amongst them, but they were neither sanguinary nor
destructive, and the fact remains no less remarkable,
that at the period of our occupying Dorjiling, friendship
and unanimity reigned amongst all these tribes; from
the Tibetan at 14,000 feet, to the Mechi of the plains;
under a sovereign whose temporal power was wholly
unsupported by even the semblance of arms, and whose
spiritual supremacy was acknowledged by very few.
LEPCHA AMULET.
CHAPTER VI.
Excursion from Dorjiling to Great Rungeet—Zones of vegetation Tree-
ferns—Palms—Leebong, tea plantations—Ging—Boodhist remains
Tropical vegetation—Pines—Lepcha clearances—Forest fires Boodhist
monuments—Fig—Cane bridge and raft over Rungeet India-rubber
—Yel Pote—Butterflies and other insects—Snakes—Camp Junction
of Teesta and Rungeet—Return to Dorjiling—Tonglo, excursion to
—Bamboo flowering—Oaks— Peepsa—Simonbong, cultivation at
European fruits at Doijiling—Plains of India.
A v e r y favourite and interesting excursion from
Dorjiling is to the cane bridge over the Great Rungeet
river, 6000 feet below the station. To this an excellent
road has been cut, by which the whole descent of
six miles, as the crow flies, is easily performed on
pony-back; the road distance being only eleven miles.
I several times made this trip ; on the excursion about
to be described, and in which I was accompanied by
Mr. Barnes, I followed the Great Rungeet to the
Teesta, into which it flows.
In descending from Dorjiling, the zones of vegetation
are well marked by—1. The oak, chesnut, and
Magnolias.—2. Immediately below 6,500 feet, the tree-
fern appears, a widely-distributed plant, common from
Nepal eastward to the Malayan peninsula, Java, and
Ceylon.—3. Of palms, a species of Rattan-cane, and