several children, nephews and nieces he said; hut they
were uncommonly like him for such a distant .relationship,
and he seemed extremely fond of them, and much
pleased when I stuffed them with sugar.
The view of the Kinchin range from this spot being
one of the finest in Sikkim, and the place itself being
visible from Dorjiling, I took a very careful series of
bearings, which, with those obtained at Pemiongchi,
were of the utmost use in improving my map, which
was gradually progressing. To my disappointment I
found that neither priest nor people knew the name of
a single snowy mountain.
Hence I descended to the Kulhait river, on my route
back to Dorjiling, visiting my very hospitable tippling
friend, the Kajee of Lingcham, on the way down: he
earnestly begged me to give him a pair of spectacles,
for no other object than to look wise, as he had the
eyes of a hawk; he told me that mine procured me
universal respect in Sikkim, and that I had been drawn
with them on, in the temple at Changachelling; and
that a pair would not only wonderfully become him,
but afford him the most pleasing recollections of
myself. Happily I had>the means of gratifying him,
and have since been told that he wears them on state
occasions.
On the next day I crossed Hee hill, and camped in
a dense forest. The next march was southward to the
Little Rungeet guard-house, below Dorjiling spur,
which I reached after a fatiguing walk through
torrents of rain. On the 19th of January, I ascended
the Tukvor spur to Dorjiling, and received a most
*
hospitable welcome from my friend Mr. Muller, now
almost the only European inhabitant of the place;
Mr. Hodgson having gone on a shooting excursion in
the Terai, and Dr. Campbell being on duty on the
Bhotan frontier, the place looked what it really was
—wholly deserted. The rain I had experienced in the
valley had here been snow, and the appearance of the
broad snowed patches clear of trees, the many houses
without smoke or inhabitants, and the tall scattered
trees with black bark and all but naked branches,
was dismal in the extreme. The effect was heightened
by an occasional Hindoo, who flitted here and there
along the road, crouching and shivering, with white
cotton garments and bare legs.
The delight of my Lepcha attendants at finding
themselves safely at home again, knew no bounds;
and their parents waited on me with presents, and
other tokens of their goodwill and gratitude. I had no
lack of volunteers for a similar excursion in the
following season, though with their usual fickleness,
more than half failed me, long before the time arrived
for putting their zeal to the proof.
I am indebted to Dr. Campbell for the accompanying impression and
description of the seal of the Dhnrma Rajah, or sovereign pontiff of
Bhotan, and spiritual head of the whole sect of the Dookpa, or red-mitred
Lama Boodhists. The translations were made by Aden Tchebu Lama,
who accompanied us into Sikkim in 1849, and I believe they are quite
correct. The Tibetan characters run from left to right.
_ The seal of the Dhurma Rajah is divided into a centre portion and
sixteen rays. In the centre is the word Dookyin, which means “ The
Dookpa Creed;” around the “ Dookyin” are sixteen similar letters,