The troubled river, about eighty yards wide, rushes
along over a gravelly bed. Crossing the Rungmo, where
it falls into the Rungeet, we came upon a group of natives
drinking fermented Murwa liquor, under a rock; I had
a good deal of difficulty in getting my people past, and
more in inducing one of the topers to take the place of
a Ghorka (Nepalese) of our party who was ill with fever.
Soon afterwards, at a most wild and beautiful spot, I
saw, for the first time, one of the most characteristic of
Himalayan objects of art, a cane bridge. All the spurs,
round the bases of which the river flowed, were steep
and rocky, their flanks clothed with the richest tropical
orest, their crests tipped with pines. On the river’s
edge, the Banana, screw-pine, and Bauhinia, were frequent,
.and Figs prevailed. One of the latter (of an
exceedingly beautiful species) projected over the stream,
growing out of a mass of rock, its roots interlaced and
grasping at every available support, while its branches,
ffiaded with deep glossy foliage, hung over the water.
his tree formed one pier for the canes; that on the
opposite bank was constructed of strong piles, propped
with large stones; and between them swung the bridge,*
about eighty yards long, ever rocking over the torrent
(forty feet below). The lightness and extreme simplicity
of its structure were very remarkable. Two
parallel canes, on the same horizontal plane, were
stretched across the stream; from them others hung in
loops, and along the loops were laid one or two bamboo
stems for flooring; cross pieces [below this flooring,
hung from the two upper canes, which they thus served
* A sketch of one of these bridges will he found in Yol. ii.
to keep apart. The traveller grasps one of the canes
in either hand, and walks along the loose bamboos laid
on the swinging loops : the motion is great, and the
rattling of the loose dry bamboos is neither a musical
sound, nor one calculated to inspire confidence ; the
whole structure seeming as if about to break down. With
shoes it is not easy to walk; and even with bare feet it
is often difficult, there being frequently but one bamboo,
which, if the fastening is loose, tilts up, leaving the
pedestrian suspended over the torrent by the slender
canes. When properly and strongly made, with good
fastenings, and a floor of bamboos laid transversely,
these bridges are easy to cross. The canes are procured
from a species of rattan; they are as thick as the
finger, and twenty or thirty yards long, knotted together;
and the other pieces are fastened to them by strips of
the same plant. A Lepcha, carrying one hundred and
forty pounds on his back, crosses without hesitation,
slowly but steadily, and with perfect confidence.
A deep broad pool below the bridge was made available
for a ferry: the boat was a triangular raft of
bamboo stems, with a stage on the top, and it was
secured on the opposite side of the stream, having a