rocks, with precipitous faces; this was clear to the
naked eye, the range in question being only fifteen
miles distant, running between Pundim and Nursing.
We enjoyed the view of this superb scenery till noon,
when the clouds which had obscured Dorjiling since
morning were borne towards us by the southerly wind,
rapidly closing in the landscape on all sides. At
sunset they again broke, retreating from the northward,
and rising from Sinchul and Dorjiling last of all,
whilst a line of vapour seemed to belt the Singalelah
range with a white girdle, darkened to black where it
crossed the snowy mountains; and it was difficult to
believe that this belt did not really hang upon the
ranges from twenty to thirty miles off, against which it
was projected; or that its true position was comparatively
close to the mountain, on which we were
standing, and was due to condensation around its cool,
broad, flat summit.
As usual from such elevations, sunset produced
many beautiful effects. The zenith was a deep blue,
darkening opposite the setting sun, and paling over it
into a peach colour, and that again near the horizon
passing into a glowing orange-red, crossed by coppery
streaks of cirrhus. Broad beams of pale light shot
from the sun to the meridian, crossing the moon and
the planet Venus. Far south, through gaps in the
mountains, the position of the plains of India, 10,000
feet below us, was indicated by a deep leaden haze,
fading upwards in gradually paler bands (of which I
counted fifteen) to the clear yellow of the sunset sky.
As darkness came on, the mists collected around the
top of Mainom, accumulating on the windward side,
and thrown off in ragged masses from the opposite.
The second night we passed here was fine, and not
very cold (the mean temperature being 27°), and we
kept ourselves quite warm by pine-wood fires.
Having taken sketches and observations, and collected
much information from our guides, we returned on the
28th to our tents at Neongong; descending 7000 feet,
a very severe shake along Lepcha paths. In the
evening the Lamas visited us, with presents of rice,
fowls, eggs, &c., and begged subscriptions for their
temple, which was then being built; reminding Dr.
Campbell that he and the Governor-General had an
ample share of their prayers, and benefitted in proportion.
As for me, they said, I was bound to give
alms, as I surely needed praying for, seeing how I
exposed myself; besides my having been the first
Englishman who had visited the snows of Kinchinj unga,
the holiest spot in Sikkim.
On the following morning we visited the unfinished
temple. The outer walls were of slabs of stone neatly
chiselled, but badly mortared with clay and pounded
slate; the partition walls were of clay, shaped in
moulds of wood; parallel planks, four feet asunder,
being placed in the intended position of the walls, and
left open above, the composition was placed in these
boxes, a little at a time, and rammed down by the feet
of many men, who walked round and round the narrow
enclosure, singing, and using rammers of heavy wood.
The outer work was of good hard timber, of Magnolia
and oak. The common “ Ban,” or Lepcha knife,