Plectocomia; the latter, though not a very large plant,
climbs lofty trees, and extends about 40 yards through
the forest.—4. The fourth striking feature is a wild
plantain, which ascends to nearly the same elevation.
This is replaced by another, and rather larger species,
at lower elevations; both ripen austere and small
fruits, which are full of seeds, and quite uneatable:
that commonly grown in Sikkim is an introduced
stock; it is very large, but poor in flavour, and does
not hear seeds. The zones of these conspicuous
plants are very clearly defined, and especially if the
traveller, standing on one of the innumerable spurs
which project from the Dorjiling ridge, cast his eyes
up the gorges of green on either hand.
At 1000 feet below Dorjiling a fine wooded spur
projects, called Leebong. This beautiful spot is fully
ten degrees warmer than Mr. Hodgson’s house, and
enjoys considerably more sunshine ; peaches and
English fruit-trees flourish extremely well, but do not
ripen fruit. The tea-plant succeeds here admirably,
and might be cultivated to great profit, and be of
advantage in furthering a trade with Tibet. I t has
been tried on a large scale by Dr. Campbell at his
residence (alt. 7000 feet), but the frosts and snow of
that height injure it, as do the hailstorms in spring.
Below Leebong is the village of Ging, surrounded
by steeps, cultivated with maize, rice, and millet. It
is rendered very picturesque by a long row of tall
poles, each bearing a narrow, vertically elongated
banner, covered with Boodhist inscriptions, and surmounted
by coronet-like ornaments, or spear-heads,
rudely cut out of wood, or formed of basket-work, and
adorned with cotton fringe. Ging is peopled by Bhotan
emigrants, and when one dies, if his relations can afford
to pay for them, two additional poles and flags are set
up by the Lamas in honour of his memory, and that of
Sunga, the third member of the Boodhist Trinity.
The heat and hardness of the rocks cause the
streams to dry up on these abrupt hills, especially on
the eastern slope, and the water is therefore conveyed
along the sides of the path, in conduits ingeniously
made of bamboo, either split in half, or, what is better,
whole, except at the septum, which is removed through
a lateral hole.
At about 2000 feet, and ten miles distant from
Dorjiling, we arrived at a low, long spur, dipping down
to the bed of the Rungeet, at its junction with the
Rungmo. This is close to the boundary of the
British ground, and there is a guard-house, and a
sepoy or two at i t ; here we halted. I t took the
Lepchas about twenty minutes to construct a table and
two bedsteads within our te n t; each was made of four
forked sticks, stuck in the ground, supporting as many
side-pieces, across which were laid flat split pieces of
bamboo, bound tightly together by strips of the stem of
the rattan-palm. The beds were afterwards softened by
many layers of bamboo leaves, and if not very downy,
they were dry, and as firm as if put together with
screws and joints.
This spur rises out of a deep valley, quite surrounded
by lofty mountains; it is narrow, and covered
with red clay, which the natives chew as a cure for