(or Kumpas), a mixed race calling themselves Kumpa
Rong, or Knmpa Lepchas; but they are emigrants
from Tibet, having come with the first rajah of Sikkim.
These people are more turbulent and holder than the
Lepchas, and retain much of their Tibetan character,
and even of that of the very province from which they
came; which is north-east of Lhassa, and inhabited
by robbers. All the accounts I have received of it
agree with those given by MM. Hue and Gabet.
Next to the Lepchas, the most numerous tribe in
Sikkim is that of the Limboos (called “ Chung" by
the Lepchas); they abound also in East Nepal, which
they once ruled, inhabiting elevations from 2000 feet
to 5000 feet. They are Boodhists, and though not
divided into castes, belong to several tribes. All
consider themselves as the earliest inhabitants of the
Tambur Valley, though they have a tradition of having
originally emigrated from Tibet, which their Tartar
countenance confirms. They are more slender and
sinewy than the Lepchas, and neither plait their hair
nor wear ornaments; instead of the ban they use the
Nepal curved knife, called “ cookree,” while for the
striped kirtle of the Lepcha are substituted loose cotton
trousers and a tight jacket; a sash is worn round the
middle, and on the head a small cotton cap. When
they ruled over East Nepal, their system was feudal;
and on their uniting against the Nepalese, they were
Bbotan, or of the Dburma country, are called Dhurma people, in allusion
to their spiritual chief, the Dhurma Rajah. They are a darker and more
powerful race, rude, turbulent, and Tibetan in language and religion, with
the worst features of those people exaggerated.
with difficulty dislodged from their strongholds. They
are said to be equally brave and cruel in battle, putting
the old and weak to the sword, carrying the younger
into slavery, and killing on the march such captives as
are unable to proceed. Many enlist at Dorjiling, which
the Lepchas never do; and the rajah of Nepal employs
them in his army, where, however, they seldom obtain
promotion, this being reserved for soldiers of Hindoo
tribes. Latterly Jung Bahadur levied a force of 6000
of them, who were cantoned at Katmandoo, where
the cholera breaking out, carried off some hundreds,
causing many families who dreaded conscription to
flock to Dorjiling. Their habits are so similar to
those of the Lepchas, that they constantly intermarry
with them. They mourn, burn, and bury their dead,
raising a mound over the corpse, erecting a headstone,
and surrounding the grave with a little paling of sticks ;
they then scatter eggs and pebbles over the ground.
In these offices the Bijooa of the Lepchas is employed,
but the Limboo has also priests of his own, called
“ Phedangbos,” who belong to rather a higher order
than the Bijooas. They officiate at marriages, when
a cock is put into the bridegroom’s hands, and a hen
into those of the bride; the Phedangbo then Cuts off
the birds’ heads, when the blood is caught on a
plantain leaf, and runs into pools from which omens
are drawn. At death, guns are fired, to announce to
the gods the departure of the sp irit; of these there
are many, having one supreme head, and to them
offerings and sacrifices are made. They do not believe
in metempsychosis.
G 3