I t is called Yok by the Lepchas, a common name for
any bee : its larvse are said to be greedily eaten, as are
those of various allied insects.
Choongtam boasts a profusion of beautiful insects,
amongst which the British swallow-tail butterfly
disports itself in company with magnificent black, gold,
and scarlet-winged butterflies, so typical of the Indian
tropics. At night my tent was filled with small water-
beetles that quickly put out the candle; and with
lovely moths’ came huge cockchafers and enormous and
foetid flying-bugs, which bear great horns on the thorax.
The irritation of mosquito and midge bites, and the
disgusting insects that clung with spiny legs to the
blankets of my tent and bed, were often as effectual in
banishing sleep, as were my anxious thoughts regarding
the future.
The temple at Choongtam is a poor wooden building,
but contains some interesting drawings of Lhassa, with
its extensive Lamaseries and temples; they convey the
idea of a town, gleaming, like Moscow, with gilded and
copper roofs; but on a nearer aspect it is found to
consist of a mass of stone houses, and large religious
edifices many stories high, the walls of which are
regularly pierced with small square ornamented
windows.
The weather in May was cloudy and showery, but
the rain which fell was far less in amount than that at
Dorjiling: during the day the sun’s power was grea t;
but though it rose between five and six a .m ., it never
appeared above the lofty peaked mountains that girdle
the valley till eight a .m . Dark firs crest the heights
around, and landslips score their flanks with white
seams below; while streaks of snow remain throughout
the month at 9000 feet above; and everywhere silvery
torrents leap down to the Lachen and Lachoong.
ju n ip e R u s r e c u b v a (height 30 feet).
D 2