and Campbell saw a flock of 400 hornless sheep,
grazing on short sedges and fescue-grass, in the middle
of October, at 18,000 feet above the sea. An enormous
ram attended the flock, whose long hair hung down to
the ground; its back was painted red.
There is neither tree nor shrub in this country;
and, with the exception of a very little wheat (which
seldom ripens), and occasionally peas, barley, turnips,
and radishes are, I believe, the only crops. Other
legumes, cabbages, &c., are cultivated in the sheltered
valleys of the Yaru feeders, where great heat is reflected
from the rocks; and there also stunted trees grow, as
willows, walnuts, poplars, and perhaps ashes; all of
which, however, are said to be planted, and scarce.
Even at Teshoo Loombo and Jigatzi buckwheat is a
rare crop, and only a prostrate very hardy kind is
grown. Clay teapots and pipkins are the most valuable
exports to Sikkim from the latter city, next to salt
and soda. Jewels and woollen cloaks are also exported,
the latter especially from Giantchi, which is famous for
its woollen fabrics and mart of ponies.
Digarchi, Jigatzi (or Shigatzi-jong, the fort of
Shigatzi), is the capital of the “ Tsang ” province, and
Teshoo Loombo is the neighbouring city of temples
and monasteries, the ecclesiastical capital of Tibet,
real object is to preserve the skin, which the dry cold wind peels from
the face. The pigment is mutton-fat, blackened, according to Tchebu
Lama, with catechu and other ingredients ; but I believe more frequently
by the dirt of the face itself. I fear I do not slander the Tibetan damsels
in saying, that personal cleanliness and chastity are both lightly esteemed
amongst them; and as the Lama naively remarked, when questioned on
the subject, “ the Tibetan women are not so different from those of other
countries as to wish to conceal what charms they possess. ”
and tbe abode of the grand (Tesboo) Lama, or ever-
living Boodh. Whether we estimate this man by the
number of his devotees, or the perfect sincerity of their
worship, he is without exception the most honoured
heing living in the world.
Of the Yaru river at Jigatzi, which all affirm becomes
the Burrampooter in Assam, I have little information to
add to Turner’s description: it is sixty miles north of
Bhomtso, and I assume its elevation there to be 13—
14,000 fee t; it approaches the Nepal frontier west of
Tingri, and sweeping to the northward turns south to
Jigatzi, whence it makes another and greater bend to the
north, and again turning south flows west of Lhassa,
receiving the Kechoo river from that holy city. From
Jigatzi it is said to be navigable to near Lhassa by
skin and plank-built boats. Thence it flows southeast
to the Assam frontier, and while still in Tibet,
is said to enter a warm climate, where tea, silk, cotton
and rice are grown. Of its course after entering the
Assam Himalaya little is known, and in answer to my
enquiries why it had not been followed, I was always
told that the country through which it flowed was
inhabited by tribes of savages, who live on snakes and
vermin, and are fierce and warlike. These are no
doubt the Singpho, Bor and Bor-abor tribes who
inhabit the mountains of Upper Assam. A travelling
mendicant was once sent to follow up the Dihong to
the Burrampooter, under the joint auspices of Mr.
Hodgson and Major Jenkins, the commissioner of
Assam; but the poor fellow was speared on the frontier
by these savages. The concurrent testimony of the
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