with Chinese interference on the frontier. All these
objections I overruled, by refusing to recognise any
instructions that were not officially communicated to
the Superintendent of Dorjiling.
The Gorh Lama here took leave of m e ; he was
a friend of the Dewan, and was rather surprised to
find that the Eajah had sent me a guide, and now
attempted to pass himself off as my friend, pompously
charging Meepo with the care of me, and bidding me
a very polite farewell. I could not help telling him
civilly, but plainly, what I thought of h im ; and so we
parted.
Meepo was very glad to join my party again; he-
was a thorough Lepcha in heart, a great friend of his
Eajah and of Tchebu Lama, and one who both feared
and hated the Dewan. He assured me of the Eajah s
good wishes and intentions, but spoke with great doubt
as to the probability of a successful issue to my
journey: he was himself ignorant of the road, but had
brought a guide, whose appearance, however, was
against him, and who turned out t6 be sent as a spy on
us both.
Instead of crossing the Teesta here, we kept on for
two days up its west bank, to a cane bridge at Lingo,
where the bed of the river is still only 2000 feet above
the sea, though 45 miles distant from the plains, and
flowing in a valley bounded by mountains 12,000
to 16,000 feet high. The heat was oppressive,-from,
the closeness of the atmosphere, the great power
of the sun, now high at noon day, and the reflection
from the rocks. Leeches and stinging flies of various
kinds began to swarm as the damp increased. My
clothes were drenched with perspiration during five
hours of every day, and the crystallising salt irritated
the skin. On sitting down to rest, I was overcome
with languor and sleep, and, but for the copious supply
of fresh water everywhere, travelling would have been
intolerable. The coolies were all but naked, and were
constantly plunging into the pools of the rivers; they
are powerful swimmers, and will stem a very strong
current, striking out with each arm alternately. I t is
an animated sight when twenty or thirty of these
swarthy children of nature are disporting their muscular
figures in the water, diving after large fish, and
sometimes catching them by tickling them under the
stones.
My servant having severely sprained his wrist by a
fall, the Lepchas wanted to apply a moxa, which they do
by lighting a piece of puff-ball, or of Nepal paper (that
burns like tinder), laying it on the skin, and blowing it
till a large open sore is produced: they shook their
heads at my treatment, which consisted in transferring
some of the leeches from our persons to the inflamed
part.
After crossing the Teesta our route lay over a ridge
5,500 feet h ig h ; hence a rapid descent leads to the
village of Singtam, 3000 feet above the river, which
is here no longer called the Teesta, but the Lachen-
Lachoong, from its double origin in the rivers of these
names, which unite at Choongtam, twenty miles higher
up. Of these, the source of the Lachen is in the
Cholamoo lakes in T ib e t; while the Lachoong rises on