owing, I suppose, to the light reflected from the
myriads of facets which the crystals present. I have
never suffered in crossing beds of old snow, or glaciers
with weathered surfaces, which absorb a great deal of
light, and reflect comparatively little, and that little
coloured green or blue.
The descent was very laborious, so that although we
started at 10 a .m ., it was dark by the time we reached
Buckeem, where we found two lame coolies, whom we
had left on our way up, and who were keeping up a
glorious fire for our reception.
MAITYBA, THE SIXTH OB COMINO BOODDH.
CHAPTER XVI.
Ratong river below Mon Lepcha—Ferns—Vegetation of Yoksun, tropical—
Araliacem, fodder for cattle—Rice-paper plant—Lake—Old temples
—Funereal cypresses—Gigantic chait—Altars—Songboom—Catsu-
perri—Worship a t Catsuperri lake—Scenery—Willow—Lamas and
ecclesiastical establishments of Sikkim—Tengling—Cbangachelling
temples and monks—Portrait of myself on walls—Lingcham Kajee
asks for spectacles—Arrive at Little Rungeet—At Dorjiling—Its
deserted and wintry appearance.
On the following day I marched to Yoksun : the
weather was fair, though it was snowing on the mountains.
I halted by the Ratong river, at the foot of Mon
Lepcha, where I found its elevation to he 7,150 feet;
its edges were frozen, and the temperature of the water
36°; it is here a furious torrent flowing between rocks,
and is flanked by flat-topped beds of boulders gravel
and sand, twelve to fourteen feet thick. Its vegetation
resembles that of D.orjiling, hut is more alpine, owing
no doubt to the proximity of Kinchinjunga. The
magnificent Rhododendron argenteum was growing on
its hanks. On the other hand, I was surprised to see
a beautiful fern (a Trichomanes, very like the Irish one)
which is not found at Dorjiling. The same day, at
about the same elevation, I gathered sixty species of
fern, many of very tropical forms: no doubt the range of