gorge. The view was a very striking one : owing to
the steepness of the valley, the roofs alone of the
cottages were visible, from which ascended the sounds
and smells of a dense native population, and to which
there appeared to be no way of descending. The
opposite side rose precipitously in lofty table-topped
mountains, and the river was studded with canoes.
The descent was fully 800 feet. The cottages were
placed close together, each within a little bamboo
enclosure, eight to ten yards deep; each was built
against a perpendicular wall which supported a cutting
in the bank behind; and a similar wall descended in
front of it, forming the back of the compartment in
which the cottage next below it was erected. The
houses were often raised on platforms, and some had
balconies in front, which overhung the cottage below.
All were mere hollows of wattle or mud, with very
high-pitched ro o fs: stone tanks resembling fonts,
urns, coffins, and sarcophagi, were placed near the
better houses, and blocks of stone were scattered
everywhere.
We descended alternately along the gravelled flat of
each enclosure, and perpendicularly down steps cut in
the sandstone or let into the walls. I counted 800
houses from the river, and there must be many more ;
the inhabitants are Bengalees and Khasias, and
perhaps amount to 3000 or 4000; but this is a very
vague estimate.
We lodged in a curious house, consisting of one
apartment, twenty feet long, and five high, raised thirty
feet upon bamboos : the walls were of platted bamboo
matting, fastened to strong wooden beams, and one
side opened on a balcony that overhung the river. The
entrance was an oval aperture reached by a ladder,
and closed by folding doors that turned on wooden
pivots. The roof was supported by tressels of great
thickness, and like the rest of the woodwork, was
morticed, no nails being used throughout the building.
The floor was of split bamboos laid side by side.
After staying three days at Chela, we descended the
stream in canoes, shooting over pebbly rapids, and
amongst rocks of limestone, water-worn into fantastic
shapes, till we at last found ourselves gliding gently
along the still canals of the Jheels. Many of these
rapids are so far artificial, that they are enclosed by
gravel banks, six feet high, which, by confining the
waters, give them depth; but Chela being hardly above
the level of the sea, their fall is very trifling. We proceeded
across the Jheels to Chattuc, and then north
again to Pundua, and so to Churra.
Having pretty well exhausted the botany of Churra,
Dr. Thomson and I started on the 13th of September
for the eastern part of the Khasia and Jyntea mountains.
On the Kala-panee road, which we followed, we
passed crowds of market people, laden with dried fish
in a half-putrid state, which scented the air for many
yards: they were chiefly carp, caught and dried at the
foot of the hills. Large parties were bringing down
baskets of bird-cherries, cinnamon-bark, iron, pine
planks, fire-wood, and potatos. Of these, the bird-
cherries (like damsons) are made into an excellent
preserve by the English residents, who also make