goitre. North, it looks down into a gully, at the
bottom of which the Rungeet’s foamy stream winds
through a dense forest. In the opposite direction, the
Rungmo comes tearing down from the top of Sinchul,
7000 feet above; and though its roar is heard, and its
course is visible throughout its length, the stream
itself is nowhere seen, so deep does it cut its channel.
Except on this, and a few similarly hard rocky hill«
around, the vegetation is a mass of wood and jungle.
At this spot it is rather scanty and dry, with abundance
of the long-leaved Pine and Sal. The dwarf
date-palm also is very abundant.
The descent to the river was exceedingly steep, the
banks presenting an impenetrable jungle. The pines
on the arid crests of the hills around formed a remarkable
feature: they grow like the Scotch fir, their tall,
red trunks springing from the steep and dry slopes.
But little resin exudes from the stem, which, like that
of most pines, is singularly free from lichens and
mosses; its wood is excellent, and the charcoal of the
burnt leaves is used as a pigment.
The Lepcha never inhabits the same spot for more
than three successive years, after which an increased
rent is demanded by the Rajah. He therefore squats
in any place which he can render profitable for that
period, and then moves to another. His first operation,
after selecting a site, is to burn the jungle; then
he clears away the trees, and cultivates between the
stumps. At this season, firing the jungle is a frequent
practice, and the effect by night is exceedingly fine ; a
forest, so dry and full of bamboo, and extending over
such steep hüls, affording grand blazing spectacles.
Heavy clouds canopy the mountains above, and,
stretching across the valleys, shut out the firmament;
the air is a dead calm, as usual in these deep gorges,
and the fires, invisible by day, are seen raging all
around, appearing to an inexperienced eye in all but
dangerous proximity. The voices of birds and insects
being hushed, nothing is audible but the harsh roar
of the rivers, and occasionally, rising far above it, that
of'the forest fires. At night we were literally surrounded
by them; some smouldering, like shale-heaps
at a colliery, others fitfully bursting forth, whüst others
again stalked along with a steadüy increasing and
enlarging flame, shooting out great tongues of fire,
which spared nothing as they advanced with irresistible
might. Their triumph is in reaching a great
bamboo clump, when the noise of the flames drowns
that of the torrents, and as the great stem-joints burst,
from the expansion of the confined air, the report is as
that of a salvo from a park of artillery. At Dorjiling
the blaze is visible, and the deadened reports of the
bamboos bursting is heard throughout the night; but
in the valley, and within a mile of the scene of
destruction, the effect is the most ' grand, being
heightened by the glare reflected from the masses of
mist which hover above.
On the following morning we pursued a path to the
bed Of the river; passing a rude Boodhist monument,
a püe of slate-rocks, with an attempt at the mystical
hemisphere at top. A few flags or banners, and slabs
of slate, were inscribed with the sacred characters