some way through a narrow gorge, along which the
river foamed and roared, the sudden opening out of
this broad, oval expanse, more than a mile long, was
very striking: the mountains rose bare and steep, the
west flank terminating in shivered masses of rock,
while that on the right was more undulating, dry,
and grassy: the surface was a flat gravel-bed, through
which meandered the rippling stream, fringed with
alder. I t was a beautiful spot, the clear, cool, murmuring
river, with its rapids and shallows, forcibly
reminding me of a trout-stream in the highlands of
Scotland.
Beyond Taptiatok we again crossed the river, and
ascended over dry, grassy, or rocky spurs to Lelyp,
the first Bhotea village; it stands on a hill fully 1000
feet above the river, and commands a splendid view up
the Yalloong and Kambachen valleys, which open
immediately to the east, and appear as stupendous
chasms in the mountains leading to the perpetual
snows of Kinchin-jimga. There were about fifty houses
in the village, of wood and thatch, neatly fenced in with
wattle, the ground being carefully cultivated with
radishes, buckwheat, wheat, and millet. A Lama, the
head-man of the place, came out to greet us, with his
family and a whole troop of villagers; none had ever
before seen an Englishman, and I fear they formed no
flattering opinion of the specimen now presented to
them, as they seemed infinitely amused at my appearance,
and one jolly dame clapped her hands to her
sides, and laughed at my spectacles, till the hills
echoed.
Elceagnus was common here, with Edgeworthia Gard-
neri * a beautiful shrub, with globes of waxy, cowslip-
coloured, deliciously scented flowers; also a wild apple,
which bears a small austere fruit, like the Siberian
crab. In the bed of the river rice was still cultivated,
and sub-tropical plants continued. I saw, too, a
chameleon and a porcupine, indicating much warmth,
and seeming quite foreign to the heart of these stupendous
mountains. From 6000 to 7000 feet, plants of
the temperate regions blend with the tropical; such as
rhododendron, oak, ivy, geranium, berberry, and
clematis, which all made their appearance at Loong-
toong, another Bhotea village. Here, too, I first saw
a praying-machine turned by water; it was enclosed in
a little wooden house, and consisted of an upright
cylinder containing a prayer, and with the words, “ Om
Mani Padmi om,” (Hail to him of the Lotus and Jewel)
painted on the circumference: it was placed over a
stream, and made to rotate on its axis by a spindle
which passed through the floor of the building into the
water, where it was terminated by a wheel.
Above this the road followed the west hank of the
river; the latter was a furious torrent, fringed with a
sombre vegetation, dripping with moisture, and covered
with long pendulous lichen, and mosses. The road
was very rocky and difficult, sometimes leading along
bluff faces of cliffs by wooden steps, and single rotten
planks. At 8000 feet I met with Firs, whose trunks
I had seen strewing the river for some miles lower
down : the first that occurred was Abies Brunoniana,
* A kind of Daphne, from whose bark the Nepal paper is manufactured.
K 2