Situated on a spur of the Singalelah range which runs
westerly, and forms the south flank of the Tawa and
the north of the Khabili valley. This mountain is
ully 12,000 feet high, crested with rock and ragged
black forest, which, on the north flank, extends to its
base: to the eastward, the bare ridges of Singalelah
were patched with snow, below which they too were
clothed with black firs.
From the opposite side of the Tawa I was most
fortunate m obtaining a splendid view of Kinchinjunga
with its associates, rising over the dark mass of Singalelah,
its flanks showing like tier above tier of green
glaciers : its distance was fully twenty-five miles, and
as only about 8000 feet from its summit were visible,
and Kubra was foreshortened against it, its appearance’
was not grand; added to which, its top was round and
hummocky, not broken into peaks, as when seen from
the south and east. Villages and cultivation became
more frequent as I proceeded southward to the valley
of the Khabili, and my daily marches were up ridges,
and down into deep valleys, with feeders from the flanks
of Sidingbah to the Tambur. During this part of the
journey, though I was day after day marching only
seven to ten miles distant from the Tambur river, I
did not once see it, so uneven is the country.
The .yalley of the Khabili is very grand, broad, open,
and intersected by many streams and cultivated spurs *■
the road from Yamroop* to Sikkim, once well frequented,
runs up its north flank, and though it had
long been closed we determined to follow and clear it.
* A large village and military post to the west of my route.
Though we passed numerous villages, I found unusual
difficulty in obtaining provisions, and received none of
the presents so uniformly brought by the villagers to a
stranger. I was not long in discovering, to my great
mortification, that these were appropriated by the
Ghorka Havildar, who seemed to have profited by our
many days of short allowance, and diverted the current
of hospitality from me to himself. His coolies I saw
groaning under heavy burdens, when those of my
people were light; and the truth only came out when
he had the impudence to attempt to impose a part of
his coolies’ loads upon mine, to enable the former to
carry more food, whilst he was pretending that he used
every exertion to procure me a scanty supply of rice
with my limited stock of money. I had treated this
man and his soldiers with the utmost kindness, nursing
them and clothing them from my own stock of flannels,
when sick and shivering amongst the snows. Though
a high caste Hindoo, and one who assumed Brahmin
rank, he had, I found, no objection to eat forbidden
things in secret; and now that we were travelling
amongst Hindoos, his caste obtained him everything,
while money alone availed me. I took him roundly
to task for his treachery, which caused him secretly to
throw away a leg of mutton he had concealed; I also
threatened to expose the humbug of Ms pretension to
caste, but it was then too late to procure more food.
Having hitherto much liked this man, and fully trusted
him, I was greatly pained by his conduct.
I proceeded east for three days, up the valley;
first through gloomy forests of tropical trees, and then