ea st NEPAL. CHlp m
the north-west, however, I obtained bearings of the
Z T s t &c- : f fte Yangms md and f / i j 8 south-east, lo%, rugged
7 * con&sed ffi~
” d shro"dij‘«™* t a S S i i £
bn 7 . y' 8 remarIlahle mountain of Sidingbah
^ u t T ^ b r hgits“ ^ ^ ™
bearing. pr0Cure n0 other good
ie e d tl ! ; m the Yall°°ng ridge *° tie l a 'abili
places almost 7 WM TeI7 8t88p’ and “ 80me
' ' " th Bk«*xl>ndT*on* F a^lconeri da8nDdS He ™odq8sdo8n «i i
... ” JUg Ahles with yew (now covered
^ red berries) to the region of M a j l i s 1 “
dodevdron barlatum and arfwcw,. One bush of the
to te r was in flower, malring a gorgeous show. H e « ^
appeared the great oah with lamellated acorn“
I had not seen m the drier vaUeys to the westwld
with many other Doijffing trees and shrubs. A W
ffrroomm itttss lObb sc*u° r•m‘hge a7U th e 1UviXewUr. ian‘A lft0elria gsoe ’ m^atenyli sdianvgf
d a m " ! S™ 8 m d f a th e r , I found this quiet
damp, foggy atmosphere to have a most depressing
effect ; : there was little to interest in the meteorology
the atmospheric fluctuations being far too small • X
graphical discovery was at an end, and I groped my
Z f Z dT SPf 3 “ spurs and ndges, always clouded before noon and
clothed with heavy forest.
wiWsiwa“ ' H ' « ffWwW,! .if1 vo.1 r r.
S mjv Mm
Deo. 1848. TONGHEM. KHABANG. 261
At the elevation of 5,560 feet I reached a village
and spur, called “ Tonghem ” by the Limbo os, and
“ Yankutang ” by the Bhoteas; the winter resort of the
inhabitants of the upper Yalloong valley: they received
me very kindly, sold me two fowls, and a little rice,
and gave me a good deal of information. I found that
the Kanglanamo pass had been disused since the
Nepal war, that it was very lofty; and always closed in
October.
The next day, after crossing the river, a very winding
and fatiguing up-and-down march brought me to
the village of Khabang, in the magnificent valley of
the Tawa, about 800 feet above the river, and 5,500
feet above the sea.
I halted here for a day, to refresh the people, and
if possible to obtain some food.
Khabang is a village of Geroongs, or shepherds,
who pasture their flocks on the hills and higher valleys
during summer, and bring them down to this elevation
in winter: the ground was consequently infested with a
tick, equal in size to that common in the bushes, and
quite as troublesome, but of a different species.
The temperature here was 72°; and Magnolias and
various other tropical trees were common, with the
herbaceous vegetation of low elevations. Large sugar-
canes, palms, and wild plantains grew near the river,
and Rhododendron arboreum was very common on dry
slopes, with the gorgeous and sweet-scented Luculia
gratissima.
Up the valley of the Tawa the view was very grand
of the magnificent rocky mountain called Sidingbah,