 
 above are so much lower than I had expected, 
 that I made many inquiries to satisfy myself 
 
SIKHIM AND THE THIBETAN FRONTIER. 
 
 45 
 
 of their correctness, but always with the same 
 result. These troops are all armed with match- 
 locks. The Thibetans have a few old guns, 
 which, as I understand, they took from the 
 Nepalese in the last war, and several made on 
 the same pattern which they have lately got 
 from Batang, or perhaps Sifan. In addition 
 to the regular force, there is a rudimentary 
 system of militia, which is said to have been 
 introduced by the Tong-Tong Kishen. The 
 Governor of each fort has a small collection 
 of weapons in his charge, and he is supposed 
 to give a certain number of days' training 
 in each year to all the young men able to 
 carry arms within his jurisdiction; but the 
 attendance seems to be almost voluntary, and 
 I suspect that the system is almost ineffective. 
 
 I have not been able to collect any reliable 
 statistics of the trade of Thibet, and any 
 attempt on my part to estimate its extent 
 would result in mere random guesses. The 
 information I can give on this subject must 
 therefore be very incomplete. 
 
 The trade between Thibet and China is much 
 less considerable than it had been often re- 
 presented to be; and, owing to the badness and 
 difficulty of the roads and the insecurity of 
 much of the country through which they pass, 
 I do not think there is much prospect of 
 immediate increase. The chief articles ex- 
 ported by Thibet are ivory, rhinoceros-horns, 
 peacocks' feathers, madder, and blankets, — the 
 last of which probably do not go beyond the 
 countries inhabited by the Tartar tribes. It 
 is to be observed that all the above articles, 
 except the blankets, are in the first instance 
 imported by Thibet from India. 
 
 There is reason to believe that opium is 
 also obtained from Nepal and exported to 
 
 Trade of 
 Thibet. 
 
 With China. 
 
China in considerable quantities. I could get 
 no local information on this head ; but I con- 
 jecture from what I heard that the opium is 
 abkarry. Inquiries are being made into the 
 matter in Thibet, and I shall report the result 
 when I hear it. Meantime I should suggest 
 that inquiry be made in Nepal, through the 
 Resident, and that vigilance be exercised in 
 the frontier districts. Mr. Hodgson mentions 
 that an illicit trade existed as early as 1831. 
 
 The imports from China are silks, an 
 inferior description of woollen cloth, fine 
 snuff, porcelain, and various other articles 
 of luxury, the use of whieh must be confined 
 to a very small class in a country like Thibet. 
 But of course the chief article of import 
 is tea, which is generally of a coarse 
 description and unpleasant flavour. The price 
 of this is eight annas the pound at Lassa. 
 The Thibetans told me that they could not 
 buy in Lassa tea as fine as some Darjeeling 
 tea which I had with me, though as much as 
 two rupees the pound is paid for the best tea pro- 
 curable there. I have no doubt that if tea were 
 freely admitted to Thibet, our Darjeeling growers 
 could easily produce a tea of better quality 
 than that now commonly consumed, and deliver 
 it even at Lassa at a lower price than is now 
 paid for the China article. But they would 
 have to manufacture for the market, and break 
 away from ideas formed under the influence 
 of brokers catering for English tastes. 
 
 I doubt, however, whether there would ever 
 be a large demand for the finer teas; but it 
 is quite possible that a comparatively cheap 
 supply might create a taste for such teas. 
 The Phari Jungpen acknowledged to me that 
 the prohibition of the importation of our tea 
 is due to Chinese influence; and certainly a 
 remonstrance on this head ought to be made 
 
SIK.HIM AND THE THIBETAN FRONTIER. 
 
 47 
 
 by Her Majesty's representative at Pekin. At 
 the same time I must point out that the 
 policy followed by our growers has done much 
 to make the exclusion possible. It is an 
 almost incredible fact that Chinese tea is im- 
 ported through Thibet into Darjeeling for the 
 consumption of the native inhabitants of the 
 district, who are practically unable to obtain 
 the tea grown on the spot. 
 
 European goods are mainly imported into 
 Thibet, through Nepal and Ladakh, by Cash- 
 meree and Nepalese (Newar) traders who 
 reside at the great marts. The imports by 
 those routes are chiefly broadcloth, cottons 
 of various kinds, pearls, coral, turquoise and 
 some other precious stones, gold-embroidered 
 stuffs, hookah tobacco, and opium. Of these 
 articles, the most important is broadcloth, the 
 demand for which in Thibet is very great. 
 The woollen cloths manufactured in the 
 country, though warm, are coarse and heavy, 
 and those obtained from China are immeasur- 
 ably inferior to broadcloth. As warm clothing 
 is one of the first necessaries of life in Thibet, 
 it will be easily understood that, practically 
 for some time to come, the only limit to the 
 demand for broadcloth in Thibet will be the 
 want of means of purchasing it. 
 
 The chief exports from Thibet by the Nepal 
 and Ladakh channels are blankets, musk, yaks' 
 tails, borax, ponies, gold, and silver. The 
 Cashmeree merchants are said to send gold 
 and silver to India, in payment for the article 
 imported by them, in preference to exporting 
 any of the bulkier products of Thibet. Gold, 
 the amount of which exported is comparatively 
 insignificant, is almost always the produce of 
 the country, and sent as bullion. I was told 
 that the silver goes in the form of rupees, and 
 that it has for the most part been imported 
 
 Through Nepal 
 and Ladakh. 
 
48 
 
 REPORT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 from Assam by the Towang route, the Thibetans 
 who trade on that frontier as a rule taking 
 money in exchange for their goods. 
 
 And with 
 Bhootan and 
 Darjeeling. 
 
 The chief articles imported into Thibet from 
 Bhootan and Darjeeling are rice, goor, and 
 sugar ; various sorts of dried fruits ; tobacco, in 
 leaf and for the hookah; stick lac, madder, 
 indigo, red and white sandal-wood, ivory, 
 rhinoceros-horns, peacocks' tails, and red and 
 white endi cloth. The rice is mainly imported 
 for the consumption of the Chinese in Thibet. 
 The demand for indigo is very great, and the 
 profit on it is greater than that on any other 
 import, varying from fifty to one hundred per 
 cent, on the cost of importing the article. This 
 is accounted for by an alleged difficulty in 
 getting it in small quantities from the 
 producers, which creates a practical monopoly 
 in favour of traders with, what is for Thibet, 
 a large capital, while the use of the dye is 
 universal in the country. 
 
 The exports to Bhootan and Darjeeling are 
 tea, salt, blankets, silk piece-goods, ponies, 
 mules, cows, sheep, yaks? tails, musk, tur- 
 quoise, coral, and gold. The export of the 
 three articles last named is very insignificant, 
 and the demand is confined to Bhooteas. The 
 fact that tea is imported into Bhootan and 
 Darjeeling shows that there is something 
 wrong in the policy pursued by our growers. 
 The market for Thibet salt must for the pre- 
 sent be almost exclusively local. It sells 
 here for less than Rs. 8 the maund, while 
 sea-borne salt fetches Rs. 10 ; that is nearly 
 Rs. 6 more than the Calcutta price, and Rs. 4 
 more than the price at Purneah, the nearest 
 intermediate station. When, however, there 
 is a good road from one of the passes to a 
 point on the North Bengal Railway, it may 
 become a question whether we can allow the 
 
SIKHIM AND THE THIBETAN FRONTIER. 
 
 49 
 
 Thibet salt to come in free of duty. It is 
 said that it does not pay to export blankets 
 of the best quality made in Thibet, where 
 they fetch higher prices than could be 
 obtained in Darjeeling. The coarse blankets 
 which do come in cost Rs. 1-8 or 2 each in 
 Thibet, and are sold here for Rs. 2 or 3. 
 I was also told that the current price for 
 good ponies in Thibet are higher than those 
 obtainable here, and that as a rule the ponies 
 exported are either of an inferior description 
 or very old. I believe this to be the case, for 
 I have remarked that almost all the good 
 ponies in the district are aged. I think that if 
 there were a good road, and if the dangerous 
 river Teesta were bridged, more valuable 
 ponies would be brought down. 
 
 But it is probable that such a road would do 
 far more to encourage the export to India of 
 cows and sheep, ghee and wool. Thibet, though 
 poor in every other respect, is really wealthy 
 in herds and flocks. No grazing-grounds that 
 I have seen or heard of in India can be com- 
 pared with the splendid upland pastures of the 
 Chola range, with their rich lower slopes for a 
 winter refuge. The Thibetan cattle are good, 
 yielding comparatively large quantities of rich 
 milk, and making fair beef when killed at the 
 right time. Some of the breeds of sheep yield 
 a remarkably fine wool ; and the mutton of 
 one kind, at least, when taken from its own 
 upland pastures, surpasses in flavour ,and deli- 
 cacy anything I have tasted in India. Turner 
 considered this mutton to be the finest in 
 the world. Dr. Campbell speaks in very 
 high terms of all the Sikhim breeds of sheep. 
 At present these magnificent flocks and herds 
 are almost wasted for want of some means of 
 conveying them and their produce to the 
 markets of India. It is true that there is some 
 
doubt whether the cows would live and give 
 milk in the plains, and it is certain that the 
 finest breed of sheep could not be kept alive 
 during the hot weather ; but both cows and 
 sheep of all classes could be got even as far 
 as Calcutta in good condition during the cold 
 season, while sheep of the inferior breeds could 
 probably be got in safety to the districts near 
 the foot of the hills all through the rains. 
 There can be no doubt that very large quan- 
 tities of wool, of which no use is at present 
 made, would be exported from Thibet and the 
 higher parts of Sikhim if there were an out- 
 let for it ; and I think it probable that immense 
 quantities of ghee could be manufactured in 
 the pasturages, and sent down to the plains, at 
 a much lower cost than the present price of 
 ghee in most parts of Bengal. A bridge across 
 the Teesta, and a good road to the temperate 
 pastures, are all that are required to develop 
 to the utmost these branches of the Thibet 
 export trade ; and until we have such road and 
 bridge, these splendid flocks and herds will 
 remain practically out of our reach, and of little 
 value to their owners, compared to what they 
 would be if their produce Could be exchanged 
 for broadcloth and indigo, tea and tobacco. 
 I have therefore no hesitation in recommending 
 that no time be lost in bridging the Teesta, and 
 making a road through Sikhim to the Chola 
 range. I shall, lower down, consider at what 
 point it would be advisable to bridge the 
 Teesta, and what would be the best line for the 
 road to take. 
 
VIEW OF CHOLA RANGE FROM ENCH, WITH MONKS IN THE FOREGROUND. 
 
 />. 50. 
 
p^:rt ii. 
 
 SIKH II PROPER 
 
CAMP AT PKMIONGCHI. 
 
 p. 53. 
 
SIKHIM PROPER. 
 
 Our roadfroni Chomnaga lay at first along the 
 banks of the Dikchoo, which, for several miles 
 from the foot of Chola, flows through a narrow 
 valley of extraordinary beauty. On either side 
 were lofty crags, most picturesque in form and 
 rich in colour, while the valley itself was covered 
 with many varieties of rhododendrons, and with 
 silver firs, some of which were unusually fine. 
 One of the rhododendrons bears poisonous 
 leaves ; and there is in the valley a herb, also 
 poisonous, the name of which I do not know. 
 Several of the sheep which I had received 
 from the Sikhim people and the Jungpens 
 were poisoned by one or other of these plants, 
 the existence of which in the valley is a strong 
 argument against making a trade road through 
 it. After some miles of almost imperceptible 
 descent, the index of the aneroid, which had 
 stuck fast half-way between 20 and 31 since 
 the 30th October, began to move up, and it had 
 risen to one point short of 20 when we reached 
 our camping-ground at a place called Towrang. 
 Here I had to wait for a couple of days for 
 fresh supplies for my coolies, which were follow- 
 ing me all round the passes. I had thought it 
 best to get these supplies from Darjeeling, in 
 order to make my tour as little burdensome 
 as I could to the people of Sikhim. 
 
 On the 14th I left Towrang. The path 
 almost immediately leaves the valley and 
 ascends the ridge to the north, becoming in 
 
 From 
 | Chomnaga to 
 Kubbi. 
 
many places steep and difficult. The aneroid 
 very quickly fell to its lowest point, and the 
 index ceased to move. After this we ascended 
 some hundred feet, leaving the firs and the 
 rhododendrons below us, until at last we reached 
 the summit, covered with dwarf rhododendrons 
 and bamboo. There is said to be a splendid 
 view across Sikhim from this hill, which is 
 called Pyung-gong ; but when I crossed it every- 
 thing was shrouded in dense fog. The descent 
 from Pyung-gong is steep, rocky, and very bad, 
 though, owing to its being on the main route 
 between Toomlong and Choombi, there had 
 been evidently much labour spent in attempts 
 made from time to time to improve it. We 
 passed rapidly through bamboo and scrub rho- 
 dodendrons to firs and juniper, and then to 
 oaks, the rhododendrons getting larger and 
 more varied as we descended. On a great 
 flat in the oak forest there were many black 
 yaks'-hair tents of the Rajah's herdsmen, on their 
 way from the upland pastures, with great herds 
 of yaks, all of which were said to belong to the 
 Rajah. Next day we still descended, but more 
 gradually, and we occasionally came to com- 
 paratively level bits, and sometimes to slight 
 ascents. After several hours' walking we got to 
 a narrow ridge at about 5,300 feet, with the 
 valley of the Dikchoo to the east and that of 
 the Rutto to the west. At this point the road 
 from west to east, leading from Toomlong to 
 Guntuck, crosses the north and south road, along 
 which we had come, leading from the Chola Pass 
 to the Teesta, and thence to Darjeeling by a 
 more direct- route than that via Toomlong. I 
 left this route and took the road to the right 
 leading to Toomlong, and after a short descent 
 halted at a place called Kubbi, from which we 
 could see the Rajah's house and the Toomlong 
 monasteries scattered over the face of the 
 opposite ridge. 
 
SIKHIM AND THE THIBETAN FRONTIER. 
 
 55 
 
 At Kubbi I got a note from Major Judge, E.E., 
 who had been good enough to consent to 
 take Major Lindsay's place, and who had 
 just arrived at Toomlong and wished to know 
 what he was to do. I asked him to come 
 over nest day, when we settled that he should 
 go off to Guntuck and explore the route from 
 there to the Chola range, while I should go 
 across to Toomlong and see the officials who 
 had been left there to conduct affairs during the 
 Rajah's absence, and then meet Major Judge at 
 Guntuck on his return from the Chola range. 
 He had brought with him a photographic 
 apparatus, with some dry plates, which had 
 been lent him by Mr. Phillips, of Darjeeling ; 
 and a larger lens, which Messrs. Doyle and 
 Company had lent to Major Lindsay, but which 
 had been delayed on the road, now came 
 up. Major Judge took both instruments 
 with him, and attempted to photograph several 
 views on the range. After his return we 
 both took 
 successful. 
 
 pictures, but were not very 
 
 On the 17th Major Judge left for Guntuck, 
 and I went across to Toomlong, passing through 
 the Kubbi village cultivation. The people of 
 this village pay their chief revenue to Thibet, 
 but are bound to do certain services for the 
 Sikhim Rajah, and to supply some food for his 
 household. In explanation of this, I was told 
 that the people were really Thibetans, and that 
 though they happened to live at present in the 
 territory of the Sikhim Rajah, and to cultivate 
 land there, this did not release them from their 
 obligations to their own State. They cultivate 
 rice 3 murwa, maize, and buck- wheat. I did not 
 see much wheat or barley till we got near the 
 Teesta. Cardamoms and oil-seeds are mainly 
 cultivated in the low valleys in the extreme 
 west of Sikhim. 
 
 Kubbi to 
 Toomlong. 
 
56 
 
 REPORT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 In a fallow field near the road, I passed the 
 encampment of a trader returning from Thibet, 
 where he had gone four months previously 
 with his wife and children. He was a native 
 of Toomlong, who had borrowed Es. 400 at the 
 Darjeeling bazaar at the rate of 24 per cent, per 
 annum. He had invested the money in broad- 
 cloth, which he had exchanged in Thibet for a 
 pony and 250 sheep. He expected to get 
 Es. 50 for the pony and an average of Es. 3 
 each for as many of the sheep as might reach 
 Darjeeling alive; but he expected to lose at 
 least 10 or 12 in crossing the Teesta and in the 
 hot, steamy valleys of that river and the Eun- 
 geet, while if he were unlucky he might lose 
 fifty or sixty. 
 
 After leaving Kubbi, we descended into the 
 deep tropical valley of the Eutto, the heat of 
 which seemed intense after the cold of the 
 Chola range. The valley, however, was exqui- 
 sitely beautiful. The road went along the 
 bank of the stream for some way to its 
 junction with the Eyott, a small stream which 
 drains the Toomlong hill. After going up the 
 stream a little, we crossed it and ascended 
 rapidly to Toomlong, where I found a tent of 
 the Eajah's pitched for me near his own house, 
 the exterior of which has been described by 
 Hooker. 
 
 Stay at 
 Toomlong. 
 
 The greater part of the interior is occupied 
 by two chapels, — one on the ground floor and 
 one above. In the latter of these a very curious 
 function was being celebrated while I was at 
 Toomlong. It was part of the funeral rites of the 
 Eajah's sister, who had died a few days after 
 his return to Choombi from the Jeylep Pass. 
 The body of the dead woman had, I believe, 
 been buried at Choombi ; but her clothes and 
 other property had been sent to her mother's 
 house at Toomlong, where a lay-figure meant 
 
SIKinM AND THE THIBETAN FRONTIER. 
 
 57 
 
 to represent her, dressed in her costume as a 
 nun, and weai'ing a gilt mitre and a long white 
 veil, was placed on a kind of throne to the right 
 of the great altar in the principal chapel. 
 
 Before the figure was a table, on which were 
 different kinds of food ; on another table at the 
 side were various things which had belonged 
 to the woman when alive ; while on a third, 
 108 little brass lamps were arranged in rows. 
 Long lines of monks, in dark red robes and with 
 very tall caps of bright crimson on their heads, 
 sat on carpets placed in the middle of the chapel 
 and chanted litanies throughout each day of 
 my stay at Toomlong. 
 
 It chanced that I saw the conclusion, and 
 learned the meaning of this ceremony at 
 Pemiongchi, where the lay-figure of the nun 
 was taken some days after I left Toomlong. 
 There for three days the figure was seated 
 before the altar, and the monks chanted the 
 litanies for the departure of the soul of the 
 dead nun which had accompanied her clothes 
 from Choombi. On the third day the relations, 
 friends, and dependents of the deceased brought 
 or sent gifts of food, or clothing, or money, 
 which were all laid before the figure of the dead 
 woman; while the head Lama, standing in front 
 of his chair and turning towards the figure, 
 stated the nature of each gift and the name 
 of the donor. Towards evening the tea-cup 
 of the nun was freshly filled with tea and 
 her murwa jug with murwa, and all the monks 
 solemnly drank tea with her. Then many people 
 who had known and loved the nun when alive, 
 went up, and, prostrating themselves before the 
 figure, kissed the hem of the robe as a last 
 farewell; while the monks chanted the litanies 
 more zealously than ever, and the head Lama, 
 who had left his chair and gone to one of the 
 tables, went through some elaborate ceremonies 
 
 Funeral 
 ceremonies at 
 Pemiongchi. 
 
REPORT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 the meaning of which I could not make out. 
 At about nine o'clock the chanting ceased, 
 and the Lama, again standing in front of his 
 chair, made a long speech to the soul of the 
 nun, in which he told her that all that could 
 be done to make her journey to another world 
 easy had been done, and that now she would 
 have to go forth alone and unassisted to appear 
 before the King and Judge of the dead: — " You 
 will have to leave your robes, your mitre, and 
 your veil," said he, "and you will be shown in 
 the mirror of the just king, clad in the black 
 garment of your sins, or in the shining gar- 
 ment of your good deeds. Your gold and 
 silver, your rank, your dependents, your good 
 name in this world will not help you now, 
 when your good deeds will be weighed in the 
 scales of the King against your evil deeds. 
 If you have done ill you will be punished ; but 
 if your sins are found to be lighter than your 
 good works, your reward will be great indeed." 
 When the Lama had finished his address, some 
 of the monks took down the lay-figure and 
 undressed it ; while others formed a procession 
 and conducted the soul :©f the nun into the 
 darkness outside the monastery, with a dis- 
 cordant noise of conch-shells, thigh-bone 
 trumpets, Thibetan flutes, gongs, cymbals, 
 tambourines, drums, and other most disagree- 
 able but nameless instruments. I have de- 
 scribed this ceremony at some length, as I have 
 not seen it noticed elsewhere ; while it is an 
 interesting illustration of the church in Sikhim 
 in one of its most curious aspects. 
 
 The profit of 
 this ceremony 
 to the dead. 
 
 It is evidently one of the most important 
 functions of the Sikhim monks to hel]j the soul 
 of the dead to make the journey from this 
 world to the abode of the terrible king of death, 
 who holds a mirror in which the naked soul is 
 reflected ; while an attendant demon holds the 
 
SIKHIM AND THE THIBETAN FRONTIER. 
 
 59 
 
 scales in which good deeds, poured in by the 
 guardian Lama of the deceased, are weighed, 
 against the evil deeds collected by a demon — 
 probably his evil genius. If the verdict of the 
 mirror and the scales be favorable, the Lama 
 conducts the soul to abodes of bliss, where it 
 apparently sings hymns and plays a kind of 
 lute for an indefinite period ; but if the mirror 
 and the scales show more bad deeds than good, 
 the soul is handed over to the tormentors, — most 
 mediseval-looking demons, who inflict tortures 
 of a varied character, but generally having 
 some reference to the sins of the offender. 
 
 Ceremonies of the kind above described are 
 considered absolutely necessary to the welfare of 
 the dead, but they must be a most cruel tax on 
 the living; for theSikhim monks — an immensely 
 big fraction of the whole population — are main- 
 ly supported on the profits derived from them. 
 
 The right of conducting the souls of the 
 inhabitants of each village to another world 
 belongs to a particular monastery, and it would 
 be contrary to etiquette — perhaps unlawful — 
 for the monks of any other monastery -to inter- 
 fere in the matter. Sometimes one monastery 
 burns the body of a deceased person, while 
 another takes charge of the departing soul. In 
 this case both monasteries are entitled to dues. 
 The amount expended on these occasions 
 is sometimes enormous, in proportion to the 
 means of the people ; but there is a universal 
 custom which somewhat lessens the burden. 
 When a member of a family dies, all the 
 relations, friends, and dependents, send presents 
 to the survivors, as a help to the deceased on the 
 journey to the other world ; and of course all 
 these offerings go to the Lamas. 
 
 There are three monasteries near Toomlong 
 — viz., Labrong, Pheydong, and Phenchong, 
 which, in addition to the income derived from 
 
 Its cost to the 
 living-. 
 
60 
 
 REPORT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 funeral ceremonies, from the offerings of the 
 faithful, and from the sale of consecrated medi- 
 cines, hold grants of land free of revenue, while 
 the monks are exempted from all State burthens. 
 The most important of these monasteries is 
 Labrong, the head of which is really the supe- 
 rior of Pemiongchi, and of nearly two-thirds 
 of the monasteries of Sikhim. He is called 
 the Kupgain Lama, and is the avatar of the 
 founder of Pemiongchi, which monastery was 
 the residence of all his predecessors until some 
 years ago, when the avatar appeared in the 
 family of the last Rajah, whose eldest son, the 
 brother of the present Rajah, was discovered to 
 be Kupgain. The Rajah, in order to have his 
 son near him, founded the Labrong monastery 
 for him, where he resided till, on the death of his 
 second brother, who had been held to be heir 
 to Sikhim, a dispensation was obtained for his 
 marriage, and he was acknowledged to be 
 heir-apparent. He died, however, without 
 children, and his next surviving brother, the 
 present Rajah, was taken from the Phodong 
 monastery, of which he was Lama, married, and 
 declared heir-apparent. The avatar of the 
 Kupgain Lama re-appeared in a very humble 
 family. He is a young man, seemed rather 
 stupid, and his manner was awkward. 
 
 Besides the Rajah's dwelling and the monas- 
 teries, there are scattered over the Toomlong 
 hill a number of substantial-looking houses, 
 belonging to various officials. Each house is 
 surrounded by some cultivated land, in which 
 are generally a few clumps of bamboos or fruit- 
 trees. Many of these houses were unoccupied 
 at the time of my visit, their owners being 
 absent at Choombi. But I s saw two officers who 
 were styled Dewans, and who had been left at 
 Toomlong in charge of the affairs there. They 
 were represented as being very unfriendly to 
 
HOUSES AT TOOMLONG. 
 
 GUNTUCK KAZI'S HOUSE. 
 
 P. 61. 
 
Changzed, but they did not let this appear in 
 conversation with me. 
 
 On the 21st I returned to Kubbi, and on the 
 same day went on to a village named Chetok, 
 to the east of the Dikchoo. We crossed that 
 river at an elevation of less than 3,000 feet, 
 though I do not think that the distance from 
 the point where I had left it, at more than 
 11,000 feet, could have been as much as five 
 miles in a straight line. Next day I went on 
 to Guntuck, passing through some very well- 
 cultivated land, at first and then through dense 
 forest, after which we came on the broad and 
 richly-cultivated slopes of Ench, which adjoin 
 those of Guntuck, and are in the jurisdiction 
 of a nephew of the Kazi of the latter place. 
 My camp was pitched on the ridge between 
 the houses of the Kazis of Guntuck and Ench ; 
 and a few hundred feet higher up the ridge 
 towards the north was a small monastery 
 built and supported by the Guntuck family. 
 Towards the south the ridge became very 
 wide, and there was much level land on it. In 
 one place were heaps of building materials 
 and the foundations of a house begun by the 
 Rajah's father. But the work was interrupted 
 by his death, and has not been since resumed, 
 though, as before mentioned, the idea of re- 
 moving the residence of the Rajah to this 
 place from Toomlong has not been abandoned. 
 Below this is the house of the Kazi of 
 Guntuck, a very unornamental building, of 
 wattle and daub, raised on stout posts. 
 
 The slopes of the hill on either side 
 are very gentle, and there is much ground 
 suitable for buildings situated at elevations 
 varying between 5,000 and 6,000 feet. There 
 are six springs of water near the top of the 
 ridge. On the whole, the place itself would 
 be suited for a mart ; but it is more than 
 
 Visit to 
 Guntuck. 
 
62 
 
 REPORT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 questionable whether the best route from Darjee- 
 ling to the Chola range lies through it. I have 
 been only over that portion of the route which 
 lies between the Teesta and Guntuck ; but 
 Major Judge, who went carefully over the whole 
 distance, has given me a note on the subject, 
 which I append to this report, and which I 
 think will be found to be of much value. 
 
 The Guntuck Kazi is one of the most in- 
 fluential officials in Sikhim, and there are more 
 than eight hundred homesteads on the lands 
 which are under his charge. There are twelve 
 Kazis in Sikhim, and several other officers of 
 various names exercise jurisdiction over specific 
 tracts of lands. Each of these officers assesses 
 the revenue payable by all the people settled 
 on the lands within his jurisdiction, and, as 
 far as I can make out, keeps the greater portion 
 for himself, paying over to the Rajah a certain 
 fixed contribution. At the same time, he has 
 no proprietary right in the lands, though the 
 Kazis have at least a kind of hereditary title 
 to their office. The Kazis and other officers 
 exercise limited civil and criminal jurisdiction 
 within the lands the revenue of which they 
 collect, all important cases being referred to 
 the Rajah and decided by Changzed and the 
 DewanSj who are at present three in number. 
 
 Sikhim revenue 
 system. 
 
 The cultivators have no title to the soil, and 
 a man may settle down on and cultivate any 
 land he may find unoccupied without going 
 through any formality whatever, and when 
 once he has occupied the land, no one but the 
 Rajah can turn him out. But the Rajah can 
 eject him at any time ; and if he should cease 
 to occupy the land, he would not retain any 
 lien upon it. There is a kind of tenant- 
 right, however, under which cultivators are 
 enabled to dispose of unexhausted improve- 
 ments. Thus, as it was explained to me, a 
 
SIKHIM AND THE THIBETAN FRONTIER. 
 
 63 
 
 man who has terraced a piece of hill-side 
 could not sell the land, but is allowed to sell 
 the right of using the terraces. This custom is 
 acknowledged not to be absolutely a right, 
 but more of the nature of an indulgence on 
 the part of the Rajah, by whom it was allowed 
 to grow up for the sake of convenience. 
 
 The land is not assessed, and pays no rev- 
 enue. The assessment is on the revenue-payer 
 personally, and I think that in theory he is 
 "supposed to be allowed the use of the Rajah's 
 land in order that he may live and be able to 
 render to the Rajah the services which he is 
 bound to do as the Rajah's live chattel; and 
 possibly if the system were carried "to theo- 
 retical perfection, he would be bound to give 
 over to the Rajah all the produce of the land — 
 that is, all the fruit of his labour beyondwhat 
 might be actually necessary to support himself 
 and his family (a). In practice the subject is 
 only bound to give a certain portion of his 
 labour, or of the fruit of his labour, to the 
 State; and when he does not give actual service, 
 the amount of his property is roughly assessed, 
 and his contribution to the State fixed ac- 
 cordingly ; but such assessment is made without 
 the slightest reference to the amount of land 
 occupied by the subject. The value of his 
 wives and children, slaves, cattle, furniture, 
 
 (a).— Among some of the ruder tribes on the North-East Frontier, 
 there seems to have been absolutely no true conception of private 
 property until the idea was learned from contact with Bengali traders. 
 Previously everything belonged to the Chief, and no one ever ima- 
 gined that a private Individual had any proprietary right in any of 
 his acquisitions as against the Chief. Of course the latter, as a general 
 rule, allowed the subjects to retain possession of as much of what they 
 acquired as he did not immediately want, but it was by way of loan. 
 In the same way even now the Chief frequently permits favorites 
 or members of his household to make use of articles of value^ which 
 he had appropriated for himself, or which had been given to him per- 
 sonally by our Government. This has sometimes given rise to the 
 supposition that a tribal community of goods existed among these 
 races ; hut the truth lies in exactly the opposite direction. The tribe, 
 its lands, and all that it possessed, belonged absolutely to the Chief. 
 
64 
 
 REPORT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 &c, are all taken into account, but not the 
 extent of his fields. 
 
 I believe this to be the revenue system in all 
 Indo-Chinese States. It is so in Munnipore, 
 Bhootan, Thibet, Sikhim, and, I believe, in 
 Burmah. It was so in Cachar and Assam, and 
 indeed the Assam land revenue system bears 
 traces of it to this day. I have been told that 
 in Nepal Sir Jung Bahadoor is trying hard to 
 substitute for it a system based on some sort of 
 ownership in and liability to pay according to 
 the land actually held. I believe that a system 
 something like that which I have tried to des- 
 cribe above is indicated in the 47th Chapter of 
 Genesis; and it is interesting to remark, that 
 just as in Egypt the land of the priests "became 
 not Pharoah's," so in Sikhim the Lamas are not 
 bound to labour for the Rajah, and pay no dues 
 of any kind, no matter how much land may be 
 cultivated by themselves or their bondsmen. 
 It is possible that the forced labour and Vice- 
 regal monopolies, of which we hear so much in 
 modern Egypt, may have underlying them the 
 theory that the chief of the State is absolute 
 owner of all its subjects, as well as of all its 
 land ; and I have conjectured, in reading books 
 about China, that such a theory may enter into 
 some at least of the land-revenue systems of that 
 empire. 
 
 Guntuck to the 
 
 Teesta. 
 
 Major Judge returned from the Bhootan 
 range on the 23rd, and we spent the 24th and 
 25th in exploring the ground round Guntuck, 
 and in not very successful attempts to take 
 photographs. On the 26th we left for the 
 Teesta and the country to the west of it. We 
 took different routes on the first day, Major 
 Judge making a detour in order to explore a 
 route by which I thought a considerable amount 
 of ascent and descent might be avoided. This, 
 however, turned out not to be the case. The 
 
SIKHIM AND THE THIBETAN FRONTIER. 
 
 65 
 
 road taken by me led down by an easy descent 
 to a pretty stream called the Rumjun, crossed 
 by. a very ricketty bridge. From the stream 
 I went up by a considerably longer and 
 steeper ascent to the monastery of Rumtik, 
 where we encamped. The church of the 
 monastery was small, and rather poor-looking, 
 but there are said to be eighty monks attached 
 to it — a larger number than there areat any of 
 the Sikhim monasteries, except Pemiongchi and 
 Ralong. This is due to the great reputation of 
 the head Lama, who comes from the Chinese 
 frontier of Thibet. The monks' houses were 
 very neat and well built, arranged in rows near 
 the chapel. I tried to take two or three photo- 
 graphs of this monastery, as it is a very good 
 example of the way in which the houses of the 
 monks are generally grouped round a monastic 
 church; but Mr. Doyle was not able to develop 
 any of these plates, except one. 
 
 Next day our road was very uneven, and 
 we had to make several steep though short 
 ascents and descents; but the country" through 
 which we passed was exceedingly beautiful. 
 After leaving Rumtik, we ascended to the top of 
 the ridge and then descended a very steep and 
 bad road to a series of wide, flat valleys, admir- 
 ably cultivated, with pretty villages half hidden 
 by groves of bamboos, plantains, and dark green 
 orange-trees laden with ripe golden fruit. After 
 going up and down among these for some miles, 
 we descended considerably to a stream ; after 
 crossing which we went up the easy slope of a 
 wide hill covered with well-tilled farms and 
 homesteads, standing in fields of young wheat 
 or barley, which were surrounded by well- 
 made fences, and dotted with orange-trees or 
 picturesque clumps of bamboos and plantains, 
 reminding one of the scenery in pictures of 
 Chinese country life. Our camp was pitched 
 
66 
 
 REPORT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 on the ridge of this hill, at a place called Sang-, 
 where there is a very fine' example of the 
 religious structures called mendongs. These 
 are thick walls of stones, sometimes of enormous 
 length, ornamented with slabs inscribed with 
 the sacred formula, " Om Mani Padmi Om," 
 and having frequently recesses for burning 
 juniper-wood, which are surmounted by little 
 cupolas or towers to act as chimneys. The 
 chait is another religious object frequently met 
 in Sikhim. It is generally built in memory of 
 the dead. 
 
 The Teesta to On the 27th we descended by a road, in 
 
 Lingdon, some places very steep, to the Teesta, which we 
 
 crossed at an elevation of 1,575 feet. There 
 was a cane bridge over the river, and my ponies 
 were ferried across in a raft, on which I also 
 crossed. The raft was made of bamboos, 
 and was of precisely the same V-like form as 
 those which the Lushais make to carry their 
 salt uj) the Sonai, and as those which are used 
 to cross some of the rivers on the Munnipore 
 road. The river is very wide and rapid here, 
 and the crossing is nearly as dangerous as that 
 below the junction of it with the Eungeet, on 
 the road to Kalimpoong. After crossing we 
 went along for some way through a dense, foul- 
 smelling forest, very suggestive of fever and 
 ague, and then came upon the road from 
 Darjeeling to Toomlong, at some point on 
 Major Judge's route from Lingmo to Tingtee, 
 described in his note under the date of 
 November 14th. After going along this path, 
 which was a very good one, for some time, 
 we encamped on a comparatively open piece 
 of ground near the junction of a large stream, 
 called the Rungpo, with the Teesta. Near us 
 were the huts of some herdsmen, who had 
 made the clearance and who had brought down 
 their cattle for winter pasture, the grazing on 
 
SIKHIM AND THE THIBETAN FRONTIER. 
 
 C,7 
 
 the lower slopes of the hills above the Teesta 
 being very good. 
 
 Next day we left the Teesta Valley, and 
 ascended a very steep path leading up a spur 
 of Mainom, a great hill more than 11,000 feet 
 high on the same range as Tendong. Upon 
 this spur, at about 5,300 feet, is situated the 
 Yangong monastery, where we pitched our 
 camp. The view from the monastery is very 
 striking. The valley of the Teesta, with the 
 river winding like a silver thread through 
 tropical forests, is clearly visible 4,000 feet 
 below ; while the zones of vegetation on the 
 side of Mainom, from the screw-pines and fig- 
 trees on the banks of the Teesta to the silver firs 
 on the*top, can be clearly distinguished with 
 a good glass. Below Yangong is a pretty 
 little lake, the genius of which is supposed to 
 be the wife of the genius of the Mainom moun- 
 tain. All great mountains, according to 
 Lepcha mythology, are wedded to lakes. 
 Thus Catsuperri is the wife of Kinchin- 
 gunga, and Cholomo is the wife of Donkiah. 
 The church of the Yangong monastery was 
 being built when Dr. Hooker visited the place, 
 which he calls Neongong, in 1848. It is one 
 of the largest and best built of all those that I 
 have seen in Sikhim, but it does not seem to 
 have been finished. The inside walls are bare, 
 and there are scarcely any appliances of 
 worship. There is, however, a richly-orna- 
 mented doorway, something like one at 
 Pemiongchi. But I think the door-way at 
 Yangong was much handsomer, and indeed 
 the finest thing of the kind which I saw 
 in Sikhim. I tried to get a photograph of 
 it, but unluckily the plates developed nothing. 
 
 From Yangong we crossed the ridge con- 
 necting Tendong with Mainom, at 6,824 feet. 
 On our way up we passed the rock called 
 
(38 
 
 REPORT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 TasBiding. 
 
 IS 
 
 " Domani," or " Stone of Tray er," winch 
 described by Dr. Hooker. From the ridge we 
 descended to 5,349 feet, where we halted on 
 ground formerly occupied by a village named 
 Lingdam, which has now been removed to 
 another site in the neighbourhood. The road 
 from Yangong to Lingdam lies for the most 
 part through a fine forest of oak and chestnut. 
 
 The Tassiding monastery was on a hill 
 opposite to Lingdam, and appeared quite near ; 
 but the great Rungeet was ; between, the bridge 
 over which was under repair, and I had to halt 
 at Lingdam for a day till it was ready. "While 
 there I received a visit from one of the two 
 great Lamas of Pemiongchi, who was on his 
 way, with some of his monks, to meet 
 Changzed and the Chota Rajah at Toomlong. 
 He had with him the young son of Cheeboo 
 Lama, who is joint owner with his cousin, 
 one of the Sikhim Dewans, of the vast 
 estate of more than one hundred square 
 which our Government gave to his 
 in the belief that it contained some- 
 like four thousand acres. The boy 
 is being educated at Pemiongchi, and _ I am 
 very anxious to get him into Darjeeling to 
 have him taught English and to get him 
 away from the Sikhim people, who I suspect 
 want to make a Lama of him. I have 
 arranged that he is to come in as soon as our 
 proposed school gets properly established, and 
 I think that the monks have given up for the 
 present the idea of turning him into a Lama. 
 
 Next day we went to Tassiding, where wo 
 halted for a day close to one of the chapels, 
 which are three in number, surrounded by 
 groups of chaits. One of the three chapels 
 belongs to the monastery of Pemiongchi, and 
 served by a monk deputed from there. 
 
 miles, 
 father 
 thing 
 
 is 
 
 This was in much better repair than the other 
 
VIEW OP DOORWAY OF PEMIONGCHI MONASTERY. 
 
 p. 68. 
 
SIKHIM AND THE THIBETAN 1< 
 
 .'RON 
 
 TIER. 
 
 69 
 
 two chapels, which had a poverty-stricken and 
 uncared-for look about them, which contrasted 
 strongly with the appearance of some, of the 
 younger and less noted monasteries. The monk- 
 houses, too, were much in want of repair, and 
 some of them were in ruins and unoccupied. 
 
 The present decayed state of this monastery, 
 the most ancient and even still the most vene- 
 rated in Sikhim, was attributed to the" fact that 
 its lawful head lives in Thibet. Probably, too, 
 the claim of the Deb Rajah to interfere in sup- 
 port of a claimant to the Lama's chair of the 
 "monastery has had something to do with its 
 decay. I have alluded in a previous part of 
 this report to the evident unwillingness of the 
 Sikhim durbar to discuss this subject, or to 
 acknowledge that the Deb Rajah had made 
 any pretence of exercising a right when he 
 interfered in favour of the alleged avatar. I 
 suspected, however, that the Deb Rajah had not 
 interfered without a pretext ; that the puetext was 
 that the Bhootan church possessed some kind 
 of supremacy over that of Sikhim ; and that the 
 Sikhim durbar concealed this through a natural 
 wish to avoid the appearance of referring such 
 a question to our Government for decision. 
 I had therefore resolved to visit Tassidingand 
 Pemiongchi with a view to making inquiries 
 there. I was informed by the monks that more 
 than three hundred years ago, three professors 
 of the Dookpa faith, discontented with the 
 pre-eminence of the Gelookpas in Thibet, left 
 their respective monasteries, and, after many 
 wanderings to and fro, all met at Yaksun 
 under Kunchinjinga. Here, by a chance which 
 they looked on as providential, they were_ found 
 by the ancestor of the Rajahs of Sikhim, 
 Pencho Namgay, then residing at Guntuck, 
 apparently as a private person. The result of 
 the meetino- was an agreement that the three 
 
 Tradition 
 about the 
 foundation of 
 the Sikhim 
 State. 
 
70 
 
 REPORT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 Lamas should attempt to convert the Lepchas 
 and form a church among them, and that 
 they should endeavour to make Pencho Namgay 
 Rajah of the whole country. They succeeded 
 in both attempts. The new Rajah removed his 
 residence from Guntuck to Rabdenchi, hard by 
 Pemiongchi, where there are still the pictu- 
 resque ruins of a fort built by him. One of the 
 Lamas founded a monastery near Dikkiling. 
 Another, whose avatar is the Kupgain Lama, 
 first settled at Changachelling ; but afterwards 
 removed his chair to Pemiongchi, on the same 
 range of hills. The third built two of the 
 Tassiding churches, on the site prophetically 
 chosen by Goor Rimbochay seven hundred 
 years before. 
 
 Claim to the 
 chair of the 
 Tassiding 
 
 Lama 
 
 Interference of 
 Deb Rajah. 
 
 This last Lama married and had children ; 
 consequently it is said his avatar has never re- 
 appeared ; but his successors have always been 
 chosen from his family, which still exists and 
 supplies monks to one of the greatest Dookpa 
 foundations in Thibet. The present Lama 
 fears the rains, pipsas, and leeches of Sikhim, 
 and resides in the Thibetan monastery. Some 
 years ago a rumour came from Bhootan that 
 the avatar of Gnadeh, the Tassiding founder, 
 had appeared in that country. A deputation 
 of monks went to inquire into the matter, 
 among whom were two of those with whom 
 I talked. They came to the conclusion that 
 the claim made on behalf of the Bhootea child 
 was unfounded, and that Gnadeh still, as here- 
 tofore, remained without an avatar. But the 
 child, when grown up, persisted in the claim 
 made for him in his infancy, and has always 
 asserted that he is the re-appeared Gnadeh. 
 
 The Deb Rajah took up his claim some time 
 since, and has written several letters on his 
 behalf. I got a copy of one of these, which 
 was addressed to the Pemiongchi Lamas, in 
 
SIKHIM AND THE THIBETAN FRONTIER. 
 
 71 
 
 which the Deb Rajah says that the Bhootea 
 claimant is the avatar of the great Tassiding 
 Lama, and that if the Pemiongchi Lamas do 
 not see that he gets his rights, it will not be 
 well with them. The letter is rather rambling 
 and inconsecutive ; but the Deb appears to base 
 his claims to interfere on the grounds that the 
 Sikhim temples, and the images in them, were 
 formerly repaired by the people of Bhootan, 
 and that according to an old record Sikhim 
 and Bhootan were under the same head at 
 one time. The tone of the letter is very 
 insolent. The Deb says that the Rajah 
 of Sikhim is a fool, and that his officers do not 
 perform their duties; but there are no explicit 
 threats. I have heard, though, that in one 
 letter, addressed to the Rajah himself, the 
 Deb threatened to attack Sikhim, unless the 
 avatar was placed in the chair at Tassiding. 
 
 It will be seen that this letter to the 
 Pemiongchi people seems to point at some 
 claim to the temporal rule of Sikhim founded 
 on " the old record," but I do not think this 
 is more than a flourish. On the other hand, I 
 have no doubt that the Dhurma Rajah had 
 once some kind of connection with the Sikhim 
 church. There are many traces of this ; for 
 instance, one of the most prominent" pictures 
 on the walls of the North Chapel at Tassiding 
 is a portrait of a Dhurma Rajah in his priestly 
 robes. At the same time I do not think that 
 we should recognize any claim on the part of 
 the Bhootan Government to interfere in Sikhim 
 monasteries, or even allow it to open the ques- 
 tion ; and I further think that we should use 
 our influence to prevent the Deb Rajah writing 
 insolent letters to the Rajah or his subjects. 
 
 There is not much to be said about the Keiationsof 
 relations of Sikhim with the remaining two J™?^* 
 
 States on its borders. I was told that the Thibet . 
 
/2 
 
 UErORT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 Durbar has no relations nor communications 
 with Nepal; but they evidently fear that State, 
 and dislike the people. Sikhim is looked upon 
 by Thibet as a dependent State. The Rajahs 
 have always been in the habit of marrying 
 Thibetan women, and for three generations 
 their chief and favorite residence has been at 
 Choombi. Up to a recent period they held 
 large grants of land in Thibet, — or, to speak 
 more correctly, the rights of the Thibetan State 
 over these lands had been made over to them. 
 But most of the grants have been resumed, and 
 the Rajah now has jurisdiction over little more 
 than the land around his house at Choombi. 
 Although the Sikhim church still adheres to 
 the distinctive doctrines of the Dookpa sect, 
 and learned monks insist on the importance 
 of the points in which they differ from the 
 Gellookpas ; still the plenary authority of the 
 Dalai Lama is, with curious inconsistency, 
 admitted, and knotty points connected with the 
 internal administration of the church are said 
 to be from time to time referred to him by the 
 Rajah for decision. 
 
 Pemiongohi. From Tassiding we went to Pemiongchi, 
 
 descending by a steep path to the Ratong, a 
 very rapid stream, which comes down from the 
 Kunchinjinga glaciers, and flows, at the place 
 where we crossed it, through one of the most 
 glorious tropical forests I have ever seen. 
 From the Ratong the ascent to Pemiongchi is 
 very long, but the road is a remarkably well- 
 aligned one. It was made by the monks, and 
 I doubt whether its gradient could be mate- 
 rially improved without increasing its length 
 enormously. 
 
 Near the top I was met by drummers, fifers, 
 and gong-beaters, who played a not unmusical 
 march before me, till we arrived at the foot of 
 the great platform on which the chapel is built. 
 
FOREST NEAR MONASTER V AT PEMIONGCHI. 
 
 p. 73. 
 
SIKHIM AND THE THIBETAN FEONTIEK. 
 
 73 
 
 Here a crowd of monks, in loose red robes and 
 tall scarlet caps on their heads, received me 
 with a flourish of cymbals and tambourines 
 and most discordant blowing of conch-shells, 
 thigh-bone trumpets, and Thibetan flutes ; while 
 a monk carrying a gigantic gilt umbrella, and 
 others with long poles, from which hung richly- 
 embroidered flags, conducted me to the head 
 Lama, who was waiting at the door of the 
 temple to offer me the usual silk scarf. After 
 this all the monks went into the chapel. _ The 
 head Lama took his seat in his official chair, the 
 musicians put off the tall red caps, and, pitting 
 down in their places, resumed the litanies for 
 the dead sister of the Rajah, which had been 
 interrupted by my arrival. I was taken to a 
 seat which had been got ready for me -opposite 
 the lay-figure of the deceased nun, and was 
 offered oranges, cakes, and murwa. 
 
 Our camp was pitched round a great chait, 
 on a level spot about 200 feet below the monas- 
 tery, in the midst of a superb forest ofi oak and 
 other temperate trees; and here I spent four 
 days, during most of which time I was laid up 
 with a bad cold. I had much talk with the 
 monks, and got much information from them. 
 One in particular is a learned annalist, and we 
 had many discussions as to the right dates of 
 several of the leading events in Thibetan his- 
 tory. He disputed the accuracy of many of 
 the dates given by the Desi Sangye, whose 
 chronological tables Csoma de Korosobtained in 
 Thibet. I have adopted the Desi's dates in this 
 report ; but I could not help admiring = the case 
 with which my Pemiongchi friend manipulated 
 the cumbrous system of the Thibetan cycles, 
 and the rapidity with which he gave numerical 
 equivalents for what seemed to me the hope- 
 less puzzle of years, named after a combination 
 of planetary elements and zodiacal animals. 
 
74 
 
 REPORT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 Changaohel- 
 ling. 
 
 During my stay at Perhiongchi I visited the 
 picturesque old monastery of Changachelling, 
 which is really the parent, but which is now by 
 far the least important of the two, owing, as 
 the head Lama told me, to the disregard of 
 the obligation of celibacy among the monks, 
 most of whom were married. He said that the 
 evil had now taken such deep root, that he 
 doubted whether any reformer would be strong 
 enough to eradicate it. 
 
 Pemiongchi to 
 the Little 
 Rungeet 
 
 The notes of my visit to the great monasteries 
 of Tassiding, Pemiongchi, and Changachelling, 
 contain a great quantity of matter of great 
 interest, but which, as it seems to me, is quite 
 without the scope of the present report. I 
 shall therefore omit it, though with much regret, 
 and notice briefly the remaining portion of my 
 tour. On the 9th December I left Pemiongchi, 
 and having stopped at Rinchinpoong that night, 
 encamped on the following day at a place 
 called Mintugong, near the curious flat of 
 Dhurmden. This may be described as a great 
 even ledge some square miles in extent, with 
 hills rising abruptly from it on three sides, 
 while there is a precipitous fall of many 
 hundred feet on the fourth. The soil is exceed- 
 ingly rich, and every inch of it is highly 
 cultivated, chiefly with cardamoms, oil-seeds, 
 and other valuable crops. It is mainly inhabited 
 by Nepalese, who are numerous in this part 
 of Sikhim, and also about Namchi. There 
 are very few Nepalese in other parts of the 
 country ; and the Gruntuck Kazi told me he 
 would not allow a Nepalese to settle within his 
 jurisdiction. When I asked the reason, he said 
 that they wasted the forests ; that they allow 
 their cattle to trespass ; that they made them- 
 selves unpleasant neighbours in other ways ; 
 lastly — and I believe this to be the true reason — 
 that the people of Sikhim had suffered so much 
 
SIKHIM AND THE THIBETAN FRONTIER. 
 
 75 
 
 in past times from Nepal, that they distrusted 
 and dreaded all Paharias. 
 
 Near Mintugong were some copper mines, 
 worked by Nepalese, who told me that the 
 Bhooteas have a great jealousy of the exten- 
 sion of mining operations. I found this 
 to be the case. The people of Sikhim 
 have a belief — perhaps connected with the 
 Fengshui superstition of the Chinese — that 
 attempts to make use of the treasure below the 
 earth are visited on those living above the 
 surface by sickness of men and cattle, and 
 by failure of the crops. Consequently the 
 search for metals is in every way discouraged, 
 except in those parts of Sikhim which are 
 under the influence of the representatives of 
 Cheeboo Lama, or that of Lassoo Kazi, or of 
 some others whose prejudices have been 
 removed through intercourse with Darjeeling. 
 I am therefore unable to make any kind of 
 reliable estimate of the mineral resources of 
 Sikhim . The Nepali methods of working mines, 
 and of extracting the metal from the ore, are 
 very rude. I should say that almost every 
 mine is abandoned long before the vein of ore 
 . has been exhausted ; and Mr. H. F. Blanford, 
 who visited a mining village with me, told me 
 that there appeared to him to be a considerable 
 amount of metal still left in the refuse of the 
 furnaces. 
 
 On the 10th I crossed the Little Rungeet, 
 on my return to the Darjeeling district, 
 though I did not reach the station for more 
 than a week after. 
 
 In the foregoing pages my aim has been 
 for the most part to put Government in 
 possession, as far as might be, of materials for 
 a decision on the various questions connected 
 with Thibet, rather than to urge my awn views 
 
 Measures 
 likely to 
 improve our 
 relations with 
 Thibet. 
 
1st. Negotiation 
 with the 
 Government of 
 China, 
 
 and conclusions ; but perhaps it may be as well 
 that I should now state my opinion on the 
 points which seem to me of most importance. 
 In the first place, then, I think that Her Majesty's 
 representative at the Court of Pekin should 
 make an effort to get from the Imperial Foreign 
 Office a declaration that the exclusion of 
 British subjects from Thibet is not authorized 
 by the Chinese Government, and a formal 
 expression of the Emperor's disapproval of 
 the interference of his representatives at Lassa. 
 It is likely that this would be enough, and 
 that it would be safer and quite as effectual 
 as an order for our admittance, which might 
 give offence to the anti-Chinese party in 
 Thibet, and so put a weapon in the hands 
 of those who oppose any departure from 
 the policy of exclusion as full of danger to 
 the existence of Thibet as a State independent 
 of British India. 
 
 2nd. Visits of 
 our officers to 
 the Sikhim 
 frontier. 
 
 In the next place, I think that our officers 
 should lose no opportunity of cultivating friendly 
 relations with the Thibetan frontier officers ; 
 but that they should not show an undue eager- 
 ness to obtain admittance into Thibet for Euro- 
 peans — whether official or non-official, — as such 
 eagerness would be very likely to strengthen 
 the suspicion, felt by so many Thibetans, that 
 our advances are really meant to cover a design 
 of annexing part at least of their country. I 
 should therefore say that the proper course at 
 present would be to press the Thibetans to 
 meet our officers as often as possible on the 
 Sikhim side of the boundary, and not to make 
 any formal demand that the latter should be 
 allowed to cross into Thibet. Of course if the 
 Thibetans asked them to go they might do 
 so, but not otherwise. This would leave our 
 officers more free to urge on the Thibetans the 
 desirability of removing the present restrictions 
 
SIKHIM AND THE THIBETAN FKONTIEK. 
 
 77 
 
 on trade than they would be if hampered with 
 the question of their own admission into Thibet. 
 
 I have not been able to form a yery decided 
 opinion on the subject of the establishment of 
 a frontier mart. On the whole, I think that 
 the measure, if carried out successfully, might 
 -do something to develop trade; but this would 
 entirely depend on the site chosen, and the 
 way in which the mart was started. My first 
 idea, which I still believe has many advantages, 
 was to establish an annual, or perhaps a six- 
 monthly, fair at Gnatong, or some other well- 
 situated place in the uplands. With a good 
 road our traders could get up to such a place 
 from the plains in three or four days ; and I 
 believe that, at the beginning and end of the 
 rains, the climate would not be found too severe 
 for natives of the plains, while there would be 
 plenty of firewood available. I think that 
 many Cashmeree and Newar traders would live 
 in a place of this kind during the rains of each 
 year, and during the cold season go down to 
 the plains to make their purchases and perhaps 
 dispose of goods obtained from the Thibetans. 
 At present, as mentioned before, these traders 
 find it profitable to transmit to India, in pay- 
 ment of their investments, silver which has 
 first to be drawn from India by another 
 channel. This, of course, is owing to the cost 
 and trouble of sending down bulky goods by 
 the present circuitous and difficult routes. If 
 there were a good road from the Chola range 
 to the plains, in addition to other goods which 
 now come in from Thibet, Cashmerees settled on 
 the range would probably send down Wool and 
 Newars ghee from the surrounding pasturages. 
 Such a mart at Gnatong, with the periodical 
 fairs, would be in the highest degree con- 
 venient and attractive to the people of Thibet, 
 who would thus escape the much dreaded 
 
 3rd. The 
 
 establishment 
 of a mart. 
 
78 
 
 REPORT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 risk of getting fever and ague in the lower 
 valleys. The Sikhim people, however, are very- 
 much averse to my project. They say that 
 I much underrate the severity of the climate 
 in this part of the range ; that Gnatong and 
 other places in the vicinity which I suggested 
 as alternatives are situated far away from the 
 cultivated and permanently inhabited parts 
 of Sikhim ; that consequently food would be 
 very dear and difficult to be got ; and that it 
 would not be easy to protect property at such 
 wild and distant places, which, from their near- 
 ness to Bhootan, would be exposed to raids of 
 the lawless people of that country. Guntuck, 
 the place which they recommended for a mart, 
 has some things in its favour, as I have already 
 stated, and a fair road could be made from it 
 to either the Yakla or the Gnatuila ; but it 
 is not well situated as regards access from 
 the plains. It is rather low and hot for 
 the people of Thibet, who, besides, would have 
 to pass through the zone of leeches and pipsas 
 to get to it ; and I doubt whether our traders 
 would prefer the constant exactions and annoy- 
 ances which they might expect from the petty 
 Sikhim officials to the risk of even Bhootan 
 raids. On the whole, I am not inclined to 
 recommend that Guntuck should be chosen for 
 the mart, and rather think that if it should not 
 be found practicable to establish it some- 
 where on the Chola range, Dumsong might be 
 preferable to any of the lower elevations of 
 Sikhim. It is true that the distance from the 
 Jeylep Pass to Dumsong is greater than that 
 from the Gnatui to Guntuck, and that there 
 are two low valleys to be crossed on the former 
 route and only one on the latter. But to coun- 
 terbalance this, the best route from the Thibet 
 boundary to the foot of the Chola range is that 
 by the Jeylep Pass. Then Dumsong is higher 
 than Guntuck, and quite as well suited to be the 
 
SIKHIM AND THE THIBETAN FRONTIER. 
 
 79 
 
 site of a mart ; while, above all, the authority of 
 our officers could be exercised directly there to 
 foster trade and protect traders. 
 
 But, after all, the question of a mart is of 
 small importance when compared with that of 
 making a road through Sikhim to the frontier. 
 Although the construction of such a road would 
 of course at the outset be regarded with much 
 suspicion by the Thibetans, I have little doubt 
 that if once it were made, friendly relations 
 with Thibet and a trade singularly advan- 
 tageous to both countries would follow almost 
 of themselves ; and without such a road I do not 
 expect much good from other measures. It is 
 a surprising thing that no steps should have 
 been taken to make a road immediately after 
 the Treaty of 1861 ; but I venture to hope that 
 the matter may now receive the favorable 
 consideration of Government. 
 
 In deciding on the line which the road 
 should take, two distinct and practically inde- 
 pendent questions have to be considered : 
 one is whether the section between the ter- 
 mination of the road from the plains and the 
 point chosen for commencement of the ascent 
 of the Chola range should keep the valleys of 
 the Teesta and its tributaries, or whether it 
 should follow one of the existing routes, — i.e., 
 that by Pheydong to Keu Laka, or one of those 
 over Tendong to Guntuck or Kubbi. The 
 other question is the choice of the Pass which 
 should form the terminus of the road and the 
 point at which the ascent of the range should 
 begin. I have little doubt that eventually a 
 cart-road, and perhaps a light railroad, will be 
 made up the valley of the Teesta to the point 
 at which it was crossed by Major Judge and 
 myself, or even further ; but I think that such 
 a project would be premature at present, and 
 that we should, in the first instance, adopt and 
 
 4th. The 
 construction 
 of roads and 
 bridges. 
 
 Best line for 
 road to take. 
 
80 
 
 REPORT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 improve to the utmost one of the existing 
 routes, even though this would entail many 
 needless ascents and descents which a line 
 along the Teesta would avoid. We know 
 something of the route over the hills, and 
 could begin working on the chosen road with- 
 out delay; while the Teesta route would 
 require to be surveyed, and might then be found 
 to oppose engineering difficulties of which 
 we have no suspicion at present. Then, the 
 road over the hills would be shorter and more 
 direct — an advantage which, in the minds of 
 hillmen, would do much more than counter- 
 balance its inequalities. Again, though the 
 Thibetan trader on his downward journey 
 would have to cross fever-haunted valleys, still 
 he could always arrange his stages so as to sleep 
 on the hills until he got into the comparatively 
 healthy plains beyond Sivoke. I have talked 
 to scores of Thibetan traders on this subject, 
 and have invariably found that they would 
 prefer a road over the hills to one along 
 the valleys. Many of them said that they 
 would make shift with the existing tracks if 
 the streams were bridged. I have no hesi- 
 tation whatever in recommending that the 
 ascent of the Chola i*ange should be made from 
 the foot of Lingtu ; and possibly the route taken 
 by Major Lindsay and myself would afford the 
 best line for a road, though, as I have already 
 said, I should make an attempt to avoid the 
 ascents and descents of the Lingchung range 
 by taking the road up the valleys of the Rilli 
 and the Lingtam for a few miles. 
 
 Urgent need 
 of bridges. 
 
 If my present recommendation should meet 
 with the approval of Government, and if it 
 should be found possible to avoid the lower 
 crossing of the Rilli, two large bridges would 
 be required — one over the Teesta, which Mr. 
 Tyndale, the Executive Engineer of the district, 
 
thinks could be put up for less than Rs. 20,000 ; 
 and one over the Rishi, which I do not think 
 would cost more than Rs. 6,000. The Rilli, if 
 it should have to be crossed below Lingchung, 
 could be bridged for about Rs. 5,000 ; and if it 
 were crossed higher up, the cost would probably 
 be still less. Some smaller streams would 
 require bridges, the total cost of which would 
 scarcely be more than Rs. 7,000 or 8,000. If 
 my calculations are right, the whole of the route 
 from this side of the Teesta to the Jeylep Pass 
 could be bridged for Rs. 40,000, or thereabouts. 
 It would be difficult to exaggerate the incon- 
 venience, loss, and injury to trade caused by 
 the want of these bridges. It often happens 
 that Thibetan traders coming down at the be- 
 ginning or ending of the rains find one of these 
 rivers swollen by sudden floods, and have to 
 wait on the bank, unable to cross for days, with 
 their cattle and sheep dying around, while they 
 think themselves lucky if they escape without 
 an attack of fever. Many sheep and ponies 
 are drowned in the attempt to cross these 
 streams. I lost a pony this year belonging to 
 Cheeboo Lama's representative, Tendook, while 
 trying to get it across the Teesta, and I have 
 heard of other ponies lost in the same way. 
 The District Road Fund has put a ferry-boat at 
 the bridge over the Teesta this cold Weather ; 
 but it does not meet the requirements of the 
 traffic, and is very expensive. Last Christmas- 
 day I found at the river a party of Thibetan 
 traders, with forty ponies, besides sheep and 
 cattle. They had been already detained one 
 day on the bank of the river, and it took at 
 least another day before they were all across. 
 Now I am convinced that the existence of 
 unbridged and dangerous rivers like this on all 
 the routes to Thibet does much more to check 
 trade than any opposition it can meet with 
 from Chinese Ampahs or Thibetan obstructives; 
 
82 
 
 -REPORT ON A VISIT TO 
 
 and if we are unwilling to spend the few thou- 
 sand rupees required for these all-important 
 bridges, we can scarcely take credit for doing 
 all that we may fairly be asked to do for the 
 development of the trade with Thibet. 
 
 If the bridges were once built, it would be 
 an easy matter to make the road. It would 
 not be necessary to spend large sums of money 
 on it at once, if a great immediate expenditure 
 should not be thought desirable. Ten or twelve 
 thousand rupees, well laid out at the outset, 
 would make a fair bridle-path ; and if the same 
 sum were spent annually for some years in 
 improvements, an excellent road would gra- 
 dually get made. It would probably be well 
 eventually to build rest-houses for native 
 travellers at convenient places ; but this is not 
 a matter of urgent or immediate necessity. 
 
 Promises made 
 by the Sikhim 
 Durbar, 
 
 I shall conclude with a word of warning. 
 The Sikhim Durbar have made many promises 
 of assistance in the construction of the road, 
 and I am convinced that they honestly mean 
 what they say ; but I doubt much whether they 
 will be found able to carry out all the engage- 
 ments which they are prepared to make. And 
 it is certain that much tact, patience, and for- 
 bearance, will be required in dealing with them 
 when we come to require the promised assist- 
 ance. The supply of labour is the point on 
 which they are most likely to break down, and 
 our aim should be to work as much as possible 
 through our own people, of course accepting 
 gladly, and making use of, any help Sikhim 
 should be able to offer. 
 
GROUP TAKEN AT KWCH. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
MEMORANDUM OF A FEW ROUTES IN SIKHIM. 
 By Major Judge, R.E. 
 
 10^ November 1873. — Late in the afternoon of 
 10th November 1873, I started to join the camp of 
 Mr. J. Ware Edgar, the Deputy Commissioner of 
 Darjeeling, who was on special duty in Sikhim, and 
 whom I expected to overtake somewhere nearToomlong. 
 I decided to take the direct route vid Namchi and 
 Tendong, and camped the same evening at Badamtom, 
 about four miles from the Rungeet Bridge. 
 
 11th November. — Proceeded to Namchi (5,608) by the 
 road which crosses the Rungeet (818) by the old sus- 
 pension bridge. After crossing the bridge the road takes 
 a steep rise of about 1,200 feet to crest of spur above 
 the Rungeet (818), and thence rims along the south face 
 of the ridge leading to the crest of Tendong. This 
 latter portion of the road has a very easy gradient. 
 Camped at Namchi (5,608) at about 3 p.m. 
 
 12th Not-ember. — Proceeded to Timi (4,771) vid Ten- 
 dong (8,671). After leaving Namchi (5,608), the road 
 takes a rather sudden rise to crest of Tendong along the 
 ridge leading thereto ; and thence, after following the 
 Tendong ridge on an almost level line for three or four 
 miles, it again dips towards the Teesta Valley, about 
 1,200, by way of Timi (4,771). The road from Tendong 
 (8,671) to Timi (4,771) is steep, but the face of the hill 
 down which it diverges is broad. Zigzags of any re- 
 quired gradient could be made here ; those traced in the 
 year 1861 by the force under the command of Colonel 
 Grawler are still to some extent in use. Reached Timi 
 at about 4 p.m. 
 
 1Wi November.— -Timi (4,771) to Lingmo (4,155). 
 The road from Timi to Lingmo descends rather steeply 
 as far as Turco, whence it runs for a few miles at an 
 easy gradient along the slopes of Tendong, and then 
 
dips down into the Teesta Valley. The road then runs 
 up the bank of the Teesta Valley along flat land for 
 about two miles, crossing first the Eimpay stream and 
 then the Eungpo (1,375). After crossing the Bungpo 
 (1,375) the road ascends, at first by an easy gradient, 
 but soon more steeply, to Lingmo (4,155), crossing two 
 small, but rather deep, ravines midway. 
 
 Coolies, lightly laden, took eight hours' hard marching 
 to get to Lingmo from Timi. 
 
 14:th November. — Lingmo (4,155) to Tingtee (about 
 5,000). The road from Lingmo to Tingtee descends 
 steeply to the Teesta, which it crosses at a level of about 
 1,600 feet by a cane suspension bridge, and at once 
 ascends steeply for about 2,000 feet ; thence it runs 
 along the slopes of the left bank to the Teesta by an 
 easy, gradient to Tingtee (about 5,000). 
 
 1 5th November.— Tingtee (5,000) toToomlong (5,368). 
 From Tingtee the road continues to run along the 
 slopes on left bank of the Teesta Valley until it meets 
 the Eyott Valley : the best road to Toomlong runs up 
 the Eyott Valley below Kubbi. But, as I was pressed 
 for time, I cut across the Eyott Valley by a steep path, 
 which descended about 3,500 feet, and again abruptly 
 ascended 3,500 towards Toomlong, on the right bank of 
 the Eyott. Both those paths were very steep, and in 
 places almost vertical — quite impracticable for ponies. 
 
 After the path rises to top 6f the precipitous slopes 
 on the right bank of the Eyott Valley, it continues 
 along easy gradients to Toomlong. 
 
 The march from Tingtee to Toomlong took about 
 nine hours, half of which was over steep paths. A tra- 
 veller following this route saves a day's march ; but it 
 is not one that would be used with advantage, unless a 
 person was pressed for time. 
 
 15th November. — On arrival at Toomlong, I ascer- 
 tained that Mr. Edgar was on the opposite bank of the 
 Eyott Eiver at Kubbi, on his way down from the Ohola 
 Pass. Having ascertained that he would not cross until 
 we had met, I went over to Kubbi (5,000), crossing the 
 Eyott Valley at a level of about 2,000 feet. 
 
 Ylth November. — Kubbi (5,000) to Gyara Gong 
 (5,325). At Mr. Edgar's request I left his camp for a 
 week's trip, to explore the road to Sharab, by way of 
 Grunduk, where we were to meet again. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 87 
 
 The road from Kubbi to Gyara Gong rises by easy- 
 gradients to a ridge above it (elevation 5,325 feet), 
 where it crosses the direct road from Darjeeling to the 
 Chola Pass, about half a mile above Kubbi. Thenoe 
 the road drops by a steep descent for another half mile 
 to the village of Tincup, below which it crosses the 
 Eathee-choo stream at 3,825 feet. 
 
 The Eathee-choo is only 50 feet broad at point of 
 crossing. 
 
 Beyond the Eathee-choo the road runs along the 
 face of easy slopes, in some places almost level to Gyara 
 Gong (5,325). 
 
 18th November. — Gyara Gong (5,325) to Eongyik 
 (5,400). From Gyara Gong the road rises to a ridge 
 6,125 feet in elevation, and then descends to the Bun- 
 geechoo by easy gradients throughout. It crosses the 
 Eungee-choo at 4,725 feet. This stream is only about 
 40 feet broad, and is fordable. 
 
 Hence to Guntuck, or Ench (5,675), the road passed 
 through Bartook (5,175). The ascent to Bartook is 
 rather steep ; thence onwards to Guntuck it is easy, and 
 in places level. After passing Guntuck, the road to the 
 Takla and Gnalur Passes descends to Eongyik 
 (5,400), above the Eoro-choo stream. This road runs 
 along one flank of a large spur, which rises in one ridge 
 from Guntuck to the crest of the range of hills which 
 form the Yakla Pass. The above road takes a slight 
 dip midway, but has a very easy gradient as far as 
 Eongyik. Thence to the Eoro-choo it is not so easy, but 
 is everywhere practicable for ponies. 
 
 19th November. — Started at 8 a.m. from Eongyik; 
 crossed Eoro-choo (4,550) by a bridge at 9 a.m. : 
 breadth of stream 95 feet. 
 
 The road from the Eoro-choo ascends along the 
 ridge of one spur to the crest of a hill overlooking the 
 Eongnee and the Eoro-choo. The total rise along this 
 spur is from 4,550 to 10,750 ; in all 6,200. 
 
 Aneroid readings at the following intervals during 
 the day's march give some idea of the steepness of the 
 ascent : — 
 
 Guntuck-choo (9 a.m.) 4,550 
 
 After 20 minutes' halt to take photo- 
 graphs (10 a.m.) ... ... ... 5,675 
 
 Yaks' hut at Eongshi (11 a.m.) ... ",7,025 
 
After half hour's halt for breakfast 
 
 (12-40 p.m.) 8,100 
 
 1-15 p.m.) 8,875 
 
 (1-30 p.m.) 9,200 
 
 Piloom (1-40 p.m.) ... 9,500 
 
 Halted 20 minutes at Piloom, to get 
 water from a stream off the road- 
 side, some distance (2-30 p.m.) ... 10,050 
 (3 p.m.) 10,425 
 
 It began to snow at 4 p.m., shortly after our arrival 
 in camp. The road passed over this day was in all 
 parts practicable for ponies, and is much used by Thibet 
 pony-dealers ; but in many places the gradient is diffi- 
 cult, and might be much improved by a few serpentine 
 bends along the brow of the spur. The general align- 
 ment of the upper portion of the road could also be 
 much improved by leaving the ridge of the spur, and 
 taking the direction of a saddle to the north of it. This 
 alteration would rather shorten the road to the Sharab 
 Pass, and eliminate the worst portion of it. 
 
 20^7* November.— Started at 7-30 a.m. from camp 
 (10,425 feet), and at 8-15 a.m. crested, at an elevation of 
 10,750 feet, the brow of hill at the top of spur that rises 
 from the Eo-Eo. Thence the road runs along a nearly 
 level ridge into a gorge, descending at one point (where 
 it crosses a saddle) to 10,300 feet, and passing through 
 fir forests. After leaving the saddle, the road makes 
 a slight dip ; but soon begins to ascend along the right 
 bank of one of the tributaries of the Eongnee, to a 
 height of 10,925, where it crosses a stream which is an 
 affluent of the same, and which runs down the valley 
 of the Yakla Pass. 
 
 At this point there is a bridge about 85 feet long. 
 "We crossed this bridge at 11-30 a.m., after an hour's 
 halt for breakfast. 
 
 The ascent from this bridge to the Tanyek-so lake 
 is gradual and easy, along the right bank of the stream 
 which flows out of the lake and runs into the Eongnee 
 river. We reached the lake at 2 p.m., and after a halt 
 of half an hour for photography, proceeded about half 
 a mile along the right bank of the lake, and thence to 
 the saddle at the head of the valley in which the lake 
 lies. After crossing this saddle, the road descends along 
 the face of some small hills, and again rises rather 
 abruptly in the gorge of a steep ravine. After ascending 
 this ravine, it again dips by an easy gradient to Sharab, 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 89 
 
 the height of which I make to be approximately 15,000 
 feet, — water boiling at this height at 184° when the 
 temperature of the air was 10°. 
 
 21st November. — Started at 8 a.m. to see the Jeylep-la 
 Pass, as I found that the barometer I had with me only 
 took readings up to 11,000, and the boiling thermo- 
 meters were not reliable. I contented myself with taking 
 the following bearings from the Jeylep-la Pass with a 
 prismatic compass :— 
 
 'To Chumalari 
 „ Kazi Groombah 
 „ Killum-see 
 „ High Peak Pemla, W. of 
 
 Chumalari 
 
 „ Jeylep-la Valley 
 „ Jeylep-la Kidge 
 
 returned from the Jeylep-la Pass 
 
 •I— I 
 
 H 
 
 a 
 
 35° 
 30° 
 20° 
 
 50 u 
 210° 
 280" 
 
 to Sharab the 
 same afternoon at about 4 p.m. 
 
 22nd November. — Started with guide at 7 a.m. to the 
 Yakla Pass, sending the coolies back to the bridge below 
 the Tanyek-so Lake, which I had passed two days 
 before. 
 
 I reached the Yakla Pass at 10 a.m., thence taking 
 compass bearing as under : — 
 
 To Chumalari 43 ° 
 
 High Peak to W. of Chumalari ... 64° 
 
 From the Yakla Pass I returned a long i portion of 
 the route I had gone over in the morning, but after 
 proceeding along it about two miles struck off across a 
 ridge into the valley which leads direct up to the Yakla 
 through Byntan. I did not overtake the coolies at the 
 iunction of the Sharab and Yakla Valleys till 3-30 r m. 
 This route to the Yakla Pass is only practicable tor 
 yaks and coolies, and the route is in every way a 
 difficult one. The worst portion of the route can be 
 avoided by going up the Sharab Valley to the Yakla 
 Pass; but the Yakla Pass is in every respect one to be 
 avoided. 
 
 After rejoining the coolies, I proceeded the same 
 evening as far as possible down the spur overlooking 
 the Ro-Bo, by which I had made the ascent to Sharab. 
 We camped at 6 p.m. at an elevation 9,525, at the hrst 
 mace where water was procurable on the descending 
 spur It had snowed slightly the two days I was up at 
 the Passes, and the coolies were glad to make a forced 
 
90 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 march to get down to a lower elevation, where firewood 
 was plentiful and the cold less intense. 
 
 23rd November.— Piloom (9,525) to Guntuck (5,675). 
 Proceeded to Guntuck by the same route I have tra- 
 velled over a few days before, and rejoined Mr. Edgar's 
 camp. 
 
 In my opinion, the road from Guntuck to Sharab is 
 one that follows, on the whole, a good line, and could 
 with very little difficulty be made into an excellent 
 road suitable for all purposes except wheeled traffic. 
 
 24M and 25th November. --Halted at Ghmtuck, 
 taking photographs and making inquiries into extent 
 of the water-supply and available sites for camps and 
 building. There are six good springs of water at 
 Guntuck, and ample space for sites suitable for a fair ; 
 also for a village as large as any in Sikhim. 
 
 26ti November.— Ghmtuck (5,675) to Rumtik (5,325). 
 I did not take the direct road from Gruntuck to Rum- 
 tik, as I wished to ascertain if Sharab Ridge could not 
 be approached by way of the left bank of the Ro-Ro- 
 choo. For this purpose I descended to the Ro-Ro-choo 
 by a steep path leading from Guntuck, and crossed over 
 to the Pabyo Monastery (5,575) on the opposite spur. 
 This path crossed the Ro-Ro (which was fordable with 
 difficulty) at a level of 3,575 feet. 
 
 A road passing through Pabyo would have no advan- 
 tage over, or be so convenient as, that vid Guntuck to 
 Sharab. 
 
 From Pabyo Monastery (5,575), I descended by a 
 very steep path and crossed the Ro-Ro and Rongnee, or 
 Burtup-choo Rivers, to the foot of the Rumtik spur. 
 There is much flat land in the valley at the junction of 
 the above rivers, which meet at an elevation of about 
 2,800 feet. 
 
 The direct road from Dikkeeling to Guntuck and 
 Toomlong crosses over the flats alluded to. The ascent 
 of the path from the Burtup-choo (2,800) to Rumtik 
 Monastery (5,325) is tolerably easy, and through much 
 well-cultivated land. 
 
 27th November.— Rumtik (5,325) to Sang (4,800). 
 This road commences with a steep ascent to the crest of 
 ridge overlooking Rumtik spur, and to an elevation of 
 6,625; thence it dips yet more steeply to Mertam 
 (4, 625) . The ground about Mertam forms a succession of 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 91 
 
 easy slopes very highly cultivated, and the road runs 
 for some distance along an easy gradient till it passes 
 out of the Mertam Valley, over a ridge 5,775 feet, into 
 nest valley of Orong-choo, where it crosses the stream of 
 that name at a level of 4,025 feet ; thence the road again 
 ascends to Sang, 4,800 feet. 
 
 28th November.— Sang (4,800) to Rungpo Tang, on 
 the Teesta (1,375). After leaving Sang the road runs 
 almost level for some distance, and then turns the spur 
 and runs along the face of a range of hills fronting 
 Tendong. It takes an easy descent to Kamdong (4,225). 
 Beyond Kamdong the road descends steeply to the 
 Teesta (1,575), where there is a good cane bridge and 
 also a raft. 
 
 From the Teesta bridge the road runs up the right 
 bank of the valley, and after about a mile cuts into the 
 direct road from Darjeeling to Toomlong rid Tendong. 
 The road from the Teesta bridge to our camp at Rungpo 
 Tang was nearly lovel — in many places quite so, and ran 
 along broad level flats about one-fourth of a mile wide. 
 
 29th November. — Rungpo Tang (1,375) to Yangong 
 (5,225). Our route this day left the road toiToomlong, 
 and steeply ascended a large spur from Meinam Hill, on 
 which Yangong Monastery is situated. The first 
 portion of the road was steep, as usual in all ascents 
 from the deep valleys of Sikhim ; but after passing the 
 village of Grajoong (3,000) it became less so. The whole 
 day's march was, however, a steep one, along roads below 
 the average of those usually met with in Sikhim. 
 
 30th November. — Yangong (5,225) to Lingdarn 
 (5,349). After leaving Yangong the road rises for a 
 short distance, and then again dips by a slight incline 
 to 5,400 feet. After proceeding on a level ior a short 
 distance it passes the village of Pading, whence it takes 
 a steep descent to theRingpo river, crossing it at 4,225 
 feet. 
 
 The Ringpo crossing is about 80 feet wide, between 
 steep gravelly banks of very loose formation. The stream 
 runs down a steep incline at a rapid pace, and can never 
 be very deep. After crossing the Ringpo, ! there is a 
 steep rise to the ridge overlooking the great Rungeet 
 Valley. This ridge is a spur of the Mainom Hill, and is 
 6,824 at the point where it crosses by the road. After 
 passing through a very fine forest, which descends to 
 5 625, the road emerges again on clearings near 
 
92 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Lingdam. The march from Yangong to Lingdam took 
 less than five hours of fairly easy walking. 
 
 1st December. — Halted at Lingdam. 
 
 [N.B. — "From crest of pass from Teesta to Rungeet 
 there are two paths, — one leading to Tendong, another 
 in the opposite direction, to Ralong Monastery, and also 
 to the top of Mainom Hill.] 
 
 2nd December. — Lingdam (5,349) toTassiding (4,850). 
 This road runs almost level as far as Chosing (5,100), 
 whence there is a road leading direct to Pemiongchi, 
 via the Gyaring Mendong spur of the Pemiongchi ridge 
 beyond the great Rungeet. 
 
 We, however, descended by a steep path, which crosses 
 the great Rungeet higher up-stream, and leads direct to 
 Tassiding (4,850). This road crosses the Rungeet at 
 2,225 feet. The descent to it is very steep, and the ascent 
 to Tassiding equally so ; but is practicable for mules or 
 good ponies. 
 
 3rd December. — Halted at Tassiding. During the 
 day I paid a visit to the Monastery of Sunning, which 
 is on the top of the spur overlooking Tassiding, and 
 connected with it by a long narrow saddle, on which 
 there are about a dozen fine chaits and mendongs 
 (monumental tombs). The path to Sunning dips to 
 4,075, and then rises 2,000 to Sunning Monastery 
 (6,075). 
 
 The walls of this monastery are decorated with views 
 of Pekin or Lassa (of the former as far as I coidd ascer- 
 tain) , and in a manner different to those of any other 
 we visited. The architraves and capitals of the pillars 
 were all plain gilt and carved ; but free from the 
 coloured ornamentation which is common in most other 
 monasteries. 
 
 4th December. — Tassiding (4,850) to Pemiongchi 
 (6,840). This road descends steeply to the Ratong 
 river, after leaving the saddle below Sunning. Prom 
 this point it descends steeply from 4,075 to 2,450 at the 
 Ratong crossing. The Ratong is a broad and rapid 
 stream, deep at this point, and running between a perfect 
 grove of overhanging trees. 
 
 The ascent from the Ratong vriver to Pemiongchi is 
 steep. It passes through the village of Satyong (5,475,) 
 and thence rises even more steeply than before to the 
 monastery at Pemiongchi (6,840 feet). Almost the 
 
whole length of the road from the river passes through 
 very fine forest. 
 
 5th December. — Halted at Pemiongohi. 
 
 6th December. — Halted at Pemiongohi ; visited Chan- 
 gachelling Monastery (6,950), on same ridge, about two 
 ■miles higher up the spur which leads to the Sampoong 
 range. 
 
 _ Visited also Rabdenchi, the site of old palace of the 
 Sikhim Rajah, and where there are also ruins of an old 
 fort, the only one I have seen in Sikhim. It is situated 
 near Pemiongohi, on the same spur and about 300 feet 
 below the monastery. 
 
 7th December. — Pemiongohi (684) to Rinchingpong 
 (5,866). Left Mr. Edgar's camp at Pemiongohi at 
 about 3 p.m., and started for Rinchingpong on my 
 way back to Darjeeling. The path I took descended the 
 spur on which the Gyaring Mendong is situated, and 
 thence descended very abruptly to the Kulhait river, 
 which was f ordable at this season of the year ; but in 
 the rains is a rapid and deep torrent, about 150 feet 
 broad. The path to the Kulhait descends about 4,000 
 feet, and the ascent thence to Rinchingpong is about 
 3,000 feet, along a path in most places very steep. 
 
 8th, 9th, 10th December. — Returned to Darjeeling 
 along the outlying spurs from the large ridge between 
 the Kulhait and fiummam rivers. 
 
 The road crosses the following streams — viz., the 
 Rishi, Torung, Rathoo, Rummani, and Little Rungeet. 
 It crosses five spurs or ridges, making descents and 
 ascents varying from 800 to 2,000 feet. 
 
 The Rishi and the Rothoo are both streams of some 
 magnitude during the rains ; and the Rummam and 
 Little Rungeet are small rivers, only fordable during 
 the driest season of the year. 
 
 No attempt is made in these notes to do more than 
 briefly describe the leading features of the routes 
 travelled over during a month's tour in Sikhim. The 
 best of the routes follow mere bridle-paths. In the 
 strict acceptation of the word, there are not any roads in 
 Sikhim. 
 
 C. N. Judge, Major, r.e. 
 
 10th December 1873.