KHI QUO VADIS THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES THE GAZETTEEE OF SIKHIM. WITH AN INTEODUCTION BY n. n. risl:et, INDIAN CIVIL SEEVICE, COMPANION OF THE INDIAN EUPIBE, OFFiciEE d'acadksiie TRAN(;AISB. EDITED IN TEE BENGAL GOVERNMENT SECEETAEIAT. (EaUxttta: ^3viiit£t) at ihc ^cngal (Secretariat |Jrcss. 1894. DS ids S5B3 THE GAZETTEER OF SIKHIM. 1.Pii7382 LIST OF SOME WORKS ON SIKHIM. Aitchisoh's Treaties (Volume I, 3rd Edition), Calcutta, 1892. W. T. Blanfokd— "Journey through Sikhim," Jouriud of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume XL, Part II, page 367, 1871. Campbell, Dk.— " Papers on the Valley of Chiimhi " in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society for September 1873. "Papers on the Relations with Sikhim and Nepal" in the Oriental of January 1874. Desgodins, C. H., Abbe— "La Mission du Thibet," Verdun, 1872. Edgar, Sir J. Ware, k.c.i.e., c.s.i.— "Eeport on a Visit to Sikhim and the Tibetan Frontier in 1873," Calcutta, 1874. Gawler, Colonel J. C— " Sikhim : with hints on Mountain and Jungle War- fare; exhibiting also the facilities for opening Commercial Eelations through the State of Sikhim with Central Asia, Tibet, and Western China" (Stanford, 1873). Hodgson, Brian Houghton—" Essays on the Language, Literature, and Eeligion of Nepal and Tibet, with further papers on the Geography, Ethnology, and Commerce of those Countries," Triibner, 1874. Hooker, Sir J. D., k.c.s.i.— "Himalayan Journals; or Notes of a Naturahst in Bengal, the Sikhim and Nepal Mountains, &c.," Murray, 1854. Macatjlay, Colman, CLE.— "Eeport of a Mission to Sikhim and the Tibetan Frontier," Calcutta, 1885. Sherwill, Captain—" Map of British Sikhim from surveys by—" published Calcutta, 1852. Turner, Captain Samuel—" Account of an Embassy to the Court of Tesho Lama in Tibet," 2nd Edition, London, 1806. CONTENTS. Page. Introduction — By H. H. Eisley, c.i.e. : — Physical features Early history i The Sikhim Raj ii British intervention, 1817 iii Cession of Darjeeling, 1835 iii Annexation of Morang, 1850 iv Sikhim mediatised, 1861 iv Relations of Sikhim and Tibet v ' Proclamation of 1875 vi Mr. Macaulay's proposed mission vi Occupation of Lingtu by the Tibetans, 1886 .... vii Attitude of Sikhim Raja viii The Galing Treaty viii Map of Sikhim ix State of parties in Sikhim ix British policy towards the East Himalayan States ... xi Tibet xi Bhutan xiv Nepal XV Sikhim xv Tibetans attack Gnatong, 22nd May 1888 . . . . xviii Final defeat of Tibetans, 24th September 1888 . . . xix The future of Sikhim xxi Geographical Position and Description : — Sikhim, where situated and its area 1 Its boundary described 1 Extent of the Sikhim Raj as desoibed by Dr. Oldfiekl and in Hon'ble Mi-. Edeu's " Political Mission to Bhutan" . . 2 Peaks and passes 2 Towns and villages 4 u CONTENTS. History of Sikhim and its Rclers: — Origin of the early Tibetan Kings, with short descriptions of their reigns Population, tribes, and chief families of Sikhim .... Nomenclature of places The Book of the Law — By J. C. White, c.e. : — History of the laws Summary of the sixteen laws — (1) General rules to be followed in time of war (2) For those who are being defeated and cannot fight (3) For officers and Government servants (4) Law of evidence (5) Grave offences ...... (6) Fines inflicted for offences in order to make peopL remember ...... (7) Law of imprisonment (8) For offenders who refuse to come in, an Orderly be sent expressly to enqidre about the case (9) Murder (10) Bloodshed . . .... (11) Oaths required foy those who are false and avaricious (12) Theft (13) Disputes between near relatives, between man and wifo; and between neighbours who have things in common (14) Taking another's wife, or adultery . (15) Law of contract ...... (16) For uncivilised people Marriage Odstoms — By J. C. White, c.e. . has to Page. 5 27 39 46 46 47 48 48 49 49 49 50 50 51 61 52 53 54 54 54 55 Notes on Geology and Mineral Eesources— By P. N. Bose : Physical Geography Geology . Economic Geology — Copper . Copper ore locations Iron Lime . Garnet . 57 60 62 67 72 72 73 CONTENTS. Ill Ageiculture — By J. C. White, c.e. : — Different kinds of rice enumerated Other crops enumerated .... Mode of brewing niarica (chang), a kind of beer Spices Tea Cultivated fruits Cultivated vegetables .... Jungle products used for food . Fibres Land measurement Cattle Wages and prices Vegetation — By J. Gammie : — Its description according to Sir J. D. Hooker Flowering plants and ferns Orchids Palms Bamboos . Ehododendrons Primulas . Herbaceous plants Climbing plants Trees of the "tropical zone Figs . . Nettles Jungly fruits, &c., eaten by Lepchas Cultivated crops of the Lepchas Vegetation of Temperate and Gammie : — Definition of Alpine and Temperate regions Ai'boreal and shrubby vegetation Lilium giganteum Fern Osmunda Claytoniana Woodwardia radicans Peach, apricot, and crab-apple . Agricultiu'e not pursued in earnest by the people The Alpine region Alpine-Sikhim — By G. A Page. 74 74 75 76 76 76 76 77 77 77 78 79 80 82 85 88 89 90 91 91 91 92 92 93 93 94 95 96 96 97 97 97 97 99 IV CONTENTS. Page. The vegetation of the Singalelah Range and the slopes of Eancliinjingna described 99 Grasses and sedges 100 Rhubarb 100 Pines and copses 101 Rhododendrons, the glory of the Singalelah Range . . . 101 The Alpine part of the Lachung valley and its surrounding heights 102 Poly podium subamaenum . 102 Other noteworthy plants 103 Pragi'ant spikenard 103 Vegetation of the Chola Range ....... 107 Table of Dicotyledonous orders of Alpine Silsbim . . . 108 Few details in the phenomena of vegetation in the Alpine region briefly noticed ......... 109 Preponderance of shi'ubby and herbaceous plants with bright coloured flowers ......... 109 Plants most fitted for the visitation of bees are commonest at high elevations 109 Many labiates, composites and some primroses devoid of odour . 109 Plants having the divisions of their inflorescence hidden under cover lapping bracts ........ 110 Procumbent species of rhododendrons 110 Orders with soft fleshy fruits 110 Butterflies — By J. Gammie : — Enumeration of butterflies according to Elwes and MiJller, together with the species discovered since . . . . 112 Family morphimc 113 Moths 114 Butterflies — By Lionel de Niceville, f.e.s., c.m.z.s., &c. : — Treatment of the subject Family Nymphalidte (Su ( ( ( ( ( Family Lemoniidte ( 116 'amily Danainre) . 117 ,, Satyrince) . 119 „ Elymniinaj). 129 „ Morphinro) . 130 „ Acrteina?) . 131 „ Nymphalinso) 132 „ Libytha)in8e) 148 „ Nemeobiinse) 149 CONTENTS. Page. 'Family Lycsonidse l^" Family Papilionidte (Sub-family Pierinse) .... 165 „ ( „ Papilioninoe) . • . 170 Family Hesperidso 1' " Reptiles — By J. Gammie : — Lizards 1^^ Venomous snakes 188 Non-venomous snakes ......•• 189 Frogs and toads, &c 190 Birds— By J. Gammie : — Species of birds to be found in Sikhim 191 Wood-peekers 191 Long-tailed honey-suckers 192 Fly-catchers 193 Bulbuls 194 Common swallow ......... 195 Raven, jimgle crow, &c • 195 Birds of prey ■ . . 196 Pigeons and doves 196 Game-birds 197 List of Sikhim Birds and Notes thereon — By L. A. Waddell, M.B. : — Want of local lists 198 Avifauna well collected but requiring further notes . • . 198 Author's collection 199 The richness of the avifauna 199 The climate 199 Geographical position . 199 Physical aspects 199 River system . 200 Variety of climate 200 Climatic zones . 200 The zoological position of Sikhim ...... 201 Some explanation about the lists 202 Vernacular names 202 Rarity or otherwise of the species 202 Inclusion of former records in the list 202 Range 202 VI CONTENTS. Collecting stations Some explanation about the notes Distribution list of the birds Notes on the above list Page. 202 203 204 221 Mammals — By J. Gammie: — Classification Monkeys Tigers, leopards, &o Indian mungoose ......... Jackal and wild dog Indian marten {Mustcla flavigiila) and yellow-bellied weasel {Putorius cathia) . The ozi-'hesx [Aklurus fulgens) , the brown-bear, and the black- bear . Mole (Talpa micrura) ........ Marmots and porcupine Squirrels ........... SJwn (Sikhim stag), scrow (samber stag) and other deers Lamaism in Sikhim — By L. A. Waddell, m.b.: — Chapter I. — Historic Sketch of the Lamaic Church in Sikhim. Lamaism the State religion of Sikhim Want of previously published detailed account Lamaism described as a priestcraft Sources of information .... Buddhism of purely Indian origin and growth Origin of Buddhism ..... Its spread in India and outside of it . Its late extension to Tibet .... The great schisms The southern school ..... The northern school Its leader Its nature Addition of mythology .... Mysticism Tantricism Its numerous deities, female energies . 235 235 235 236 236 236 237 238 238 238 238 241 241 241 241 242 242 242 242 243 243 243 243 243 243 243 243 244 CONTENTS. vu deity Thi Growth of image worship by Buddhists State of Indian Buddhism at time of introduction to Tibet Acceptance of the doctrine of the Kalachakra or supreme without beginning or end by the Lamas . The founder of Lamaism .... Origin of Lamaism a century later than the time of King SrongDe-tsan740— 786A.D Story of the visit to Tibet of its foimder, guru Eimpochbe His route to Tibet and doings en route "Lamaism" defined Lamaic sects (the Kah-dam-pa, Ge-luk-pa, Nying-ma-pa, Kargyn pa with its sub-sects, Kar-ma-pa, Di-kimg-pa, Talung-pa, Dukpa, and Sajjya-pa with its sub-sects, Ngor-pa, Jonang-po, Tarnath, Nying-ma-pa) ...... Introduction of Lamaism into Sikhim Legendary account of the giu'u's visit to Sikhim Lhatsiin CUiembo first introduced Lamaism to Sikhim Discovery of the holy sites of Sikhim by him His titles . . His early history ....... His miraculous reconnaissance and entry . His meeting with two other Lamas .... Their appointment, and coronation of a king of Sikhim Appearance of Lhatsiin ...... His incarnation ....... Religions ousted by Lamaism, its peculiarities and its sects Description of the Nyingma-pa and its sub-sects Specialities of Nyingma-pa The worship of guru Eimbochhe The guru's eight forms .... Head monasteries of the Nyingma-pa sect Peculiarities of the Karmapa sub-soct Establishment of their first monastery in Sikhim Their temples Chapter II. — General Description of Sikhim Monasteries. Monasteries of three kinds ....... The four great caves of Sikhim The gompa or monastery proper . ... Page. 244 244 244 244 244 244 244 245 245 248 248 248 248 248 248 248 249 249 249 250 250 250 251 251 251 252 252 252 252 253 253 253 / VUl CONTENTS. Its isolation .... Conditions necessary for its site . General plan of the buildings . Its surroundings The chhortens (receptacle for offering! The great Tasliiding chliorten . Mendongs .... build mgs monks ' monasteries for of pure Tibetan Pmdakshina mode of passing religious Lama's tlirone .... Eansomed animals . Proximity of munta (Ekusine corocana) fields to the brewing of beer List of monasteries . The older monasteries Pemiongchi and its ta smuj or "pure race ..... Monasteries according to sect Lepcha monasteries . Nuns admitted to a few monasteries The names of the monasteries . Proportion of Lamas to Buddhist population C/iapttr III. — The Temple and its Contents. The temple Its names ......... Its exterior ........ Its entrance Vestibule figures The guardian kings of the quarters .... Prayer-barrels The door of temple Its interior ........ Central triad of images Other images ........ Material of images Frescoes and framed paintings Plan of interior Seats of officers • • Decorations Page. 253 254 254 254 255 256 256 256 256 257 257 257 258 258 258 258 259 259 259 259 259 260 260 260 261 261 262 262 262 263 264 264 264 265 265 CONTENTS. IX Side-chapels Upper flat ..... Description of the pictorial wheel of life The altar Its tiers ...... Its accessories ..... The offerings Food offering ..... Candles ...... The essential offerings Order of offerings .... Accompanying worship Special banquet to the host of gods and demons When given ..... Its arrangement . . ; . Other articles on altar The Lama's table .... Lamaic rosaries, their origin and uses Description of the rosary and its appendages, its number of beads 1 08 The head beads .... The coimters Use of counters .... Material of beads .... Yellow rosary . . ■ . . White rosary ..... Crystal, sandal-wood, coral, human skull, nan-ga pani, snake spines, and lay rosaries Mode of telling the beads . Mystic formulas for the beads . Origin of the formula " Om mani " . List of the masks .... Dress of masquers .... Lamaic library .... Kan-gyur (the translated commandments) Tengyur (translated doctrinal commentaries) Divisions of Kah-gyur .... "Bum," "Nyi-thi," " Gye-tong-ba," Dorje Pedma kah-thang, " Namthars," Lepcha cellaneous books ..... vernacular ilephant-stone, rak-sh name chijpa, D6-mang, Scriptures and mis- Page. 265 265 266 274 274 274 275 275 275 275 275 276 276 277 277 279 281 282 282 283 283 284 284 284 285 285 287 287 289 290 291 291 291 291 291 292 CONTENTS. Chapter IV — Monhhood. The ciUTiculum Popularity of the Church, one son in a family to become a lama, course of training Preliminary examination — Physical, age, parentage, physical examination and tutor ........ Probation — Position of probationer, tuition and list of text-books, some precious maxims on speech, purposes of human gather- ings, eight acts of low-born persons, the ten faults, three im- proper acts, and test of results ...... The noviciate — its general character, appraising of descent, pre- liminary presents, &e., formal acceptance of candidate, ton- suring, baptism, &c., introduction to assembly as a bride, con- firmation of noviciate, his life as a novice, first professional examination, text-books for first examination, penalties of failure to pass the text-books for second examination, ordi- nary practice ......... The monkhood, position and privileges of a junior monk, his fiu-ther academic instruction, his sacerdotal functions, penalty for violation of celibacy Lamaic grades and discipline Lower offices Higher offices . . • Commissariat officer and provost marshal TJm-dse, Dorje Lo-p6n and the Bishop Monastic Eoutine as a Village Priest: — Night devotion, meditative postures, expulsion of the three original sins, mummery, ritual, repetition of mantras, fm-ther devotion, offerings at dawn, morning's occupation and even- ing service . . . . • In monastic residence, monastery routine, morning muster for mass, service of tea, grace before drinking, service of soup, celebration of mass, the refuge formula and other services In hermitage, the meditation of hermits, temporary hermitage and its exercises .... The worship of Diilma, the deliveress Her popularity .... Semblance to the Virgin Mary . Origin of her worship Her forms Page. 294 294 294 296 297 301 302 302 303 303 304 304 306 312 313 313 314 314 314 CONTENTS. XI 'ing of the The white fonn The green form Her manual of worship Translation of the manual Chapter V—Some Magic Rites and Charms Description of the " mandala" or magic circle, oSer universe .... The daily offering of the universe The universe according to the Lamas Its general description Its dimensions and the continents Mount Ei-rab (Meru) and its compartments with the heavens above .■•■•• The eight matris . . . • The seven precious things of an Emperor The Mode of Offering the Mandala : — The ceremony of making the mandala and the mental part of the process ..•■••• The daily service of presentation of offerings The eight essential offerings .... The offering of the five sensuous excellent things Ditto of the seven precious things . Ditto, of the eight glorious symbols Divination by Lots : — Lucky and unlucky days and times, omens, divination by cards, by the rosary Manipulation of rosary Results . . ■ • Ordinary mode of divination by seeds or pebbles twenty-one, and twenty-eight Dice used in divination Ordinary ivory dice . Wooden dice . The gamble of re-birth The grand coup The Lamaic Zadkiel . in fifteen Page, 314 314 315 315 320 320 320 320 321 322 323 323 324 326 326 327 328 329 330 331 331 332 334 334 335 336 337 337 Xll CONTENTS. Talismans and Amulet Chaems : — Talismans as curative medicine Amiilets ..... General form of charm Charm against ■wounds Other charms .... Garuda charm against plague and other diseases Scorpion charm against injury by demons Charm against dog-bite . . Chai-m against eagles and birds of prey Charm for killing one's enemy . Other contrivances for the destruction of the enemy The Prayeii Flags — The luck flags and their origin Different Forms of the Luck Flag : — The Lung-ta, the Chopen, the Gyal-tsen or "victorious banner," and the vast luck flag ........ Worship for the planting of luck flags Chapter VI. — Desnonolafry, Personal demons, five in number, and designated the male ancestral god, the mother god, the life god, the birth-place god, and the "d4-lha" or enemy god Worship according to season Country gods, the "Black Father Devil" The moimtain god Kang-chhen-dso-nga Local gods ..... The owner demons of ridges and passes Soothsaying and necromancy The Lamas and devil worship . The Lamas, the prescribers of the devil worship The prescriptions based on Chinese astrology Nomenclature of the Chinese system of chronolO; The conflict of the animals Relationships of the elements . General nature of the horoscope The astrologer's board The calculations Page. 338 338 338 340 340 342 343 343 343 344 346 347 348 850 353 354 355 355 356 356 356 357 357 357 357 358 359 360 3G1 361 CONTENTS. XIU Symbols of degrees of relationship Prescriptions for worsliip on account of one year's ill-luck — an annual horoscope The enormous amount of Lamaic worship prescribed on account of current year's demoniacal influences The house demon His movements Ditto according to old fashion His prohibitions inflicted . Earth demons and their worshixD Sky demons and their worship The Means of preventing the Injuries of the Eight Classes of Demons : — Offerings and prayers . . Exorcising the disease producing demons — the " She " The Directions for this Exorcism The offerings and efBgies . The exorcism . Death ceremonies The extraction of the soul Death horoscope Ditto of a girl . Location of corpse, invitation and entertainment of friends, feast' ing the deceased . The Litanies for the " Western Paradise," for "the Valley of the Shadow of Death, " and for extraction from heU Removal of corpse and the funeral procession Ceremony of the exorcising of the demon .... A description of the ceremony Offerings of food and drink in connection with the ceremony Enchanted weapon for the conflict ..... Beginning of the act of exorcism Ejection of the effigy of the death demon .... Subsequent ceremonies The Lay figui'e of the deceased and its rites, effigy of deceased the face-paper ....... Duration of the service of the eight highest buddhas of medicine and the service of the Western Paradise Page. 361 362 368 369 369 370 370 371 373 374 375 375 376 379 379 379 380 381 382 383 383 384 385 385 385 386 386 387 388 XIV CONTENTS. Page. The Burning of the Face-paper called Ohang-ku : — The mode of divining the signs of the flames during the burn- ing of the chang-paper ....... 389 Collection of the ashes of the burned paper to form miniature ehaityas, and the dismantling of the effigy of the dead person . 391 Liberty of the widow or widower to remaiTy after the lapse of one year from death ........ 391 How to exorcise ghosts . . . ... . . 391 LIST OF FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS. !N limber of plate. Description. Facing page. I. Genealogical Tree of Lamaic Sects 245 II. Diagram showing the affiliation of the sub-sects of Kar-Gyupa 246 III. Shatsiin Chhembo 249 IV. Diagrammatic Ground Plan of a Sikhim Temple ... 262 V. Guru Eimbochhe 262 VI. Kang-chhen-dso-nga 263 VI [. The Pictorial Wheel of Life ... 266 VIII. Key to Plate VII of The Wheel of Life 266 IX. Lamaic Eosaries 282 X. Chart of the Universe according to the Lamas 320 XL Diagram showing the composition of the Mandala 324 XII. Lotus dice-board 334 XIII. The General Charm Print entitled " The Assembly of Lama's hearts" 338 XIV. Garuda charm against plagues and other diseases 343 XV. Tamdin charm against disease, &c. 343 XVI. Scorpion. Charm against injury by demons 343 XVII. 1 Fig. 1. Charm against dog-bite Fig. 2. Charm against eagles and birds of prey ... 343 343 XVIII. The Pegasus. Horse of Luck. The Lung-Ta Flag 348 XIX. The Flag of Vast Luck 349 XX. The Tibetan House God 369 XXI. The effigy of the dead person ... ... ... ... ... 388 INTEODUCTION. On the northern border of the British district of Darjeeling, the main chain of the Himalayas throws out to the southward two enormous spurs — the Singilela and Chola ranges. These almost im- passable barriers enclose three sides of a gigantic amphitheatre, hewn, as it were, out of the Himalaya, and sloping down on its southern or open side towards the plains of India. I'he tracts of mountainous country thus shut in consist of a tangled series of interlacing ridges, rising range above range to the foot of the wall of high jDeaks and passes which marks the " abode of snow " and its offshoots. The steps of this amphitheatre make up the territory known ysica ea ures. ^^ Independent Sikhim (Sukhim or 'new house') ; the encircling wall of peaks and passes forms on the north and east the frontier of Tibet, while on the west and south-east it divides Sikhim and Darjeeling from Nepal, and the Dichu forms the boundary between Sikhim and Bhutan. Pursuing our simile a little further, we may add that the lower levels of the Sikhim amphitheatre, the valleys of the Tista and Balasan and Mahanadi rivers, are similar in character to, and virtually form part of, our frontier district of Darjeeling. The northern hills, on the other hand, whence the snow- fed torrents of the Lachen and Lachung struggle down through pre- cipitous valleys to unite in the broader but hardly less turbulent Tista, are moulded on a grander and more markedly Himalayan scale. Geographically speaking, these heights are of closer kin to the snow- clad giants which dominate them than to the lower elevations and tamer scenery of Sikhim Proper. With the latter, indeed, all inter- course is cut off during five months of the year, and during this time the people of the highlands dwell a^iart except for occasional visits from traders, who find their way over the Kaugralama pass in Tibet. Of the early history of Sikhim a few doubtful glimpses reach us through the thick mist of Lepcha tradition. The ar y is o y. Lepchas, or as they call themselves, the Rong-pa (ravine-folk), claim to be the autoch-thones of Sikhim Proper. Their physical characteristics stamp them as members of the Mongolian race, and certain peculiarities of language and religion render it probable that the tribe is a very ancient colony from Southern Tibet. They are above all things woodmen of the woods, knowing the ways of birds and beasts, and possessing an extensive zoological and botanical nomenclature of their own. Of late years, as the hills have been stripped of their timber by the European tea-planter and the pushing Nepalese agriculturist, while the Forest Department has set its face ii INTRODUCTION. against primitive methods of cultivation, the tribe is on the way to being pushed out. The cause of their decline is obscure. There is no lack of employment for them: labour is badly wanted and well paid; and the other races of the Darjeeling hills have flourished exceedingly since European enterprise and capital have made the cultivation of tea the leading industry of the district. The Lepchas alone seem to doubt whether life is worth living under the shadow of advancing civilisation, and there can, we fear, be little question that this interest- ing and attractive race will soon go the way of the forest which they believe to be their original home. The legendary account of the founding of the Sikhim Raj con- . . nects the establishment of settled government in The Sikhim Ea]. ^-^^^ country with the great ritualistic schism in the Tibetan Church. Tradition tells hovT three monks of the dukpa or red-hat sect, flying from the persecution set on foot by the reforming party in Tibet, met after many wanderings at the village of Yaksun, under Kinchinjunga. Here they sent for the ancestor of the Rajas of Sikhim, Pencho Namgay, an influential Tibetan then residing at Guntuk, and an alliance was formed, having for its object the conversion of the Lepchas to Buddhism, and the installation of Pencho Namgay as the Raja of the whole country. Both objects were attained. The easy-going Lepchas readily accepted the ex- ternals of Buddhism, monasteries and churches rose to preserve the memory of the missionary monks, and the descendants of the Tibetan settler are recognised to this day as the rightful rulers of Sikhim. The external policy of the petty princedom thus formed was deter- mined by the manner of its creation. In the East religion is still a power, and all things take their colouring from the faith of the ruler. The chief of a barbarous tribe, raised to power by the ingenuity of Tibetan monks, must needs, in default of stronger influences, ac- knowledge the religious and political predominance of the rulers of Tibet. As the craving for ritual revived, and the hostility between the rival sects showed signs of abating, the religious and political bonds linking Sikhim with Tibet began to be drawn tighter. Doubtful questions of discipline and procedure were referred to Lhassa for the decision of the Dalai Lama, and his mandate was virtually, if not statedly, admitted to be the final appellate authority for Sikhim Buddhists. Wliile this religious rapprochement was going on, the Rajas of Sikhim were brought within the attraction of a civilisation far higher than their own. Wool, silk, tea, all the comforts and ornaments of life, came to them from Tibet ; while intercourse with other countries was difiicult. Small wonder, then, that their con- tinual eflbrt was to show themselves to be thorough Tibetans; that the Tibetan language came into use at their court, and that their chief INTRODUCTION. m advisers were drawn from Tibetan monasteries. In course of time this connection grew to be closer, and the last three Rajas have married Tibetan wives, and have held landed property and owned herds of cattle in Tibet. Such marriages introduced a new and important factor into Sikhim politics. Women brought up in the dry keen air of Tibet could not stand the moist warmth of the Sikhim hills, drenched by the immoderate rainfall which prevails on the southern slopes of the Eastern Himalayas. Their influence, coupled with the Tibetan proclivities of their husbands, promoted by the Nepalese invasion of the country, induced the Rajas to transfer the head-quarters of their Government to the valley of Chumbi, one march to the Tibetan side of the Jelap pass. The prolonged residence of the chief in Tibetan territory had the worst effect on the internal administration of the State. Abuses of all kinds sprung up, while redress was hard to obtain. Lepcha interests were neglected, and Chumbi became the Hanover of Sikhim. Meanwhile a still greater Power was being compelled, in spite of itself, to enter the field of East Himalayan politics. Already for thirty years the bigoted and warlike Hindus of Nepal had been harrying their peaceful Buddhist neighbours with cattle-lifting and slave- taking incursions. Before the year 1814 they had conquered and annexed the Terai or lower hills, lying between the Mechi and Tista rivers, and now covered by the valuable tea-gardens of the Darjeeling Terai. But for our intervention they British intervention, ^vould probably have permanently turned the whole of Sikhim and the hills south and west of the Tista into a province of Nepal. Peace had to be kept on the frontier, and the Government of India was the only Power willing or able to keep it. At the close, therefore, of the Goorkha war in 1817 we restored the Terai to Sikliim, and took such guarantees as were possible against a renewal of hostilities on our border. By the treaty of Titalya we assumed the position of lords paramount of Sikhim, and our title to exercise a predominant influence in that State has remained undis- puted for seventy years, until recently challenged by the monastic party in Tibet. Following our traditional policy, we meddled as little as possible in the aff'airs of Sikhim, and no further negotiations took place until 1834, when certain Lepcha malcontents, who had sought refuge in Nepal, made a raid on the tract ceded in 1817. Under pressure from us the refugees returned to Nepal, and the opportunity was taken by the Government of India to procure from the liu^lm °^ ^*'^^^^' ^^i^ ^^ Sikhim the cession of the hill-station of ' Darjeeling and a small tract immediately surround- ing it. Fifteen years afterwards Dr. Campbell, the Superintendent of IV INTRODUCTION. Darjeeling, and Dr. (now Sir Joseph) Hooker, while travelling in Sikhim with the permission of the British Government and the Raja, were seized and imprisoned by the influential monopolist, Namguay, pojjularly known as the Pagla Diivdn, or "mad Prime Minister" of Siklum. This treachery was punished by the an- Annesahon of nexation of the entire Terai, and a large area of the middle hills bounded on the north by the Great Eungeet river. But Namguay, though ostensibly dismissed from dtfice, continued to exercise great influence through his wife, an illegitimate daughter of the Haja. Criminals were harboured in Sikhim, and British subjects were kidnapped from our own territory for the purposes of the slave-trade between Sikhim and Bhutan. Having exliausted all ordinary forms of protest, the Government of India found it necessary in 1860-61 to order the occupation of Sikhim by force under Colonel Gawler, accompanied by the Honourable Ashley Eden as Envoy and Special Commissioner. Our troops ad- vanced to the Tista, the Raja accepted the terms offered, and in March 1861 a treaty was concluded at Tumlong, the capital of Sikhim, which regulates our relations with the State up to the present day. Its chief provisions are the following: "Criminals, defaulters, I86i'^™ mediatised, ^j^. Q^her delinquents" are to be seized and given up on demand, and may be followed by our police. The ex-Diwan Namguay and all his blood relations are for ever banished from Sikhim, and excluded from the Raja's council at Chumbi. Trade monopolies, restrictions on the movements of travel- lers, and duties on goods passing between Sikhim and British territory, are abolished. Power is given to the British Government to make a road through Sikhim, and the Sikhim Government covenants to pro- tect the working parties, to maintain the road in repair, and to erect and maintain suitable rest-houses for travellers. The slave-trade is prohibited. Our suzerainty in questions of foreign policy is recog- nised, and Sikhim undertakes not to cede or lease any portion of its territory, or to permit the passage of troops, without our consent. Finally, the Raja " agrees to remove the seat of his Government from Tibet to Sikhim, and reside there for nine months in the year." No more complete recognition of our supreaiacy in matters of external policy, and of our right to prescribe certain essential conditions of internal administration, could well be demanded. Up to this time, and indeed for some years afterwards, Tibet appears to have taken no active interest in the internal politics of Sik- him. The leading Tibetans, whether lamas or laymen, were unwilling to be mixed up in any way with Sikhim aff'airs, and looked with suspicion and dislike on the residence of the Raja at Chumbi, as likely to lead to dangerous political complications. Sikhim, again, though INTRODUCTION. acknowledging the religious supremacy of the Dalai Lama, was as far as possible from posing as a vassal of her Eastern and Tibirr "^ ^'''^°' neighbour._ Notwithstanding the close matrimonial and proprietary connections between the reigning family and Tibet, the Raja had at no time put forward his relations with that country as a reason for failing to comply with the demands of our Government, nor had we in our dealings with him made allowance for any possible claims to suzerainty on the part of Tibet. No difficulty, therefore, was experienced in carrying out the terms of the treaty of 1861. Europeans travelling in Sikhim were cordially received by the lamas and people ; surveys were commenced without hindrance ; criminals were surrendered by the Sikhimese, or captured with their consent by the police of Darjeeling; freer intercourse with Darjeeling brought about the extinction of slavery; and many British subjects acquired landed property in Sikhim and held office under the Government of that country. The actions of the Raja himself showed a tendency to look to us rather than to Tibet for guidance and support. In 1873 he was permitted to visit Darjeeling, where he had an interview with Sir George Campbell. The results of this were that the allowance he received from us was increased from Rs. 9,000 to Rs. 12,000; and in the cold season of 1873-74 the Deputy Commissioner of Darjeeling was deputed to visit Sikhim and the Tibet frontier to enquire into the condition and prospects of trade with Tibet, and the advisability of making a road through Sikhim to the Tibetan frontier. In the course of this tour the Deputy Commissioner (Mr., afterwards Sir, John Ware Edgar, K.C.I.E., C.S.I.) visited all the passes of the Chola range, the eastern wing of the Sikhim amphitheatre, meeting the Raja and his chief officials and some officers of the Tibetan district of Phari. He discovered that the Tibetans were very jealous of our attempts to use the Sikhim Government and country in our efforts to open up trade with Tibet, and that the Chinese ampa, or Resident of Lhassa, had written to the Raja in the name of the Emperor of China, reminding him that he was bound to prevent the " Peliug Sahibs" (Europeans) from crossing the frontier of Tibet, and warning him that if he continued to make roads for the Sahibs through Sikhim, " it would not be well with him." In deference to this feeling, no attempt was made by the Deputy Commissioner to cross the Tibetan frontier; but the discussions on the subject left no doubt as to the fact that the frontier line was the water-parting of the Chola range, and it was assumed throughout as a matter of course that Tibet had no right of interference, direct or indirect, in the country to the west of the frontier. She desired, in fact, nothing more than that her ancient solitary reign should remain unmolested by the approach of the European trader. * « 2 vi INTRODUCTION. The following year witnessed a still more striking assertion of our supremacy. Tte sudden death of the Sikhim Raja gave the signal for the revival of an old intrigue to substitute a half-brother for the Raja's brother and heir, who was disfigured by a hare-lip. At this juncture the Deputy Commissioner of Darjeeling, acting in antici- pation of the orders of the Government of India, caused the brother, the present Raja, to be proclaimed, and thus finally made an end of the intrigue. Not a whisper was heard on the frontier of remonstrance against this vigourous piece of king-making, and Tibet acquiesced silently in an act which struck at the root of any claim on her part to exercise a paramount influence in the affairs of the Sikhim State. The march of subsequent events was altogether in Proclamation of ixme with our proclamation. In all our dealings ' ■ with the Raja there never was a question raised as to the claim of Tibet to control him, while his absolute dependence on our Government was throughout acknowledged by him and his people. Sir Richard Temple, while Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, made several excursions in Sikhim, and during his tenure of office a road was constructed through a portion of that country to the Tibetan frontier at the Jelap pass. In this work we received the active assis- tance of the Sikhim State, and met with no objections on the part of Tibet, though it was well known that the Government and people of that country looked on our proceedings with a certain amount of suspicion and uneasiness. "We may even go so far as to credit with some political foresight an old Tibetan, who said to the Deputy Commissioner while some blasting operations were in progress on the road — "Sahib, the sound of tliat powder is heard at Lhassa !" Seven years later, the question of promoting commercial inter- course with Tibet, which had dropped out of notice during the troubles in Afghanistan, was again pressed on the Government of Bengal in the general interests of British trade in the East. Mr. Colman Macaulay, Financial Secretary to that Government, was deputed to visit Sikhim and the Tibetan frontier in order to inquire into certain rumours of the stoppage of trade through Darjeeling by Tibetan officials; to ascertain whether a direct road could be opened through the Lachen valley between Darjeeling and the province of Tsang, celebrated for the quality of its wool ; and Mr. ^ ^Macaulaj's [f possible to communicate, through the Tibetan proposeu i» ission. ofilcials at the head of the Lachen valk\', a friendly message from the Government of India to the Minister at Tashe-lhunpo, the capital of Tsang. At Giagong in the north of Sikhim, Mr. Macaulay met the Jongpen or civil officer of the Tibetan district of Kamba, and collected much interesting information INTRODUCTION. Vll regarding the possibilities of trade between Tibet and India. In the following year, under instructions from the English Foreign OfHce, he visited Pekin, and obtained from the Chinese Government passports for a mixed political and scientific Mission to proceed to Lhassa for three or four months to confer with the Chinese Resident and the Lhassa Government on the free admission of native Indian traders to Tibet, and the removal of obstructions on the trade through Sikhim and Darjeeling, it being understood that no proposal for the general admission of Europeans would be brought forward. Early in 1886 the Mission was organised, and assembled at Dar- jeeling with a small escort of native troops for the protection of the treasure and presents which it carried. While it was waiting to start, negotiations commenced with China concerning the north-eastern frontier of Upper Burma, then recently annexed, and in deference to Chinese susceptibilities the Government of India consented to forego their intention of desj^atching a Mission to Lhassa. This forbearance, though highly appreciated by China, seems to have been misunder- stood by the monastic party in Tibet, whose desire to promote a policy of exclusion, and to maintain their own monopoly of trade with India, was connived at by the Chinese Resident. Arguing in true Asiatic fashion, the monks concluded that we broke Tibetans occupy ^p q^^ Mission because we were afraid of them. ^°^ ' ' They assumed a highly aggressive attitude, and sent a small body of 'ribetan militia to occupy Lingtu, a point about twelve miles to the Sikhim side of the frontier, on the top of a high peak crossed by our road to the Jelap, one of the passes of the Chola range. Here the invaders constructed, at an elevation of 12,617 feet above the sea, a stone fort blocking and commanding the road ; they warned oS one of our native engineers, and announced their inten- tion of stopping all trade by that route between Tibet and India. This open violation of territory under our protection was at first looked upon by us as a temporary outburst of Tibetan Chauvinism, which we could well afford to disregard. It was confidently expected that the mob of archers, slingers, and matchlockmen collected on a barren, windswept ridge at a height which even Tibetans find trying, would speedily fall away under stress of cold and starvation; and tlia,t the Chinese Government, moved partly by our diplomatic remonstrances, and partly by fear lest we should treat the Lingtu demonstration as a pretext for entering Tibet in force, would compel the Lhassa autho- rities to adjust their relations with Sikhim on a basis involving the recognition of our predominance in that State, Our expectations were signally disajipointed. Not only did the Tibetans hold their ground at Lingtu with characteristic Slongolian VIU INTRODUCTION. obstinacy, but their refusal to receive letters or to enter into negotiations with us soon be^jan to produce an alarming effect in Sikhira. When called upon to visit Darjeeling for the purpose of conferring with the Lieutenant-Governor concerning the affairs of his _^ Auitude of Sikiim gt^te, the Raja of Sikhim, after exhausting the standard Oriental excuses, replied in so many words that he and his people had in 1886 signed a treaty declaring that Sikhim was subject onhj to China and Tibet. He was therefore unable to come to Darjeeling without the express permission of the Tibetan Government. The history of this treaty is curious. It is alleged that in 1880 one of the Tibetan Secretaries of State, accom- panied, by a Chinese military officer, went to Paro, in Bhutan, for the purpose of settling some local distui'bance. On their return to Phari, in Tibet, an attempt, at that time unsuccessful, was made to extract a similar agreement from Sikhim. Six years later, when our influence in Sikhim had begun to wane, the subject was reopened, and a formal treaty was signed at Galing, in Tibet, bv the Raja, on behalf of the "people of Sikhim, priests and laymen." The treaty, which is couched in the form of a petition to the two Chinese Residents at Lhassa, set forth that some Europeans, after petitioning the great officers of China, liave, to the detriment of TheGalin Treat religion, got an order to enter Tibet for trade. a ing reay. " Pjom the time of Chogel Penchoo Namgua}' (the first Raja of Sikhim), all our Rajas and other subjects have obeyed the orders of China. . . . You have ordered us by strategy or force to stop the passage of the Rishi river between Sikhim and British territory; but we are small and the sarJcar (British Government) is great, and we may not succeed, and may then fall into the mouth of the tiger-lion. In such a crisis, if j'ou, as our old friends, can make some arrangements, even then in good and evil we will not leave the shelter of the feet of China and Tibet. . . . We all, kino- and subjects, priests and laymen, honestly promise to prevent persons from crossing the boundary." The ultimate aim of this singular document, in which we are referred to under the form of one of those composite animals familiar to students of Tibetan chronology, is illustrated and made clear by a very remarkable map found by a man of the Derbyshire Regiment in a house at Rinchingong, where a Tibetan General and Secretary of State were so nearly surprised by our troops that the tea they had been drink- ing was still hot in the cups when the house was entered. This map purports to show the tract of country extending from Phari to Darjeelino-. At the latter place, temples, houses, trees, and a locomotive puffing smoke at the railway station, are depicted with much display of accuracy. INTRODUCTION. IX In one respect it is even more realistic than the medieval maps to which it bears a general resemblance; for the apo 1 im. houses on either side of the Darjeeling spur are reversed in relation to each other, so that to bring them into their proper positions, the map, which is drawn on cloth, must be tilted up from below like the ridge of a tent. As a political manifesto, the map is of peculiar interest at the present time ; and one is disposed to wonder that our barbarous neighbours should have been so ready to adopt one of the characteristic weapons of modern diplomacy. The Lingtu fort, with its block-house and wall, stands out in conspicuous disregard of proportion and perspective ; while Tibetan territory (coloured yellow) is shown as extending to the Rishi river, about thirty miles in advance of the frontier hitherto recognised by all parties concerned. Although the borders of Tibet are to this extent enlarged, the assertion of her paramount authority over Sikhim is not indicated on the face of the map. So far at least as colouring goes, that State is not made out to be a part of Tibet. It is painted red, while the British district of Darjeeling is shown in a lighter shade of the same colour. Had this been all — had an aggressive Tibet and a Tibetanising Raja of Sikhim been the only elements of danger that we were called upon to face — we might perhaps safely have indulged our national proclivities, and with some loss of prestige in Eastern Asia, have permitted the tangle to unwind itself. The Raja's announcement of his change of allegiance might have been looked upon as a meaning- less flourish, to be punished by severe reproof and the stojDpage of his subsidy ; while the withdrawal of the Tibetans from Lingtu might ultimately have been brought about by the tardy action of China, which must sooner or later have called so unruly a vassal to order. But this door of escape from unwelcome action was absolutely closed by the state of feeling in Sikhim. We may repeat here what has already been indicated above, that from the commencement of our relations with Sikhim there have been two parties in that State — one which may be called the Lepcha or national party, consistently friendly to our Government, and a foreign or Tibetan party, steadily hostile. The family of the chiefs has generally been by way of siding with the latter, partly in consequence of their habit of marrying Tibetan women, and partly through their fondness for Chumbi. Of late years a further complication has been introduced by the settlement of colonies of Nepalese Sikhim. °^ ^^'"^' '° ^" P^^*^^ ^* Sikhim— a measure favoured by the Lepchas generally. These settlers look to us for protection in case of danger, and are naturally friendly to our Gov- ernment; but their presence is regarded with disfavour by many INTRODUCTION. influential lamas, who allege that they waste the forests, allow their cattle to trespass, and make themselves unpleasant neighbours in other ways. In truth, however, the unwarlike Sikhimese have a wholesome dread of the fighting races of Nepal, and fear lest the industrious Newars who have settled along their southern border should be merely the forerunners of an invading army of Goorkhas. So long as these three parties maintained what may be called their natural relations, there was no fear of our influence declining, and the internal affairs of the country could be trusted to adjust themselves with the minimum of interference on our part. But when we came to inquire how things actually stood, and to look below the surface of the Lingtu demonstration, we were forced in spite of ourselves to admit that within the last three or four years some remarkable changes had taken place in the political situation. Tibet, as has already been pointed out, liad assumed an attitude of unmistakable, though probably cautious, aggression ; while the leaders of the Sikhim people, and Nepalese settlers with influence and property in that country, had begun to ask themselves seriously whether it might not be necessary for their ultimate safety to cast in their lot with the Tibetan party. These men, although as anxious as ever to keep up their former relations, and fully as hostile to Tibetan encroachment, had begun to doubt our desire or our ability to assist them, and openly expressed their fear of being "drowned," as they worded it, if they ^^ersisted in trying to swim against the current now running in favour of Tibet, The head of the Nepalese party, himself a resident of Dai'jeeling, explained in the clearest language that he would do anything we told him to do if assured of our support and ultimate jDrotection ; but that failing this guarantee, he must make his peace with the Tibetan party as the only hope of saving his property in Sikhim from confiscation, and his relatives there from imprisonment or death. The fact that this line was taken by a representative of the Nepalese settlers in Sikhim was of itself the clearest indication of the extent to which our influence had been undermined. Things must have gone very far before these settlers — people almost bigoted in their Hinduism, with just enough Mongolian blood in their veins to make them hate the Mongols — could bring tliemselves to contemplate the possibility of coming to terms with tlieir ancient enemies. Things clearly had gone so far that unless we bestirred ourselves in a speedy and effective fashion, Sikhim would either become once for all a province of Tibet, or, if we were not prepared to acquiesce in that solution of the difficulty, would have to be regularly conquered by us with the people of the country either actively hostile, or, which is perhaps worse, sulkily and treacherously neutral. Some months before, repre- sentations had been made to China in the belief that her influence INTEODUCTION. XI would suffice to bring about a peaceful settlement. But it is a far cry from Pekin to Lhassa ; the wheels of State move slowly in China, and no effective action appears to have been taken. In default, therefore, of any means of introducing the Tibetans themselves to civilised methods of settling international disagreements, it was decided to send an ultimatum to the troops at Lingtu, w^arning them that if they did not abandon the post by the 14th of March they would be driven out by force of arms. Meanwhile, lest it should be supposed that even then we were not in earnest, the 32nd Pioneers, a very fine regiment of low-caste Sikhs, were sent forward to bridge the Rongli river, and His Excellency the Viceroy addressed a letter to the Dalai Lama, explaining the reasons which had induced him to take so decided a line of action. Now this letter to the Dalai Lama raises, and in some degree answers, the very questions which the average English politician, with one eye on the fortunes of our Indian empire and the other on the prejudices of jealous or wavering constituencies, will naturally be forward to ask. What was there really to fight for ? What is this Sikhim that it should become the Belgium of Asia? Why spend money and squander lives to maintain our influence in a petty sub- Himalayan princedom, merely because the chapter of accidents involved us in diplomatic relations with it seventy years ago? Are treaties so sacred in Europe that they must be deemed inviolable under the shadow of the Himalayas ? If Tibet wants to have Sikliim, why should we not jump at the chance of cutting ourselves loose from uncomfortable obligations, and leave our barbarian neighbours to settle their differences within their own borders in their own way ? The answer to these questions, pertinent enough from certain o It wards poi^^^s of view, involves the consideration of our the ^eIsi ^Himalayan general policy towards the East Himalayan States States. with which we come more or less into contact. Counting from the east, those States are— Tibet, Bhutan, Sikhim, and Nepal. In discussing our relations with them, the ground may be cleared by stating that under no circumstances now easily conceivable can we desire to annex any of the group. Concerning Tibet in parti- cular, we may add, without much fear of contradiction, that the Government of India, as such, wishes to have as Tibet. little to do Avith it as possible. It lies on the other side of a great wall, which we, as the rulers of India, have not the smallest ambition to climb over. But here supposed commercial iiiterests come in, and it is urged, on the strength of somewhat conjectural data, that Tibet offers a great market for certain articles of English manufacture. The Tibetans will take from us, we are told, xii INTRODUCTION. any quantity of broadcloth, piece-goods, cutlery, hardware, and other odds and ends which are not worth mentioning. They may also, if their peculiar fancies are consulted, buy up a good deal of the Indian tea which fails to command a remunerative jn-ice in other markets. In return they will send us wool of admirable staple but duljious clean- liness, musk, ponies, yaks' tails, borax ; and they may, if they can but get over their superstitious jjrejudices against mining, contribute to the solution of the currency problem by flooding the world with fresh supplies of gold. These possibilities, no less attractive than indefinite, have repeatedly been pressed upon the Government of India; and the purely commercial arguments proper to the question have been coloured by the halo of mystery wliicli surrounds the great inaccessible tableland of Eastern Asia. 'I'here lies the modern Brynhilde, asleep on her mountain-top ; men call on the Viceroy of India to play the part of Siegfried, and awaken her from the slumber of ages. The spirit of adventure and science makes common cause with the com- mercial spirit in urging the most prosaic of Governments, troubled rather for its finances than its soul, to open up one of the dark places of the earth, and to enable many Englishmen to go where few Eng- lishmen have been before. Doubtless this view of the matter is at first sight highly enticing. A gap in the botanical record needs to be filled; our maps of Tibet are still imperfect; and numerous ethnolo- gical problems crave solution. Til)et, once free to Eurojiean travellers, promises all these things, and many more, to the scientific world hungering for fresh facts to assimilate. But who can doubt that the Government of India is right in putting on the drag and ignoring the few enthusiasts who grumble at its inaction ? AViio will deny that it would be a piece of surj^assing tolly for us to alienate a possible ally in China by "forcing our way into Tibet in the interests of scientific curiosity, doubtfully backed by mercantile speculation ? To meddle with Tibet against her will is like touching the springs of some strange machine, or handling a freshly caught animal. There is no telling what effect such experiments may produce. To this moment we cannot say for certain what set on foot the feeling of aggressive hostility which led the Tibetans to invade territory under our protection. Its outward and visible signs were obvious enough, and appeared, so far as any one could tell, to be of comparatively recent origin. Since Sir Joseph Hooker led the way in his famous journey through Sikhim, a number of Europeans, officials and others, have visited the passes of the Chola range which the Tibetans claimed as their own territory. All were more or less inclined to enter the terra incognita spread out before them ; and all were stopped at the crest of the passes by a Tibetan guard, who displayed a placard inscribed witii Tibetan and Chinese characters, and intimated by siaiple but significant gestures INTRODUCTION. XUl that if the English persisted in crossing the frontier, the throats of its guardians would assuredly be cut. So clearly, indeed, was the defini- tion of the frontier understood by the Tibetans in 1849, that when Dr. Campbell was seized by the Sikhim people just below the Chola, the Tibetan guard, though remonstrating, could not interfere, because their jurisdiction ended at the crest of the pass. It may be added that the Tibetan Namguay, the "mad Minister" who was banished from Sikhim by the treaty of 1861, never ventured, at any rate in his jDubiic journeys, to cross the water-parting of the range, but invari- ably stopped on the Tibetan side. Within a few years all this was changed. In theory, at least, the placards were advanced to the Rishi, and nice scruples as to the exact location of the frontier gave place to a daring attempt to remove a peaceful neighbour's landmark. One asks, almost in vain, what spell thus transformed the scene ? Did some strange wave of religious fanaticism sweep over Tibet, overwhelming on one side the Roman Catholic Missions of Bathang, and on the other stirring the monks of Gryantsi and Tashe- Ihunpo to organise an attack on Sikhim ? The pointed reference to religion in the Galing treaty reads as if something of the sort had been in the air; and indications are not wanting of a tendency to resist Chinese interference, and to struggle against the policy which seeks to make Lhassa a Chinese Avignon, and to utilise the spiritual autho- rity of the Dalai Lama as a check on possible Tartar outbreaks in Central Asia. On the other hand, the missionaries themselves, who might be expected to be the first to recognise a religious revival, do not appear to have observed any such movement. They affirm, with admirable frankness, that it was the Tibet Mission of 1886, or possibly the abandonment of the Mission, that troubled the pulitical waters, and encouraged the monastic party in Tibet to persecute the rival Cliurch in Bathang, and to interfere in the affairs of Sikhim. No doubt Monseigneur Biel at Ta-tsien-lu and Father Desgodins at Pedong are entitled to speak with much authority as to the political springs of action in Tibet; but one is inclined to question whether things Tibetan move so quickly as their theory would require. A cycle of Cathay, whether better or worse than twenty years of Europe, is certainly less fruitful of results ; and it may be doubted whether any cause that only began to operate in 1886 could possibly, in the region of Tibetan politics, have produced a tangible effect by 1887. It seems, indeed, more probable that we must look fui'ther back for the real cause of the present difficulties: that the making of the Jelap road roused a feeling of suspicion which went on quietly spreading, and needed only some slight stimulus from our side to translate itself into action. Such a stimulus may have been given by the Tibet Mission, or by exaggerated rumours of the strength of the Xiv IKTRODUCTION. escort provided for it. Conjectures of this sort are, however, mostly vanity, and they are only mentioned here in order to show how little we know of what goes on in these regions of mystery, and to indicate the possible dangers of adopting a forward policy with the object of promoting freer commercial intercourse with British India. Such intercourse may, we believe, be trusted to grow up of itself in no very distant future. The Tibetan, whether monk or layman, has all the instincts of a born trader, and sooner or later he is bound to realise in what direction his advantage may be found. We, on the other hand, can well afford to wait an opportunity, and need not risk the substan- tial gain of our entente cordiale with China by clutching too eagerly at the problematic chances of Tibetan markets. With regard to Bhutan w^e are in some respects more fortunately situated. No one wishes to explore that tangle of jungle-clad and fever-stricken hills, infested with leeches and the pipsa fly, and offering no compensating advantages to the most enterprising pioneer. Adventure looks beyond Bhutan ; science passes it by as a region not sufficiently characteristic to merit special exploration. Our policy towards the Bhutanese, therefore, is determined solely by considera- tions of geographical position and diplomatic expediency, and has not to take account of pressure applied in the supposed interests of commerce or science. In point of fact, only one source of jDOssible comjilications has to be borne in mind. Bhutan, as ^ *°' is generally known, is afflicted with a curious dual system of government, under which the Dharm Raja, or spiritual chief, is supplied by a series of incarnations which occur in the families of the chief officers of the State ; while the temporal ruler, or Deb Raja, is supposed to be elected by the council of permanent ministers called the Lenchen. In practice, however, the Deb is nomi- nated by whichever of the two governors of East and West Bhutan happens at the time to be the more powerful. The equilibrium thus arrived at is eminently unstable ; rival parties are constantly strug- gling for power, and the work of government is lost in a whiid of intrigues and counterintrigues. This concerns us little, so long as the turmoil does not boil over into our territory. But the ruling classes of the State are still sore at the loss of the Duars, or " gates" of Bhutan, a level strip of country running along the foot of the hills, which we annexed at the close of the Bhutan war in 1805. Excellent tea land is found in the Duars, which now form part of the Jalpaiguri district, and a fringe of tea-gardens, giving occupation to a large number of European planters, extends along a portion of the Bhutan frontier. Many of these are within easy reach of a raid from the hills, and any circumstance which for a time over-clouded om- influence in this part of the country might create a risk of a massacre of our planters or INTRODUCTION. XV their coolies in the Duars, or force us to make an expedition into Bhutan to avert such a calamity. Turning now to the western member of the East Himalayan group of States, we are struck by a remarkable contrast. Whatever else it may be, the Hindu kingdom of Nepal is certainly not a ■weak Government. Its methods are not exactly our methods, and its ways with political dissenters are exceedingly short. Nevertheless its officers hold regular trials, record evidence, and *^^' administer a rough sort of justice, which seems to be on the road to discarding barbarous punishments in the case of offences which are not of a political character. Nepal at any rate is civilised enough for us to have concluded with it an extradition treaty, which on the whole works fairly well ; while in matters of revenue administration it is centuries ahead of Sikhim and Bhutan. Many of the leading men of the country have been educated in our schools; they take a just and intelligent view of Indian politics, and at the present day they are in no way inclined to tmderrate the length of the British arm. From the beginning of the Sikhim difficulty the Katmandu darhar has shown every disposition to make itself service- able to us by communicating information and by warning us of certain manoeuvres, such as poisoning springs, making attacks by night, and constructing booby traps, which are supposed to characterise the art of war as practised in Tibet. It has behaved, in short, in a manner befitting the governing body of a strong State, occupying country which we have no wish to annex, and recognising that its interests are in the main identical with ours. As a buffer between ourselves and the barbarous country beyond, Nepal leaves little to be desired. The peculiar position of Sikhim renders it impossible for us to ignore it as we ignore Bhutan, or to treat it on terms of comparative equality as we treat Nepal. Sikhim cannot stand by itself, and if we withdrew our support, it must ultimately fall either to Tibet or to Nepal. But for our treaty obliga- tions the latter consummation would hardly be one to be deej^ly regretted, but it is difficult to see how it could be brought about peace- ably. The Tibetan party would certainly try to hold the country for themselves ; and although the stronger races of Nepal would probably win in the long run, the period of transition would be one of intoler- able anarchy. Once let our hold be relaxed, and Sikhim would become the Alsatia of the Eastern Himalayas, and such a state of things would react most formidably on the security of life and pro- perty in the great European settlement of Darjeeling. Every rood of land in that district that is not expressly reserved by Government for the cultivation of food-crops has already been taken up for tea, and a very large capital has been sunk in its cultivation, which gives XVI INTRODUCTION. employment to an enormous number of natives, mostly immigrants from Nepal. On all sides the hills are dotted with Europeans' bunga- lows; tea-gardens cover the slopes which face towards Sikhim ; and the summer residence of the head of the Bengal Government is to all appearance within a stone's-throw of the stream which forms the boundary of British territory. The station of Darjeeling itself is no doubt adequately protected by the European troops stationed at the cantonment of Jellapahar ; but a large number of outlying tea-gardens are absolutely at the mercy of possible raiders from Sikhim. Nor is it only the planters and their native labourers that have to be considered. Many of our subjects, Tibetans settled in Darjeeling, Lepchas, and Nepalese, have large transactions and interests in Sikhim, about which disputes constantly arise. For the last twenty-five years our relations with the Sikhim Government have been so close, and our hold over it so strong, that the Deputy Commissioner of Darjeeling has, as a rule, found little difficulty in settling such dis^Dutes when referred to him. Processes, both civil and criminal, issued by the Darjeeling courts, are virtually current in Sikhim, and the ]Jarjeeling police have free access to the country. Sikhim, in fact, has been treated substantially as part of British India, subjected for political reasons to the nominal rule of a princelet of the Merovingian type. An instance of recent date will serve to illustrate what is meant. In July 1888 a murderous outbreak occurred in the Darjeeling jail; a warder was killed, and eight convicts escaped. Some fled to Nepal, others were believed to have taken refuge in Sikhim. In the case of Nepal no hot jiursuit was possible ; the frontier was close, and we could not follow our criminals over it. The utmost that could be done was to demand extradition through the Resident at Katmandu, sending a formal record of the evidence against the offenders, with proof of the nationality of eacli. In the case of Sikhim no such for- malities were necessary. The Deputy Commissioner sent off a party of armed police with orders to arrest the runaways, wherever found, and bring them back at once. Now, if Sikhim were allowed to become a part of Tibet, cases of this kind would give rise to inconvenient nego- tiations, and might even become a cause of friction between our representative at Pekiu and the Chinese Government. It must further be remembered that a Tibetan Sikhim would lack the stability, the common sense, and the capacity for gradual advance towards civilisa- tion, which characterise the Nepal Government. An extradition treaty would hardly be workable, and every absconding criminal would become the subject of an irritating diplomatic wrangle. Enough has perhaps been said to show that the obligation of driving the Tibetans out of Sikhim was imposed on us by the essential conditions of our policy towards the East Himalayan States ; that INTRODUCTION. svii this policy is a just and reasonable one ; and tliat it involves the assumption on our part of no more authority than is necessary if -we are to keep the peace in this particular corner of the Indian emiiire. To maintain this policy by the cheapest and most effective means was the sole object of the military operations commenced in March 1888, and terminated by the engagement of the 2-l:th September of that year. For the better understanding of the principles on which this little war was conducted, a further glance at the conformation of the country will be needed. Lingtu, we have already explained, is a peak about twelve miles to the Sikhim side of the frontier, over the top of which our road runs to the Jelap pass. The sides of this peak are very precipitous, and the road could not have been taken alono- them except at great expense. A force holding Lingtu can therefore block the road, and can also command the steep downs below the Jelap, where Tibetan herdsmen pasture their sheep and cattle during the summer mouths. Both points jjrobably counted for somethino- with the Tibetans, who have a considerable, if not an excessive, sense of the value of position in warfare, and who seem also not to have overlooked the possible support which the habits of the herdsmen might give to the theory of a pastoral frontier extending to the Garnei. As a matter of fact, no such theory is at all tenable. The practice arises partly out of the necessities of the case — the pastures lie on both sides of the frontier, and cattle are bound to stray — and partly from the accident that a large part of the property owned in Tibet by the Rajas of Sikkim and their wives has consisted of cattle tended by Tibetan herdsmen, their servants. On the Singilela rano-e where it forms the border between Darjeeling and NejDal, Nepalese shepherds feed their flocks on either side of the frontier, paying grazino- fees to our Forest officers — just as the Tibetans pay rent to the Raja of Sikhim for the period spent by them on the Sikhim side. But no Nepalese official would be so inconsequent as to make this a reason for asserting that the whole of the grazing tract belonged to Nepal. At the beginning of hostilities, while our troops were beino- moved up from the plains, public opinion in India had hardly made up its mind to take the Lingtu garrison seriously. A turn for cheap swagger is a prominent trait in the Tibetan character, and it seemed not impossible that in invading Sikhim, the lamas were merely " trying it on," and would withdraw their rabble directly the advance of our troops showed that we were in earnest. In order to leave open the door to an early reconciliation, and to make it clear that our only object was to restore the status quo in Sikhim, and to secure that country and Bhutan from future aggressive interference on the part of Tibet, General Graham was directed not to pursue the enemy across the frontier, unless it was absolutely necessary to do so for Xviii INTRODnCTION, military reasons. These instructions were carefully observed. In the storming of the stockade at Jeyluk, a short distance below Lingtu, only thirty-two Tibetans were killed ; and no attempt was made to pursue the Lingtu garrison, who fled from their fort when Sir Benjamin Brom- head and some men of the Pioneers reached the gate. The methods of defence adopted at Jeyluk recall some of the incidents of medieval warfare. Walls and stockades had been built across the most preci- pitous part of the road ; the road itself was cut away so as to leave an impassable chasm ; rocks and tree-trunks were piled at favourable points, with levers to hurl them down on an ascending enemy ; and slings and arrows were freely, but vainly, used as our men advanced. The issue, one would think, might have shown that the weapons of Morgarten avail little against modern infantry. But the lesson was lost on the fanatical monks of the great monasteries around Lhassa. Their only answer to our pacific messages was to hasten up to the frontier all the troops they could collect, and to occujiy the Jelap and Pembirin"-o passes with a continually increasing force. Meanwhile we had fortified the more sheltered and defensible position of Gna- tong, about eight miles to the sovith of the Jelap, a-nd lay waiting there for events to develop themselves. The whole of April and the early part of May were spent by the Tibetans in massing their troops on their own side of the passes. On the 22nd May, encouraged by ^^ , a promise of victory from the " shaking oracle"^ at Tibetans attack t.,^. , ,, l1 ^ A n i. • £ Gnatong, 22iicl May Naichang, they attacked unatong in force, were 1888. °' repulsed with heavy loss, and retired over the Jelap. In order to avoid needless slaughter, our men were not encouraged to follow the flying enemy farther than was necessary to completely break up the attack and convince the Tibetans that they had been really defeated. This conviction, however, came slowly to those who had taken no part in the fight. Strange rumours of the prowess of "the Lama army" that was gathering at Lhassa found their way across the frontier; fresh troops were beaten up in all directions; terrible threats were conveyed to the leaders of the force on the frontier; and everything went to show that the counsels of the monastic party were still for open war. It is hardly surprising that this should have been so. The new avtpa, despatched by China with instructions to bring about a peaceful settlement, had not yet arrived, and the lamas lacked the sagacity to perceive that we were only holding back in order to give him time to make his influence felt. To their eyes we appeared to forego without purpose our own advantage, and they ' TUs may refer to the use of an arrow as a sort of divining rod, described by Schlagintweit, " Buddhism in Tibet," or possibly to divination by the shivering of an animal, for which there are classical parallels. INTRODUCTION. xix drew from this the conclusions which most Asiatics would draw under similar circumstances. Nevertheless, though the lamas knew it not, their ohstinacy, wasting itself on our defensive tactics, was daily bringing us nearer to the real object of the campaign. At relatively small cost to our- selves, we were wearing out the resources of Tibet, and leading her onto strike the blow which should be our oijportunity. The prisoners taken at Gnatong confirmed the reports received from our officers in Almora and Ladakh, that forced levies had been beaten up from the most distant provinces, and were fed and kept together with the utmost difficulty. The Tibetan commissariat is indeed somewhat less elaborate than our own. Forty pounds of barley-flour, half a brick of tea, half a pound of salt, half a small sheep's bladder of butter, aad 3|f?. to buy meat, are said to represent a month's rations for a fighting man ; and it may be surmised that he gets little or no pay beyond this. But the simplest supplies are hard to obtain in a barren region intersected by mountain-ranges, and wanting in all effective means of carriage; while a militia snatched on the spur of the moment from pastoral and agricultural pursuits is proverbially unsuited for prolonged hostilities. As soon, then, as it was clear that Tibetan patience was coming to an end, and that our forbearance was still mistaken for timidity, fresh troops were ordered up and preparations made for bringing the campaign to a close directly the rains were over. By the middle of August, General Graham had under his command at Gnatong a wing of the Derbyshire, the 32nd Pioneers (Sikhs), one of the newly raised Goorkha regiments, and six mountain guns — in all, nearly 2,000 men. After a month of waiting for fine weatiaer, the conclusive engagement was brought on by the action of the Tibetans themselves. Two ridges, the Tukola and the Nimla, intervene between our position at Gnatong and the Kaphu valley, into which, as has been mentioned above, the Jelap and Pembiringo passes open. On the night of the 23rd September our advanced i^ickets came in as usual, and reported Final defeat of Tib- ^^° uimsual activity on the part of the Tibetans, etans, 24tli September At daylight on the morning of the 24th, tho 1^^^- Gnatong garrison became aware that the enemy had advanced during the night four miles from their camp; had occupied the Tukola ridge, 13,550 feet above the sea, and 1,500 feet higher than Gnatong; and had built a stone wall two miles in length all along the crest of the ridge. Notwithstanding this marvellous piece of impromptu engineering, the weakness of their new position was apparent at a glance. The whole of their large force, numbering more than 11,000 men, was distributed in line along the wall; no attempt had been made to take advantage of the ground or to XX INTRODUCTION. concentrate troops at points of importance ; while the entire position was enfiladed by the Tukola peak, on which their right flank rested. Once in possession of this peak, less than a mile and-a-half from Gnatong, we could roll up the enemy's line at leisure, and the con- formation of the ground was such that a force retiring towards the Jelap must need suffer terribly during its retreat. This fact deter- mined the scheme of our attack. Approaching the Tukola peak by a route which covered them from the fire of its defenders, the Goorkhas carried the position by a rush, and their attack, combined with the parallel advance of the Pioneers, swept the Tibetans from the ridge. In their flight down that fatal hill, and the ascent of the Nimla ridge which lay between them and the Jelap, the ill-armed, undrilled militia whom the monks had sent forth as the army of Tibet lost nearly a tenth of their number in killed and wounded. On our side, Colonel Sir Benjamin Bromhead, commanding the 32nd Pioneers, was severely wounded in the attempt to take prisoners two Tibetans, whom he believed to have surrendered ; one of the Goorkhas was severely and two Pioneers slightly wounded. No effort was made by the Tibetans to rally their broken troops or to keep up a running fight; the rout was complete. We bivouacked that night in the enemy's camp on the Jelap, and no resistance was offered to our advance ujjou Kinchagong nest day. Straggling parties of the enemy were seen emerging from the Tibetan side of the Pembii'ingo pass, but they broke off into Bhutan as soon as they realised that we were about to enter Rinchagong, and the village was empty when our troops reached it. The march to Chumbi through the beautiful valley of the Mochu was a mere promenade, and our troops returned to Gnatong without seeing any more of the enemy. There seems to be reason to believe that this unavoidably severe lesson has been taken to heart by the Tibetans. The force which was dispersed at Gnatong had been drawn from all parts of the country, and the knowledge of our overwhelming military superiority must by this time be so widely diffused that even the ai-rogance of the lamas can no longer affect to ignore it. Indications, indeed, are not wanting that the Tibetan claim to suzerainty over Sikhim had already been practically abandoned, though the Tibetans tried hard to retrieve their defeat in the field by a diplomatic triumph of the Fabian type, and seem for a time to have had the supjjort of China in their ingenious efforts to tire out our representatives. The Anglo-Chinese convention of 1890 secures the formal acknowledgment of our rights which the Gnatong victory entitles us to demand. At the close of a costly and vexatious campaign, carried on at an elevation never before readied by regular troops, and involving transport difficulties of the most serious kind, it was INTRODUCTION. xxi clearly essential to have something in the nature of a final settlement to show for our trouble. But we can afford to be content with a distinct surrender of the indefinite claim to control the course of events in Sikhim wliich for the last three years has troubled the peace of our frontier and stopped all trade between Darjeeling and Tibet. Above all things, we have no call to irritate the Tibetans and possibly excite the jealous terri torial susceptibilities of China by introducing stipulations granting to European traders or travellers the coveted right of exploiting the commercial and scientific treasures of the interior of Tibet. Traders would assm-edly fall foul of the monopolies reserved to the monks of the great monasteries; while scientific research, however modest in its aims, could scarcely fail to come into collision with some form of reh- gious or social prejudice. Here surely is one of the cases where "the half is more than the whole." Be the treaty never so meagre, we anyhow remain in possession of the disputed tract, while the roads and bridges made during the campaign ensure us the command of the passes against Tibetan inroads. Our influence is predominant in Sikhim ; it has been vigorously asserted by the introduction of essen- tial reforms in the government of the State, and we need not fear that it will hereafter be permitted to decline. Most of all will our position be strengthened by the change which is insensibly but steadily taking place in the composition of the population of Sikhim. The Lepchas, as has been stated, are rapidly dying out; while from the west, the industrious Newars and Goorkhas of Nepal are pressing forward to clear and cultivate the large areas of unoccupied land on which the European tea-planters of Darjeeling have already cast longing eyes. The influx of The future of Sik- -tjjgge hereditary enemies of Tibet is our surest guarantee against a revival of Tibetan influence. Here also religion will play a leading part. In Sikhim, as in India, Hinduism will assuredly cast out Buddhism, and the praying-wheel of the Lama will give place to the sacrificial implements of the Brahman. The land will follow the creed; the Tibetan proprietors will gradually be disjDOssessed, and will betake themselves to the- oetty trade for which they have an undeniable aptitude. Thus race and religion, the prime movers of the Asiatic world, will settle the Sikhim difiiculty for us, in their own way. We have only to look on and see that the operation of these causes is not artificially hindered by the interference of Tibet or Nepal. The trade with Tibet which the Macaulay Mission was intended to develop may well be left for the jjresent to take its chance. Such scanty data as are available do not appear to warrant a very high estimate of its value. Whatever it may be worth, it is bound sooner XXU INTRODUCTION. or later to seek out the shortest and cheapest route. The troubles of the last three years have of course diverted it to Nepal, and some time may elapse before it finds its way back to its former channel. But the roads made while hostilities were imminent must ultimately attract traffic to the railway at Darjeeling, and in this indirect fashion we shall realise the only tangible and substantial benefit likely to be derived from closer intercourse between India and Tibet. H. H. RISLEY. SIKHIM. ITS GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION AND DESCRIPTION. The Native State, commonly called Sikhim, is situated in the Eastern Himalayan Mountains, and is bounded on the north and north-east by Tibet, on the south-east by Bhutan, on the south by the British district of Darjeeling, and on the west by Nepal: it lies between 27° 5' and 28° 10' N. Lat., and between 88° 4' and 88° 58' E. Long., and comprises an area of 2,818 square miles. The country may be briefly described as the catchment area of the head waters of the river Tista, and the boundary with Tibet is thus laid down in the Anglo-Chinese Convention of the 17th March 1890:— "The boundary of Sikhim and Tibet shall be the crest of the mountain range separating the waters flowing into the Sikhim Tista and its affluents from the waters flowing into the Tibetan Mochu and northwards into other rivers of Tibet. The line commences at Mount Gipmochi on the Bhutan frontier, and follows the above- mentioned water parting to the point where it meets Nipal territory." The continuation of the above range southward as far as the source of the Rummam stream forms the western boundary. The Rummam stream, until its junction with the Great Rungeet, and thence the latter river, separate Sikhim from British territory. The boundary with Bhutan is ill-defined, but appears to be the Richi-Pangola range up to the plateau south-east of Lingtu, thence a line north-east to the trigonometrical station near Gnatono- and thence a straight line to Gipmochi. The natural boundary should be the river Dichu. In the reigns of the earlier Sikhim Rajas their realms extended from the Arun river on the west to the Tegon La range on the east and thus included the Tambur and Mochu valleys. In a Sikhim paper, which recites various old works, it is thus described: — "This sacred country (hBres-mo-kShong, which lies to the south-west of Lhassa) is bounded on the north by the * Mon-Thangla ' mountain Note. — A uniform system of transliteration has not been followed throui^hout the Gazetter : the style adopted by each contributor has been reproduced. ANCIENT BOUNDARIES. which is guarded by the spirit ' Kiting.' On the east lies the ' ITas- hGons' mountain. Its southern gate is ' Nagsharbhati,' which is guarded by ' Ma-mGon-lCham-Bral-Yab-lDud.' Its western gate, 'ITimar mChhod-rTen,' is guarded by the terrible female spirit ' Mamos.' The 'mDsod-lNga' mountains and the spirit 'Phra-Man- dGe-Man ' of Zar guard it on the north." Dr. Oldfield, writing in 1858, makes the country subject to the Sikhim Rajas even more extensive: — "The hill SJcetchesfromNifal, country constituting the basin of the Kosi river is vol. 1, pp. 53-54. T-ii',i ° • Ti-ii ii A divided into two provinces or districts by the Aran river. The district lying on the right bank of the Arun, and extending between it and the Dud Kosi, is the country of the Kii-antis — a hill tribe of low-caste Hindus, who once possessed considerable power and territory in these eastern hills, but were speedily reduced to submis- sion by Prithi Narayan after his conquest of Nipal. The district lying on the eastern or left bank of the Arun, and extending from it to Sikhim,* is Limbuana or the country of the ^^*^i.e.. the Sikhim of Li^i^ug^ another tribe of low-caste Hindus. It formerly belonged to Sikhim, but was conquered and permanently annexed to Nipal by Prithi Narayan. Previous to the Gorkha conquest of the valley of Nipal, the territories of the Niwar Kings of Bhatgaon extended eastward to the Dud Kosi river, which formed the boundary between the country of the Niwars and the country of the Kirantis." The Hon'ble Mr. Ashley Eden in 1864 noticed that " Sikhim, though a very petty State then, was formerly afair- Pohhcal Mission to gj2ed country, reaching from the Arun river on the " "" "" west to the Taigon Pass on the east, from Tibet on the north to Kissengunge in Purneah on the south." In dealing with the reigns of the successive Sikhim Rajas it will be seen how, by degrees, Sikhim lost the bulk of its original territory. The range of mountains that practically bound Sikhim on three sides form a kind of horse-shoe, which constitutes the watershed of the Rungeet and the Tista : while dependent spurs project from this horse-shoe and serve as lateral barriers to the basins of the Rungeet and the Tista's greater affluents, the Lachung, Lachen, Zemu, Talung, Rongni, and Rungpo-Chu. These basins have a southward slope, being broad at the top, where they leave the watershed, and gradually contracting like a fan from its rim to the handle, which is the Tista valley near Pashok. On or near the outer range, commencing from the south-east, are the following peaks and passes: — Richila, 10,370. — The trijunction point of Darjeeling, Sikhim, and Bhutan. MOUNTAINS AND PASSES. Pangola, 9,000. — The road from Sikhim via Memo-chen to Assom- Dok in Bhutan crosses the ridge here. Lingtu, 12,6l7. — The erection of a fort by the Tibetans at this place in July 1886 led to the Sikhim expedition of 1888 ; the fort was cajDtured on the 21st March of that year and destroyed. Shalambi, 12,500. — A road to Bhutan starts from this place. Gnatong, 12,606.— The British fort here is about 12,300 feet above sea level : was attacked by the Tibetans in force on the 22nd May 1888. Gipmochi, 14,523. — The trijunction point of Sikhim, Bhutan, and Tibet. Merugla, 15,271. Pembiringo-la, 14,400. — More properly Pemaringong-la. — The pass that leads to the villages of Pema and Rinchiugong in the Mochu valley. Jendorhi, 15,516. Jelep-la, 14,390. — Meaning " the smooth beautiful pass," the most frequented of all the passes opening out into the Mochu valley near Chumbi. Chukurchi, 15,283. Nathula, 14,400. — Pass leading to Pema. Yak-la, 14,400. — Close to preceding. Cho-la, 14,550. — Leads more directly to Chumbi than any of the above, and was formerly the main route from Sikhim to Phari. Dopendikang, 17,325. Gna-ri, 17,570. Thanka-la, 16,000. — Leading out from the Lachung valley east- wards. Ghora-la, 17,000.— Ditto ditto ditto. Shu-Du-Tshenpa, 22,960. Kangchinphu, 23,190, improperly styled Powhunri in the map. — This latter name really belongs to a mountain near Dubdi monas- tery. Donkia-ri, 20,250. — Close to this peak is Donkia-la, 18,100. — A pass once supposed to lead direct into Tibet, but in fact only joining the upper tracts of the Lachung and Lachen valleys of Sikhim. Bhom-tsho, 18,000. — Leading from the Cholamoo-lake district into Tibet. Kongra-lamu, 16,000. — The direct pass from Sikhim towards Kambagong: the actual boundary pass, called Sebu-la, is a little further north. Chomiomo, 22,290. Nakula, 17,000. MOimTAINS AND PASSES. Choten Nyema, 19,000. — Formerly the direct route to the district of Ser-Tinki when that place belonged to Sikhim : now seldom used. Jonsong-la, 22,350. — Almost unused. Kanchinjingna, 28,156. Kabru, 24,015. Kangla-Nangma-la, 16,740. — Leading to Walloon-gola on the Nepalese-Tibetan frontier. Kangrangla, 14,770. Chiabhangan or Singali-la, 10,320. — The main pass on the chief route between Sikhim and Nepal. Go-cha, 12,130. — Usually, but improperly, called Singa-le-la, On the main ridge running south-east from Kanchinjingna and separating the Eungeet from the Talung Chu we meet with the Guicha-la, 16,500. Pandim, 22,020. Narsing, 19,150. On the ridge rimning due east and separating the Talung Chu from the Zemu are — Simolchu (D. 2j, 22,300. Yeumtsola, 15,800. Lama-anden or Tak-cham (D. 3), 19,210. Other notable mountains and jjasses are — Kangchinjhau, 22,550; Sibula, 17,590; Phalung, 16,150; Chango-Khang, 20,990; all on the range separating the Lachen-Lachung : Phieungong, 12,130, on the road to the Chola, and Jongri, 15,140, at the junction of the routes from the Guicha-la and Kangla-nangma-la. Moinam, 10,637, and Tendong, 8,675, are conspicuous in the landscape, as viewed from Darjeeling. There are no towns or even villages in Sikhim ; the nearest approach to the latter is to be found in tlie collection of houses near the Eaja's palaces at Tumlong and Gantok, round some of the larger monasteries, such as Pemiongchi, Tashiding, Phensung, and a few others at the copper mines of Pache near Dikkeling and the bazars at Rhenock, Pakhyong, the Rungeet and Rummam. Round each monastery will be found separate houses in which the monks reside, but these are so few that the term " village," if applied to them, would be a misnomer. In Sikhim there are some 36 monasteries, whose origin is detailed in subsequent chapters. HISTORY OF SIKHIM AND ITS RULEKS. HISTORY OF SIKHIM AND ITS RULEES. Before detailing the legendary history of the descent of the Sikhim Eajas, it may be as well to premise that the alleged Indian origin of the early Tibetan kings is without any real foundation, and is in itself a proof of the modern manufacture of their history, as it is merely an invention in common with the other Buddhist kings to affiliate themselves on to Sakya's stock. It will also be a mistake to take earlier accounts as history, as there is no real history of Tibet obtain- able from indigenous sources previous to Srong-tsan Gampo's time, i.e., the 7th century A.D. Insight into pre-historic Tibet is only obtainable from scattered accounts contained in Chinese records: while even at Srong-tsan's time, when the introduction of writing made records possible, history is so vague that the birth of that king himself may be any time between 600 and 627 A.D. The historical books credited to this epoch were probably written some centuries later. It is believed in Sikhim that the Eajas of Sikhim _came of Indian origin by descent through the first king of Tibet, Nah-Thi- Tsanpo. The appearance of this monarch in Tibet is usually supposed to have been as follows*: — The fifth son of KingPrasenajit of Kosala was born with obliquely drawnf eyes, with blue eyebrows, webbed fingers, and two rows of full developed, pearly white teeth. His parents, in alarm at such a prodigy, placed the infant in a copper vessel and set it afloat on the Ganges. A poor cultivator found the infant and brought him up as his own. On attaining man's estate the prince felt he had been born to a higher state than that of a cultivator, and in a spirit of restless ambition set out northwards over the Himalayas in quest of some great exploit. With difficulty he reached the lofty snowy mountains of Lha-ri near the modern town of Tse-thang in Tibet. Descending into the plains of Tsan-than he was met by many natives of the country, who, struck with the graceful looks of the stranger, asked him respectfully who he was and whence he came. Not knowing their language, the prince could only reply by signs that he was a prince, and pointing up to top of Lha-ri wished, them to under- stand that he had come from that direction. The Tibetans misunder- stood his meaning, and assumed he was a god descended from heaven, and accordingly entreated him to become their king. On his assent- ing, they placed him in a chair and carried him on their shoulders in triumph to Yumbu Lagan, near the site of the present town of Lhassa. From having been carried on a " chair" on men's "backs," the prince * For fuller details see S. C. Das's "Contributions on Tibet." J. A. S. B., No. 3, 1881. t Another version states that the infant winked with the lower eyelids. B 2 HISTORY OF SIKHIM AND ITS RULERS. obtained his name S^ah-Thi-Tsanpo, the chair-borne king ; i.e., f^Nah = back, Khri = chair, and pTsan-po = jjowerful one or king. There may be another interpretation of the word, as apphed to himself by the prince, viz., " the dead one," alluding to his having been rejected by his family, to whom he was now dead: the northern tribes frequently using the phrase " one borne on men's shoulder" to express euphemistically " one dead." There is also another tradition in Tibet that Sakya Singh's son, Dachen Zing, had two sons, the younger of whom married, but had no children; the elder became a priest. On his death-bed he pointed out that his spirit would go out into two eggs : these his minister, Chu- len Danwa Zangpo, hid in a sugarcane field. From these eggs sprang two boys: the elder became a priest, while the younger married and had three sons, of whom Sali-nim-mo went to Nepal, Palgyegel Zanpo to Kham, and the third Na-lag-chen {i.e., he of the webbed fingers) entered Tibet and became the progenitor of N'ah-Thi-Tsanpo above. The date of the birth of S'ah-Thi-Tsanpo is given as 416 B.C. The twenty-seventh king in direct descent was Lha-Tho-Tho-ri isan-Tsan,* born about 441 A.D.,t in whose eightieth year there fell from heaven on the top of the great palace of Yumbu Lagan a precious chest, which was found to contain — (1) Two books written with jewel water on gold leaves. (2) A golden miniature shrine set with jewels and enclosing. (3) A crystal gem and cup. At that time there were no letters or alphabet in Tibet, but the Tibe- tans, though not knowing these books were scriptures, treated them with the greatest faith and reverence ; while the king sitting in council was debating on the value and merit of the divine gift, a voice from heaven was heard saying that the books were scriptures, and that in the fifth generation the mystery of their contents would be revealed. The relics were thenceforth placed on a throne set with rubies and other jewels, lights were kept burning before them, and the people worshipped them under the appellation TembosangwaJ to the best of their ability. The third in descent from Lha-Tho-Tho-ri w^as the blind king, who recovered his sight while worshipping the sacred relics at his coronation. As the first object he saw was an Ovis amnion sheep on the hill Tag-ri, he received the sobriquet of Tag-ri-nyan-ssig, the beholder (ssig) of a sheep (Nyan) on Tag-ri. * other accounts sav that Lha-Tho-Tho-ri gNyan-bTsan is the same as fTah-Thi-Tsanpo, and that the name, whicli means " the god from the high mountams, has reference to the prince's pointing up to the mountain whence he had come. t Cs. 252 A.D, Cs. = Csoma de Koros. J San-wa Nyanpo. HISTORY OF SIKHIM AND ITS RULERS. His son was Nam-ri-Sron-tsan, who introduced the knowledge of arithmetic and medicine from China, and also discovered the great salt mines of Chyan-gi-tshva. His son Sron-tsan-Gampo was born A.D. 600-627.* \Jp to his time there was no written language in Tibet, but this monarch, seeing how- essential a written language was both for religious and moral good government, sent his minister, Sambhota, with sixteen companions to Kasi (Benares) to study carefully the Sanskrit language and the sacred literature of the Indian Buddhists. In particular they were instructed to devise a written language for Tibet by adopting the Sanskrit alpha- bet to the phonetic peculiarities of the Tibetan dialect. On their return they framed the present two-fold system of Tibetan characters, viz., the "U-chan" or headed or capital letters, and the "U-med" or headless or running hand; the former adopted from Devanagari, and the latter from the Wartu. Thus was introduced a coj^ious system of written language intoTibet. This same monarch married two princesses from China and Nepal, then two great centres of Buddhism, and thus great influence was brought to bear for the propagation of Buddhism: practically his two wives converted him to Buddhism : he also founded the city of Lhassa and made it his capital. His great-great-grandson was Thi-Sron-De-Tsan, the most illustri- ous king of Tibet, born about 730 A.D.t In his reign the Indian sage S'dnta Rakshita and Pandit Padma Sambhava from Udyayana came to Tibet and founded the great monastery of Samye. He left three sons, one of whom migrated eastwards and became Gyalpo:}: (or princelet) of Kham§-Miiiag-Andong, one of the eighteen quasi-Tibetan principalities that were seized by China about 1732. This place is situated to the west of Ta-tsien-loo, between Litang and Dirghe. Twenty-five generations later there was born a prince, who went with his five sons westwards on a pilgrimage to the Guru Chooi-wang at Lho-brag: owing to this visit he received his first ajDpellation Zhal- nga-Guru-Tashe. He next went to Lhassa, where Jo-vo-Rimpoche Sakya Mooni|| foretold to him that he should proceed south-west, where he would find a country Demo-shong. He accordingly went to Sakya. In this place the hierarch was then engaged in building the great * Cs. 627 A.D. t Cs. 728 A.D. J It is said that one of liis descendants summoned the Salcya Penchen Rimboohe hGromgon hPhags-pa to Kham Minag, and by his worship and intercession with Guru Tha- mar-Yese-Kan-bar obtained a miraculous seal, set on one side witli a ruby, engraved with a nine-horned scorpion. This mark of divine favour made him so famous that he became King of China and of Shci-ser as well as Kham. § Man Nya. See Kockbill's " The Land of the Lamas," pp. 218 and 345i where it is said this State was from 1864 to 1889 part of the Kingdom of Lhassa. II Image brought by the Chinese princess, wife of Sron-tsan-Gampo, HISTORY OF SIIiHIM AND ITS RULERS. hall of the hPhrul-pahi-Lha-khang monastery, which is supported by four immense wooden pillars,* besides 160 small ones: the building is seven stories high. These four pillars, that had defied the efforts of several thousand men to raise, Guru Tashe's eldest son succeeded in erecting in their proper positions. For this exploit his name was changed to Jo-khye-Bumsa.f In Sakya Khy(i-Bumsa married Guru- mo, the daughter of the hierarch. Shortly after the whole family removed to a place, north-west of Khambagong, called Pa-shi, where they built a monastery for -100 numks and left one of the brothers in charge : the others went on to Pliari, Avhei'e they built the Samdub Lhakang monastery : the father died here. Three of tlie brothers, Se-shing, Tsendong, and Kar-tshogs, migrated towards Hah in Bhu- tan, while Khyu-Bumsa proceeded first to Khang-bu Takloong, on the western branch of the Mochu, and then finally settled at Chumbi, where he built a house, the site alone of which now remains, to the north of the present palace. From the first three brothers are descended the Bep-Tshan-Gye families alluded to subsequently. It may here be mentioned that the worship of ancestors is in some families incumbent: the descendants of the three brothers continue the worship of their common ancestor, Guru-Tashe, and are known as the Tashe-pho-la (the worshippers of the ancestor Tashe), while Khy^- Bumsa's family, being separated from the main branch, fell back on the worship of Pa-shi, where their first temple was, and are now called Pa-shi-pho-la, Several stories are told of the miraculous strength of Khy^- Bumsa, and his victory over Ngag-wang-ge-pii-pul-bar, a rival Bhutanese hero, which resulted in the present worship of Mt. Massong by the inhabitants of Chumbi and Hah. The Phari people worship Chumulhari. Being childless, Khy^-Bumsa consulted his Lamas and was told to propitiate the heads of the Lepcha people. Accordingly, with a following of seventeen persons only, he crossed the Yak-la and Penlong and reached Sata-la near Rankpo: here he enquired who were the heads of the Lepchas, and was informed that they wei'e Thekong Tek and his wife, Nyekong-Nal, but where they dwelt he failed to ascer- tain. Proceeding towards Gantok, they came across a very old man quite black from tilling his recently burnt field, but could get nothing out of him. Suspecting he knew more than he chose to • These four pillars are called collectively " Kd-wa-ming-Ches-zhi ; " individually the first pillar, called KarpoH Zum-lags (white), came from Khongbu ; the second, Serpod- Zum-lags (yellow), from the Mochu valley ; the third, Marpo-Tagd Zag (red), from Nyanam (near Nepal) ; and the fourth, Nakpo-Khun-shes (black), from Ladak. t Jho-vo-Khyed-uBum-bSags, " the superior of 10,000 heroes." HISTORY OF SIKUIJI AND ITS RULERS, tell, the Tibetan i^arty hid themselves, and when the old man left off work, followed him secretly to a house which he entered. Obtain- ing at last an entrance, they found their old man clad in a robe adorned with animals' heads and seated in state on a da'is, worshipped by the other inmates, and thus discovered that he was the veritable Thekong Tek they were in search of. Khyd-Bumsa offered him many presents, and finally obtained a promise that he should become the father of three sons.* With this assurance he returned to Chumbi, where three sons were born to him. On making a second visit to Sikliim via the Chola, Thekong Tek met them at the cave of Pyak Tsd below Phieungong and did worship to them. When his boys were growing up, the father asked them what they wished to be. The eldest replied he should like to trade on the foibles of his fellow- men, the third said he should be content to get his living from the fruit of the soil, while the second declared that nothing less than the leadei'ship of men would satisfy his ambition. According to these answers Khyd-Bumsa called the fii'st 5Kya-bo-rab,t or the swindler; the third sou .^Lang-mo-rab, or the ploughman ; and the second Mi-tpon-rab, or the leader of men. Though their father remained and died at Chumbi, the three sons crossed the mountains and settled respectively at Living, Gantok, and Phodang Takse. At the same period some of their relatives from Hah arrived via Chumbi. Kya-bo-rab or his descendants did not long remain at Living, but kept changing their residence, moving always eastwards: whence they obtained the family name of "Yul-tenpa." the exiles. The descendants of "Lang-mo-rab" are known as the "Linzer- pa," while both of these, as well as the descendants of Mi-tpon-rab, are sometimes styled Pyak-Tsen-tarpa, from the place mentioned above. Mi-tpon-rab, who had married a lady of Sakya, had four sons: the eldest was named Zhan-po-tar becausej he was born at his maternal uncle's house ; the second Tshes-bchu-tar, because born on the 10th da)' of the month; the third Nyi-ma Gyaspa, the chief born on a Sunday; and the fourth Guru-tashe, the saintly one.§ From these four brothers the four chief families of ISikhim, known as the sTong-hDa Rus-bzi, trace their descent; these are Zhang-tar-pa, Tshcs-rGyud-tar- pa, Nyi-ma Gyaspa, and Guru-tashe-pa. Tshes-bchu-tar had five sons and a daughter ; the latter had a liaison with her father's orderly and bore a son. This disgrace so incensed the family of Kya-bo-rab that they murdered the guilty pair and cut off the ears of the child and * He also prophesied that Bumsa's descendants should become lords of Sikhim, while his own people should become their raiyats. t Rab means "to excel," "to surpass.'' J i.e., she returned to her family for her first confinement. § Because born while the Tashe-rubne worship was being celebrated. 10 HISTORY OF SIKHIM AND ITS KULERS. called him Nyor-spog-pa-Tslio-pa. This outrage led to a long series of internecine strife, more particularly between the sons of Kya-bo-rab and Mi-tpen-rab, and their descendants. Gyelpa Achoo, the son of the former, succeeded by treachery in slaying Guru-Tashe near Sonamse, but some nine years later was defeated by Gyelpa Apha, Tashe's son, and had to flee fromRongni, where Apha had settled, to Thunporung, near Dikkeling; but this place was too close to his enemies, and he was forced successively to retreat to Patheng Ding and then to Dumsong and Baling. Gyelpa Apha was still not content and wrote to Bhutan for assistance, whereupon the Bhutanese General "Ariðe" attacked Gyelpa Achoo and his son Tshadoon Raja and killed them both near Ambiokh. From the other brothers the Yul-tenpa trace their descent. At this date all the present subdivision of Kalimpong as far as the Tegonla range was known as the Moii-loong-khabzi and belonged to Sikhim. Owing to this blood feud, even now the Zhang-tar-pa will not eat with, marry, or enter the house of any Yul-tenpa. It is also said that tribute in kind paid by Yul-tenpas is kept separate and not allowed to be stored in the Raja's treasure house. Guru Tashe's eldest son is called in full Zhal-nga-A-phag*: his son was Guru Tenzing, who was the father of Phun-tsho-Namgyel (Punchoo Namgay) who became the first Raja of Sikhim or De-jong Gyalpo. PHUN-tSHOGS rNAM-rGYAL (Penchoo Namgy^) was born in 1604 A.D., and passed his earlier years near Gantok. The story of his being summoned to Yoksom by the three Tibetan Lamas, and his being proclaimed the first Buddhist Gyalpo or King of Sikhim, has been told elsewhere. The date of his accession is given as 1641 A.D. Very little is known of his reign: but in all probability he was chiefly engaged in subduing or winning over the chiefs of the petty clans inhabiting the country east of the Arun. It is said that with the aid of Lha-tsan Lama he overcame one Shintu Satichen, or Mangal Gyelpa; though the latter is considered to have been a Lepcha, the name sounds more like a Mangar one: this tribe occupied the valleys to the south of the Kanchinjingna-Everest range. The chief disappeared leaving no trace, after vowing he would petition the sun and moon for the injuries done him. * This name was attributed to him by Lama Den-zin-pa of Pemiongclii and Labrong in the time of Clio-phoe Namgy6, HISTORY OF SIKHIM AND ITS KULERS. 11 Penchoo married a relation at Gantok, who j^robably belonged to one of the Bep-Tshan-gye families, as the Tong-du-ru-zi at that time were too near of kin to him. In this reign the monaster}' at Dubde was built and that at Sangachelling commenced under the direction of Lha-tsun Chhempoo, who also pointed out Pemiongchi as a proper site for a monastery for pure monks (Tasongs). bsTAN (or rTEN)-bSRUNG rNAM-rGYAL (Tensung Namgye), who was born ia 1644, succeeded his father Penchoo about 1670. His reign was not an eventful one. Lama Jig-med Gyatsho came from Tibet and succeeded Lha-tsun Chhempo as his incarnation: with his assistance the monastery at Sangachelling was completed: that establishment was open to all alike, no matter what their descent, so in accordance with the directions of Lha-tsun a third monastery or building was erected near Pemiongchi for persons of pure descent (Tibetan) only. This building was erected on a site about half a mile west of the present Gomjja, and the remains of it are still to be seen. The palace at Rubdentse was also completed. Tensung married three times : first, a lady from Tibet known by her family name Nyum-bi-eumo : by her he had a daughter, Pende Amo, destined to play an important and disastrous part in Sikhim history. The Raja next married a lady, Deba-sam-serpa, from a family residing near Tinki-jong to the north-west of Sikhim : she box'e him a son, Cha-dor Namgye, afterwards Raja. He also married a daughter of a Limbu Raja, by name Yo-yo- hang, whose jurisdiction was to the west near the Arun river. With this lady came seven Limbuni maidens, who were married into the leading Sikhim families. By the Limbuni princess the Raja had two children: a son Shalno-Guru, who resided at Dingrong, but whose family is now extinct, and a daughter Pendi Tchering Gyenu, who married a member of the Nam-Tsang-korpa family. PHYAG-rDOR-rNAM-rGYAL (Chak-dor Namgy^) was the son by Raja Tensung's second wife (DelDa-sam-serpa), and was born in 1686. He succeeded his father about 1700, but his reign was the reverse of his father's. In his youth he seems to have mortally offended his half-sister Pende Amo (who also considered that she, as the elder, was entitled to 12 HISTORY OF SIKHIM AND ITS RULERS. the throne), so shortly after his accession the quarrel again broke out, and the latter invited the Bhutanese to invade Sikhim and attack her brother. This intrigue was for a time completely successful. The Deb Raja of Bhutan, sDe-po-bZi-rDar, sent a force, under his celebrated General rTa-pa-Nag-dWang Tin-les and the Dewan Phenlai, which overran Sikhim and seized the palace of Rubdentse and compelled Raja Chador to flee to Tibet via Ham in Nepal. The Blmtanese held the country for some five or six years, and built forts at Ongdo-phodang near Pakhyong, at Takse-gong and Namgyel Tempoo.* The date of this Bhutanese invasion is variously given from 1700 to 1706. Mr. Eden writes: — " The Sikhim Raja, who was quite a boy, fled to Lhassa, and the Lhassa Raja, Miung, taught him and supported him, and gave him some taluks, which the Sikhim Raja still holds in Tibet. When the boy had obtained sufficient knowledge and discretion, the Lhassa Raja gave him some men and told him to go back to his country : he sent messengers to raise the Sikhimese, and on hearing of his arrival the Bhutanese evacuated Sikhim and returned ignomi- niously to their own country." But in this account Mr. Eden seems to have by mistake ascribed some events in the life of the succeeding Raja Gyurme to his father Chador. If the Reh Umig (chroniclest) of Yes^s DPal hByor is to be trusted, it was to the court of the Mongol Prince Gyalpo Lha-bZan that Chador fled. Gyalpo Lha-bZan became Raja of Tibet in 1702-3, and defeated and killed his predecessor the great Viceroy sDe-Srid Sangs rGyas rGya-mTsho in 1704, whereas Phola Thege-bSod-nams- sTobs-rGyas, otherwise called Gyalpo Mi-wang, did not become Viceroy of Tibet until 1726-27. Chador Namgy^ remained several years in Lhassa, studying hard, and gradually rose in scholastic eminence, until be became rChi-Tung-yig to the Dalai Lama (Tshang-dWyans rGya-mTso). This hierarch by some is said to have led a gay and dissolute life, and was accordingly summoned to China to answer for his misconduct. He died or was murdered en route near Lake Kokonor in 1704 or 1707. J It was perhaps this departure of his patron for China that influenced Chador to return to Sikhim. However, return he did, accompanied by, or closely followed by. Lama sJig-med-Paw of Hug-pya-gLing in Tibet. On the Raja's return the Bhutanese retired and evacuated all Sikhim west of the Tista, but they still maintained their position at * They also constructed a flight or road of stone steps from the Eungeet up to Bubdentse, portions of which still remain. -r-crTT r> i t w a loon t Translated by Babu S. C. Dass, J. A. S. B.. vol. LVII, Part I, No. 2, 1889. X According to Horace Delia Penna (M., p. 320). HISTORY OF SIKHIM AND ITS EtTLEES. 13 Fort Dumsong and retained what is now the Kalimpong district and up to Tegonla. Thus Sikhim lost the bulk of the Mou-loong-kha-bzi. His long sojourn amongst the learned priests at Lhassa had exercised a great influence towards monasticism in the Raja, and he accordingly on his return devoted himself to the cause of religion and learning. Aided and encouraged by I.ama Jig-med-Paw, he founded the present monastery of Pemiongchi for Tasongs, and richly endow- ed it : the establishment was to consist of 108 monks, and the Raja himself shaved his head and became one of the first number: he also appointed 108 tGar-na-pa or lay ofHcials to serve with the lamas and assist them in secular business. Among other works the Raja wrote a book on monastic discipline, called IChags-Yig, composed a religious dance, Rong-Chham, in honour of Takpoo or warlike demons, and designed an alphabet for the use of his Lepcha subjects. The Raja's half-sister, Pende Amo, had meanwhile formed a liaison with mNgah-bDag-Rin-Chhen-mGon, who was the third lama in succession to Lama mNgah-bDag-Sems-dPah-Chhen-po, referred to in pages 10 and 123, and married him. The lama by his vows of the Rabjungpa sect, which were very strict, ought to have maintained the strictest celibacy, and in marrying Pende Amo had committed a mortal sin. In hopes of mitigating his spiritual punishment, and as an expiatory offering for her share of the offence, Pende Amo built the Chos-rGyel Lha Khang monastery at Tashidiug and another at Senan : this was about the year 1716. The tension between brother and sister still continued after Chador's return, and culminated in the latter causing her brother to be murdered* about the year 1717. Immediately afterwards Pende herself was strangled by orders of the Durbar, and her corpse burnt at a place called Pende Laptse near Niamtchi. Owing to her wicked- ness and power for evil, she has been looked upon as the incarnation of gZah-dMar-rGyan, an evil spirit, the wife of gZah-bDud-Ra-hu-la, who is credited also with causing the solar eclipses. It is not known whether she left any children. For his services in the Dalai Lama's houseliold, Raja Chador was given the fiefs of Piahte-gong (Pedi-gong) near Lake Yam-dok-tsho and of hRe-Rin-Chhen-rTse-Jong near Shigatzi in Tibet. These were enjoyed by his successors up to the beginning of the present century, when they were resumed by the Tibetan Government in Cho-phoe Namgy d's minority, in the confusion resulting from the Nepalese-Tibetan war. * The Raja being unwell had gone to take a course of the hot springs at Kaklong, and while in the bath his physician, at the instigation of Pende Amo, treacherously opened his reins, and he bled to death. 14 HISTORY OF SIKHIM AND ITS RULERS. Chador married a lady from the province of U in Tibet, who is known as the " Lho-gyelma." By her he had a son, afterwards Raja hGyur-Med-rNam-rGyal: he is also credited with having a liaison with the wife of his Lepcha minister, Tasa Aj^hong, during her husband's absence on a mission to Tibet. A comparison of subse- quent dates leads one to believe that the Raja concerned was more probably Ten-sung Namgy^.* The result of this union was a boy called Yiik-thing Arub. Mr. Eden thus narrates his history : — "During the war (in Chador Namgye's reigii) the Bhuteahs had seized and confined at Poonakh a Sikhim Chief named Athoop, the ances- tor of the Gantoke Kazee, who confined Drs, Hooker and Campbell, and again fought with us in 1861. The Sikhim Raja on his return procured his release, and the Bhuteahs on setting him free bribed him to remain a friend to their Government. He had been well treated during confinement, and his son Joom-tashi, born during his captivity, turned out a thorough Bhuteah; he eventually became the most powerful man in Sikhim, and kept up continual correspond- ence with the Bhutanese ; and some years later, when there was a dispute between Bhutan and Sikhim regarding the boundaries of the two countries, he treacherously gave up to Bhutan all the tract between the present (1865) Sikhim border and the Taigon pass, including Darling-cote, Jonksa, and Sangbe, which in those days were richly cultivated tracts." As, however, Joom-tashi is looked up to as the ancestor of the present leading families in Sikhim, and was the father and grand- father of two of their famous men, Changzed Karwang and Kazee Satrageet, it is much more probable that Joom-tashi found himself unable to expel the Bhutanese from their position at Dumsong, and so had to accept the situation and the Tista boundary. hGYUR-MED rNAM-rGYAL (Gyurm^ Namgu^) was born in 1707, and ascended the guddee about 1717. He was at all events eccentric, if not actually weak in intellect. He married a lady from Ming-do Ung, a place south-east of Lhassa. She was so exceedingly plain that the Raja would not live or have anything to do with her : accordingly he removed himself to the Di-chhen-ling monastery. This house no longer exists, but was * But tlie subject is still further obscured, unless Joom-tasbi and Changzed Karwang alias Athing- Thi-sh(5 are one and the same person, as a deed, bearing Karwang's seal, is in existence dated " the 10th of the 3rd month of the Fire-bird year," corresponding about to our 1777 A.D. This particular deed is interesting as showing that at this time Ham (now in Nepal) was then part of Sikhim and that slavery was iu full force. Unfortunately the genea- logies of the Ehenock and Gantok Kazis do not agree. HISTORY OF SIKHIM AND ITS RULERS. 15 situated near Gyezing. The Rani continued to reside at Rubdentse near the Tasongs. The Raja, on the other hand, became more and more inclined to the Lepchas and their form of worship. Five of their priests, who gave themselves out to be the incarnation of Tesi (the Lepcha Guru Rimpoche), obtained immense influence over the Raja, and treated him in a most contemptuous manner, and arrogated so much to themselves that the Tasongs rose and successfully expelled them, the Raja himself being convinced they were Mu-thepa or impostors. Throughout this commotion the Raja harried and dis- tressed his Limbu subjects so much by calling them out unnecessarily to fight and again to build forts and walls, that in despair they threw off their allegiance and joined Nepal, so thus Sikhim began to lose the Limbuana country. Worn out by these dissensions and in disgust at having to return to his ugly wife, the Raja disguised himself as a fakir or religious mendicant and went on a pilgrimage to Tibet. No one in that country suspected his royal origin, until he came before dWangs-Chuk Dorze, the 9th Karmapa Lama. That ecclesiastic penetrated the king's disguise and treated him royally : in consequence the Karmapa Lama is much looked up to by the Sikhimese. Being thus deserted, Rani Ming-do-ling also betook herself to Tibet. Sliortly after Raja Gyurme returned to Sikhim, but his beha- viour was still inconsistent with his position, as he refused to re- marry — a decision that gave his people and court much concern, as there was then no direct heir to the throne. In 1734 the Raja was taken dangerously ill, and being on his death-bed was asked to name his heir. He replied, " his ministers need have no anxiety on the point, as they would find a young nun* tending cattle near Sing-Jyangif the girl is a daughter of Neer- Gahden, of the Tak-chhungtar family, and has had a son by me." This son had been born at Ang-nyekhi-sa, and was called Namgye Penchoo. The Raja shortly afterwards died. rNAM-rGYAL PHUN-TSHOGS Was born in 1733. At this date the Kazis or, more correctly, the Jongpens (local governors) were chosen from the fourteen leading families : the head among them was one Changzed Tamdi (rTa-mGrui) of the Tshd-chu- tar family : he headed the opposition and refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of Namgu(i Penchoo, and assumed the reins of government. For three years or so Tamdi and his party were successful, but finally * Probably of Sangacbelling. t A graziag place near Dubde. 16 HISTORY OF SIKHIM AND ITS EULEES. the Lepcha or national party in favour of Namgu^ Penchoo gained strength, and Tamdi was forced to flee to Lhassa and lay his cause before the Tibetans. During the quarrel there were several fights, and blood was shed on either side. To settle this dispute and the succession, the Tibetans sent a commission under one Rabden Sher-pa* Gyalpa to make a full enquiry and report. Having once obtained a footing in Sikhim, Rabden Gyalpa was in no hurry to depart, and actually reigned for some five years, though pretending all the while he was still engaged on his enquiry. During his regency he built forts at Karmie (Raja Tendook's seat) and at Mangsir at the head of the Chongtong spur. In these days the Tasong monks of Pemiongtchi had a branch establishment at Rishehot opposite to Darjeeling, to which they used to resort in the hot weather and rains. The most celebrated among them was Lama Kang-chen-Ralpe-Dorje, a Tibetan from Sher. While at Rishehot he made friends with Changzed Karwang, described as a Lepcha minister, who was living in exile at Darjeeling. Karwang besought the Lama's aid and went to Karmie, where through the Lama's intercession he was introduced to, and pardoned by, the Regent Rabden, who hitherto had not taken up warmly the cause of Namgud Penchoo. Now, however, by the influence of Lama Ralpe, the Regent declared for Namgu^ Penchoo, and a national agi-eement or amnesty was drawn up and promulgated at Mangsir. This is known as the Mang-Sher-hl3u-ma. A copy unfortunately in detail is not forthcoming, but apparently under it the Lepchas obtained a greater share in the administration as Tumiyang or superintendents of cultivation, and some fixed system of revenue was devised. The names still survive and are — (1) h Bah-pa. (2) b Zo-lung, a tax on forest produce. (3) Tshong-skyed, a custom or income-tax. After this Rabden formally placed Raja Namgu^ Penchoo on the throne and returned to Tibet. The Regent Rabden's eldest son was one Angel, whose daughter became Raja Namgue Penchoo's first wife. The lady, however, died from dysentery without having had any children. Subsequently Raja Namgu^ married or, perhaps, more properly engaged himself to two ladies — (1) a daughter of Pishi-Tergyen of U, and (2) a daughter of Deba-Shatnsher-Khiti-Phukpa. 13eing in a dilemma which lady to choose, the Raja sent and consulted the Sakya Penchen Rimpoche as to which lady he should marry, and the choice * Also Shak-pa. HISTORY OF SIKHIM AND ITS RULERS. 17 fell upon Deba-Shamsher-Khiti-Phukpa's daughter. By her the Raja had a son, Tenzing Namgud. According to a proclamation dated 1826, Raja Chophoe records that " Karwang was really a slave, though his ujother gave out he was the illegitimate son of the Raja. Karwang became so great that he put Raja Namgye Penchoo entirely aside, and gradually turned out all the old Jongpens and put his own sons in his stead, who began to use red seals and take the law into their own hands. Karwang finally joined the Limbus, and in this way caused the invasion of the Goorkhas." This is undoubtedly an exaggeration, as there exist several deeds stamped by Changzed Karwang, and the colour of the seal has always been black and not the royal red. Further, his son, Chothup, obtained bis sobriquet of Satrajeet from his victories over the Nepalese. bsTAN hDSIN rNAM-rGYAL (Tenzing Namgu^) was born about 1769, and succeeded his father in 1780 about. He married Anyo Gyel}uni, the daughter of Changzed Karwang, by whom he had a son, Choephoe Namgu^, born in 1785. About 1767 Deb Judhur rose into power and became Raja of Bhutan, while from 1765 to 1769 Raja Prithi Narayan Singh was making himself master of Nepal. With two such restless powers on either side it was not likely that a buffer State like Sikhim could escape the ravages of war. About 1770 the Bhutanese had overrun all Sikhim east of the Tista, while some of their spies or scouts actually got as far as Mangbru below Barphung. The whole country, however, rose, and the Bhutanese, who seemed to have concentrated their main forces above the Ralong Samdong (bridge over the Tista), were utterly defeated and fled across the Tama-la jjrecipice below Mafila; here the Sikhimese had prepared an ambuscade above and spiked the bottom of the precipice below: thus caught, the straggling forces were cut up to a man and perished miserably. In 1775-76 Raja Sinha Protapa Sah, son and successor of Raja Prithi Narayan Sah, threatened the invasion of Sikhim; but the Tibetan general, Deba Patza alias Depon tPal-rTsal, was sent to make a diversion, and the Goorkha Raja at that time failed in his attempt. The war, however, was waged with varying success for several years. During this war Changzed Karwang's son, Changzed Chothup, alias Athingpoi, alias Satrajeet, greatly distinguished himself: the various names are those given him by the Tibetans, the Lepchas, and the Goorkhas. Under the first appellation he is known to have negotiated with the Bhutanese (probably after their defeat at Tama-la), and 18 HISTORY OF SIKHIM AND ITS RULERS. obtained the restitution of the Rhenock ridge and the neighbouring land at Pop-chu. The second name was given him by the Lepchas in consideration of his having visited Pod or Tibet, while the third commemorates his seventeen victories over the Goorkhas in the Terai and the Morung. His military colleague was Deba Takarpo, the grandfather of the present Yangthang Kazi: the name given is merely the family and not the personal name, which was Jor-den (hByor IDan), alias Sang Rinzin (Tsliang Rin-hZin). This officer carried on the war successfully for a time and drove back the Goorkhas from Ham and the hills; and his forces actually penetrated as far as Chainpore. Here near Bilungjong the Sikhimese general was defeated and slain, and his army dispersed, and in con- sequence of this defeat Satrajeet had also to retire from the Morung. The date of Deba's death and defeat was about 1787. Active hostilities seemed to have then died- out for a time, and Sikhim was lulled into a state of false security, when suddenly in 1788-89 a Goorkha force under General Jor Singh secretly crossed the Chiabhanjan pass and penetrated unobserved across the Kalhait. Rubdentse was surprised : there were no means of resisting, and the Raja and Rani had to fly precipitately without saving any property, save a mask of Kanchinjingna, which the Rani snatched from the altar and carried off in the bosom of her dress. gSol-tPon Tshang- rNam-rGyal, grandfather of the Phodang lama, took up the Raja's son gTsug-Phud-rNam'rG}'al and bore him on his shoulders via Katong Ghat to the Mo-chu valley, and so close was the jiursuit, that the fugitives had to subsist on turok or wild yams, which they dug up in the jungles. More ti'oojo* were sent by the Goorkha General Damoodar Pandd, which overran and held possession of all Sikhim south and west of the Tisfa. In 1790 the Raja went to Lhassa to obtain help, and the Tibetan Government promised to render help and arranged to send an array towards Nyanam (sMya-nam). Meanwhile ChothujD, Jomgye, and Densa Siring wrote to Lhassa to say they had recovered Sikhim: the Tibetans in consequence were incensed and ceased preparations. In 1790 the Eaja died, and the Tibet Government apparently gave his young son, Chophoe Namgy^, some presents and sent him back. gXSUG-PHUD-rNAMGYAL (Cho-phoe Namgy^) was born in 1785, and nominally succeeded his father in 1790. In 1791 the Goorkhas made war with Tibet and sacked Tashe- Ihuupo, but in the following year were defeated near Katmandu and HISTPEY OP SlICHLM AND ITS RULERS. 19 had to sign an ignominious treaty. In this war a party of Tibetans are said to have reached Martam on the left bank of the Tista, but it is quite clear from the sites of the fortifications near Katong Ghat that the popular party in Sikhim successfully and without help prevented the Goorkhas crossing tlie Tista. In fact, in the proclamation referred to above, the Raja records that the Tibetans had refused Sikhim help or to listen to their representations, when peace was being made, on the ground that though Bhutan had rendered the Tibetans assistance, the Sikhimese had not. In consequence during the negotiations carried on by the Chinese General Hosi-Thang- thang, Sikhim was not represented, the Raja and his family were reduced to great straits, tlie boundary with Nepal was drawn back to the left bank of the Tista, and Tibet resumed the Raja's fiefs at Piahte Jong and Samye, and pushed its own boundary up to the Chola-Jelep range. For some years Pemiongchi and all the South Tista tract paid rent to Nepal, until in 1815 the Nepalese were expelled by the British Government, who by the Treaty of 1817 restored all this country together with the Terai to the Sikhim Raja. But even then the Raja had to be content to see his western boundary thrown back from the Kankayi to the Phalut range and the Mechi river. This boundary appears to have been originally laid down by Major Barre Latter, who was accompanied by Nazir ChainaTinjin, MachaTimbah, and Lama Duchim Longadoo. About the year 1814 the Raja com- menced building a palace at Tumlong, which was henceforward to be the capital in preference to Rubdentse, considered insecure and too far distant from Tibet. In 1819 a serious quarrel arose between the Raja and his minister, his own uncle Bho-lod, but was patched up and an agree- ment made. Another agi'eement was made the following year, and a third in 1824, but about that time his wife and child (the former seems to have been friendly to the minister) died, and the Raja, freed from all restraint, seemed determined to make away with his relative : so finally in 1826 Bho-lod was treacherously murdered near Tumlong by Tung-yik Menchoo, father of Dunya Namgye, better known as tlie Pagla Dewan. Bho-lod's cousin, Yuk-LliatGruj) alias tkra-thup, fearing a similar fate, fled from Sikhim and took refuge at Unthoo in Nepal with some 800 of his Lepcha tribesmen. Shortly after this disputes arose on the Sikhim and Nepal boundary, which cameunderthe cognizance of the Governor-General's Agent for the North-Eastern Frontier and the Resident in Nepal. In 1828 Captain Lloyd was deputed to the Sikhim frontier in connection with these disputes. lie penetrated the hills in company with Mr. J, W. Grant, the Commercial Resident at Malda. as far as 20 HISTORY OF SIKHIM AND ITS RULERS. Rinchingpung. These gentlemen, attracted by the position of Dar- jeeling, brought it to the notice of the Governor-General, and it was resolved by Government to open negotiations with the Maharaja of Sikhira on the first convenient occasion for the cession of Darjeeling to the British Government in return for an equivalent in lands or money. This opportunity occurred in 1834-35, when the Lepcha refugees in Nepal made an inroad into the Sikhim Terai, and Colonel Lloyd was deputed to enquire into the causes of the disturbance. The refugees were obliged to return to Nepal, and the negotiation ended in the unconditicmal cession by the Maharaja of the Darjeeling tract under a Deed of Grant, dated February 1835. In 1841 the Government granted an allowance of Rs. 3,000 per annum to the Maliaraja as compensation for the cession of Darjeeling, and in 18-46 a further sum of Rs. 3,000: in all Rs. 6,000 per annum. The settlement of Darjeeling advanced rapidly, its population having risen from not more than 100 souls in 1839 to about 10,000 in 1849, chiefly by immigration from the neighbouring States of Nepal, Sikhim, and Bhutan, in all of which slavery is prevalent. There was free trade in labour and all other commodities, with forest land enough for all corners to settle in, and every encouragement given to the new arrivals. The increased importance of Darjeeling, under free institutions, was a source of early and constant jealousy and annoyance to the Dewan of the Maharaja, who was himself the monopolist of all trade in Sikhim, and this jealousy was shared in by the Lamas and other principal people in the country, who lost their rights over slaves settling as British subjects in our territory. The plan pursued was through reports and secret emissaries to frighten our new subjects, by declaring that they should be delivered up as escaped slaves to their former masters, and by discouraging the resort in every way of the Sikhim people to Darjeeling ; added to which some British subjects were occasionally kidnapped to be sold into slavery, and there were frequent denials of aid in capturing and surrendering criminals. There has always been an arrangement for a mutual exchange of slaves between Sikhim and Bhutan, and Dr. Campbell, the Superintendent of Darjeeling, was constantly importuned by the Maharaja of Sikiiim and his Dewan to get the British Government to follow a similar course with Sikhim, which was of necessity steadily refused. In 1849 Dr. Hooker and Dr. Campbell, while travelling in Sikhim with permission of Government and the Maharaja, were suddenly seized and made prisoners. The object was to force Dr. Campbell to relinquish claims for the surrender of criminals ; to make him, while in durance, agree to the dictation of the Dewan regarding the giving up of escaped slaves; and to detain him until these HISTORY OP SIKHIM AND ITS RULEES. 21 enforced conditions should be sanctioned by Government. Foiled by the declaration that whatever concessions might be extorted then would not be confirmed by Government, and intimidated by the declaration of the Governor-General that the Maharaja's head should answer for it if a hair of the head of Dr. Campbell or Dr. Hooker were hurt, the Sikhimese eventually released the prisoners on 24th December 1849. In February 1850 an avenging force crossed the Great Rungeet river into Sikhim. The expedition resulted in the stoppage of the annual grant of Rs. 6,000 enjoyed by the Maharaja, the annexation of the Sikhim Terai, and of the portion of the Sikhim hills bounded by the Rummam river on the north, the Great Rungeet and the Tista on the east, and by the Nepal frontier on the west. This new territory was put under the management of the Superintendent of Darjeeling; the Dewan was ostensibly dismissed from office, and for some years matters proceeded smoothly and well between Sikhim and our Government. But this man having worked his way into power again through his wife, an illegitimate daughter of the Maharaja, the kidnapping of our subjects was resumed without the possibility of obtaining redress. In April and May 1860 two aggravated cases of kidnapping were reported to Government. All ordinary efforts to procure reparation having failed, the Governor-General in Council resolved to occupy the territory of the Maharaja lying to the north of the Rummam river and to the west of the Great Rungeet, and to retain it until our subjects were restored, the offenders given up, and security obtained against a recurrence of similar offences. On the 1st Novem- ber 1860 the Superintendent of Darjeeling crossed the Rummam with a small force, and advanced as far as Rinchingpung. But he was eventually forced to fall back on Darjeeling. A stronger force was then despatched under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Gawler, accompanied by the Hon'ble Ashley Eden as Envoy and Special Commissioner. The force advanced to the Tista, when the Sikhimese acceded to the terms dictated by the Governor-General, and on the 28th of March 1861 a new treaty, consisting of twenty-three articles, was concluded by the Envoy with Maharaja Sikyong Namgyal, as his father, Blaharaja Cho-phoe Namgyd, though alive and in Chumbi, was afraid to come over. Cho-phoe Namgy^ died in 1863. SRID-SKYONG-rNAM-rGYAL (Sikhyong Namgyd) was born in 1819, and practically became Raja in 1861, though his father did not die until two years later. The annual allowance of Rs. 6,000 forfeited in 1850 was in 1862 restored, as an act of grace, to the ruling Maharaja Sikyong Namgy^ : c 2 22 HISTORY OF SIKHIM AND ITS RULERS. it was increased in 1868 to Rs. 9,000, and in 1873 to Rs. 12,000 on the understanding that it was granted without any reference to the increased value of Darjeeling and purely as a mark of consideration foj' the Maharaja. In 1868 the Maharaja solicited permission for the return of the ex-Dewan, but the request was refused as being contrary to the 7th article of the Treaty of 1861, and likely to lead to intrigues for the succession. But to understand this and subsequent events an examination of the family relations of Raja Cho-phoe Namgyal is necessary, and to explain these the following genealogical tree has been drawn out. HISTORY OF SIKHIM AND ITS RULERS 23 - Avat Nanich unma 0.° 5? 5" 2 ^ t: to 3-0 a O o ~ .--cshO^ > a "uS < h "2 <• "C — d P- x a> ( a a 5 Q a OShI 24 HISTORY OF SIKHIM AND ITS RULERS. Neither Cho-phoe nor Sikyong Rajas appear to have taken much interest in the administration, and so in consequence of their relation- ship by marriage and birth, first Dewan Namgay and after his banish- ment, in a lesser degree, Changzed Kar-po became the really influen- tial personages in the State. Dewan Namgay* was anti-English in feeling and conduct, while Changzed, on the other hand, pretended much sympathy for the English. In 1873 Raja Sikyong Namgy^, accompanied by his half-brother, the present Raja Thothub Namgye, and his half-sister Seringputti, and Changzed Geloug Kar-po, visited Sir George Campbell, then Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, at Darjeeling. Raja Sikyong Namgyel died in April 1874, and unsuccessful intrigues were attempted to set aside the accession of Thothub Namgye in favour of Tinle Namgy^ (born in 1866), but were defeated by the prompt action of the then Deputy Commissioner of Darjeeling, Mr. J. Ware Edgar (now Sir John Edgar). mTHU-sTOBS-rNAM-rGYAL (Tho-tub Namgye) was born in 1860, and on the death of his half-brother both ascended his throne and married his widow, a lady of Tashelhunpo by name Pending. She died in childbirth in 1880, leaving three children by Thothub, viz., a daughter, Namgyel Uumo, born in 1876, and two sons; the elder Tchoda-Namgy^, heir to the Raj, born in 1877, and the younger Chotal, born in 1879, supposed to be the incarnation at Phodang of Sikyong Namgyel. In October 1875 Sir Richard Temple had a friendly interview with the Raja and Changzed Kar-po at Chomnaga near the Cho-la pass. At this interview the Raja expressed his desire that the British Government should undertake arrangements for the conservation of the sal, pine, and other forests in his territory, but nothing was actually carried out. The Maharaja was invited to be present at the Imperial Assem- blage at Delhi on the 1st Januaiy 1877, but as he was unable to attend, his banner, medal, and ring were duly presented to him at Tumlong by Mr. Edgar mentioned above. Some complications which had arisen as far back as 1872 between one Luchmee Das Prodhan, the head of the Nepalese Newars in Darjeeling, and the Lassoo Kazi, the Sikhim Vakil in Darjeeling, but had been smoothed over, again became prominent in 1878, so that in November of that year the present Raja and * Died in 1888. HISTORY OF SIKHIM AND ITS RULERS. 25 Changzed Kar-po came to Kalimpong to meet the Hon'ble Sir Ashley Eden, the then Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal. The question of Nepalese settling in Sikhim was there discussed, and Nepalese settlers were admitted in certain parts under certain restrictions. This agreement, owing to the intrigues of the exiled Dewan Namgay, the Dorjee Loi:)en of Pemiongclii and Norden Gelong, tahsildar at Kalim- pong, did not work well, and events culminated in the disturbances and fight at Rhenok in 1 880. Mr. A. "W. Paul was then sent to settle matters at Tumlong, and a fresh agreement was drawn up and promulgated on the 14th April 1880, This, with some slight modi- tications arranged by tlie Phodang Lama and the Dorjee Lopeu, worked well. Changzed Kar-po, after a visit to Giautzi, where he met the Chinese Amban and some of the Tibetan officials, died in 1879. This visit apparently took place shortly after the interview with Sir Ashley Eden, and appears to have resulted in some secret agreement with Tibet and the investiture of Thothub Namgy^ with a Chinese button of the 1st rank (plain coral). As stated above, Rani Pending died in 1880, and these two deaths threw the whole power of the State into the hands of the old Rani Men-chi and Dewan Namgay, who naturally, from living wholly at Clmmbi, favoured Tibetan interests and the cause of young Tinle, then growing up to manhood. Raja Thothub meanwhile lived peacefully, at Tumlong and evinced no disposition to contract a second marriage. However, pressure seems to have been brought to bear on him, and so having obtained two elephants from the Government of Bengal in 1881, he sent them to the Grand Lamas at Tashelhunpo and Lhassa, in charge of Nudup Gyaltsen (brother of the Phodang Lama) and the Rhenok Kazi. These officers, when at Lhassa, arranged a marriage between the Raja and the daughter of Shafe Utok, one of the leading men in Tibet. Unfortunately the old Rani and her son Tinle, accompanied by Dewan Namgay, followed shortly afterwards in 1882-83, and, appar- ently in furtherance of their design to place Tinle in direct succession to the Raj, broke off this match, and secured as a wife to the Raja the daughter of an inferior officer in the Dalai Lama's court, known as Leden-se. It is said that the old Rani had to execute a bond, guaran- teeing that the Raja of Sikhim would i-eceive the girl as his Kani; but without the slightest attempt at a show of decency, the girl immediately went to live with Tinie, and by the time the party returned from Lhassa to Chumbi, she was very far gone in pregnancy, and in fact bore two children before Raja Thothub ever saw her. All this helped the intrigues in favour of Tinle, as his joint marriage 26 HISTORY OF SIKHIM AND ITS RULERS. with Ledea-se's daughter is pointed out as proving Thothub and Tinle are legitimate brothers, and so both of the Royal family, polyandry being permissible under Tibetan law. The real facts as to Tinle's parentage have been given above. Raja Thothub up to 1884 remained in Sikhim and refused to have anything to do with the girl, but in 1885 the influence of Tinle became too great, especially as the Deputy Commissioner himself approved of his going to Chumbi to learn what was being done regarding the dispute between Bhutan and Tibet and the interruptions to trade. Accordingly Raja Thothub went over to Chumbi nomi- nally to pay his respects to the Shafe Rampa. Subsequently the Raja was requested to remain at Chumbi, while the Macaulay Mission was in progress in 1886. In that year, after the stoppage of the Macaulay Mission, the Tibetans advanced into Sikhim and built a fort at Lingtu which they persistently refused to evacuate. The Raja remained at Chumbi, notwithstanding the remonstrances of the Indian Govern- ment and the stoppage of his pension, until December 1887, when he returned to Gantok, in the'meantime having made an agreement with the Tibetans at a place called Galing. In March 188S the Sikhim Expeditionary Force was sent against Lingtu, which the Tibetans were compelled to evacuate, and in September the campaign ended with the complete expulsion of the Tibetans across the Jelep. In December 1888 the Chinese Resident, His Excellency Sheng Tai, arrived at Gnatong, and negotiations were opened with a view to a settlement of the Sikhim-Tibetan dispute, but were unsuccessful, and so were formally broken off on the 11th January 1889. On the arrival in Darjeeling of Mr. James H. Hart, of the Chinese Imperial Customs Service, fresh attempts at the solution of our difficulties were made, and after long interchange of views, nego- tiations were re-opened towards the close of 1889, and resulted in the convention signed in Calcutta on the 17th March 1890. In June 1889 Mr. J. C. White, Executive Engineer, was appoint- ed Assistant Political Officer at Gantok to advise and assist the Maharaja in his administration of the country. A representative Council selected from the chief men in Sikhim was also established with the same view. Good roads have been opened from Pedong in British territory to the Jelep pass and to Tumloug, properly bridged throughout. Iron bridges have also been constructed across the Tista, the Rungeet and other streams, and communication throughout Sikhim has been very gieatly improved. history of sikhim and its eulees. 27 Population, Tribes, and Chief Families of Sikhim. A census taken in Sikhim in February 1891 roughly divides the population as follows : — Eace or caste. Males. Females. Children. Total Lepeha 2,362 2 399 1,001 5.762 Bhutea 1,966 1,960 968 4,894 Limbu 1,255 1,159 942 3,35H Gurung 1,108 1,047 766 2,921 Murmi 801 778 1,2S8 2,867 Eai, Jimdar, &c. 742 691 587 2,020 Khambu 726 648 589 1,963 Kami 626 464 680 1,670 Brahman 521 372 521 1,414 Man gar 363 346 192 901 Chetri 303 253 273 829 Newar 240 183 301, 727 Slaves 124 99 103 326 Dirzi 102 92 93 287 Miscellaneous, includ- ing troops 350 72 99 521 11,689 10,563 8,306 30.458 Of the above, the Limbus, Gurungs, Murmis, Khambus, and Mangars are more or less allied, while the others, excepting the Lepeha and Bhutea, are later immigrants from beyond the Arun in Nepal : thus, roughly speaking, it may be said that there are three main stocks in Sikhim : — the oldest and perhaps aboriginal inhabitants of Sikhim were the "Rong," or, as we know them from their Nepalese title, " the Lepchas;"* the next in importance, if not in antiquity, come the Kham-pa or Kham-ba, the immigrants from the Tibetan province of Khams ; commonly called Bhuteas ; while the Sikhim Limbus rank as last and least: these belong to what Mr. Risley styles the Lhasa Gotra, as they are believed to have migrated to Sikhim from Shigatsi, P^nam, Norpu, Khyongtse, Samdubling, and Gyangtse, places in the Tibetan province of Tsang, south of the Tsanpo. All the families in Sikhim belong to one or other of these strains, or to an admixture of them, as intermarriages are allowed. * Dr. Waddell in a separate article has shown that the Lepchas are probably Indo- Chinese cognate with the tribes of the Naga Hills, and entered the Sub- Himalayas »id the Assam valley. 28 HISTORY OF SIKHIM AND ITS RULERS. The royal family belong to the second of the above. The descendants of Khy^-bum-sar are divided into six families, VIZ. Pyak-Tsen-Tar Pu-pun-Sum.* (1) Yul-tenpa or Yul-thon-pa (2) Lingzerpa. ' (3) Zhan-tar-pa or Zhan-po- " tar. (4) Tsh^-gyu-Tarpa or Tsh^s bChu-tar. forming the Tong- du-ru-zi, or " the four families of a 1,000 collec- tions." (5) Nyim-Gy^-pa. (6) Gura-tashe-pa. But with Khyd-bum-sar came otherf Tibetans or Kham-pas, who founded the eight families now known as the hBeps-mTshan-bGyad, or the tribe of " the eight respectable names." There is some confusion as to the exact names of these eight sub-families and the order in which they rank, but the following is fairly correct: — 1. Pon-pa. 2. rOaii-sTag-Pu-Tshogs or tGon-gSang-pa. 3. Nam-gTsang-sKho-pa or sKor-pa. 4. sTag-Chhung-Tar-pa. 5. tKar-Tshogs-pa. 6. Grong-sTod-pa. 7. bTshun-rGyal-pa or rGyas-pa. 8. mDo-Khang-pa or Kham-pa. In all there are thus fourteen original main families of Tibetan origin in Sikhim, if we do not include a fifteenth, the Pu-Tshogs Nier-pok, descended from the illegitimate grandson of Tshe-bChu-tar referred to in page 9 above : the representatives of this branch have dwindled considerably and are in low circumstances near Chongpon close to Pemiongchi. These fourteen main families have the right to be admitted to the Tasong monastery at Pemiongchi without payment of nuzzur or entrance fees. The Pon-pa are again subdivided into five, viz. — («) NagdDig. (b) Lha-bSungs. (c) Yos-lChags. (d) Na-pon, (c) Pon-Chhung-pa. • " Pu-pun-Sum '' means " the three brothers." t As mentioned above, Khye Bamsa had three brothers, who migrated to Hah in Bhutan, whence their descendants migrated into Sikhim. HISTORY OF SIKHIM AND ITS RULEES. 29 Besides the above there are other families of Tibetan origin which form Mr. Risley's Rui-chhung {i.e., little families). These came into Sikhim at various times since the establishment of the Raj, and are divided into groups (named after their place or manner of origin). The chief and most important are the— (i) Pu-Tsho-po-pa. (ii) Lag-lDingpa. (iii) rGod-Rong-pa. (iv) Gyeng-pa. (v) sTod-pa. (vi) Shar-pa. (vii) hBar-Phong-Pu-Tsha-po (Barphungpuso). (viii) A IDanPu-Tsha-po (Adinpuso). The above families are admitted into the Pemiongchi monastery, but only on payment of heavy entrance fees. Of these the (v) sTod-pa or Tumu-sTod-pa, so called from their having first settled in Tumu or the upper Mo-chu valley, are again subdivided into — [a) Toi Lha-sroi-pa or sTod-Lha-rGrod. {h) Toi-Jam Yang-pa or sTod-hJam-tByangs. (c) Toi-Chhu-khapa or sTod-Chhukha-pa. After all the above come others, such as the — (2) Chombi-pa, immigrants from Kham in Tibet and Hah in Bhutan to the lower reaches of the Mochu near Chumbi. The follow- ing subdivisions are given : — («) Lham-tar or Lha-ma-tar. (b) Guene-pu-Tshogs or tGd-bsNyen-pu-Tsha-pa. (c) Agon or Ang-tGon. [dS Athub-pu-Tshogs. (e) Do-Shoi-pa or rDog-Zhod-pa. (/) Khimbarpa or Khyim-hPar-pa. In the north the Lachen-Lachung valleys have been colonised by other immigrants from Hah and Paro in Bhutan, who are now called the — (3) Lopon Lhundub. There are other families also whose names are in many cases derived from local features : among them are found the — (4) («) A-som-pa. (h) Mang-sPod-pa. (c?) Shag-Tshang-pa, c) Na-Mangs. 30 HISTORY OF SIKHIM AND ITS RULERS. (e) rDo-hRob-pa. (A sGang-rGyab-pa. {(/) La-hog-pa. (h) Mang-Tshang-pa. (i) sPa- Thing-pa. (j) Peng-ri-pa. (k) Ka-gy(^-pa. (/) Dobta-po, to whom belong Dunya Namguu (the Pagla Dewan) and his father, Tungyik Menchoo, mur- derer of Bholod. Among the above, the traditions regarding the ancestors of the Lag-lDingpa (ii) and rGod-Rong-pa (iii) are curious. To the south-east of Pema-kod-chen lies the country of Lho-tawa, inhabited by cannibals ; at their -weddings it is customary to kill and eat the biide's father or mother, should the hunters, sent to forage for the feast, return empty-handed. Many years ago the sons of Guru Chhod-wang and of another learned lama, in hopes of improving their minds, as they were not as clever as their fathers, went on a pilgrimage to Tsari and Pema-kod. One evening they arrived at an old soman's hut at Lho-khabta and took shelter there. The woman informed them that the owner of the hut had gone out hunting in order to procure some game to celebrate the marriage of his son, and added that if the hunters were imsuccessful, she woidd be killed and eaten at the first day's feast; while if they continued unsuccessful, the two lamas would be killed and eaten on the second and third days of the cere- mony. On hearing this the travellers were naturally very much alarmed, and begged the old woman to show them some means of getting away and so saving their life. She instructed them that at the distribution of her remains the men of the house would probably offer the lamas one of her arms to be cooked in a curry : that if they did so, the lamas should beg for the hand instead, on pretence that in a previous existence the old woman had been a great hero and the hand was more precious. If the lamas obtained the hand, then there was hope for them, and they should that very day at midnight decamp from the house, taking with them the dead hand. Matters turned out as predicted : the old lady was killed for the feast to welcome the bride's arrival, and the lamas succeeded in obtaining the hand, and escaping with it that night. In the morning the men of the house, missing the lamas, followed on their tracks, tracing them like dogs by the scent. Seeing them coming, the lamas climbed up a high tree: soon the hunters with their noses to the ground came to the foot of the tree and there lost all further ti-ace. The others with those hunt- ing by scent got angry with the latter and threw them down on their backs to kill them: in this position the hunters were obliged to look up and so saw the lamas in the tree, and pointed up with their fingers; taking this as a sign of resistance, the others cut off the hands, before an explanation of the signs could be given. Learning, however, HISTOKY OF SIKHIM AND ITS RULEES. 31 where the lamas were, the men began to cut down the tree. Rather than fall alive into the hands of such barbarians, the lamas determin- ed to kill themselves by flinging themselves off the tree. They tried to do this, but the one who held the woman's hand was miraculously wafted through the air, still clinging to the hand, and safely transport- ed to Lhobrak. The other was transformed into the semblance of a vulture and flew into some thick forest, whence he subsequently made his escape. In commemoration of this event the first lama obtained the name of Lag-lDing-pa, "the hand-flyer," and the latter of rGod-Rong-pa, "the wild bird (the lammergeyer) of the crags." The first La-ding-pa connected with Sikhim was called Lama Thampa Phur-gyel, literally the Holy Flying King: he is said to have been able to fly all over the Tumo valley, Rinchingong and Nyam-nag-tsho. This miraculous power of flight is attributed to more than one lama at Sikhim. Thus just below Tashiding is pointed out a rock, called Urgyen-phur-sa, because Padmasambhava is said to have flown tbence. The Barphungpuso (vii) and Adinpuso (viii) have hitherto been thought to be pure Lepcha or Rung families, and General Mainwaring considers that the first is Bar-f6ng-mo="the flowing from on high," and the second A'-den=:"the created, fashioned, formed," the two combined being equivalent to "the patricians and plebians." The following accounts given by members of the two families are entirely different : — The original ancestor of Tekong-tek, the old Lepcha chief in the time of Jo-khy^-Bum-sar, came of divine orgin, Tekong-tek being the sixth in direct descent. From Tekong-tek or one of his brothers came one Tasa Aphong some five or six generations later, who was a leading Lepcha and a minister under Raja Ten-sung Namgu^.* His wife was also a Lepchani. The husband in course of duty was sent on a mission to Tibet which lasted some time. In his absence the Raja formed an attachment for his Minister's wife, and by him she became the mother of a son, who was called Yukthing Adub or Arub. This boy grew up and rose to the office of Treasurer to Raja Chador Namgue. When the latter fled to Ham and Tibet on the invasion of the Bhutanese, Adup was in charge of the palace of Rubdentse, and thus fell into the hands of the Bhutanese, who brought him prisoner to Hah in Tibet. Here from an incestuous marriage there was born to him a * Tasa Aphong originally held a small post or tahsilship at his native place LBar-phag, and his full title was Tumiyang Thekong Tasa Aphong of hBar-phag j this was contracted to Bar-phag A-phong, and thence to Ear-phong : hence his descendants (Pu-tsho) arc now known as " the I3ar-phong-pu-tsho." 32 HISTORY OF SIKHIM AKU ITS RULERS. son, called from his birthplace at Dzom-thano^ near Paro in Bhutan, Dzom-tashi.* This man is known by several names, such as Athing Thi-she, Yuk- thing De-si, but is best known by his Tibetan title Changzed Karwang or Karwie. Some details of his life are given under the reigns of Rajas Chador; Gyur-me, Namgud Penchoo, and Tenzing Namgue. Karwang was twice married, viz., to the daughter of one Yuk- Dagom of the Ta-karpo family and to a Limbu or Mangar lady, and had eighteen children : of these some eight or nine only need be mentioned. By the second lady we find the following : — (1) Namgyel Tshiring. (3) Dzomgyel (Jomgy^). (2) Ka-bhi Changzed. (4) Konga. By the first lady : — (5) Athing-poi. I (0) Tateng Athing. And three daughters : — (7) Aiiyong-poi. | (8) Anyo Gyalyum. I (9) Anyo Chu-wa. (1) Namgyel Tshiring was the ancestor of the present Barmik Kazi Dorze Dadup : he was also called "Den-chap," from having acted as Regent of Sikhim during the Raja's absence, and the title is said to be still continued in the family. (2) Ka-bhi Changzed was the celebrated General Satrajeet or Changzed Chothup: he had only a daughter, married to Yapa-Tsi-suh of the Ta-karpo family, who thus became his adopted son ; from them is descended the present Rhenock Kazi, Rinzing Namgyel. (3) Dzomgyel is the ancestor of the three Kazis of Entchi, Ramtik, and Tatong (Gantok). (4) Konga was appointed Kazi of Kotah (i.e., Ham) : he had two children, Da-thupt (tGra-thup) and Gerong Danen, a lama of Pemiongchi. The former again had two sons, one the father of the old Lassoo Kazi, who succeeded Tchebu Lama as Sikhim Vakil in Darjeeliug, and the other Namgyd, father of Yuk Simian Kazi of Kotah, whose son Man Bahadur married Raja Tendook's daughter. Gerong Danen forsook his vows, and marrying in his old age became the father of Sinkoop, the old Dharm din Kazi, who was the grandfather of the present youth Kazi Badur, and of Yuk Sateng alias bidoor * More probably Karwaiig was the son of Dzom-tashi. t See p. 19. HISTORY OP SIKHIM AND ITS KULERS. 33 Kazi of Ham, who was also at one time Soobah of Darjeeling. The monument so conspicuous on the ridge in the Bhutea Busti (Do-chuk) was erected to the memory of his wife, Yang-chen, half-sister to Raja Tendook. (5) Of Athing-poi nothing seems to be known. (6) Tateng Athiug, better known as Changzod Bho-lod or Ba-lu, became Minister to his sister's son, Raja Choj^hoe Nanigye, and was murdered owing to the intrigues of Tung-yik Menchoo, father of the Dewan Dunya Namgue, better known as the Pagla Dewan. Tateng A thing was the father of Gelong, the present Tateng Kazi, whose grandson, Dorje Tchiring, has married Raja Tendook's daughter. Nothing is known of the daughters (7) and (9), but (8) Auyo Gyalyum was married to Raja Tenzing Namgye, and became the mother of Raja Chophoe Namgy^. It will be seen from the above that though the Barphongpuso were made Kazis or Jongpeus of the chief Lepcha districts, their descent is not a purely Lepcha one. The Adinpuso have still less claim to the title of Lepcha. Their legendary history is to the effect that some generations before the accession of Raja Penchoo to the throne of iSikhim, three brothers from Khams-A-lDan-Chhos-hKhor-gLing in Tibet came via Lhassa and Tsang down the Lachen-Lachung route into Sikhim. At Ringon the eldest brother was so terrified at the awful hills and rocks and the difficulties of the road that he turned back. The two other brothers persevered until they were stopped near sBas (Be) by a red demon, called bTsan-rNams-rGyal-mThon-po, who only let them pass on condition that their descendants should regularly do him worship. The younger brother subsequently settled at Mangbru and the elder at Barmyak. The more probable account is as follows: — Li the middle of the thirteenth centmy the hierarch at Sakya was the great liGro- mGon-hPhags-pa, who was the spiritual guide to Prince Khublai, afterwards the Emperor Sa-chhen of China and the founder of Peking. In 1251 this monarch presented the learned lama with the thirteen provinces of Tibet, called Khri-sKor-bChu-gSum, in recognition of his sanctity and ability. A few years later the lama made a journey to Mongolia (and perhaps China). On his return journey about 126i he brought with him from Kham one Na-tWang-Ton-Grub, a native of Kham-Aden. After some residence at Sakya the latter was advised by the lama to travel south and seek his fortunes in Sikhim, and so came as far as Talung, which he made his home. Plis son, Ts^-tWang-rNam-rGyal, removed to Tung-sBong (Ting-bong), wliere he married a Lepchani wife. Their son, bKra-gShi-Ton-Grub, and grandson, bSam-hPhel, settled lower down the Talung valley at 34 HISTORY OF SIKHIM AND ITS RULERS. Lino-them. The latter's son, Tshe-hPhel, resided at Yul-sHar-Phag. Tse-phel had two sons, Ye-shes and rDo-rJe, who crossing the Tista settled at Rin-tGron (Ringim). Dorje's son, Nor-Pu-tWang-hDus, had again two sons, who are the ancestors of Kaja Tendook's and Tchehu Lama's families. The following is their genealogical tree : — Nob-Pu-tWang-dDds. Lha-Tren-Norpu. I Kham sTong lUan-brTan-liDsing. Kham-Las-hGrubs. Na-Skyes ( Jongpen of Barmie). sDsong A-hDams. Bsong Khyung liDus. sDsong Kas-lChog. sDsong t ! tPal-hByor. sDsong-Llnm-hGrubs-Phun-Tshoga alias sDsong-li Brug-bGyas. Raja Tendook and others as detailed below. Tshe-ring-tWang-hDus, who lived at first at Kubbi near Tumlong and thence removed to Gantok. Norpu-Tshe-ring of Namphak. Norpu Ta-brGyas of Geyzing. i-Dorje of Chongpong. bDe-Chhen-Skyabs of Toksom. I A-lu. Norpu-rGyal-mTshan. Lha-rGyal. A-i l-rvijai. V-Sras. Lha-Chhos. rTsis-pu Lama. It will thus be seen how little Lepcha blood there is in the two chief families of the Adinpuso stock. It is stated that De-Chhen-kyab •was one of those who hailed Penchoo Namgut^ Raja at Yoksom in 1641. It may be interesting to note that Doobgye (Tendook's father), though Jongpen of Barmie, went to Nagri as captain in the Sikhimese army, fought there against the Nepalese, and assisted Major Latter to lay down the present boundary between Sikhim and Nepal. He had two wives: by the elder, a daughter of the Pad-gLing Lama, he had two sons, Dawa Sring and Yit tam Sring, now a Jongpen in Nepal ; by the younger wife, who was the daughter of the hGu-ling Jongpen, a Barphougpuso by family, he had three sons who lived to grow up, viz., liBrug-brTan-hDsin, Bahadur, and Tendook Pulgor. Doobgye had also two illearitimate sons, Kabden Tsiring and Rinchen Long-dol, Jongpen of Pachim, both of whom have served as interpreters to Government. There are, however, several Lepcha families still existing, parti- cularly along the banks of the Talung river and its vicinity. Among HISTORY OF SIKHIM AND ITS RULERS. 35 them the following may be noted, many of whom derive their patron mic from the places they settled in : — 1) Singyang-mo, spread over Eastern Nepal : Tekong Solon was one of their ancestors. 2) Luksom-mo or Yoksom-nio, from the place of that name. 3) Si-ming or Smigut-mo, whose head-quarters are near Rungli Rmigliot, and to whom is allied the family of the Khangsar Dewan and Phodang Lama. 4) Tuk-nyil-mo live near Cheumthang. 5) Sambo-mo or Sumba-putsho occupy Namtheng near Chidam. 6) Turgok-mo live near Rinchingpung. 7) Rong-gong-mo are a numerous clan and came from Rong- gong near Ham. 8) Kheng-bo, from the place of that name near Ham. 9) Nam-chhyo-mo occupy Sidhi and Karmie, and had as their Jongpen Chado, father of the Phodang Lama, and after him Lachoo, Chebu Lama's father. Guling-mo, near Ham in Nepal. Samdar-mo ditto. Kotha-mo, from Kotah near Ham. Barmyak-mo. Sungphung-mo, ditto. Namtchi-mo were formerly subordinate to the Gnabdeh Lama's people, but subsequently were granted a special Jongpen. Sam-ling-mo in Nepal. Mong-mong-mo near Dentem, whose headman is the Sing-li Mapen. Talong-mo, near Dharm-den. Sang-pu-mo occupy Lingmo, which was given to the Song Jongpen, an uncle of Tchebu Lamas. Song-mo, closely allied to preceding. Namphak-mo, whose lands were Lama. Re-doo-mo live near Rinchingpung and are under thi: Sikhim Raja direct. Kubbi-mo, from the place of that name near Tumloug. Fok-ram-mo and Rongeu-ram-mo live near Lingthem. Rangit-ram-mo, near the head of the Rungeet. Rathong-ram-mo and Rangbi-ram-mo near the Rathong. Lo-so-mo at Tassiding. Kal^t-ram-mo from the Kulhait river. Lingdam-mo are at Ham in Nepal. 10 11 12 13 U 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 given to the Phodang 36 HISTORY OF SIKHIM AND ITS EULEES. (32) Rbenok-mo at Rheuok in Sikhiin. (33) Yong-bi-mo at Kotah in Nepal. (34) Chong-kliey-mo at Plioogurhi near Merig in Darjeeliug. (35) Lingdong-mo at Mangbru. (36) Yok-cbo-mo at Pbensung. (37) Re-uia-song near Ramtik. (38) Na-be-mo in tbe Dik-cbbu valley. (39) Sangmi-po, tbougb sometimes styled Lepcbas, are really Limbus. Many of tbe smaller families give a mytbical origin to their ancestors, and trace their descent from spirits or demons, the off -spring of an alliance between a rock or tree and a pond. To these they always assign a known location. The most celebrated of their mythical heroes are reported to have disappeared from earth through various caves that are still pointed out. The origin of the LDIBUS is veiled in great obscurity, though the most received account relates that they came from Kasi {i.e., Benares). But the following, taken from an old Limbu manuscript, may be interesting: — According to Yak-tbum (Limbu) tradition, in the beginning existed almighty god Tagyera Ningwa Pama. His spirit entered into Mubuk Wa-ma and caused him to create woman out of bamboo ashes and fowls' droppings : she was called Muzina Kye-ong-ma, and married the wind. They had a son by name Susu-weng Hara-weng. He "went a-hunting one day and met two women whose origin is unknown. They bore to him respectively a son, Suwangbe-ba, and a daughter, Laba-dang-ma : these two marrying became the progenitors of the wbole human race. After creating woman, Mubuk Wa-ma seated himself on the right side of Khamba-karma (Mt. Kanchinjingna), and proceeded to invent four different kinds of alphabets.* These were — (1) Shyang-bed, (2) Athar-bed, (3) Jajur-bed, all written on paper, and (4) Riki-bed, written on a doe-skin, and for many eras after their construction were, however, lost. The direct descendants of Suwangbe-ba are not known, but one branch appears at Kasi (Benares) in the persons of four brothers. One of these peneti-ated direct into the hills, where there was uninha- bited country, and settling there, his descendants were known as the " Khambung-ba, " or "lords of the soil." This may bo the Phedhap or Bhuiphuta branch. Another brother settled in " Suklii-gang-zi." * Dr. Waddell points out that this is merely a clumsy way of citing the four Hindu veds or scriptures, viz., Sima, Atharn-a, Yajur and Rig veds. HISTORY OF SIKIIIM AND ITS RULERS. 37 His descendants were called "Kasi-tliang-ba," or "the arrivals from Kasi." The other brothers travelled east into the hills, whence their descendants found their way westward at a subsequent period : hence they were known as the " Muna-pemba," or "the late comers." They are now better known as the Lhasa Gotra, from having come from the direction of East Tibet. In this branch there were again four brothers, the two kings U-ba-hang and Chang-ba-hang, and Kajung-ma and Gammi-nia: the two first names have evident reference to the two Tibetan Provinces of U (I;hassa) and Chang (Tashelhunpo) ; and in consequence of this latter, or because they came from the north (Chang, lit. Pyang), the Limbus derive their sobriquet of Chang. Dr. Waddell explains that the name Limbu has been given them by the Neimlis : they call themselves Ydkthumha (or Yak-herds), and the Lepchas and Bhuteas call them THhonq (which in the vernacular means 'a mer- chant,' and the Limbus were the chief cattle-merchants and butchers in Sikhim). It has been mentioned above that Mubuk Wa-ma had Invented and hidden four different kinds of "Bed" (the Limbu for books). These were found the (l)by Bishu Karma, the protecting deity or ruler of the Kamis; tlie (2) by Maliisur, a Bhutea lama ; the (3) by Bishun Raja, the head of the Brahmans, and forms the present Deva-nagari; while the (4) was found by the two Limbu Rajas mentioned above. Unfortunately the doe-skin on which the characters had been written had expanded and contracted so much with alternate damp and heat that the writing was undeciplierable, and the Limbu alphabet remain- ed lost. Many genei-ations later the great Limbu Siri-jungna, called also the Dorze Lama of Yangrup, in a vision saw Mubuk Wa-ma, who pointed out where another copy of the Limbu writings, inscribed on stone, was to be found. The saint thus found them, and dictated to his eight chief disciples what now remains of Limbu literature. Siri- jungna was, however, in this betrayed to the Raja of Sikhim and the Tasong monks. They in jealousy or from fear of the Limbus, now becoming a united and separate people, tried to shoot him. In this they failed, as also in an attempt to drown him ; so finally capturing him alive, they filled his mouth with fowls' dung, whereupon his spirit fled away in the form of a bird. Singha Raja was at that time King of Nepal. It may be, as Mr. Eisley mentions, this Raja was Prithi Narayan Singh, but in that case it is singular all authentic history of Siri-jungna should have been lost in less than 100 years.* * Babu S. C. Dass in his " Narrative of a Journey to Lhassa," pa?e 6, btatos that the famous Srijanga, the deified hero of the Limbus, appeared probably in the 9tli century, and is identified by the cis-Hiuialayan Wiuteas with an incarnation of Padma Sambhava. It is also said that he was born 95 years after Uikramjit's era, i.e., about 38 A.D. 2 D 38 HISTORY OF SIKHIM AND ITS RULERS. Another interpretation of Kashi and Lhassa Gotras is that the former are Limbu on both sides, whereas the latter are the offspring of a Limbu father, but a Tibetan mother. The country between the Arun and Kankaye was originally peopled by Limbus, who were distributed over ten districts, each subject to their own headman, Soubah or petty Raja, who looked on his district as his own property. From this division into "ten" (Das), the Limbus are often known as "Das Limbus," and from their headman derived their title of "Soubah." These ten main divisions (or Thums) derive their names either from the name of the locality itself or from the number of the separate " Thars " or subdivisions, with whom the Goorkha Government made settlement, after the conquest of the Newar Raja and submission of the Limbu Soubahs. It seems that the Limbus were not conquered by the Goorkhas, but voluntarily submitted, and in consequence retain several privileges ; among others, the right to guard the Walloon passes. The Thums named from their locality are — Yangrup. Tambarkhola, Mewa or Mai-khola. Ph^dhap. The second class comprise the remaining six Thums, viz.- Charkhola (four). Panch-thar (five). Chothar or Soodap Cha- tharea (six). Terathar (thirteen). Atharai (eighteen). Chaubisa (twenty-four). The Thars or Septs embraced in these ten Thums are very numer- ous, but a full account will be found in Mr. Risley's "The Tribes and Castes of Bengal." Of other tribes in Sikhim the Newars are the most enterprising and influential, though their number is small. Their liistory is, however, in no way connected with that of Sikhim. An interesting account of the Newars is to be found in Dr. Oldfield's "Sketches from Nepal." The Gurungs live chiefly in Western Sikhim, and are well versed in sheep grazing. The Man gars formerly occupied parts of the Kangpa-chea and Tambur valleys, but were expelled, and their power broken by their rivals, the Sherj^a Bhuteas : the last of their chiefs is rumoured to have died near Pomong (in the Darjeeling Government Cinchona estate). NOMENCLATtIRE OF PLACES. 39 NOMENCLATURE OP PLACES. The Tibetan names for Sikhim are pronounced Denjong, Demo- jong and Demoshong, though actually spelt hBras-lJongs, hBras-ma- IJongs and hBrasgiShongs, and mean " the country or valley of rice." In Chinese this same word has been corrupted into Che-Meng- Hsiung. The great Dutch traveller Van de Putte, who travelled in Tibet about the year ITJiO, in his sketch map called Sikhim " Bra- ma-scjon," which is evidently the "hBras-ma-lJongs" above, while Horace della Penna in the same century speaks of the Kingdom of "Bregion" or "Bramashon:" the former must be a corruption of " hBras-lJongs." In Tibetan the people of Sikhim are often called " Eong-pa," or "the dwellers in the steep country." The term " Mon-pa," or " dwellers in the lower country," is used occasionally to describe the Lepcha inhabitants. The first appellation must not, however, be confounded with the similar word by which the Lepchas speak of themselves ; and which means " the squatter in," or " care-taker" of " the country of caves " (Ne layang). What the derivation of Lepcha is cannot be ascertained. It must, however, be remembered that the English form of spelling the word is incorrect and out of keeping with the local pronunciation, which is "Lap-cha" or "Lap-che," the former being the more common and probably the correct one. Dr. Waddell writes: " As the term ' Lapcha'' is of Nepalese origin, and the Parbatiya dialect of the Nepalese consists mainly of pure Sanskrit roots, the word ' Lapcha ' may perhaps be derived from ' lap,'' speech, and ' c/i«,' vile = the vile speakers — a contemptuous term with reference to their non-adoiDtion of the Paibaliya language like the rest of the ' Nepalese ' tribes." Another authority enquires whether it may refer to the Hindi ' Lap-thi,' the name of a kind of skate fish, i.e., of a flat fish, a term which may have been applied, by the Goorkhas to the Lepchas on account of the flatness of their faces. None of these derivations are convincing, but none are offered by the people themselves. " The etymology of the modern name of Sikhim," as Dr. Waddell writes, "is not at all clear. It is generally alleged by the Lepchas and Bhuteas to be a Parbatiya name applied to the country by the conquering Goorkhas. As the great majority of the Parbatiya words are derived almost directly from the Sanskrit, I venture to suggest that its most probable derivation is from the Sanskrit f^fjsrw, Sikhin = crested. Thiti would characterise the leading feature of the approach from the Nepal side — a long high ridge with Kanchiujingua 28,000 feet and Kabur 22,000 feet in its middle separates this country from Goorkha territory ; and being shut off from Bhutan by another 40 NOMENCLATOEE OF PLACES. high ridge, the intervening narrow tract which constitutes Sikhim presents within itself an unusual number of ridges (crests) running more or less in N. to S. direction transverse to the vista from Nepal. This name is not at all likely to be related to Skt. si%, sek, to wet or moisten, for the climate of Sikhim does not appear to be more moist than that of the adjoining portion of Eastern Nepal. Nor does the conjecture seem tenable that it is a Parbatiya translation of one of the vulgar forms of the Bhutea name for the country, viz., ' Demo-jong,' or ' the happy country,' from xa^. suJcJd^ happy, as this word is never spelt or pronounced with a u, and the country was a most inhospitable one." Dr. Waddell, however, is not correct in saying that the word is never spelt or pronounced with an "u;" on the contrary, it is more often pronounced with an "u" than with an "i," and so may have been derived from two Limbu words " Su," new, and "Khim," a house or palace : and the name was first given to the country when the Tibetan Penchoo Namgu(i, the first Raja, built a " new palace " at Rubdentse and established a new kingdom. Curiousl}^ enough in an old map in Hamilton the place where Rubdentse stands is marked "Sikhim," and it may be noted that Kirkpatrick, writing in 1793, speaks of " the town and district of Sookhim," and of a place Sikhem in the itinerary from Bijapore to Baling, and this place would fall somewhere near the Rungect. It is clear, therefore, that the name was originally given to a place and not a country. Nearly every place in Sikhim that has a name has been so called from some special or striking natural feature, or in commemoration of some event that has occurred there: and connected with all the more conspicuous places there is often a legend attached. A few of the best known are here given, though the list of examples might be indefinitely enlarged. As might be expected, names of Lcpcha origin are ;chiefly found in the southern or lower portions of Sikhim, while Nepalese or Pahariya names are very rare and modern. The bulk of the deriva- tions are Tibetan. In Lepcha " Rang or Rung" means "a stream" and "Ung or Ong" " water." In Tibetan " Chhu " is " water or stream," "Tsho" (properly wiTsho) " a lake or pond," "Ri" " a mountain," " La " " a pass," " Kang " (pro. Kangs) " perpetual snow," " Chhen " " great or full of," " Thang " (vulgarly " Tong" or "Tang ") '• a plain or meadow." Omitting affixes denoting river, mountain, «Ssc., we find the following Lepcha names for rivers : — "Rang-nyt^t" (Rimgeet) = "the two streams," as there are two main branches, the Little Rungeet in British territory and the NOMENCLATUEE OF PLACES. 41 Great Eungeet rising from the south-east flank of Kanchinjingna. If, however, the name is pronounced Rung-nyeet, it means " the good river." "Rang-nyu" (our Tista) = " the straight river," so called, accord- ing to Dr. Waddell, because "this river, though receiving the full force of the Ruugeet at right angles, still continues in its straight unaltered course, its direction being unaffected by this great accession of waters, or more probably because of its straight course across the plain after leaving the hills, in contrast to the other great effluent river of Sikhim, the MaJialdi Ung )Ang. ' Mahananda)', which means ' the bent moving water ' with reference to this river, as seen from the hills, taking a very sudden bend to the right on reaching the plains." Another derivation is from " A-nyung," "deep," but this seems far-fetched, as there are a number of shallows even in its lower course. There is a third meaning given, viz., "the great river," from " A-nyoo." It may also mean "the mother river" from a tradition that the Tista and Rungeet were born in the Himalayas and started for the plains, the former carrying a mountain-snake and the latter a pheasant. To find food for the bird, the Rungeet had to wander hither and thither, whereas the Tista went straight and arrived at Rangli first : the Rungeet, finding the Tista had the start, was very angry and threatened to return, whereon the Tista consented to be his wife and carry him on her back : and the curious way the Rungeet waters, which are always dark, overrun the white stream of the Tista at the junction is pointed to as a symbol of this union. Ratong, "the surging swallowing one," the main source of the Rungeet, a glacier-fed rapid torrent subject to sudden and destructive flood. Rilli=:Ri-li, "the twisting one," but the name of this stream is often pronounced Rongli, so the derivation seems doubtful. Rungneac=" Rung-nyak," the black or dark stream which in Pahariya is called Kali jhora, an obvious corruption of " Kala jhora," an exact translation of the Lepcha. Ryott=Ri-yot, " the rapid loosened stream," from its precipitous impetuous course, falling several thousand feet in a few miles. In mountain names occur these — Senchal=Shin-shel-hlo. Shin, cloud and mist-enveloped; shel, to be wet or dank; and hlo, a mountain, "the damp misty hill." This is Dr. Waddell's interpretation, and to the habituds of Darjeeling no name could be more appropriate for the highest hill near the station. Phallut=Fok-iut, "the bare or denuded peak," as it is bare of trees and in striking contrast to its neighbour. 42 NOMENCLATURE OF PLACES. Singalela=SIngli-la, "tliehill or pass of the wild alder" [Betula Bhojpa(lra), because covered with the tree of that name. Near these places is Subarkum=:Sabar-kara, "the musk deer hunter's shelter or cave." Quite recently musk deer were found here. Sandakphu. Dr. Waddell translates this name to be " the height of the poison plant : " a translation only natural, when aconite and poisonous rhododendron used to be so common that sheep and cattle passing over had to be muzzled. The other classical interpretation, "the height where to obtain meditation," seems very far-fetched. The Pahariyas (Limbus) called a neighbouring and conspicuous hill " Sindok-kok-ma," literally "the high ridge," so it is much more probable that this name was ei-roneously transferred to our " Sanduk- phoo," which was formerly known to the Lopchas as " Tarn," which means a plateau. Tendong, "the up-raised horn," is the mountain which the Lepchas assert arose when all the country was under water, and supported a boat containing a few persons, all other people being drowned. The hill rose up like a horn (hence its name) and then subsided to its present form. To this day at the commencement of the rains a monk is sent from the neighbouring monastery of Niamtchi to the top of Tendong, where he has to remain dm-ing the wet season, praying hard that a second flood may not be sent. This tradition of a flood is traceable in another Lepcha name. Rungli Rungliot (lit. Rungion Rung Hot), " the waters of the Tista (Rtmgniou) have come this far and retired," and a cliff or cutting is pointed out as the channel by which the waters subsided. But the story has been metamorphosed and now runs, that the Balasun courted the Rungeet, daughter to the Tista, and at last persuaded her to elope. The pair got as far as the Ghoom range, which the Balasun safely crossed. The Rungeet's strength failed her, and she fell back again into her old valley. The angry father pursued the Balasun, but only succeeded in reaching Rungli Rungliot. Another version makes out that the Balasun came over to steal the fish (and not the daughter) of the Tista and succeeded; in fact until very recently no fish could be caught with a line in the latter river. There is also a tradition of a tower of Babel built at Dharmdin ; it had nearly reached the moon, when word was sent down to send up a hook to throw over the horn of the moon: this command was misunderstood, and the people below cut away the foundations, so the building fell and killed numbers: a mound of stones and potsherds is shown to this day, and the tribe concerned (now extinct) were called " Na-oug " or " the blind fools." Pankim. Dr. Waddell translates this "The King's Minister," supposed to be an attendant of Kanchiujingna. The Tibetan NOMENCLATURE OF PLACES. 43 equivalent is very similar to Pal IDen. It may, however, be of Lepclia origin, and mean tlie Hill of tlie Goddess. It may also mean the conical hill with a jDoint like a needle. Phieungong, "the home of the dwarf bamboo" {Thamnoeulamiis Fakoneri), is a hill covered with the " Phieun," whence one of the finest views in Sikhim is obtainable. Rong-li, "tlie hut of the Lepcha" (Rong), is ajDjilied to several Lepcha settlements. Pashok=Pa-zok, means a "jungle" or "forest," or the place where bamboos are split, thus corresjiondmg to the common Paharia appella- tion Chatai-bans given to many j^laces where mats are plaited from strips of bamboo. Yoksom, the meeting place of the "three Lamas," where they selected Penchoo Namguci as Raja of Sikhim. Ramtek was the first place where Penchoo Namgu^ stopped on his way from Gantok to Yoksom, before his accession; it was inhabited by Lepclias, who on being told by Penchoo of his divine mission, called the place after him, "the departure of the god," referring to Penchoo's journey.* It may, however, have reference to the deposition (departure) of their own kingdom which was to result from this j ourney . Of Tibetan names there are many examples, such as — . La-chheu and La-chhung, the big pass and the little pass, whence rise two of the main streams of the Tista. The Donkhia (hBr Dong-khyags), the real pass at the head of the latter valley, is very steep, high and dangerous (whence the name, the pass where even the wild yak is frozen), much more so than the Kongra lama (Kang- du lama), "the pass of our exalted lady;" hence the names seem in- appropriate. This is, however, explained by saying that La-chhen is a long wide sloping ascent and descent, whereas the La-chhung is short and steep. Notwithstanding the present spelling, it is probable the words were Lam-chhen and Lam-chhung, the highway and the bye- way, which exactly hits off the physical natures of the two routes. The La-chhen village is more often called Lam-teng. Nemitzo, pronounced Men-mo-tsho, " the lake of the demoness." Tsho-la-mo (Cholamoo), " the lake of our lady or the goddess," being close to Kongra lama. Bidaug tsho (properly hBri-thang-tsho), "the lake of the cow- yak." Tanitzo=^Tanyek-tsbo, "the lake of the horse-tail or the horse- hair noose." * Penchoo being an educated, intelligent person, was looked upon by the ignorant Lepcha as a superior being, a deity. 44 NOMENCLATURE OF PLACES. The reason for these names is very obscure. In mountains and passes we have such names as Kanehinjingna =Kang-chhen, "great snow," mDzod, "treasury," and lila, "five." The legend has it there are five treasures to be found in the mountain, but it may have reference to the five peaks forminf( the mountain. Kanchinjhau, the bearded Kanchin (rGyau, the beard), perhaps so called from the way the lower ice and snow slip down from its southern face. The flat near it is Giaogong (properly rGyau-gong), "the bearded hill." Gipmochi, properly Gye-mo-chhen, the trijunction of the boun- daries of Tibet, Sikliim, and Bhutan. Chumulhari (properly Jo-mo-lha-rl), "the hill of our lady- goddess." Chomiomo (properly Jo-mo-Yiim-mo), "the mount of our lady- mother," and said to be the wife of the neighbouring Kanchinjhau : a small peak between the two is pointed out as their cliild. Cho-la (properly kTso-la), "the principal pass," being the main pass between Lower Sikhim and Clmmbi. Chomnaga should be kTso-nao-s-go, "the head of the great forest," a place at the foot of the Chola pass. Yak-la, tlie pass used by yak-graziers. Gnatui-la (properly rNa-thos-la), "the pass of the listening ear." Jelep-la, "the easy, level pass," a very appropriate name, if this pass is compared with others. Pembyringo is usually called gDong-lam, "the road of the face," also very appropriate if it means one's face is terribly cut up by the winds, that make this otherwise easy pass inconvenient for several months in the year. Gnatong is spelt in Tibetan iS'ags-thang and not Nag-thang: the former means the "forest-meadow," as it is situated close to large pine forests ; the latter "black-meadow," which has no local signifi- cance, unless it refers to the black pine trees. The British Fort Graham or Fort Gnatong is not really situated at Gnatong, but at Dulpong. The meaning of this word is " the place of victory or the subduing," very prophetic of the two crushing defeats of the Tibetans on the 22nd May and the 23rd September 1888. The word for victory is spelt " hDul." There is another word rDul, meaning "dust' or "dung," also appropriate, as the place was crowded with yak and cattle stations. Lingtu=Lung-thur, "the descent into the valley." Phadenchen, "the pigs' wallowing place," from its being damp and muddy. Sedongchen, " full of Sd-trees (sDong)," a tree whose leaves cause great itching and even blisters. NOMENCLATURE OP PLACES. 45 Rhenock=Ri-Nag, "the black hill." This is the ordinary- accepted spelling, but it may be a corruption from Ri-s!S'a, the hill ■whose outline is like that of a nose (sNa); there are several places of this name in Tibet, and the same termination is seen in "Lho-na" (Hooker's Thlonok), "the south face." Merig, " the burnt hill." Gantok, "the high hill." Rubdeuchi=Rab-gDaii-ts^, "the height of the chief residence" (palace). Barmie=hBar-Nyag, "the rough notch or ridge." hBar may also mean burnt. Barphung, "the collection of burnings." The following are the names of more than one place: — Laghyap=La-rGyap, " the back of the pass," i.e., the first halting place on the other side of the pass. Byutan may perhaps mean "the meadow of the cow-yak," a place where calves are usually tethered. Sebula:=bSil-bu or gSer-bu-la, "the cold pass;" perhaps it is "Sil-bu-la," a "fragment," a side pass, which exactly describes one or two of the passes called "Sebula." It may again be Ser-bu-la, "the pass of hail," or Serpala, "the yellow pass." Chak-chu^Tsha-chhu, " a hot spring." Samdong=Zam-gDong, "the bridge-face" (or head), i.e., the place facing a bridge. Of Pahariya or Nepalese the most striking is Chiabhangan, "the hollow where one peeps over," referring to the main pass between Sikhim and Nepal. Bhangan or Bunjang means a hollow or depres- sion in the ridge of a mountain chain, so is equivalent to the Tibetan "la;" thus we have at the head of the Little Rungect the pass or dip of Mani-bhangan (mani=tomb or monument), so called from the monument there. A Pahariya evidently in good faith explained that the Tista was so called because it was the boundary of Tibet, i.e., " Tibetstan." As mentioned above, Sundukphoo may be a word of Limbu origin. 46 SIKHIM LAWS. SIKHIM LAWS. The following is a short account of the Sikhioi Laws as translated from a manuscript copy obtained from the Khangsar Dewan. The language used in this book is diificult, and thanks are due to the Phodong Lama and Lamas Shorab Gjatsho and Ugin Gyatsho for the help they liave given. History. The Sikhim laws are founded on those spoken by Raja Me-long- dong,^ who lived in India before the time of Budda (914 B.C.). This Raja is mentioned in the Ka-gyur"^ in the 3 1st chapter. They were again written by Kun-ga-gyal-tsan*^ of Sakya-pa, who was born in 1182. He was King of 13 provinces in Tibet, and has called the lawsf Tim-yik-shal-che-chu-sum or Chu-dug,* there being two sets, one containing 13 laws and the other 16.| These are practically the same. The laws were again written by Desisangye Gya-tsho,^ who was born in 1653 and was a Viceroy of Tibet. They were called by him Tang-shel-me-long-nyer-chik-pa.§*' The first set of laws deal with offences in general ; the second set forth the duties of Kings and Government servants, and are simply an amplification of some of the laws contained in the former. SFMMAEY OF THE SIXTEEN LAWS. No. L — Genkkal Rules to be followed in time of War. («) It is written in the Ka-gyur that before going to war the strength of the enemy should be carefully ascertained, and whether any profit will be derived from it or not. It should also be seen if the dispute cannot be settled by diplomacy before going to war. Care should also be taken that by going to war no loss be sustained by your Government. Whatever the cause of dispute, letters and ^khrims-yig-zhal-lche-bchu-gsum. * sde-srid-sangs-rgyas-rgya-mtso. * dang-shel-me-long-gnyer-gchig-pa. ' Me-long-gdong. ^ bkali-hgyur-mdo-sa-pa. ' Kun-dgah-rgyal-mtsan. * Full name Sa-skya-penti-ta-kun-Jgah-rgyal-mtsan. t The law of 13 cases. j The book containing the 16 laws is supposed to have been amplified from the 13 laws by De-si-sangya Gya-tsho. § The 21 laws as clear as crystal. SIKHIM LAWS. 47 messengers between the contending parties should on no account be stopped, and messengers should be properly treated. Any one coming with overtures of peace should be well received. (b) Should two or more enemies combine against you, no means should be left untried to separate them, and if possible to bring one over to your side, but false oaths should not be resorted to, nor the using of God's name. (c) The lie of the gi-ound should be well examined to see how the roads run, and whether your position is strong. (fZ) If it is necessary, other methods having failed, to go to war, you should all combine, and being of one mind should attack. See that there are no sick, lazy, or timid in the ranks, but only those who fear not death. See that your own soldiers obey the law, and all should obey the orders of the General. Experienced men should only be sent, and not those who look after their own interest oidy. The army should be divided into three divisions under the command of different officers. The General and his staff should be trusted men who can guide the army : they should do their work thoroughly. Your horses, tents, and arms should be kept in good order. A doctor, diviner, astrologer, and lama should be appointed. The tents should be properly arranged the first day, and this arrangement adhered to so as to prevent confusion. On moving, the fires should first be put out, the wounded should be cared for, and in crossing rivers order should be kept, and those behind should not j)ush forward. Things found should be returned without asking a reward, and should not be concealed or kept. Thieves are not to be flogged, but only to have their hands tied behind them, but they may be fined. Should any one kill another by mistake, he must jDay the funeral expenses. Should any combine and kill another, they must pay twice the fine laid down by law. Any disputed loot must be drawn for by lots between the contending parties. The General should appoint sentries, who must look to the water- supply and see they become not easily frightened They should allow no stranger to enter the camp armed, but should be careful not to kill any messenger. If a sentry kills a messenger coming to make peace, he shall be sent to his home in disgrace on some old, useless horse with broken harness. No. 2. — For those who are being Defeated and cannot Fight. When a fort is surrounded, those in the fort should remain quiet and should show no fear. They should not fire off their arms uselessly and with no hope of hitting the enemy. The well within the fort should be most carefully preserved. Those within the fort 48 SIKHIM LAWS. should not be allowed to communicate with the enemy for fear of treachery. They should not be lazy. Until peace is declared the messenger should receive no reward. Should you be defeated, you must give up your arms, and those who give them up must not be killed. Should any one kill one who has given up his arms, he must be derided and scoffed at as a coward. If during a conflict you capture a General or officer of rank, you shovdd bind his hands in front with a silk scarf ; he should be allowed to ride his own horse or another good horse, and should be treated well, so that in the event of your ever falling into his hands he may treat you well also. Any other prisoners should have their hands tied behind them and they should be made to walk. Officers should be placed on old, worn-out horses with broken harness and I'ope stirrups. Should an army be defeated and be obliged to fly, nothing should be said to them, but they should not be rewarded or receive any presents, even though the leader be a great man. The prisoners should receive what is necessary for subsistence and also expenses for religious ceremonies, and men of rank shoidd be treated well and with consideration. A man can only make a treaty for himself and his descendants. No, 3. — Foe Officers and Government Servants. These should leave off their own work and apply themselves entirely to Government work, should obey the orders of the Viceroy and head of the Church, should not change the shari (hat sects) and Tub-tha (religious sects). In the fifth month they should kill no animals, and the Eaja's store should be well kept, so that there be no deficiency. They should repair the images, temples and books, and all passes and roads. Also on the 10th of this month the " dadok" ceremony must be performed.* If a man be sent on private business, the name of Government should not be used. Debts may be recovered through officers, who should patiently hear the case and not give arbitrary orders. They should give just judgment and not favour those who can reward them. They should enquire diligently into all cases, and leave no case undecided, so that all men can say your work has been well done. No. 4. — Law of Evidence. You should listen carefully to what is said by both parties. Equals by birth should be heard at the same time and place. Those that are * This puja is performed in order to send our enemies away. SIKHIM LAWS. 49 not equals should be heard separately. Should any one not agree to your decision, he can be fined. If the evidence be false, both parties are fined according to which has given the most false evidence. If after a decision has been given the parties wish to compound between themselves, one-half of the fine only is imposed. No. 5. — Geave Offences. There are five sins : (1) Murder of mother, (2) murder of holy men, (3) murder of father, (4) making mischief amongst Lamas, and (5) causing hurt to good men. There are also the sins of taking things from Rajas and Lamas for our own use ; causing a good man to fall through no fault of bis own ; administering poison ; killing any one for gain ; causing strife in a peaceful country ; and making mischief. For the above offences punishments are inflicted, such as putting the eyes out, cutting tlie throat, having the tongue cut out, having the hands cut off, being thrown from cliffs, and being thrown into deep water. No. 6. — Fines inflicted for Offences in order to make people REMEMBER, Certain crimes may be punished by money fines, varying in accordance with the gravity of the offence. When a number of men have committed dacoity, they may be fined from 15 to 80 gold srang.* For small offences smaller fines are imposed, and can be paid either in money or in kindj the amount to be settled by the officer trying the case. No. 7. — Law of Imprisonment. Any one rioting, using arms, and disputing near the court can be imprisoned. Thieves and those who destroy property, and those who do not obey the village headman, those who give bad advice, those who abuse their betters, can be bound and put in the stocks and fined according to the law, and are only released if petitioned by some one in authority who makes himself responsible for his fine. * NoTB. — One srang = one oz. 60 SIKHIM LAWS. No. 8. — For Offenders who refuse to come in an Orderly has to BE sent expressly TO ENQUIRE ABOUT THE CASE. A messenger who is sent off at a moment's notice should receive 3 patties* of barley per diem for food and a small sum in money, according to the importance of the case in which he is employed, but the messenger's servants should not be fed. The messenger is allowed one-fourth of the fine for his expenses. Should an agent not settle a case properly, he must return to the villagers what he took, otherwise the villagers will have much trouble given them. The agent should report having received the fine on penalty of forfeiting one-fourth what he has taken. When a fine is imposed, it should be at once collected, no excuse being taken. If an agent is sent to collect rent, he should be fed twice by the headman. Of stolen property recovered by an agent, the Government receive one-tenth value. No. 9. — Murder. For killing a man the fine is heavy — even up to many thousands of gold pieces. In the Tsalpa law book it is written that if a child, a madman, or animal kills any one no fine is taken, but that money must be given by the relations of the first two for funeral expenses, and one-fourth of that amount must be given by the owner of the animal towards these expenses. Should one man kill another and plead for mercy, he must, besides the fine, give compensation and food to the relative of the deceased. Should a man kill his equal and the relatives come to demand compensation, he must give them 18oz. of gold in order to pacify them. The price of blood should never be too much reduced, or a man may say, "If this is all I have to give, I will kill another." The arbitrator must take the seal of each party, saying they will abide by his decision, and they must each deposit 3cz. of gold as security. Fines can be paid in cash, animals, and articles of different kinds. The price for killing a gentleman who has 300 servants, or a super- intendent of a district, or a Lama professor, is 300 to 400oz. gold srang. For full llamas. Government officers, and gentlemen with 100 servants the fine is 200oz. of gold. For killing gentlemen who possess a horse and 5 or 6 servants, working Lamas, the fine is 145 to 150oz. of gold. * 17 patties = 1 maiind or 821bs. SIKHIM LAWS. 51 For killing men with no rank, old Lamas, personal servants, the fine is 80oz. of gold. For killing a man who has done good work for Government the fine is 50 to 70oz. of gold. For killing common people and for villagers the price is 30 to 40oz. of gold. For killing unmarried men, servants, and butchers the price is 30 gold srang. And for killing blacksmiths and beggars JO to 20oz. of gold. These prices can also be paid in grain. The prices for funeral expenses must be paid within 49 days. On the fines being paid, a letter must be written and a copy given to each party, saying that everything has been settled. If a case is re-opened, a fine must be paid by him who opens the case. The murderer must write to the effect he will not commit such a crime again. Part of the fines can be given towards the funeral expenses of the deceased. No. 10. — Bloodshed. In the old law it is written that for any drop of blood shed the price varies from one to one-quarter zho.* A man may even be beheaded for wounding a superior. For wounding his own servant a man is not fined, but he must tend the wounded man. Should two men fight and one wound the other, he who first drew his knife is fined, and he who is wounded must be tended by the other till his wounds be well. The fines are payable in money or kind. Should one man wound another without any fight, he is fined according to the law of murder. If in a fight a limb or an eye is injured, the compensation to be given is fixed by Government. No. 11. — For those who are False and Avaricious the following Oaths are required. If it is thought a man is not telling the truth, an oath should be administered. At the time of taking an oath powerful gods should be invoked, and those who are to administer the oath must be present. It is writen in ancient law that the bird of Paradise should not be * The word ' zho ' means a drachm, or as a coin two-thirds of a rupee. 52 SIKHIM LAWS, killed, the poisonous snake should not be thrown down, the raven should not be stoned, and the small turquoise should not be defiled. Thus pure Lamas and monks should not be sworn. Magicians, shameless persons, women, fools, the dumb, and children should, not be sworn. Men should be emj^loyed who know both parties and are intelligent and truthful. Those willing to take an oath should be of equal rank. When all are present, the case should fii'st be settled, if possible, by arbitration. If this fails,, the ordeal either by hot stones or boiling oil is resorted to. That by oil : The oil must be supplied by Government and must be pure. It is boiled in a pan at least 3 inches deep. In the oil a black stone and a white stone are placed of equal size and weight. He who has to take the oath must first wash his hands in water, in milk, and in widow's urine. His hand is then bound in a cloth and sealed. This is done a day or two before the ordeal in order to give him a chance of confessing. The vessel with the boiling oil is then placed so that the stones cannot be seen, and he has to take one out. If he takes out the white one without any burn, he wins his case. He who gets the black stone is sure to be burnt and loses his case. Should he who gets the white stone be slightly burnt, it means he has partially spoken the truth and wins half his case. That by hot stone: The stone is made hot by the blacksmith, taken out of the fire with tongs, and placed on a brass dish. The man's hands are washed as before, examined to see what marks there are on it produced by labour, and the hot stone placed in the palm. With the stone he must walk 4 to 7 paces. His hand is then bound up and left for 3 to 7 days. On examination if there are no marks, or if there is a long mark called rdo-lam, he wins his case. He also wins his case if the stone bursts three times in being heated. It depends on the number of marks how much of his case he wins, A cloth and a rug have to be paid as expenses, and the brass vessels go to the blacksmith. In order to test the oil for boiling, a grain of barley is thrown in : if it flies into the air, the oil is ready. Whilst placing his hand in the oil or holding the hot stone, a state- ment in writing of the case is placed on the person's head. The ordeal by oil may be gone through without using the stone. Mud and water can be used in place of oil. Hot iron used to be employed in place of the stone, but is now discontinued. No. 12.— Theft, For taking a Jongpen's or other great man's things, 10,000 times their value has to be given in return. For taking a Lama's things SIKHIM LAWS. 53 80 times their value has to be given, a neighbour's things 9 times, and a villager's 7 times. For taking a stranger's things 4 times. Beggars who steal from hunger have only to give back what they took. Should one man accuse another falsely of stealing, he must give him as compensation what he accused him of stealing. Should a man find anything on the road and without telling take it for himself, he must be fined double its value ; but should he tell, he receives one-third the value. Should any one recover stolen property, but not be able to catch the thief, he receives half of the property recovered. Should any one find a horse, any cattle, yaks or sheep and keep them for a year without finding the owner, he receives one-fourth the value, provided he has not in the meantime used the animals for his own benefit. Should any one wound a thief he is not fined. If a thief whilst running away be killed by an arrow or stone, a small fine only is taken. Should any one having caught a thief kill him, he is fined accord- ing to the law of murder. The reward for catching a thief is from 1 to ooz. of gold, according to the amount of the property stolen. No. 13. — Disputes between near Relatives. Between Man AND Wife and between Neighbours who have THINGS IN COMMON. If a husband wishes to be separated from his wife, he must pay her from 18 zho, the amount varying in accordance with the length of time they have been married. If the wife wishes to leave her husband, she must pay him 12 zho and one suit of clothes. The wife on seioaration also receives the clothes ffiven to her at her marriage, a list of which is always taken, or its equivalent in money. Should there be children, the father takes the boys and the mother the girls; the father jDajing from 5 to 15 zho for each son, called the price of milk. If the woman has committed no fault, she receives her ornaments. Should a fauiily wish to sej^arate, a list of the whole property should be taken and divided according to circumstances. The father and mother are asked with whom they would like to live, and if there is any dispute about it, lots are drawn. The married children's property is first separated from the rest, and if any children ai'e going to school, their expenses must be taken from the whole before decision. e2 54 SIKHIM LAWS. 1^0. 14. — Taking another's Wife or Adultery. The old law runs that if any one takes a Raja's or Lama's wife, he may be banished, have his hands cut off, or his penis cut off. He may also have to pay a weight in gold equal to his penis and testicles. For violating a woman of different position 3oz. of gold have to be paid to the woman's relations and 4 gold srang to Government, besides many things in kind. For violation of a woman of the same position, 2 or 3 gold srang and several kinds of articles have to be paid. If the woman goes of her own accord to the man, he has only to pay 1 gold srang and three kinds of articles. Should one man's wife entice another married man to go with her, she has to pay seven things in kind. Should a man and woman cohabit on a journey there is no fine. JS^'o. 15. — Law of Contract. Should any one take a loan of cattle, yaks, sheep, &c., and they die in his charge, he must pay for them. Should they die one night after being returned, it is the owner's loss. If they die before midnight of the night they are returned, the borrower has to pay. Should a horse die whilst on loan from a wound, one-fourth to one-third its value will have to be paid. Should any one having made an agreement to take anything refuse to take it, the articles being good, he must pay one-fourth its value. If there be any mistake in an account, it can be rectified up to one year. i\^o. 16. — For Uncivilized People. Such as Bhuteas, Lepchas, Mongolians, who know no law, therefore what is written below is not required in Tibet. The Mongolians also have their own law, written by Raja Kesar, of which we know little. Any Government messenger must be supplied with what he wants (such as horses, food, &c.), and if not provided he can take them. Also whilst halting he must be supplied with food and fire. But the messenger must not draw his sword or use his bow, or he will be liable to a fine, and he must only take what is necessary to the perfoi-mance of the Government work. MAKRIAGE CUSTOMS OP THE SIKHIMESE. 55 MARRIAGE CUSTOMS OF THE SIKHIMESE.* [These customs have been gathered from actual observation, and are the customs now observed amongst the Bhuteas.] If the eldest brother takes a wife, she is common to all his brothers. If the second brother takes a wife, she is common to all the brothers younger than himself. The eldest brother is not allowed to cohabit with the wives of the younger brothers. Should there be children in the first case, the children are named after the eldest brother, whom they call father. In case 2, after the second brother, &c. Three brothers can marry three sisters, and all the wives be in common, but this case is not very often seen. In such a case the children of the eldest girl belong to the eldest brother, &c., if they each bear children. Should one or more not bear children, then the children are apportioned by arrangement. Two men not related can have one wife in common, but this arrangement is unusual. A man occasionally lends his wife to a friend, but the custom is not general and uncommon. If a girl becomes pregnant before marriage and afterwards marries the father of the child, the child is considered legitimate, but the man is fined a bull or its equivalent, which go to her relatives. Should the man by whom the girl was made pregnant not marry her, and should she afterwards marry another, the child remains with the woman's brothers or relatives. A woman is not considered dishonoured by having a child before marriage. The marriage ceremony consists almost entirely in feasting, which takes place after the usual presents have been given to the giiTs relations. These presents constitute the woman's price, and vary in accordance with the circumstances of both parties. The only religious ceremony is performed by the village headman, who offers up a bowl of marwa to the gods, and presenting a cup of the same marwa to the bride and bridegroom, blesses them, and hopes the union may be a fruitful one. Lamas take no part in the ceremony. The marriage tie is very slight, and can be dissolved at any time by either the man or the woman. A man may marry his mother's brother's daughter, but he can marry none of his other first cousins till the second generation. Their system of relationship is peculiar and interesting, and is given below. • Sikhim, Tibetans and Bhutanese. 56 IIAERUGE CUSTOMS OP THE SIKHIMESE. Regarding succession the following order seems to be generally, though not always, used: — 1. Son. 2. Grandson, &c., through the males. 3. Brother by same mother. / Father's brother's son \ A ) n sister's son / , , . *• Mother's brother's son ^^ ^^°^^^' V ,, sister's son / 5. If only distant relatives, they only receive a portion, a portion going to the Lamas and the remainder to Government. 6. If no relatives, funeral expenses, &c., to the Lamas and the remainder to Government. GEOLOGY AND MINERAL EESOURCES OF SIKHIM. 57 NOTES ON THE GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF SIKHIM. By p. N. Bose, B.8C. (london), f.g.s., Deputy Superintendent, Geological Survey of India. (i) Physical Geography. SiKHiM is essentially a mountainous country without a flat piece of land of any extent anywhere. The mountains I'ise in elevation northward. The high serrated, snowcapped spurs and peaks culmi- nating in the Kanchanjinga, which form such a characteristic and at- tractive feature in the scenery of Sikhim, are found in this direction. The northern portion of the country is deeply cut into steep escarp- ments, and, except in the Lachen and the Lachung valleys, is not populated. Southern Sikhim is lower, more open, and fairly well cultivated. This configuration of the country is partly due to the direction of the main drainage, which is southern. The Himalayas on the Indian side must have sloped to the south from the earliest geo- logical times when the gneiss which constitutes their main body was elevated. For all the later rocks — the submetamorphic slate group, the coal-bearing Damudas and the tertiaries — which fringe the outer Himalaya are evidently formed of detritus carried from the north. The physical configuration of Sikhim is also partly due to geolo- gical structure. The northern, eastern and western portions of the country are constituted of hard massive gneissose rocks capable of resisting denudation to a considerable extent. The central and south- ern portion, on the other hand, is chiefly formed of comparatively soft, thin, slaty and half-schistose rocks which are denuded with facility, and it is this area which is the least elevated and the best populated in Sikhim. The trend of the mountain system, viewed as a whole and from a distance, is in a general eas^t-west direction. Tlie chief ridges in Sikkim, however, run in a more or less north-south direction, as, for instance, the Singalela and the Chola ridges. Another north-south ridge runs through the centi'al portion of Sikhim separating the Run- geet from the Tista valley; Tendong (8,676 feet) and Moinam (10,637 feet) are two of its best known peaks. This north-south direction of the principal ridges is due, no doubt, to the original southern slope of the Himalaya. The Rungeet and the Tista which form the main channels of drainage, run nearly north-south. The valleys cut by these rivers and their chief feeders are very deep. The valleys of the 58 GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF SIKHM. Rungeet, of the Tista, and of their chief tributaries are generally not less than 5,000 feet in depth. They are rather open towards the top, but usually attain a steep gorge-like character as we approach the beds of the rivers. As a consequence of this, and also of the com- parative insalubrity of the lower portion of the valleys, all the monas- teries and principal villages are situated at an elevation ranging from 4,000 to 6,000 feet. The snowcapped jagged ridges in the northern portion of the country send down glaciers* which at present usually come down to about 13,500 feet; those from the Kanchanjinga appear to descend about a thousand feet lower. The perpetual snow line in Sikhim may be approximately put down at 16,000 feet, so that the glaciers descend 3,500 to 2,500 feet below that line. Formerly they used to descend much lower than at present. Lachung, for instance, of which the elevation is 8,790 feet, stands at the foot of an immense terminal moraine. The Bidangcho lake, on the road between Grna- tong and Jalep pass, at an elevation of 12,700 feet, is dammed at the southern end by a bank of boulders which are distinctly of glacial origin. Moraines occiir also about Thaugme in the Pragchu valley, north of Jongri, at an elevation of about 13,000 feet. The retreat of the glaciei's backwards towards their gathering ground or the neve in these cases has been recent, and the ancient moraines witness- ing their advance are still in situ. But the excessive rainfall of Sikhim, amounting annually to probably no less than 200 inches, makes the removal and re-arrangement of the glacial boulders a question of very short time ; and once brought within the action of the torrential streams, the boulders soon lose all traces of their glacial origin. The peculiar configuration of the hills passed over by gla- ciers is also soon lost owing to pluvial denudation. The glacial valleys, as for instance the Pragchu, the Lachen, and the Lachung valleys, are open and ^^_x shaped ; and this shape is one of the most reliable evidences of their origin. But after the retreat of the gla- ciers, the streams taking their place cut the valleys down deeply into V-shaped gorges, and the striking distinction between glacier and river valleys is soon effaced. Thus owing to the excessive rainfall, traces of past glacial action are liable to extinction in Sikhim ; and it is impossible to tell how far the glaciers extended in comparatively remote times. The lowest height of glacial extension, for which I found unmistakeable evidence, is that of Lachung (8,790 feet). Below Lachung also down to a height of about 7,000 feet, the valley is open and has a glacial look about it. * The writer has described some of the Sikkim glaciers visited by him in a paper containiDg extracts from the Journal of a trip to the glaciers of the Kabru, Pandim, &c. published in the " Becords of the Geological Survey of India," Vol. XilV, pt. 1. GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOXJECES OF SIKHIM. 59 Valleys to wbich glaciers come down, or whence these have but recently retired, abound in small lakes or tarns which are dammed in at the outlet by moraines. The Eidangcho lake, 3 miles north- east of Gnatong, is the best instance I came across of a glacial lake in a valley whence the glacier has recently retired. It is 1^ mile in length, and its greatest breadth is ^ mile. The following hot springs are known in Sikhim : — 1. Phut SacJm — On the east side of the Rungeet river, 2 miles north-east of Rinchingpong monastery, situated amongst dark coloured massive siliceous limestones. Hot fetid water bubbles up at several spots. Temperature at one spring 100*4°F. The springs are situated in the bed of the river which at the time I visited them (March) was dry. These springs are referred to in Dr. Oldham's "Thermal Springs of India" (Vol. XIX, pt. 21, p. 32) as " Phugsachu." 2. Ralonq Sachu — On the west bank of the Rungeet river, about 2 miles N.N.W. of Ralong monastery. Elevation about 3,100 feet. Situated amongst finely laminated phyllites with abundance of vein quartz, at a height of about 100 feet above the bed of the river. Hot water flows out through fissures at several places. The tempera- ture of the hottest spring close to where it comes out is I31°F. ; in a reservoir constructed for bathing purposes, it is 1 18"4°F. The tempera- ture of another spring close to where the water flows out is 114*8°; in the reservoir it is lOTG". [The temperature of a stream close by was found to be 53-6°.] A whitish deposit, which efPervesces strongly on the application of hydrochloric acid, is formed at the mouths of the springs. It is stained green in places with carbonate of copper, due, no doubt, to the springs passing through cupriferous ores. It is very like- ly these springs that are referred to in Dr. Oldham's list as " Puklaz Sachu, about one day's journey from the monastery of Pemlong " [op. cii, p. 32). Probably " Pemlong " is meant for Ralong. I heard of a hot spring about half a mile north of Ralong Sachu, which I had no time to visit. 3. Ycumtang — On the east bank of the Lachung river, half a mile below Yeumtang. Though I passed the springs 1 could not get at them owing to the bridge over the Lachung not having been constructed at the time of my visit (May). They are described in Dr. Oldham's list {op. cit., p. 32) : — " The discharge amounts to a few gallons per minute ; the temperature at the source is 112^°, and in the bath 106°. I'he water has a slightly saline taste ; it is colourless, but emits bubbles of sulphuretted hydrogen gas, blackening silver."— - [Hooker, Him. Journ., 1855, Vol. II, p. 126.) 4. Momay. — " Hot springs burst from the ground near soma granite rocks on its floor, about 16,000 feet above the sea, and only a 60 GEOLOGY AND MINEEAL RESOURCES OF SIKHIM. mile below the glacier [of Kincliinjhow], and the water collects in pools: its temperature is 110°, and in places 116°." — {Hooker, Him. Journ., 1855, Vol. II, p. 140; see also Dr. Oldham, op. cit., jo. 33.) (ii) Geology. 1. — The Gneissic Group. The rocks belonging to this group are the oldest, and constitute the main body of the Himalayas. From near Kurseong, south of Darjeeling, to the northern frontier of Sikhim it is uninterruptedly traced over a distance of some 75 miles in a straight line ; whereas all the later rocks — the submetamorphic slate group, the Damudas, and the tertiaries — together cover an area in the outer Himalayas nowhere more than six miles in width. Two forms of the gneiss are met with : — (a) In Southern Sikhim, ai^proximately south of the parallel of Jongri and Boktola (about lat. 27° 250'), the gneiss is highly micaceous and frequently passes into mica schists. Both muscovite and biotite occm', the former predominat- ing. Hornblende, garnet, and schorl are the chief acces- sory minerals. Bauds of quartzite are common. Veins of calcite occur at places, as near Lingtu by the road to Gnatong. The gneiss is well foliated, and exhibits strongly marked features of disturbance, in that it is much folded and crumpled, especially in the extreme south about Darjeeling. The prevailing strike is WNW — ESE. (5) In Northern Sikhim, as north and south-west of Jongri, about Lachung, &c., the gneiss is not quite so micaceous. Muscovite is either rare or is entirely absent. Schorl and hornblende are the chief accessory minerals. Intrusive granitic rocks occur as dykes and sheets; in some of them muscovite is well developed. The noi'thern gneiss agrees in some of its petrological characters witli the central gneiss of Stoliczka. As the southern gneiss, how- ever, was unintei'ruptedly traced into it, and as no phj'sical break •was perceptible anywhere, they are very likely of the same age. Mr. Medlicott takes the same view in the " Manual of Indian Geology."* The relation between the gneissic group and the next group (the Dalings), which includes submetamorphic slates, phyllites, &c., is far from clear. At the eastern boundary between the two groups which passes by Gantok, the j^resent capital of Sikhim, the latter apparently • Op. cit., pp. 597— 614. GEOLOGY AND JIIXEKAL RESOURCES OF SIKHIM. fi 1 underlie the gneiss, the dip of both being north-eastern. So do they also at the western boundary, which passes by Pemiongchi, the first monastery in Sikhim, the dij) there being north-western. At the southern boundary, which is in the Darjeeling district, and which appears to be faulted, the dips of both the groups are southern. Wherever the junction between the two groups is observed, the Dalings appear to underlie the gneiss ; and the fact that the former pass into mica schists at places near the junction makes it appear as if there was a passage from the one to the other group. Indeed, Mr. Mallett considered the gneiss as more recent than the Dalings.* But the former being presumably the older rock, it would be prefer- able to find some other explanation for the apparent underlie of the Dalings. The fact that near the junction everywhere the gneiss dips in the same direction as the Dalings, shows that the former was largely affected by the disturbing forces which tilted up the latter. 2. — The Dalings. This name was given by Mr. Mallet to a group of submetamor- phic rocks after a place called Daling in the Darjeeling district. Phyllites form the predominant rocks in this groujD. At the bound- ary between it and the gneissose rocks, they pass into silvery mica schists ; in fact, in this position the passage is sometimes so gradual, that it is difficult to say where the one group begins and the other ends. Dark clay slates with thick quartzite bands prevail near Chakang, Pachikhani (south of Pakyang), &c.; the workable copper ores invariably occur amongst these rocks. Gritstone is sometimes met with as just south of Namchi; but conglomerate never. Impure siliceous limestone is found north-east and north-west of Namchi, and highly carbonaceous shales occur in the Mangpur jhora just south of Namchi, by the Rungeet east of Chakang, and by the Rummam near Gok (south of Chakang). Igneous rocks are rare. A rather thick band of gneissose granite was met with between Murtam and Ramtpek which continues for some distance northward as well as southward, forming the ser- rated peaks D : 5 and Maphila. It is probably of intrusive origin. An unquestionably intrusive dioritic-looking rock was encountered penetrating through slates by the road between Song and Tikobu. The Sikhim Dalings occur somewhat in the form of a dome- shaped anticlinal. On the south side the dip is southern ; east of the Rungeet it is chiefly E.N.E.; west of that river the inclination is * " Memoirs, Geological Survey of India," Vol. XI, pt. 1, p. 42. 62 GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF SIKHIM. north-western; and on the north side, as near Ralong, the dip is mainly northern. The southern boundary between the DaHngs and the gneissose rocks which passes a little north of Darjeeling was shown by Mr. Mallet to be faulted. The eastern boundary passes by Gantok, and the western by Pemiongchi. As in the_ case of the Damuda-Tertiary and the Dallng-Damuda boundaries in the Sub- Himalayas, both of these boundaries may represent " lines of original contact, possibly modified by subsequent faulting."* _ The Baling rocks would in this case have to be supposed as deposited in a lake of which steep gneiss escarpments formed the sides: the lower gorge of the Tista below its junction with the Rungeet which, except close to its debouchure, is composed of Baling rocks, forming the outlet of such a lake. The Balings, it should be noted in this connection, unquestionably bear the impress of lacustrine, rather shallow water deposits, false bedding being noticeable at places. In fact, they recall to one's mind the micaceous clays and sandstones of Tertiary age in the outermost fringe of the Sub-Himalayas. By subsequent tangential pressure which caused their^ disturbance, the Balings would be tilted up against the original gneiss escarpments in such a manner as to present an appearance of conformable underlie and of faulting. The greater metamorphism of the Balings at the boundary between them and the gneissose rocks (a fact which has been noted before) may be accounted for by the greater pressure to which they would be subjected there owing to the resistance offered by the older gneissose rocks. The Balings have suffered considerable disturbance. The slates and phyllites frequently exhibit crumbling and contortion; and the dips are, as a rule, rather high, being seldom below 45°. The following sequence of strata in ascending order is met with near Chakang: — (a) Massive, coarse quartzites or quartzite sandstones with a lenticular band of carbonaceous shales. (b) Bark slaty shales which are cupriferous at places. (c) Phyllites passing into micaceous schists at places. (iii) Economic Geology. 1. — Copper. General remarks. — Copper ores are very widespread in Sikhim, and constitute the main source of its prospective mineral wealth. •"Memoirs, Geological Survey of India," Vol. Ill, pt. 2, p. 102: "''"ol. XI, pt. 1, p. 48; 'Eecords, Geological Survey of iLdia," Vol. XXIII, pt. 4, p. 244. GEOLOGY AKD MINERAL EESOUECES OF SIKHIM. 63 The following generalisations arrived at by Mr. 'Mallet with regard to the copper ores of the Darjeeling district generally hold true for Sikhim also : — (1) "All the known copper-bearing localities are in the Daling beds. Some are, it is true, situated in the transition rocks between the Dalings and the gneiss, but none in the genuine gneiss itself. (2) "The ore in all is copper pyrites, often accompanied by mundic. Sulphate, carbonate, and oxide of copper are frequent as results of alteration of the pyrites, but they occur merely in traces. (3) "The ore occurs di.^seminated through the slates and schists themselves, and not in true lodes."* Witii regard to the first generalisation, it may be noted that copper ores have been found at several places noted below, in the gneiss itself, though usually within a short distance of its junction with the Dalings. The gneiss ores, however, do not appear to be so rich as those in the Dalings, and have never been worked. With regard to the third generalisation, the ore in one case at least, that of Pachikhani, appears to occur in true lodes. Within the Dalings, the richest ores (those of Pachikhani and Rathokhani, for instance) occur amongst greenish, rather soft, slaty shales. The gangue in this case consists of the shale, much hardened by infiltrated quartz, or of quartz alone. The method of copper-mining adopted in Sikhim is very similar to that generally pursued in India in most native operations, and has been fully described by Mr. Mallet in his geological account of Dar- jeeling. His description, t with some additions, is, however, repeated here for easy reference. The Sikhim mines greatly resemble magnified rabbit-holes: meandering passages are excavated with little or no system beyond following, as far as possible, the direction of the richest lodes ; and although some precaution is taken to support the roof in the more shaky places by timber props, the number of galleries fallen in or abandoned show how inefficiently this is done. The shafts are always driven vertically in from the face of a cliff or declivity, as no attempt at systematic pumping is ever made. Should the shaft become flooded or too damp to permit of the water being kept down by gravitation or simple bailing, it has to be abandoned. Poor shafts are immediately deserted if richer ore is found near, long before the former, under a better system, would be worked out. The passages vary according to the height and thickness of the lode, and average about three to four feet in height and width ; but • Memoirs, Vol. XI, pt. 1, p. 72. | t Op. cif., p. 69. G4 GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF SIKHIM. where the rock has not yielded a payiug proportion of ore, they are contracted to a size barely sufficient to admit a man's body. Access to the interior of the mines, therefore, is gained by crawling on "all fours," and in the narrowest parts by lying flat on the face and progressing after the manner of serpents. As a natural consequence of such a primitive system, the excavations cannot be carried beyond a very trifling depth, as compared to European mines. The ore is got out by manual labour, no machinery or even blasting being resorted to. The tools generally used are an iron hammer and an ordinary wedge or chisel (ckeni), which is held by a striji of split bamboo twisted round it. Small picks are also sometimes employed. The lights used are torches made of thin strips of bamboo about a foot long, which burn for a minute and-a-half or even less. This necessitates the presence of two men, one to hold the light, while the other chisels out the ore. Mallet says the smoke from the bamboo is less irritating to the eyes than that from other kinds of wood. No explosion from gas has ever been known ; blasting by powder is very seldom resorted to. The miners are all Mangars by race, and called Agris : the men excavate the ore in large lumps and the women carry it to the surface in very small bamboo baskets about 9 inches by 12 inches, wiiich are called "jak;" they are of elongated form so as to be readily taken along the narrow jjassages. Further, the jaks are taken out by relays of men or boys, who push or carry them from one to the other. From the pit's mouth women carry the ore away in ordinary baskets to the nearest streams and wash it. After a jDreliminary breaking up of the larger pieces and rejection of the refuse, the jjicked ore is broken up small on flat stones with hammers of iron, and not now-a-days by hammers formed of quartzite or other hard rock, tied into forked sticks as described by Mallet. This pounded ore is called " dhan." This is roughly sorted, small pieces of nearly jiure copper are taken direct to the miner's home, while the more impure pieces are taken to a shed near a stream, where it is beaten into coarse powder by heavy round hammers or in stone hand- mills called " jhatoo." Near a convenient watercourse a succession of troughs called "khali" are built up: the troughs are made of rough planks fixed on the ground, one forming the bottom, which has a slight incline, and the others fixed on edge. In form and size the troughs resemble small coffins, but the top and lower end are open: ■vv'ater from tlie stream is conducted into these troughs, which are placed one just above another in a continuous straight line. The quantity of water allowed to flow into the trough is regulated by a clay dam at the GEOLOGY AND MINEKAL EKSOURCES OF SIKHIM. 65 upper end, the surplus water flowing' off in a parallel channel. In tha case of very dirty " dhan" the powdered ore is put through a wooden sieve, the refuse called " maddam " being thrown away, while the other portion, chan chamru, is again ground in the "jhatoo" and afterwards washed. The powdered ore is now washed in these troughs, and continu- ally agitated by the hand : in this way the dust and lighter particles containing but little ore get washed down the troughs by the flowing stream, leaving only the heavier particles containing copper ore. These copper particles are taken to the blacksmith's house, where the smelting operations ai'e carried out. These blacksmiths belong to the " Muhur" branch of the " Kamis." The ore, whether in pure lumps or in powder as above mentioned, is taken to the smelting house (afur), in which there is a furnace ("tora") built down into the floor and lined with some neatness with refractory clay, about 18 inches deep, a foot square at the top, and tapering a good deal towards the bottom. Small charcoal is first filled in to a depth of about a foot and beaten down by a wooden rammer till a saucer-shaped floor of coarsely powdered charcoal is formed, sufficiently compact to prevent the products of the smeltings sinking into it. These protect it from the blast, and it is besides too compact to burn easily. There is no orifice in this part of the furnace. Two clay tuyeres dip nearly vertically about three inches into it from the top, and are respectively connected with skin bellows by horizontal tubes about a yard long. The tubes are formed of clay mixed with chopped straw, and are moulded on a straight stick, which is subse- quently withdrawn. The furnace thus prepared is lighted up with charcoal, and the bellows at each side worked alternately. When at its full heat the powdered ore is sprinkled in at short intervals, until a sutficient amount of regulus or chakhoo, as it is called by the smelters, has col- lected at the bottom of the furnace, covered by the lighter slag. The charcoal is then raked away and the surface of the slag(" keet") cooled • with a whisp of wet straw tied to a stick. The solidified cake is removed and the fresh surface cooled : in this way the slag is taken off in two or three successive cakes, leaving the heavier and more per- fectly fluid regulus behind, which is afterwards cooled and extracted. The regulus is then pounded and ground in the jhatoo, mixed with an equal amount of cowdung, and made into balls about the size of oranges, often called " paira." After drying, a quantity of these are spread on a layer of charcoal in a place surrounded by stones and covered with charcoal, then a second layer of balls, and tlien more charcoal. The whole is then ignited, and the regulus thus roasted with free access of air; this roasting lasts nearly twenty-four hours. 66 GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF SIKHIM. The roasted balls are subsequently broken up and ground, and the powder sprinkled into the furnace (tora) in the same way as the original ore. The copper was formerly exported to Nepal, but for the last two years importation has been stopped by the Nepalese Government, for what reason is not known ; in consequence the Newar lessees have a large stock of copper in hand, the cost of manufacture being estimated at Rs. 23 a mauud, while the price in Calcutta is only Rs. 20. It will not pay to export, and consequently the stocks are held over for a rise in the market or the reopening of Nepal. It is suspected that the closure of Nepal was carried out with a view to prevent emigration of the Kami class. At present Russian copper is used here, chiefly in sheets : the price in Calcutta is Rs. 29 a maund. It does not require to be re-infused before being wrought into manufactured articles, whereas Sikhim native copper does, and loses 20 per cent, in weight in the operation. The usual transit charge in Nepal is one anna per dharni (2| seers) (here a dharni is 3 seers, but in Nepal it is 2 seers 10 chitaks). In Nepal there are several copper mines, much drier than those in Sikhim. Deep mining is not practised, owing chiefly to the want of suit- able apparatus for draining the mines. At Pachlkhani, the only place where coj^per ores are worked on a tolerable scale in Sikhim, the deep- est mine goes down only to about 55 feet ; and I found water had collected to such an extent even at this depth that the miners were talking of abandoning it, though the ore is very rich. Many mines, as, for instance, those of Tukkhani (south of Namchi), have been abandoned owing to the difficulty of draining the water with the primitive appliances used by the miners. As the ore almost invari- ably gets richer with depth,* deeper working at the abandoned mines with improved appliances may be reasonably expected to yield good results. Mining under the present conditions may be said to be abandoned just when it begins to be most profitable. The miners are all Nepalese, and belong to the caste of Mangars. The men and boys work in tlie mines, and the women dress the ore. Smelting of the dressed ore is^ierformed by the caste ofKamis or black- smiths. This is considered a very low caste ; and a Kami would not be allowed to enter the house of a Mangar or any other Hindu of a higher social status. The houses of the Mangars run north-south, whereas those of the Kamis have their length directed east- west ; so that in a * This was unquestionably found to be the case at Pachikhani, the only place where I could compare surface with comparatively deep-seated ores. A specimen of picked ore from the surface yielded on assay 14U6 per cent, of copper, whereas one taken at random from a depth of about 50 feet from surface gave 203 1 per cent. GEOLOGY AND MINERAL EESOUECES OF SIKHIM. 67 mining village like that of Pachikhani it is easy to distinguish the house of a miner (belonging to the caste of Mangar) from that of a smelter (Kami). Scarcely any mining work is done during the rains, and even in the working season, which extends from October to June, an occasional heavy shower often puts a stop to it for days. On the occasion of my last visit to the mines (11th April 1891), I found only a few women dressing the ore, and there was no one woi'king at the mines owing to the heavy rainfall of the previous day. The number of men, women, and children who find employment one way or another — mining, dressing the ore, smelting, &c. — probably does not exceed 300 any day. The miners work in gangs on their own account and not for hire, each gang under a headman. For every five seers of copper turned out, one goes to the Kami or the man who conducts the smelting, and four remain as the share of the miners. The whole of the copper turned out must be sold to the party who has the lease of the mines, called taJcsari, at a price fixed by him. The average annual outturn at Pachikhani is estimated at about 6,000 dharnis, or 450 maunds of copper, valued at Rs. 12,000, at the rate of Rs, 2 per dharni, whicli is the price paid by the lessee to the miners. If we take the average number of the men, women, and children maintained by the mines at 200, Rs. 60 falls to the share of each individual ; which, considering that but little mining work is done during the rains, is a very fair wage. Indeed, the mining jieople here are probably better off than in most other parts of India. They are well housed, well clad, and well fed, and the women make a fair show of trinkets. 2. — Ore locations. Copper ores occur at the following localities : — 1. PachiJchaiii. — The only place besides Rathokhani where copper ores are worked at present. The old mines, which are now deserted, were situated close to the junction of the Rorochu and the Rahrichu just by the Gantok road. The mines worked at present occur a mile further north, about 3 miles south of Pakyang, also clo^e to the Gantok road. The roofs of the galleries iu the old Pachikhani have fallen in, as is the case with all deserted mines. At the entrance of one of the galleries I found stalactitic and stalagmitic deposits stained green by carbonate of copper, also traces of copper pyrites in slaty rocks. The dip is north-eastern ; but, on the cast side of the Rorochu, it is E.S.E, The stream probably marks the position of a fault. The new Pachikhani stands on slaty shales which have a greenish hue when wet, but appear grey when dry. These are superposed by 68 GEOLOGY AND MINERAL EESOUKCES OF SIKHIM. schistose quartzite, in which very thin slightly greenish fnlige of shaly matter occurs. The strike varies between NW — SE andWN W — ESE, and the dip is north-eastern, about 35°. There are five principal galleries. The drift which vras being worked at the time of my visit was found to be about 4 feet in height and 3 feet in width. The roof is supported by timbering on a large scale Chips of bamboo are used as lights. The gangue consists of quartz and much hardened shale; soft slaty shale is the country rock. The ore is extracted from the veinstone by chisel and hammer. The richest ore occurs at the deeper and suddenly sloping end of this drift, beloiv 40 feet ; but the miners were there in water and were talking of ceasing to go any furtlier down. If the water were let out — and this could be done without serious difficulty by proper con- trivances— I have no doubt the ore would be found to go down much deeper. Here we have to all appearance a true lode. It is about 4 feet in thickness and nearly vertical. The ore is, as usual, copper pyrites mixed with a little mundic. The analysis of a sample taken at random from this deeper part gave 20*31 per cent, of copper. I was informed at the mines that one maund of ore yielded 20 seers of chehi (reffulus), and that 4 seers of chcku gave one seer of copper, so that from a maund of ore there is obtained about 5 seers, or 12 per cent, copper. The copper is sent from the mines in flat j^ieces. It is again refined by those who work it up into vessels. Five seers of mine copper yield four on being refined. 2. Rhenoclc. — About half-way between Pachikhani and Rhenock, on the south side of the Rungpo (or the Rarhichu as it is called on map) and close to the bridge over it, there is exposed a fine section of the Dalings in which indications of copper are found. The cupri- ferous rocks in descending order are — Slaty shales with bands of segregated quartz in which traces of copper pyrites are found. 3" quartz with copper pyrites. ] 1' sUity shales. | Dip ENE about 45°. 6" quartz with copper pyrite shales. ) Here the ore apparently occurs in segregated veins parallel to the bedding. 3. Lingiii. — About two miles to the east of the last-named locality, and a mile south of Lingui monastery at the junction of the Rungpo and the Ronglichu, copjjer pyrites occur in highly quartzose gneiss dipping KJ^ about 45°. The cupriferous band was found to extend about 100 yards and is about 6 feet in thickness. GEOLOGY AND MINERAL EESOURCES OF SIKHIM. 69 4. Eonglichu. — About three miles* east-north-east of the Rong- lichu rest bungalow, at the junction of a stream coming down from Pangola with the Ronglichu, I picked up a few pieces of schistose quartzite in which copper pyrites and bornite (?) are disseminated along foliation planes. I did not find the ores in situ. I have no doubt they occur some distance up the stream towards Pangola. In this case the ores occur in the heart of the gueissose group, 5. Lindok. — About half-way on the new road between Gantok and Tumlong, close to the village of Lindok, there occurs interstrati- fied with gneiss, talcose schists with pyrite, chalco-pyrite, bornite, copperas and blue vitriol with small traces of epsomite. The thick- ness of the cupriferous band in a stream just by the road was found to be about 2 feet, and it was traced for about 38 feet : dip 40° ENE. A little to the south-east of the stream, also by the road, there is similar schist with copper ores in the gneiss, but the thickness here is not more than 7 inches. 6. Bhotang. — Situated about 6 miles east-south-east of Pachi- khani, close to the junction of the Tista and the Rungpo, along a precipitous scarp of slaty rocks overlooking the Tista. The mines here were worked for about 20 years and abandoned only last year. Lachmi Das, proprietor of Pachikhani, was the lessee. The average annual outturn was about 300 dharnis, or 225 maunds of copper. The ore as usual is chalco-pyrite, occuri'ing in a hard jaspery-looking rock ; but it is much mixed up with iron pyrites, more so than at Pachikhani. There are two ore-bands parted by 10 or 12 feet of slaty shales, which too are more or less impregnated by ore. Of these two bands, the upper averages about 3 feet in thickness, and the lower 2 feet 6 inches. They run parallel to bedding and appear to be what are called segregated veins. The dip is about 45° E. to ESE. Levels are driven along the courses of the ore-bands. One I entered has gone for about 54 feet and then stopped owing to water filling in. If the water were let off, there is no reason why the ore should not be found workable deeper down. The ore-bands can be traced with the eye for some 200 feet along the strike on the north side. South of the levels they run for about 25 feet, and are then faulted against greyish and greenish soft slaty shales dipping north-eastward. On the south side of the fault the ore-bands are met with at a height of about 100 feet above those on the north side. An average sample from the old working yielded on assay 12-21 per cent, of copper. * It may be obseired that distancos throughout this paper are measuied as the crow flies. F 2 70 GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF SIKHIM. 7. Barmiak. — Near Barmiak, just south of the new bridge over the Tista at a place called Lingyathang, I found on the east bank of the Tista, traces of copper ore in some detached blocks of quartzite. There is also copper ore near the head of a stream south of Barmiak, called Kalok jhora. 8. Namphak. — There were found minute traces of copper pyrites in a detached block at this village, close to the Tumlong road between it and the Tista. 9. Dajong. — Close to the head of the Rangpochu, about 3 miles north-west of Yangong monastery, steep scarps of the Dalings are seen from a distance to be stained green by carbonate of copper at places. The place is almost inaccessible, and I could not explore it well within the time at my disposal. At one spot about a mile-and-a- half east of Dajong there were met with chalco-pyrite along with peach and iron pyrites in some profusion in quartzitic rocks. The per- centage of copper, however, appears to be too low to pay for working. 10. Temi. — About three miles west-north-west of this village, close to the source of a stream called Rimpichu, there was found copper pyrites in some abundance in very hard quartzitic rocks. Trial pits were opened both here and at Dajong last year by a Nepalese named Parsa Sing, but have been abandoned. 11. Tukkhani. — These mines are situated along a feeder of the Mangpur jhora, a tributary of the Rungeet, three miles due south of Namchi. They were deserted some time ago owing to the excava- tions filling in with water. The ore is said to have been of excellent quality, better even than that of Pachikhani, though now but little is seen of it, the galleries having fallen in. Deep mining here would, I have no doubt, give good results. The annual outturn of Tukkhani used to be about the same as that of Pachikhani — about 450 maunds. The lessee was Luchraidas. The country rock is slaty shales similar to those of Pachikhani. 12. 3Iik. — Two miles north-east of Tukkhani, close to the village of Mik, just by the Namchi road, cojDper pyrites were found disseminated in some very hard quartzites. 13. Monghru. — A mile north-east of this village, and about three miles south-south-west of Ralong monastery, close to the junction of a stream flowing from Rabongla with the Rungeet, there occur copper pyrites in clay slates with segregated quartz. 14. Rinchinpong. — Copper ores occur near this place, close to the source of a feeder of the Kulhait. The rock as usual is clay slate. The ores were worked on a small scale last year, but have been given up, as they did not pay. 15. Bam. — Two miles and-a-half south-south-west of Rinchinpong monastery, close to the village of Bam, there occur, by the Risi, copper GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES OP SIKHIM. 71 ores in slaty shales with segregated quartz. The ore-bearing band was found only 6 inches in thickness at one place. The ore is found in traces on both sides of the river. The dip here is NW about 65°. 16. RatJioJthani. — Close to the village of Chakang, The mines here are the oldest in Sikhim, and were in working at the time of Mr. Mallet's survey of the Darjeeling district.* The ore (copper pyrites) occurs in slaty shales as well as in lenticular bands of segre- gated quartz, especially in the latter. Mr. Mallet found 91 per cent, of copper in a carefully selected average sample; it is not, therefore, nearly so rich as that of Pachikhani. The ore is confined to the east side of a ravine which apparently marks the position of a fault: east of it the strata are inclined south-east to north-north-east, whereas west of it the strata exhibit the normal dip of these parts, viz., north- west. The workings extend for about 100 yards on the east side of the strike of the strata. The main drifts run parallel to the bedding ; but meandering passages across it in all directions also exist. The ore here appears to occur in segregated veins parallel to bedding, and there did not appear to be any indication of a true__ lode. Still the oriferout beds may, I think, be advantageously followed deeper down. The difficulty of drainage has led to their abandonment ; and at present the miners burrow here and there on a small scale. Masses of quartz rock containing copper pyrites are found in the bed of the Ratho, a short distance below the mine. An average sample yielded on analysis 6'38 per cent, of copper. 3. — Summary and concluding observations. The following is a summary of the copper localities mentioned above : — (4). — In the Dalings. (1) Mines now worked ... ... Pachikhani, Rathokhani (on a very small scale). (2) Mines recently abandoned ... Old Pachikhani, Bhotang. Mines abandoned and wholly choked up Tukkhani. Localities where trial openings have Dajong, Rinchinpong, been made and abandoned. Temi. Localities not yet tried ... ... Rhenock, Bam, Mongbru, Barmiak, Namphak, Mik. {B). — In the Gneissic rocks. Localities not yet tried ... Lindok, Lingui, Ronglichu. The Nepalese miners have a very keen eye for copper ores ; and the localities where they have been mining or rather burrowing — * Op. cie., p. 75. 72 GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF SIKHIM. Tuk, Bhotang, Ratho, and Pachi — are certainly the most promising in all Sikhim. They work, however, in a primitive fashion, and the depth of the drifts which they run for the ore is limited by the water level of the nearest stream. As soon as a drift fills in with water which cannot be easily let out, it is abandoned. The deepest mine scarcely ever goes down below 70 feet from the surface ; that at Pachikhani has scarcely reached this depth, and the miners intend abandoning it already, owing to the difiBculty of draining it, though the ore is found to get richer with depth. It was chiefly this difficulty of draining that led to the abandonment of Tukkhani, Bhotangkhani, and partly also of Kathokhani. I have no doubt Pachikhani also will be deserted as soon as the surface ores have been worked out. Deep mining on modern methods at these places, especially at Pachi- khani, is likely to yield a very fair return. Of the four places just mentioned, Pachikhani appeared to me the most promising. This may partly be due to the fact that, owing to the works here being in progress, I could see for myself the exact mode of occurrence of the ore. However, as the existence of at least one good lode here is known, this place ought to be tried first, in case Sikhim should attract mining enterprise, which it is likely to do in the near future. There are other reasons also in favour of Pachikhani. A sample taken from the lode just mentioned yielded 20-31 per cent, of copper; and from what the miners told me the average yield from the entire mine is about 12 per cent, (five seers of copper from one maund of ore). On the other hand, the picked ore from Rathokhani was found by Mr. Mallet to contain not more than 8 or 9 per cent, of copper. At Bhotang, the ore appeared to me to contain rather too much mundic. From what the miners who had worked at Tukkhani told me, the ore there at the point where it was given up was richer even than that of Pachikhani. I would not place much reliance upon such a statement uncorx'oborated by samples. Still from all accounts, Tukkhani would be a very favour- able place for trial, after Pachikhani. Of the other localities the surface indications at Rhenock appear to be rather favourable. Iron Occurs chiefly as pyrites in association with chalco-pyrito. It is most plentiful at Bhotang, where magnetite also occurs. The iron ores have nowhere been put to any economic use. Lime. There is a vein of calcite in the gneiss at Lingtam, about three miles north-east of the Ronglichu rest bungalow. Lime was GEOLOGY AND MINEEAL RESOURCES OF SIKHLM. 73 experimentally made from it, but it did not turn out quite satisfactory, being rather dark coloured. There are beds of limestone in the Dalings north-east and north-west of Namchi, but it is as a rule too impure to yield good lime. Lime in Sikhim is invariably made from tu- faceous deposits which abound in the vicinity of the limestone beds, especially at Vok near Namchi, whence large quantities of lime used at one time to go to Darjeeling. Garnet Is abundant in the gneiss and mica schists at places. But it does not appear to be fit for the market. 74 AGRICULTURE IN SIKHIM. NOTE ON AGRICULTURE IN SIKHIM. Rice, chum, unhusked rice, rad. There are 12 kinds of rice grown in Sikhim — 1, hbras-chung, grown in damp land, in which it will mature, but is better for being transplanted when about 12 inches high into irrigated ground. It is the earliest crop, being sown in December and harvested in March. 2 and 3, la-dmar and san-kha, are grown in the lower valleys, and seldom seen above 4,500 feet. The cultivation is similar to that in the plains : the plants are sown in nurseries, and transplanted when large enough into irrigated ground. These are sown in August and cut in December. 4 to 12, rang-ldan, tso-hbras, dbang-hbras, khab-hbras, hdam- hbras, phag-hbras, kho-smad, kha-hzis and rtsong-hbi'as, are grown on dry land, that is, not irrigated. The best ground is that which has lain fallow for some years, and on which there is a heavy under- growth of jungle. 1'his is cut, burnt and carefully dressed, and excellent crops are obtained. These are sown in March and cut in August. From one measure of seed in good ground the yield varies from twenty to fiftyfold. La-dmar, san-kha and hbras-chung are considered the best varieties. Paddy husking is only done by each house as required, and is carried out in a most primitive fashion. The paddy unboiled is placed in a hollow piece of timber called htsom, and pounded with a long wooden mallet called htsom-phu. The preparations made from rice are — 1, marwa; 2, dbyon, a kind of rice-cake fried in butter; 3, a-rag, a spirit ; 4, hbras-sgnos, parched rice; 5, hbo-dker, boiled and parched rice; 6, hbras-su, chura. Other crops — Bhoota, kin-rtsong, of which there are four kinds, distinguished by their colour — viz., white, red, yellow, and black. Almost any soil will do and any elevation up to 6,200 feet. This is the staple food of the Paharias. In low-lying laud it is sown in March, and according to elevation in the high grounds as late as May and June. The quantity obtained varies from twenty to hundredfold. Ilarwa, me-chag, a millet. There are 13 kinds— Bsam-shing, shags-chag, sga-ser, mang-dkar-ma, bze-hbogs, tsigs-nag-ma, phags- tgy^o^) dung-dkar-ma, gong-tses-ma, dker-hjom-la, sla-gsum-ma, ser- rgyug-ma, ma-la- dkar-mo. These are sown in March and cut in July and August. The yield varies from forty to one hundred and fiftyfold. AGRICULTURE IN SIKHIM. 75 o> Me-chag is used almost entirely in the preparation of chang marwa, but is occasionally ground and made into chupatties, and the flour is also used to eat with tea. Hbog-ma, a millet, of which there are four kinds — dkar, dmar, khyimn-shig, spre-hjug. These are used for making chang, a-rag, and are used, when boiled, for food. Bra-hu, buckwheat, of which there are five kinds — dkar-hgor-ma, bra-nag, hgyas-ra, kha-hjug-ma, bra-chung — used for making chang, a-rag and chupatties. Sla-smn-ma, a kind of me-chag, used in the same manner. Na, wheat, five kinds — dkar, dmar, nag, sprehjug-ma, mgo-rog-ma. Gyo, barley, only one kind. Both wheat and barley are only grown in small quantities on account of the danger of the crojjs being destroyed by hailstorms, which are very prevalent in March and April just as the crops are ripening. Udo-ffson, dhal, three kinds — dkar, nag, and one other, no name — only grown in small quantities; sown in September and cut in January. Ilustard, three kinds — yung-dkar, yung-nag and pad-sgang — grown for oil. Ko-ko-la, cardamom, grown in irrigated ground with plenty of shade and good drainage; that is, the plants generally grow in running water. The crop is much prized and of considerable value, varying from Rs. 30 to Rs. 45 a maund. The cultivation of cardamom is increasing rapidly, many new plantations having been laid out this year. Ilarwa, chang, is a kind of beer brewed by everyone in Sikhim, and might be called their staple food and drink. It is prepared from a great variety of seeds and plants. The following is a list of most of them, both cultivated and wild: — • Cultivated: me-chag, wheat, barley, bra-hu, rice, rkang-ring, shum-hbem, tsong, and Indian-corn. Wild: elephant creeper, yams of all kinds, ra-ling, hbar-neg, spa-sko two kinds, spa-lohi, dun, and hbyam. This drink is universal, very refreshing and sustaining, and very slightly intoxicating. It is drunk, warm generally, from a bamboo through a straw or thin hollow bamboo. The preparation is as follows : — The seed is soaked in water for two nights, then husked, washed and boiled ; the water is then drained off and the seeds kept for half an hour in the vessel. The seed is then spread on a bamboo mat, and in winter the spice, &c., added before the seed is quite cold; in summer ■when cold. The "spice" is first well mixed, then spread on a bed of ferns covered with plantain leaves and in winter with a blanket. 76 AGRICULTURE IN SIKHIM. After 48 hours the fermentation is ready ; this is known by the smell, and the marwa is stored in baskets lined with half-dried plantain leaves. It is ready to drink in 3 days, but is better kef)t for 8 days. Spice consisting of spen-hgram (leaves of a tree), chilly, ginger, chiretta, kag-hbim, are used according as the marwa is required to taste sweet, bitter, sour, or hot. The spices are used in the following proportions : — Mix one seer rice flour with 2oz. of spice. This is mixed wet and dried, and it depends on the strength of this how much is used, but approximately one ounce is used to a maund of seed. Tea. — This varies from our mode of making it, inasmuch as it is churned with butter and salt, till the butter is so mixed with the tea leaves, hot water, and salt that there is no grease floating on the surface. The tea plant is only grown in very small quantities, and no systematic cultivation is resorted to. The leaf usually made into tea comes from Tibet in the form of brick tea. Tea is made from the following plants : — Tea, hdong-rna-mchogs, dbya-li, rang-spo-mchu-dog, phi-chung- skyag-ko, chestnuts, rtsi, sim-rtsi, aru, skyi-hdabs, shing-skyur, spem- po-rdo-hkyabs, cha-ru, mi-tog-dbyang-hzin, and rgen-mtsea-ldan. The following is a complete list of the wild and cultivated fruits, vegetables, edible roots, &c., obtained in Sikhim and used by the inhabitants as food: — Fruits cultivated — Orange. Bread-fruit. Apple. Mango. Citron. Pear. Peach. Lemon. Pomegranate. Walnut. Guava. Pineapple. Plantain, 2 kinds. /"egetables cultivate i- Sugarcane, 3 kinds Radish. Pumpkin, 2 kinds. Turnip. Chilly, 5 kinds. Garlic. Brinjal, 3 kinds. Onion. Cucumber. Hu-si (spice). Tomatos, 2 kinds. Ginger, 2 kinds. Hsbrul-tsod, 2 kinc s (a kind Potatoes, 2 kinds. of cucumber). Yams, 6 kinds. Khag-tig, 2 kinds. Do-hu (a kind of yam). Mustard, 3 kinds. AGRICULTURE IN SIKHIM. 77 Jungle products used for food — La-spa-mcliod-ma. Ra-mje-dong, Ting-ku-mchod-ma. Stag-kya-dong. Wild figs, 2 kinds. Dos-modong (elephant creeper I Phang-ski. Ding-hbram-dong. Mu-si. Yams, 11 kinds. Spom-si, 4 kinds. Fungi, 18 kinds. Ken-dang. Nettles, 6 kinds. Spag-ko, 2 kinds. Hbab-mchod. Ga-dlior-spes (wild mango). Rdum-rug. Lta-si. S ken-tun g. Sung-lum. Chu-ten. Nyor-chung. Kangki-rig. No-yliel. Mgo-ned. Cha-tses (raspbeny), 5 kinds. Mus-la. Chestnut, 3 kinds. Btang-sku. Hbrom-kes. Sug. Chi-chung-sdong-nyel, 2 kinds. Si-khag. Rtseg-rtseg-ru-bhi. Pharu. Hber-heg. Dbu-shul. Ske-skyuQi. Bam-chag. Hbah. Chu ( a water weed). Huni-pa-do-rog, 2 kinds. Benspu-dog. Kling-shu. Na-res. Gueschung-spes. Khung-rug. A-um-la. Dugigs. A-ru-ra, 2 kinds. La-sgog, 2 kinds (wild onion). Ltog-tos. Spyan-res. Khum-dgos. Ba-sho-kha. Mu-ti-spes. Gua-lhag (wild plantain). Cane shoots, 2 kinds Hzas-bhag. Bamboo shoots, 15 kinds. Tig-bhig, 5 kinds (a bean). Fibres. — Cotton is grown in small quantities in the lower valleys. (See "Statistical Account of Bengal," vol. X, page 96.) Jute is not grown in Sikhim. Wild fibres. — The natives employ the large nettle (so-i-is) for making cloth, which is said to be very durable. Zand measurement. — The land is usually measured for cultivation by the number of pattis of seed that can be sown in it. Amongst the Paharias the rent recoverable is calculated by the number of pattis sown. See Statistical Account of Bengal, vol. X, page 99, from " In the hills " to " a small field of 1^ bighas." 78 AGRICULTUKE IN SIKHIM. Cattle. — There are three kinds of cattle in Sikhim — 1. Ba-filang. — These are the larger cattle, and are by far the best. They are owned chiefly by the Lepchas and Bhuteas. Many of this cattle are driven up to 13 and 14,000 feet for grazing. A good cow fetches from Rs. 30 to Rs. 45. An ox or bull from Rs. 20 to Rs. 25. 2. Nam-thong [Paharia cattle). — These are much smaller, and fetch from Rs. 15 to Rs. 25 only. 3. Thang {plains cattle). — These are considered the worst of all, and only fetch from Rs. 12 to Rs. 15 each. Yaks. — There are three kinds — 1. Lho-gyag. — These are the large yaks found only in Sikhim and Chumbi. They are considered the best, and fetch from Rs. 25 to Rs. 30 each. Yak milk is of excellent quality, containing a very large proportion of butter fat. The males are used for pack animals, but not to such an extent as in Tibet. 2. Bod-gyag. — These are similar to the above, but are very much smaller. The price varies from Rs. 20 to Rs. 25. 3. A-gu. — These are polled yaks, and some very fine specimens have been seen in the higher valleys of Sikhim. There are also half-breed cattle from bull yaks and cows. These are considered the best of all the cattle for giving milk. Sheep, 5 kinds — 1. Ha-lug. — A black sheep comes from Bhutan, the wool of which is coarse. 2. Bod-lug. — The ordinary Tibetan sheep, small, but much prized for its wool, which is of excellent quality. 3. Byanfj-liig. — Also from Tibet. 4. Sog-liig. — The large-tailed sheep, very seldom seen in Sikhim. 5. Phe-dar. — The Paharia sheep, a much larger animal, which lives low down. The wool is coarse. The price of sheep varies considerably, being from Rs. 3 to Rs. 9, according to size and kind. The Paharia fetches the highest price. Goats, 2 kinds — 1. Jia. — The small goat, smaller than that in the plains. 2. Bod-ra. — The small long-haired Tibetan goat. It does not do well down in the hot valleys. AGRICULTURE IN 6IKHIM. 79 Wages — Coolie, 2 annas to 8 annas a day. Mason, 8 „ 1 rupee ,, Cai'penter, Rs. 30 to Rs. 60 a month, and are almost impos- sible to get. Prices — Rice, Rs. 4-8 to Rs. 5-8 per maund. Marwa, 8 seers per rupee. Bhoota, Re. 1 to Rs. 3-4 per maund. Dhal, 8 seers per rupee. 80 VEGETATION. VEGETATION. Note. The works consulted for tliis paper are Hooker's " Himalayan Journals ;'| Hooker and Thomson's " Flora Indica ;" " Hooker's Flora of India ;" Clarke's "Ferns of JS'orthern India;" King's "Annals of the Eoyal Botanic Garden, Calcutta;" Gamble's "Trees, Shrubs and Large Climbers found in the Darjeeling District," and Watt's " Dictionary of Economic Products." J. Gammie-19-9-91. Sir J. D. Hooker, who is the greatest authority on the vegeta- tion of Sikliim, in his Introductory Essay to the Flora Indica, divides the country into three zones. The lower, stretching from the lowest level up to 5,000 feet above the sea, he called the tropical zone ; thence to 13,000 feet, the upper limit of tree vegetation, the tem- perate; and above, to the perpetual snow line at 16,000 feet, the Alpine. In describing the aspect of the country he says that up " to an elevation of 12,000 feet, Sikhim is covered with a dense forest, only interrupted where village clearances have bared the slopes for the purpose of cultivation." At the present time, how- ever, this description does not apply below 6,000 feet, the upper limit at which Indian-corn ripens; for here, owing to increase of population, almost every suitable part has been cleared for cultiva- tion, and trees remain only in the rocky ravines and on the steepest slopes where no crop can be grown; but above 6,000 feet the face of the country still remains comparatively unaltered. He continues — "The forest consists everywhere of tall umbrageous trees; with little underwood on the drier slopes, but often dense grass jungle; more commonly, however, it is accompanied by a luxuriant under- growth of shrubs, which render it aluiost impenetrable. In the tropical zone large figs abound, with TerminaUa, Vatica, Mi/rtace(e, Laurels, Euphorhiucece, Meliacece, Bauhinia, Bombax, Morus, Arfocarpiis, and other Urtkaceie and many Lcguminoscc ; and the undergrowth consists of Acanthactte, Bamboo, several Calami, two dwarf Aretw, Wallichia, and Carrjota tirens. Plantains and tree-ferns, as well_ as Pandanus, are conmion ; and, as in all moist tropical countries, ferns, orchids, Scitaminece, and Pathos are extremely abundant. Few oaks are found at the base of the mountains, and the only conifers are a species of Podocarpus and Pinus longifolia, which frequent the drier slopes of hot valleys as low as 1,000 feet above the level of the sea, and entirely avoid the temperate zone. The other tropical Gvnmosperms are Cijcas pecVnata and Gndum scandens, genera which find their north-western limits in Sikliim. VEGETATION. ^1 " Oaks, of which (including chestnuts) there are upwards of eleven species in Sikhim, become abundant at about 4,000 feet, and at 5,000 feet the temperate zone begins, the vegetation varying with the degree of humidity. On the outermost ranges, and on northern exposures, there is a dripping forest of cherry, laurels, oaks and chestnuts. Magnolia, Andromeda, Sfi/rax, Pyrus, maple and. birch, with an underwood of AraUaccw, HoUholUa, Limonia, Daphne, Ardisia, 3f//rsine, Spnplocos, liubi, and a prodigious variety of ferns. " Plectocomia and Musa ascend to 7,000 feet. On drier exposures bamboo and tall grasses form the underwood. Rhododendrons appear below 6,000 feet, at which elevation snow falls occasionally. From 6 — 12,000 feet there is no apparent diminution of the hu- midity, the air being near saturation during a great part of the year ; but the decrease of temperature effects a marked change in the vegetation. Between 6,000 and 8,000 feet epiphytical orchids are extremely abundant, and they do not entirely disappear till a height of 10,000 feet has been attained. Rhododendrons become abundant at 8,000 feet, and from 10,000 to 14,000 feet they form in many places the mass of the shrubby vegetation. Vaccinia, .of which there are ten species, almost all epiphytical, do not ascend so high, and are most abundant at elevations from 5,000 to 8,000 feet. " The flora of the temperate zone presents a remarkable resemblance to that of Japan, in the mountains of which island we have a very similar climate, both being damp and cold. Kelwingia, Aucuba, Stachijurus, and Enkianthus may be cited as instances of this similarity, which is the more interesting because Japan is the nearest cold damp climate to Sikhim with whose vegetation we are acquainted. At 10,000 feet (on the summit of Tongloo) yew makes its appearance, but no other conifer except those of the tropical belt is found nearer the plains than the mountain of Phalut, on which Picea Webhiana is found, at levels above 10,000 feet. Abies Brunoniana and the larch are found everywhere in the valleys of the Lachen and Lachung rivers, above 8,000 feet. " A subtropical vegetation penetrates far into the interior of the country along the banks of the great rivers ; rattans, tree- fei'ns, plantains, screw-pines, and other tropical plants occurring in the Ratong valley, almost at the foot of Kanchinjinga, and 5,000 feet above the level of the sea. With the pines, however, in the temperate zone, a very different kind of vegetation presents itself. Here those great European families which are almost entirely wanting in the outer temperate zone become common, and the flora approxi- mates in character to that of Europe. Shrubby Leguminosce, such G 82' VEGETATION. as Indigofera and Dcsmodium, Ranunculacece (TkaUcinim, Anemone, Delphinium, Aconitum, etc ), UmbelH/erce, Caryophyllece, Labiatce and Graminece increase in numbers as we advance into the interior. The air becomes drier, and from the increased action of the sun the temperature does not diminish in proportion to the elevation, the summers being warmer, though the winters are colder. The forests at the same time become more open, and are spread less uniformly over the surface, the drier slopes being bare of trees, and covered with a luxuriant herbaceous vegetation. It is only in the upper part of the valley of the Tista, however, above the junction of the Lachen and Lachung, that this change becomes marked ; and from the rapidly increasing elevation, not only of the sur- rounding mountains, but of the floors of the valleys, it proceeds with great rapidity, and the temperate soon gives place to an Alpine flora. " The sub-Alpine zone in Sikhim scarcely begins below 13,000 feet, at which elevation a dense rhododendron scrub occupies the slopes of the mountains, filling up the valleys so as to render them impenetrable. Here the summer is short, the ground not being free of snow till the middle of June. It is, however, comparatively dry, and the Alpine flora very much resembles that of the Western Himalaya and (in generic types at least) the Alps of Europe and Western Asia ; while as we advance towards the Tibetan region we have a great increase of dryness, so that a Siberian flora is rapidly developed, which at last entirely supersedes that of the sub-Alpine zone, and ascends above 18,000 feet." Sir J. D. Hooker's own collection of Sikhim plants amounted to 2,920 species, of which 150 were ferns. Assuming that he failed to get 25 per cent, of the plants during his short residence, the total of about 4,000 species of flowering plants and ferns together for Sikhim will be arrived at, and be very near the real number. Owing to the humid climate of Sikhim, and the absence of excessive cold at any season of the year over the greater part of it, the prevailing vegetation is of an evergreen character. A few trees, and two tree- ferns growing at elevations under 6,000 feet, have the abnormal habit of shedding their leaves and remaining bare during part of the warmest and wettest seasons when their neighbours are making their most vigorous growth ; whilst other trees, chiefly of higher elevations, have the ordinary habit of shedding their leaves towards the end of autumn and remaining bare till spring. The vast majo- rity, however, of the Sikhim trees and shrubs are evergreen. As might be expected from the dripping nature of the climate, ferns are a predominating feature of the vegetation generally, but more especially of that of the extra dripping and misty region lying VEGETATION. 83 between 5,000 and 9,000 feet, where they are to be seen on every rock, on the stems of trees, and growing on the ground. Mr. C. B. Clarke, in his valuable paper on the Ferns of Northern India, published in the Linnean Society's Journal for 1879, enumerates eight species of tree-ferns and 248 of stemless and sub-arborescent sorts found between Nepal and Assam. Probably over 200 of them are indigenous to Independent Sikhim. There are, besides, several species of Lyco- podium and Selaginella, which are usually associated with the true ferns. Above 5,000 feet the European club-moss {Lycopodium clavatum) is in great abundance and luxuriance on the ground and rocks in open spaces, and several handsome tasselled species of the same genus are pendent on the limbs of trees. Of the eight species of Sikhim tree-ferns noted by Clarke, five are found between the lowest levels and 4,000 feet, and three between 3,500 and 7,000 feet. They are all most graceful objects and form a striking feature in the landscape wherever they occur, but more especially so in the moister, unculti- vated valleys, where, undisturbed, they attain their full luxuriance, and are found either as isolated individuals, in small groups, or in extensive groves. Their average height is about twenty feet, but plants of forty and fifty feet are not very uncommon. The eight species are included in two genera, viz., two in the genus Hemitelia and six in Alsophila. The sori are placed on cup-shaped receptacles in the former, whilst in the latter they are exinvolucrate as in Poly- podium, from which the genus Alsophila is separated more on account of the gigantic size of its component species than by any very definite character. Semitelia decipiens ranges from low elevations to 4,000 feet, where it is replaced by its congener S. Brumniana, which ascends to 7,000 feet, the limit of tree-fern vegetation in Sikhim. Both the Hemitelias, but especially decipiens, have stipes densely armed with short, stout wrickles. For ready identification the A Isophilas may be divided into two groups ; one comprising the species with single or rarely once-forked stems, and the other those with many- branched stems bearing numerous heads of fronds at different heights on the same plant. To the first group belong A. glauea, which grows at elevations under 4,000 feet, and is distinguished by the bluish-hue of its stipes and grayish under-surface of the fronds, and A. latebrosa, closely resembling Hemitelia Bnmoniana, and with the same distri- bution, but distinguished by its exinvolucrate sori. The species falling into the second group are A. glabra, the most tropical of the tree-ferns, recognized by the V-shaped arrangement of the sori ; A. Andcrsoni, growing generally in dense shade by banks of streams below e3,500 feet, resembles A. glabra in growth, but is of a dull dark green colour, and its sori are in almost parallel lines ; and A. Oldhami and A. ornaia, both of the upper forests lying between 4,500 and 6,000 feet. 84 VEGETATION. A. Oldhamiy whicli grows gregariously, is, perhaps, the most elegant of all the Sikhim tree-ferns, and is common, but A. ornata is rather rare. Both have the strange habit of shedding their fronds in the wettest and warmest season of the year and remaining bare for several weeks. The pith of the stems of three species, H. decipiens, A. Old- hami, and A. Andersoni, is eaten by the Lepcbas wlien there is dearth of other and more wholesome food. They also use the same substance for making their "marwa" beer when the supply of the Elusine or marwa grain is exhausted. It is dried in tlie sun, fermented, and afterwards put in a bamboo cj'linder with water in the usual way of making marwa beer, and the liquor sucked through a thin reed placed in the middle. Of the other kinds of ferns, the genera more abundant in species are DavalUn, Pteris, Aspleniiivi, Nrphrodkan, Polypodium, and Acrosticfmm. Osmunda regalis, the Royal fern of Europe, is to be found, as are also the European Moonwort and Adder's-tongue ferns. Ancjiopleris evecta, which is found from the hottest parts up to 6,000 feet, attains to gigantic proportions, especially in the cool forests, where its massive fronds grow to more than five yards in length and three in breadth, with a spread over all, measuring from tip to tip of opposite fronds, of eight yards. At the bases of the fronds are succulent appendages which the Lepchas cook and eat in times of scarcity. They also habitually use the young fronds of several species as a vegetable, and very excellent they are when properly cooked. There are four Adiantums or Maidenhairs, two of which, lunuhtum and candatiim, cover the banks of tlie roads in many places at the lower elevations in the rainy season, and pedatiim and venusium grow at the cool heights of 6 — 10,000 feet. In the valley of the Rungeet a hand- some climbing fern, Acrosticlmm pahistre, clothes the trunks of tall trees, and a Lygodium which climbs on grasses and the smaller shrubs is common up to 4,000 feet. The two Cdekhenias found in Sikhim are also of a scandent nature. The largest one, glauca, which has a superficial likeness to the ubiquitous Bracken, forms almost impenetrable thickets, 15 or 20 feet in lieight, in places at 6,000 feet and above. Of the kinds found growing on rocks jmd trees the most delicately beautiful are the Hymcnophtilhnns and Triclw^nanes, popularly known as Filmy ferns. There are 8 sorts of them, mostly confined to the cool, moist forests over 5,000 feet. The Irish Filmy [Trichomanes radicans) is the largest, covering the faces of large rocks under dense shade, and its fronds growing to over a foot in length ; whilst those of Bymeno- phyllum Lcviiiyn barely exceed an inch or an inch and-a-half in length. J\Jany of the Ddvullias, I'olypodnam, and Asplenhims are very beautiful and graceful on the rocks and trees during the rainy season, and the bird's-nest fern {Asplennim nidus) and Drynaria coronans, with their large, massive fronds, are always conspicuous objects; the former VEGETATION. 85 mostly growing on rocks and stems of trees under shade, and the latter encircling the trunks of trees under full exposure to the scorching sun of the lowest elevations up to 4,000 feet. Of the large and more remarkable of the species growing on the ground, none excel Poh/podiiim ornatum in beauty or elegance. Its fronds are some- times small, but usually about six or seven feet long, and sometimes as long as 20 feet and of proportionate width, but whether large or small it is always an object of admiration. It hardly ascends over 4,000 feet elevation. The orchid family is also extensively represented in Sikhim, there being from 350 to 400 species out of an estimated total of 5,000 for the whole world. Although none of the Sikhim orchids have flowers equal in size or colour to many of the South American species, yet several are hardly second in beauty or in popular estimation. They may be divided into two classes, viz., the epiphytal, which attach themselves to rocks and trees but do not derive any nourish- ment from them, and the terrestrial, which grow on the ground. A few are parasitical on roots of trees. In Sikhim the first-named class is the more numerous and better known; and the more important of its genera are Dendrobium, Ceslogyne, Ctjmhidium, Vanda, Arachnanike, Saccohhium, brides, and Phalcvnopsis. Among the terrestrial sort are Culanthe, Goodi/era, Pogonia, Ancectochilus, Arundina, Hahenaria., Satyr iiim, Diphmeris, and Cypripedium ; and of the parasitical the most notable are the Galeolus, which grow on the decaying roots of trees and have flowering stems over six feet high. Their flowers are yellow and the seed-pods not unlike those of the Vanilla. Perhaps the most popular genus of the orchid family in Sikhim is Dendrohlum, of which there are about 40 species ; one-third of them having large, showy flowers, and the remainder are mostly pretty, but small and rather incoaspicuousl}' flowered. The best known, and at the same time the finest, is nohilc, which is common from 1,000 up to 5,000 feet, growing on trees and rocks. Its flowers are borne on erect stems, and are variable in colour, but usually white, broadly lipped with purple. Densijlorum, which grows at the same altitudes, is equally common and has dense bunches of yellow flowers. Calceolaria, the largest both in growth and in flower, of the Sikhim Dendrobiums, smells strongly of Gregory's powder. Its flowers vary in colour from white and pinkish to golden yellow, and the lip is pouch-shaped. Amoeniim is common on trees from 3,000 to 4,000 feet and is slender stemmed, with very numerous smallish flowers, white tipped with violet and purple, and smelling strongly of violets. Other showy Dendrobiums are JJookeriana, whose flowers are golden yellow with a deeply fringed lip spotted with purple ; cJtrysantkum^ Gilsonii, Ruckeri, and. Jimhriaium, all also yellow, and amplum^ Farnieri^ g2 86 VEGETATION. Pierardi, longicornu, and sulcatum. The next genus in importance, Coelogyne (including the section Pleione, popularly known in Europe as Himalayan crocuses), comprises about 20 species, of which crisfata is the most in favour with orchid fanciers in Europe. It has egg- shaped bulbs on long trailing stems, and very large snow-white flowers with a yellow stained lip, on long racemes. It may be seen clothing rocks and the stems of large trees between 4,000 and 6,000 feet. Corymhosa and ochracea are similarly coloured, but much smaller, the former being found up to 9,000 and the latter to 7,000 feet. Both are very common. There are four sj^ecies of the section Pleionc, all of them pretty. They are stemless, their flowers springing from a pseudo bulb, usually when bare of leaves. The most abundant is pnecox, which has large rosy-purple flowers, and is found between 5,000 and 8,000 feet. It flowers in the autumn. 3Iaculata, which flowers at the same season, is white spotted with purple, and is not uncommon on the stems of sal trees between 2,500 and 3,500 feet. Hitmilis flowers in the spring at elevations from 6,000 feet upwards, and is wliite, streaked brown on the lip. The fourth species, Ilookeriana^ ascends as high as 10,000 feet, and produces rosy-purple flowers about the beginning of the rainy season. There are about 10 sorts of Cj/mbidiumf the most of them with long grassy leaves and many-flowered drooping racemes. The majority of them belong to the cool forests above 5,000 feet, but a few are natives of the hottest valleys. Eburneum, which is one of the hot valley sorts, has large ivory coloured flowers, faintly stained with peach on the lip, and sweet scented. Giganteum and (jrandijlorum are very fine sorts of the cooler forests. Arachnanthc Cathcarlil^ which was considered by the great botanist, Lindley, to have the most remarkably shaped flowers of all orchids, grows on trees, in densely shaded places, between 2,000 and 4,500 feet. It has thick, fleshy flowers, of 2^ inches diameter, whitish, closely barred with chocolate, and the lip curiously hinged. PJnjnchostijlls retusa and JErides offine, of the hot valleys, have both bottle-brush spikes of flowers of a purplish colour; and jErides odoratum and Saccolabium amjnillaceum, of the same parts, are favourite species. The terrestrial species, on the whole, do not at present hold a high place in popular estimation, but many of them are well worth cultivat- ing. Phajus WaUic/iii, which grows in marshy places, below 4,000 feet elevation, has large, richly coloured flowers on spikes over 2 feet high, and Arundina hamhusa'folia exceeds 6 feet in height, and flowers more or less during the greater part of the year. Its flowers, which are large, are of a pinkish colour with a bright purple lip. AnoectocJdlus Moxhurghii is a small plant with velvety leaves netted with golden nerves, and grows under shade between 2,000 and 4,000 feet; and VEGETATION. 87 several other species have also exceedingly pretty foliage although their flowers are inconspicuous. One lady's-slipper orchid {^Gijpripa- dium ve^mstum) is found from 1,000 up to 4,000 feet, and two others at over 10,000 feet. Nowadays few of the Sikliim orcliids have much commercial value in Europe, as the greater number of the species con- sidered worth growing by orchid fanciers are already common in col- lections, and can be bought from the English nurserymen at a cheap rate. But few of the species can survive the Calcutta climate for more than two or thi-ee years, and still fewer will flower satisfactorily there a second year. There are, however, several sorts that do thrive well in Calcutta, and Phajus Wallichii, the finest of all the Sikhim ground orchids, is one of them. At the Botanical Gardens it has continued to multiply and flower to perfection for many years, and Arundiiia hamhiisccfolia has also flowered there fairly well for several years when treated as a semi-aquatic. Of the epiphytal sorts Vanda teres is most at home at Calcutta, and even there requires full exposure to the suu to flower freely. Dondrobium Pierardii also thrives well, as might be expected from the fact of its being found in parts of the plains of Bengal as well as in Sikhim. Dendrobiuni calceolaria does well too, either as a basket plant or planted in ordinary soil if well drained and raised above the surrounding ground. A few of the other Dendro- bhcms, such as Farmeri, nobile, and fimbriatum, var. oculata, struggle on for several years, but, generally speaking, the Sikhim orchids are dis- appointing in Calcutta unless arrangements are made for their frequent renewal. The natural order Seitamineoe is largely represented by both wild and cultivated species. It includes the gingers, turmerics, plantains, cardamoms, Iledychium, Costus, Alpinia, etc. Ginger and turmeric are cultivated for C(msumption in the country but not for export. One cardamom, the Bar a Elainchi (Amomum subulatum), is cultivated extensively under the chequered shade of trees and shrubs, at low elevations, in places capable of being irrigated at the proper seasons. It is a most profitable crop, and there appears to be a market in Bengal for all that can be produced. The seeds of one or two of the wild sorts are also used, but for home consumption only, and they make rather indifferent substitutes for the cultivated one. The fibre of an Alpinia is occasionally used for making floor mats of a dui'able quality, and Phrijnitim leaves form the water-proof layer of the Ghums, or rain mats, so useful as rain protectors in field work and in load carrying. The Ilcdychiums are all showy, and a yellow and a ■white-flowered variety of the species coronarium are almost the only indigenous plants cultivated by the natives for the sake of their sweet- scented flowers. Gardner ianum, which is common between 4,000 and 7,000 feet, is the most conspicuous of the genus, having large bold 88 VEGETATION. spikes of yellow flowers formally arranged in seven or eight vertical rows. All the family, but especially the two above-named species, are a great attraction to the Sphinx moths which visit them freely after dusk. A Curcuma, which sends up flower spikes with bright pink- coloured bracts in spring, is a striking and abundant plant on dry ridges below 4,000 feet. There are five species of wild plantains, all very common ; but their fruits are of but little economic value, being a mass of black seeds embedded in a little sweet pulp and enclosed in a skin. One of the species, in the young stage, has, occasionally, prettily variegated leaves. The Arum family is also an important one in Sikhim, and one of its members, the gigantic Pothos, perhaps the noblest of all climbers, is among the most prominent objects of the cool forests where it clothes the huge trunks of trees with its handsome foliage. Fortunately for the lover of the beautiful, its leaves are uneatable by cattle, and it is thus enabled to develop its full beauty; but a smaller- leaved sort, associated with it, is periodically denuded of its leaves for cattle fodder, and its use is said to cause a considerable increase in the yield of milk, and to rapidly bring calves into good condition. The leaf stalks of a wild Caladium are largely used, in a cooked state, for feeding pigs; and ten or a dozen sorts are cultivated for their tubers as ordinary articles of food. The roots of several Arisoemas of the high levels are eaten by the poorer inhabitants of those infer- tile parts after they have been fermented for some days, and then boiled to ensure the dissipation of their poisonous matter. But at the best they are unwholesome food, and Hooker remarks that they cause bowel-complaints and loss of hair and skin. A few of tbem have elegant foliage and strange looking flowers with tendrils, of half a yard in length, from the tops of the spadices ; and in autumn and winter they brighten up the roadsides with their large buuches of shining red fruit, which are greedily eaten by the Crimson Tragopan pheasant. The flower of an Amorphophallus which grows below 4,000 feet, and flowers at the beginning of the rainy season, has a disgusting and far- reaching odour of carrion. The palms are but sparingly represented, and that mostly by the rattans. One of them. Calamus monfaiius, was formerly much used as suspending ropes of the foot-bridges across the large rivers, for which it was admirably adapted on account of its lightness, great length, and enormous strength, but owing to the spread of cultivation it is now scarce. From Calamus inermis are got the best alpenstocks of the district, and C. leptospadix is a favourite plant with palm cultivators on account of its light feathery foliage, which is very elegant. Plecio- comia himalayana^ another rattan, ascends to 6,500 feet, often forming impenetrable thickets in the forests. By means of its strongly incurved VEGETATION. 89 spines it climbs to the tops of the tallest trees, from which, in autumn, depend its enoi'mously long clusters of fruit. It is used for making baskets and tying fences. A stemless date {Phoenix acatilis) of the hottest valleys bears a poor sort of edible fruit; and the leaves of Wallkhia densijlora are a good cattle fodder, and fi'om their midribs are made the coarse hair brooms used by the natives. Caryota urens is a large tree of over 40 feet in height, bearing huge fronds of wedge-shaped leaflets, resembling some of tlie maiden-hair ferns on a gigantic scale. In Ceylou it is tapped for its juice, which yields jaggery, and sago is made from its pith. In Sikhim its juice is not extracted, but the Lepchas cut down the large trees to jirocure the pith, from which a kind of sago is made, and make walking-sticks and knife- handles out of the wood. They do not appear to make any use of the fibre which it yields in abundance, but Gamble says: — " The leaves give the kittul Jibre, wliich is very strong, and is made into ropes, brushes, brooms, baskets, and other articles ; the fibre from the sheathing petiole is made into ropes and fishing lines." And, according to Watt, it is expected that the fibres sewn closely together in bands will be an excellent substitute for whalebone in corset-making. Watt also says of it, quoting Roxburgh : — " This tree is highly valuable to the natives of the countries where it grows in plenty. It j'ields them, during the hot season, an immense quantity of toddy or palm wine. I have been informed that the best trees will yield at the rate of 100 pints in the 24 hours. The sap in some cases continues to flow for about a month. When fresh the toddy is a pleasant drink, but it soon ferments, and when distilled becomes arrack, the gin of India. The sugar, called jaggery, is obtained by boiling the toddy. The pith or farinaceous part of old trunks is said to be equal to the best sago ; the natives make it into bread, and boil it into thick gruel ; these form a great part of the diet of those people, and during famine suffer little wliile those trees last. I have reason to believe this substance to be highly nutritious. I have eaten the gruel, and think it fully as joalatable as that made of the sago we get from the Malay countries." As the tree is of most luxuriant growth, at suitable elevations in Sikhim it may yet be found of considerable economic value to the inhabitants. Of bamboos there are about twenty species. Those growing at elevations exceeding 5,000 feet have thin stems, but several of the lower level species have stems of great girth and length. Of them Dendrocalamus HamiUonii (Po, Lep.) is the commonest and as useful as any. It is used for building huts, &c., and carrying water, and its leaves are a good horse fodder. Its young shoots when about a foot long are cooked and eaten. Dendrocalamus Sikkimcnsis (Pag- riang, Lep.) has large brown stems which are equally useful, and by many is considered the handsomest of the Sikhim bamboos. Bamhusa 90 VEGETATION. w«/aws (Mablu, Lep.) also grows to a great size, and has a nearly solid stem whicli is much prized in hut building for its lasting quali- ties, and for prayer flagstaffs. Arundinaria Ilookeriana (Prong, Lep.) of the upper forests has often stems of a beautiful bluish colour, and A. racemosa, the Maling of the Nepalese, yields the best pony fodder of all the bamboo tribe, and from its stems the best roofing mats are made. Of the smaller sorts several grow so thickly together, over con- siderable areas, that even a small dog cannot make its way through them- and the most of the species flower simultaneously at intervals of about a quarter of a century, and then die. The more noteworthy of the large grasses which are very conspicuous objects in the autumn are a few species of Ariindo with large, loose, cottony panicles, and several of Saccharum and Imperata with smaller compact panicles of similar composition. They are rare in forests, but are apt to become troublesome pests in land that has been cleared for cultivation. Their leaves are extensively used for thatching houses. Thysanolana acarifera is a tall tufted grass with broad, bamboo-like leaves and spikes of minute flowers arranged in large spreading panicles, which are much used as brooms. Anthistiria gigantea and a reed (P/iragmifis) abound in swampy places on suuny slopes up to 5,000 feet. Srnall herbaceous forms are few in species and in individuals in the tropical and lower part of the temperate zones, but are common in the interior at higher elevations. Poa annua, an English grass, following the tracks of men and quadrupeds in all temperate regions, grows from the perpetual snow line down to 4,000 feet, and is abundant on cleared camping- grounds and by roadsides. The Dutch clover, another European introduction, is often associated with it. The rhododendrons may be called the glory of Sikhim, so grandly beautiful are they, and also so abundant; so much so, in fact, that they abound in places to the exclusion of almost everything else. There are about thirty species, varying in size from the gicrantic B. grande, a tree of 30 to 40 feet in height, and trunk girth- in° up to 5 feet, down to the prostrate E. nivale, barely rising two inches above the ground. A few species are sparingly found as low as 6 000 feet, but tlie majority of them grow between 9,000 feet and 14 000 feet, and four species (lejndotum, nivale, setosum, and anthopogon) ascend so high as 15-16,000 feet. At about 6,000 feet the large flowered Dalhousko begins to appear. It is a small straggling shrub, and as it is usually epiphytic on the tops of tall trees, it is hardly noticed till the fallen flowers direct attention to it. Falconcri is a laro-e o-regarious shrub, growing between 9,000 and 13,000 feet, with biff" leathery leaves felted on the underside with rusty-coloured hairs. Tte widely distributed species, arhorcum, is common up to 10,000 feet. Only one species, R. cmnabarimim, is said to be poisonous. VEGETATION. 91 Hopker mentions that " many of his young goats and kids died after eating it, foaming at the mouth and grinding their teeth. When the wood is used as fuel it causes the face to swell and the ej^es to in- flame;" and he notes that the honey of the wild bee is much sought after, except in spring, when it is said to be poisoned by rhododen dron flowers. A small tree, Fieris ovalifolia, is interesting on account if its wide altitudinal distribution, ranging from a little above sea level to 10,000 feet elevation. Sikhim is almost as famous for its Primulas as for its rhododen- drons, and they also affect high elevations. There are from 30 to 40 species; the majority of them growing at altitudes from 12 — 15,000 feet, two or three only being found below 10,000 feet, and about an equal number so high as 16-17,000 feet. P. Sikhimensis which is found from 11 — 15,000 feet, and resembles a gigantic cow- slip, is one of the very few Sikhim primroses Avhich really thrive in England, where the majority of them merely survive long enough to flower once in a miserable sort of way and then die. This is to be regretted, as all are beautiful, and they are very varied in colour, some being white, and others yellow, blue, pink, or purple, which is the prevailing colour. Among numerous notable herbaceous plants are several species of Meconopsis^ fritillaries, deadly aconites, gentians, violets, geraniums, potentillas, saxifrages, baltiams, many species oi Pedicular is, Craivfurdia, Did?/7)iocarptis, Chirita, Smialaeina, jatamansi, and rhubai'bs, one of which, Mheiun nobile, was considered by Hooker the handsomest her- baceous plant in Sikhim, and he thus describes it: — "On the black rocks the gigantic rhubarb forms pale pyramidal towers a yard high, of inflated reflexed bracts, that conceal the flowers, and overlajDj^ing one another like tiles, protect them from the wind and rain ; a whorl of broad green leaves edged with red spreads on the ground at the base of the j^lant, contrasting in colour with the transparent bracts, which are yellow, margined with pink. It is called ' Tchuka, ' and the acid stems are eaten both raw and boiled ; they are hollow and full of pure water : the root resembles that of the medicinal rhubarb, but is sjjongy and inert ; it attains a length of four feet and grows as thick as the arm. The dried leaves afibrd a substitute for tobacco; a small kind of rhubarb is, however, more commonly used in Tibet for this purpose." It may be mentioned that in the late military expedition to the Tibetan frontier a batch of plants of this rhubarb growing in a sequestered valley were mistaken in the distance, one misty morning, for a surprise party of the Tibetan army. Among the more remarkable of the climbing plants of the "tropical zone" are one or more species of each of the following genera, viz., Thunlcrgia, Beaumo7itia^ Bauliinia^ Chonemorpha, Aristolochia, 92 VEGETATION. Vitis, Porana, Uvarta, Hibiscus, Asptdocarya, Mucuna, Eiitada, Mubia, Argijreia, Clematis, Hodgsonia, etc.; and of the "temperate zone" Edgaria, Stauntunia, Tlmnbergia, Clematis, Rubus, Cissm, Parana, Rosa, Mucuna, Jledera, Lonicera, Rubia, Jasminum, etc. Among the "tropical zone" shrulDS arc Osbcdcia, Oxyspora, Plectranthcs, Clerodcn- dron, Buddleia, Desmodium, Rubus, Polt/gala, Saurauja, Leea, Iitdi(iofera, Trevesia, 3Iussoenda, Ixora, Coffea, 3Iorinda, Tuber nocmontana, Doedala- canthus, Barlcria, Phlogocanthus, Justicla, Pavetta, etc.; and of the "temperate zone" Daphne, Edgeworthia, Luculia, Leycesteria, Ardisia, Buddleia, Hydrangea, Vaccinium, Rubus, Hypericum, iSauraiij'a, Reimoard- tia, SJcimmia, 31clastoma, Helwingia, Brassaiopsis, Auciiba, 3Iussoenda, PoUqonum, Strobilanthes, etc. The trees of the " tropical zone" more worthy of mention for their useful or ornamental properties belong to the genera Shorea, Cedrela, Morus, Quercus, Castanopsis, Artocarpiis, Bombax, Canarium, Talauma, Schima, Ficiis, Gynocardia, jEsculus, Mangifera, Albiszia, Bauhinia, Tcrminalia, Eugenia, Duabanga, Bassia, Alsionia, Wightia, Callicarpa, Chnelina, Cimumiomnm, Blsclioffia, 3Iallotus, Betula, Alnus, luglans, Engelhardtia, Salix, Popidus, Phyllanthm, Symplocos, Phcebe, Cordia, Podocarpus, Piinis, etc.; and of the " temperate zone," 3Iag- nolia, Michelia, Quercus, Bucklandia, Fit us. Hex, Acer, Cornus, Andromecla, Prumis, Taxiis, Abies, Larix, Juniperus, Betula, 3Iachilus, etc. Dr. King in his Annals of the Koyal Botanic Garden, Calcutta, describes about 17 species of figs from Sikhim, ten oaks, and four chestnuts. Several of the figs are mere shrubs; a few are climbers, and the others lofty trees. The leaves of many of them are prized as fodder for milch cows, and are said to cause an increased yield of milk. Ficus elastica yields rubber of excellent quality when care is taken to collect it free from impurities, but the tree is not abundant enough naturally to I'ender it of much commercial importance. The fruits of several species are eaten, but are insipid and greatly inferior to the ordinary cultivated figs. Several of the oaks and chestnuts yield excellent building timber, and the seeds of the chestnuts, although small, are good to eat. The sal {SJiorea robusta) is one of the best known and durable of timbers in India. Formerly there were magnificent forests of it along the liungeet, but tliey have had to give way to the cultivator, and but little of their former magnificence now remains. 31agnolia Campbclli is unsurpassed as a flowering tree. It is a large deciduous tree, producing magnificent rosy-purple flowers in spring, before the leaves expand, calling to mind the flowers of some of the water-lilies, which they strongly resemble. 3Iichelia excclsa produces white flowers in great profusion, at the same season of the year, and its timber is one of the most useful for general i)ur])oses. From the seeds of Gynocardia odorata, a common tree of the lower VEGETATION. 93 forests, is got the chdlmugra oil, which is of good repute in the treat- ment of leprosy and other skin diseases. A large mulberry [Morus laevigata) yields a timber second to none in Sikhim for its lasting and other good qualities, and its leaves, and those of the small species {3Iorus indica), are good for feeding silkworms. A large proportion of the Sikhim trees yield very inferior quality timbers, and care has to be exercised in their selection for building purposes. For instance, the timbers of Bombax, Duabanga and a Canaritim are so unenduring that tea boxes made of them occasionally crumble to pieces within two years, and sometimes in less than one. Many of the woody nettles (Bd/imeria, Villehrunea, Dehregeasia, &c ), yield excellent fibre, but as yet their extraction has been found too slow and expensive for them to be commercially renmnerative, but the Lepchas make fishing-lines, &c., out of them for their own use. Urtica crenulata is the most dreadful of all the nettle tribe. It is found in the warm valleys up to 4,000 feet, and grows to 12 or 15 feet in height with large, glossy, innocent-looking leaves which are seemingly devoid of stinging hairs, but are extremely virulent, their stings causing great pain which lasts for several days and may bring on serious illness. Rubbing the affected parts with opium liniment has been found to give almost instantaneous relief. One or two of the cinnamons produce bark and leaves with aromatic properties, and are used for home consumption and sometimes sold in the local bazars. The leaves of Callicarpa are said to be useful in asthmatical complaints. A coarse, strong paper is made from the bark of Dajihne cannabina and Edgcivorthia Gardneri^ two handsome flowered shrubs growing in the forests over 5,000 feet, and the root bark of a Morinda is used at home, and also exported to a small extent for dyeing. Several of the raspberries yield large crops of fairly good fruit. The fruit of the ' wild mango is eatable, and that is the best that can be said for it. Wightiu gigantea is an extraordinary epiphytic tree, of great size, which embraces its foster parent with its numerous horizontal roots and ultimately sti angles it. Gamble mentions that the Lamas make their idols out of its wood. The wood of Gnielina arborea is used by the Nepalese turners for making bowls and other domestic utensils, and the leaves are largely given to cattle. Among the flowering shrubs epiphytic on trees are Vacciniuins of sorts, several species of Hog a, Mschynanthus^ Ilymenopogon and misletoe, and there are several species of the parasitical Loranthus. The Lepchas find innumerable things to eat in the jungles in the shape of fruits, leaves, piths of stems, roots and flower buds. They also eat an enormous variety of fungi, and seldom make a mistake in collecting them, but occasionally a whole family does get poisoned. Some of the sorts resemble those commonly eaten in Europe and grow 94 VEGETATION. on the ground, but others, and they the best flavoui'ed sorts, grow on dead trees, and are slimy, unwholesome-looking things. The principal cultivated crops of the Lepchas are their own peculiar varieties of rice, which require no irrigation, and several wet sorts, millets of various kinds, maize, buckwheat, mustard, radishes, turnips, potatoes, climbing beans, yams, caladiums of sorts, pumpkins, cucumbers, plantains, capsicums, ginger, turmeric, cardamoms, cassava, cotton, &c., &c. THE VEGETATION OF TEMPERATE AND ALPINE SIKHIM. 95 THE VEGETATION OF TEMPERATE AND ALPINE SIKHIM. By GEOEGE a. GAMMIE. The following account of the vegetation of a restricted area of Sikhim is based on observations made during journeys through the interior of the country and its frontier tracts in the summer of '1892. Some portions of this paper are verbatim extracts from a report submitted to the Government of Bengal after my return. I have not hesitated to avail myself of information from Sir J. D. Hooker's invaluable " Himalayaa Journals " whenever I consider that the opinion of a botanist of world-wide experience, even in such an early period of his career, would throw a clearer light on many questions which one with infinitely less knowledge and grasp of details would, perhaps, attempt to answer by the use of vague conjectures. All tracts above an elevation of 10,000 feet are treated of as Alpine. Under the term "Temperate Region" is included only the country contained in the Lachen and Lachung valleys with their ramifications up to 10,000 feet. It is true that many parts of Sikhim, such as the higher levels of the spurs proceeding from the Singalelah and other ranges, are temperate in their thermometric conditions, but the region to which the designation is strictly confined is called so on botanical considera- tions. Its climate, drier and more sunny in summer, favours the existence of a vegetation in many ways radically different from that of the moist outer ranges. As the botany of these has already been dealt with in a former chapter, it will be only alluded to for the sake of comparison when such a course becomes necessary for the more perfect apprehension of any subject under discussion. The Temperate Region. — The hamlet of Cheongtong (Choongtam), at the junction of the Lachen and Lachung rivers, marks the entrance to this exceedingly interesting botanical area. The two valleys through which these head waters of the Tista flow, run northwards to the stupendous masses of the Himalayan axis which divides Sikhim from Tibetan territory. They are separated by a lofty range extend- ing southwards from Kinchinjhow, and even at its termination it is 10,000 feet in elevation. The floors of both valleys are nowhere broad, and their flanks rapidly attain high altitudes, so that the area in which temperate forms of plants flourish is circumscribed in extent. TJie Lachung Valleg. — The trade route up the Tista valley passes through tropical forests and cultivation as far as Cheongtou, where 96 THE VEGETATION OF TEMPERATE AND ALPINE SIKHIM. the air becomes appreciably cooler and where plants unknown to an inhabitant of the lower valleys attract our notice. The first indication of the transition of the flora is the presence of a tall Anemone {A. vitifolia), a taller thistle {Cincus involucratus), a leguminous plant [Astragalus pijcnorhkus) creeping over the sand, a composite {Eupa- torium cannabinum) and a common fragile climber with pretty blue flowers (Lcptocodon gracilis). All these, with many more which could be enumerated, prevail as far as the village of Keadom. This is situated on a large open expanse which enjoys such a balmy climate in summer that, although it lies at an elevation of 6,600 feet, cereals such as Indian-corn, IHciisine, &c., are successfully grown. On the outer ranges, owing to the humidity and want of sunshine during the rains, these crops cannot be profitably cultivated above 5,000 feet. The dense forests of tall trees terminate some distance above Keadom, and are replaced by grassy slopes on which grow more scattered trees. The character of the vegetation completely alters, and an abundance of species of plants unknown in other parts _ of the country flourish in profusion, their many-hued flowers endowing the landscape with a bright and cheerful appearance, conrtasting strongly with the dark green wealth of foliage whose monotonous aspect at lower levels tires the travellers eye with its unbroken uniformity. The arboreal and shrubby vegetation consists of Xanthoxylum, Hlldrangea, Rosa macrophylla and R. sericca, Prinsepia iitilis, Fyrus, Rhus, Pieris ovaVfoUa and P. formosa, Rhododendron arhoreum, R. setosum, Maples, Oaks, Poplar, Holly, Hazel, &c. Others are Leijcesteria formosa, Buddleia macrostachya and B. Colvillei, Berberis of several species, Rubus nioeus with palatable fruits and the box-like Sarcococca pruniformis. The most conspicuous climbers are Aristolochia Griffithii with strongly-ribbed cylindrical fruits, Rollboellia latifolia, a Polygonum and a few species of leguminous and cucurbitaceous plants. Of herbaceous plants, Euphorbia Sikkimensis is most abun- dant, but the variety of composite and umbelliferous plants is the most prominent feature. Aster Sikkimensis, Erigaon multiradiatus, Etipatorium, Saussurea, Inula Hookeri, Lactuca, and Senecio are most common. Lilium giganteum grows on the verges of streams, fully deserving its specific name by attaining a height of ten feet; a smaller congener, Lilium roseum, with pink flowers is rarer. Roscoea alpina is seen every- where, and the flat tops of many rocks are brightened by the yellow flowers of Spathoglottis ixioides. Safyrium nepalense, a pink-flowered orchid, most sweetly scented, accompanies it, and there are many species of Ilahenaria. Other plants worthy of mention are tall Balsams, Thalictrum, Eulenia, Sweriia, Geranium, Thistle, Wormwood, THE VEGETATION OF TEMPERATE AND ALPINE SIKHIM. 97 and Pohjgonum molle. Aconitum uncinatum, remarkable in its genus by its scandent habit, is extremely localized, and dues not exist beyond a radius of two miles from Lachung village. The handsome fern Osmunda Claijtoniana overruns large areas in the manner of the bracken at lower elevarions. Two species of Leucostegia with hay-scented fronds, L. Hookeri and L. membranuhsa, and a large form of Pkopeltis simplex grow in a wood about 8,000 feet in elevation. G'oniophlcbmm ehenipes occurs in dense clusters on the tops of many of the numerous rocks. Woodivardia radicnns, ChcUanthcs albomarginata, Ptcris dactylina, Adiantimi pcdahmi, Botrycluum tcrnatum^ all rarer in other parts, are common along the course of the Lachung, as is also the ivy, which has a very restricted distribution in tliis country. Here it rambles up the stems of trees in a simple unbranched manner, which gives it a widely different appearance from the same plant in Europe which clothes trees, old walls, and buildings so densely. The peach and apricot, said to have been introduced from Tibet, are cultivated by the villagers. Pyrus SikJcimensis, the Sikhim crab- apple, is common. Agriculture is not pursvied in earnest by the people, their only crops being scanty fields of barley, radishes, and. turnips. The temperate region is eminently distinguished by its variety of coni- ferous trees. Pkca 3Ioriinla and Tsuga Bruiwnicma are found between 8 and 11,000 feet. The former is a tall, conical tree, with thick trunk and dark green pendulous branches; the latter has sjireading branches drooping at the extremities, and bears very small cones. Zarix Griffithii, the only Himalayan larch, grows only in Eastern Nepal, Sikhim, and Bhutan, and previous to its re discovery by Dr. Hooker, its existence was known only from a note in Griffith's Journals. Young trees of this are commonly gregarious, and remind one of the gigantic Lycopodia which once grew on the earth. Full-grown specimens are pyramidal in outline, and attain a height of sixty feet. The branches are long and pendulous, supporting erect, cylindrical cones resembling those of Picea Morinda. It first appears at 8,000 feet, becomes plenti- ful at 9,500 feet, and ascends to 12,000 feet. It is the only deciduous conifer in Sikhim, the leaves falling in autumn to be renewed in the succeeding summer. All these conifers are often infested with a lichen, Vsnea barbafa^ which hangs in long grey streamers, giving the scenery a quaintly antique appearance. I was told that, when reduced to straits for food, the Tibetans boil and eat this uninviting plant, finding it to be as nourishing and satisfying as flesh diet. As I did not visit the Lachen valley, I can give no detailed account of its vegetation ; but, judging from Sir J. D. Hooker's descrip- tions, its flora is m most ways identical with that of tl»e Lachung valley. I may, however, safely conclude this part of my paper by ii 98 THE VEGETATION OF TEMPERATE AND ALPINE SIKHIM. quoting the remarks which this illustrious traveller makes concerning the variety of the vegetation in the temperate region from a geogra- phical standpoint. These remarks relate primarily to the flora of the Lachen valley at Lamteng, but they are equally applicable to that of Lachung. "At first sight it appears incredible that such a limited area, buried in the depths of the Himalaya, should present nearly all the types of the flora of the north temperate zone; not only, however, is this the case, but sjoace is also found at Lamteng (and Lachung also) for the intercalation of types of a Malayan flora, otherwise wholly foreign to the north temperate region. A few examples will show this. Amongst trees the conifers are conspicuous, and all are of genera typical both of Europe and North America : namely, silver fir, spruce, larch, and juniper, besides the yew ; there are also species of birch, alder, ash, apple, oak, willow, cherry, bird-cherry, mountain ash, thorn, walnut, hazel, maple, ivy, holly, Andromeda, Hhamims. Of bushes, rose, berberry, bramble, rhododendron, elder, cornel, willow, honeysuckle, currant, Spircea, Vilnrnum, Cotoneaster, Hippophoe. Her- baceous plants are far too numerous to be enumerated, as a list would include most of the common genera of European and North American plants. As an example, the ground about my tent was covered with grasses and sedges, amongst which grew primroses, thistle, speedwell, wild leeks, Arum, Convallaria, Calliirkhe, Oxalis, Ranunculus, Potentilla, Orchis, Choeroplnjllmn, Galium, Paris, and Anagallis, besides cultivated weeds of shepherd's purse, dock, mustard, mithridate cress, radish, turnip, Thlaspi arvense and Poa annua. Of North American genera not found in Europe, were Buddleia, Podophijllum Macinolia, Sassafras ? Tetranthera, Hydrangea, Didytra, Aralia, Panax, ^ymplocos, Trillium, and Clintonia. The absence of heaths is also equally a feature in the flora of North America. Of European genera not found in North America, the Lachen (and Lachung) valleys have Coriaria, Hypecoum, and various Cruciferce. The Japanese and Chinese floras are repre- sented by Camellia, Deutzia, Slaeltytirus^ Aucuha, Helwingia, Ilolhellia, Hydrangea, Hkimmiu, Eurya, Anlhogonmm, and EnkiantJms. The Malayan by Magnolia, Talavma, many vacciniums and rhododendrons, Kadsura, Dapliniphyllum, Marlea, both coriaceous and deciduous leaved, Ccelogyne^ Oberonia, Eulophia, Calanthe, and other orchids ; Ceropcgia, Parochetus, Balanophora, and many Scitaminece ; and amongst trees by Engelhardtia, and various laurels." To those interested in problems connected with geographical botany this statement supplies ample food for reflection. When the surrounding unknown countries shall have been explored and their botanical characteristics detailed, it may be possible to trace back the march of these far-reaching genera of plants to their starting- points. THE VEGETATION OF TEMPERATE AND ALPINE SIKHIM. 99 The Alpine Region. — This region extends from 10,000 feet to 19,000 feet, above which elevation plants of even the most humble and degraded forms are altogether absent. The included tracts are the Singalelah ranges and slopes of Kanchinjingna, the upper levels of the Lachen and Lachung valleys, with their flanks, and the Chola Range. The Singalelah Range and the slopes of Kanchinjingna. — The Sing- alelah Range, forming the political boundary between Sikliim and Nepal, springs from Kanchinjingna and extends southwards to the plains of Bengal. The Nepal frontier road terminates at the staging bungalow of Cheabhanjan, and from thence the only path available for marching is the sheep j^ath running onwards to the grazing grounds which lie towards Jongri. The only large trees existing in the country travelled over are Ahies Wcbbiana, Junipenis pseiido-Salina, and Juniperus recurva. The silver fir extends to 13,000 feet, the juni- pers to 15,000 feet. Where the former is only a small, stunted, weather-worn tree, the other, a prostrate, intricately branched shrub. For many miles the path runs through woods of Rhododendron arboreuin, R. cimiabarimmi, R. Falconeri, R. barbatum^ R. campaniilatiim, and R. Hodgsoni, Acer caudatum, Betula uiiHs, Pieris ovalifolia, Prunus riifa Pynis foliolosa, P. macrophylla, &c. Here also are seen the last examples of the Bamboo tribe, Arundinaria spathiflora (so named from the spathe-like sheaths on the divisions of its inflorescence), and A. racc7nosa, not the large form so common at Tongloo and near Darjeeling, but a small variety rarely exceeding a height of three feet. The young culms of these bamboos are used as food by the Bhutias and the Gurung shepherds of Nepal who frequent the whole range with their flocks during summer. The upper limit of these bamboos is 13,000 feet, from thence upwards only small tufted sj^ecies of grasses abound. The shrubby vegetation already enumerated grows so densely that few herbaceous plants can exist beneath it. Beautifully green moss carpets the boulders, and Sazifraga ligukita, Pofentilla, CUntonia, Polygonum, and two species of ferns are the commonest plants. On open knolls, wliich occur but rarely, Gaultheria nuimmdaria, small willows, and the heather-like Cassiope fastigiata cover the ground with their dense growths. Towards the termination of the range rhododendrons and other shrubs grow more sparsely, thus favouring the existence of a greater variety of herbaceous plants. Two remarkable gentians attract our notice : Gentiana stylophora, with large, terminal, greenish-yellow, lily-like flowers, and Sivertia Hookeri, conspicuous by its brown leaves and inflorescence growing together in whorls on a stem often six feet high. Primroses become more abund- ant, the prevalent species being the water-loving P. Silckimensis and P. reticulata, and also those growing on dry ground, such as 100 THE VEGETATION OF TEMPERATE AND ALPINE SIKHIM. P. Stuartii, P. denticiilata, Si'c. In shallow streams various species of Sedum of the section Rkodiola, and the golden Chrijsosplenium alteriu- folium are common in the clefts of stones, partly submerged in the Tvater. Near the camping-ground of Megu can be found a quantity of Poli/poiiivm clathrafum, a fern separated by Clarke from P. lineare which it superficially resembles. It is thin and flacid in texture and dries black; the peculiarly-shaped scales covering the sori, which suggested the trivial name, alone serve to readily distinguish it from its congeners. Woodsia lanosa affects the same habitat. The latter is by no means a common fern, and its minute size assists to make it more difficult to find. Cnjptogramme crispa is another equally interest- ing fern which is abundant in most parts of Sikhim between 13 and 15,000 feet. On leaving the Singalelah Range properly so called and en)er- ging under the stupendous masses of rock which extend in all direc- tions from Kanchanjingna, a remarkable change of scenery is experi- enced. For a short distance the terraces are covered with a thick turf of grasses and sedges, amongst which are innumerable plants of Primula Stuartii and Anemone. The faces of many ri)cks are covered with cushions of saxifrages growing in hard, moss-like clusters, spangled with white and yellow flowers. Further on, the ground is covered with enormous accumulations of boulders which support no vegetation except humble mosses, which are perennially moist from the water which trickles over the whole surface of the slopes. Sir J. D. Hooker, in his admirable account of the Physical Geography of Sikhim, thus explains the cause of this barren desolation: — " Glaciers again descend to 15,000 feet in the tortuous gorges which immediately debouch from the snows of Kanchinjingna, but no plants grow on the debris they carry down, nor is there any sward of grass or herbage at their base, the atmosphere immediately around being chilled by enormous accumulations of snow, and the summer sun rarely warming the soil." The presence of one plant alone in this and other similar places prevent the imputation of almost absolute sterility which they would otherwise deserve. This is the truly remarkable and unique plant Rheum nohik, the gigantic rhubarb of Sikhim. It thrives best on inaccessible ledges of precipices. As Sir J. D Hooker says, "it forms pale pyramidal towers a yard high, of inflated reflexed bracts that conceal the flowers, and, overlapping each other like tiles, protect them from the wind and rain ; a whorl of broad green leaves edged with red spreads on the ground at the base of the plant, contrasting in colour with the transparent bracts which are yellow, margined with pink." He considered it to be the handsomest herbaceous plant in Sikhim, and mentions that the acid stems are eaten both raw and boiled, that they THE VEGETATION OF TEMPERATE AND ALPINE SIKHIM. 101 are hollow and full of pure water, and that, although the root resembles medicinal rhubarb, it is spongy and inert. The dried leaves are used as a substitute for tobacco, according to the same authority. The plant is, in all truth, beautiful to close inspection, but the thought of it will recall to the traveller's mind the barren crags where it delights to grow, and where it heightens the depressingly weird effect of such scenery by its cadaverous stove-like stem. A short reprieve from views of desolation is granted by a steep descent into the valley of the Runghi river at Gambothan. The shel- tered position of this place favours the growth of large pine trees, and copses of Salix Wallichiana fringe the river banks. A steep ascent to the summit of the ridge beyond terminates on a broad open plateau called Bokto, which, being covered with grass, is a favourite sheep-grazing sta- tion. Another descent and ascent follow over the valley of the Yang- sap thx'ough dense growths of rhododendrons, Abies Webbiana, Pijrus foliolosa and P. microphylla, &c. Beyond are two small plains and low ridges bearing only closely-cropped grass, with thickets of small rhodo- dendrons here and there in sheltered hollows. Another valley, the E,atong, again intervenes, and we emerge in the elevated tracts close to the eternal snows. The ground is covered thickly with grassy turf. On the high knolls other vegetation is scanty, comprising, however, amongst a few others, a plant of doubtful affinity — Oresolen Watiii — spinose-stemmed Astragali and Anemone. The celebrated collecting ground of Jongri is a good type of the more sheltered situations. Here many plants constitute a luxuriant herbage, such as Potentilla pedun- cularis, P. microplii/lla, P. coriandrifolia, P. albifolia, Geum elatum, Primula reticulata, P. Stiiartii, P. pusilla, P. glabra, Pedicularis siphonantha , Gera- nium polganthes, Ranimciilus affinis, Mcconopsis simplicifoUa and Phloniis sp. Here also can be found that intensely bitter-rooted plant Picrorhisa kurrua, of repute as a febrifuge and tonic amongst the Tibetans ; and Chrysanthemum AtJcinsoni, bearing golden flower heads, and worthy of note as being the only representative of its genus in Sikhim. Various species of Primtda not known to exist elsewhere liave been discovered by several collectors at Jongri and in its vicinity. Another fact worthy of record is that a majestic species of poppy is cultivated near the huts. It is a 31econopsis near 31. simplicifoUa, but grows in dense clusters two to three feet high. The flowers vary in diameter from five to seven inches, are an intensely vivid blue on opening, and change before fading away into purple. The superabundance of rhododendrons is the glory of the Singa- lelah Range. The equally moist Chola Range also possesses them in the same abundance, and the whole Alpine region of Sikhim can boast of them in a lesser degree. One, R. nivale, a humble soil-embracing plant inhabiting the desolate slopes of Donkia and Kinchinjhow, H 2 102 THE VEGETATION OF TEMPERATE AND ALPINE SIKHIM. between 17 and 18,000 feet, bears the honour of being the most Alpine wootiy plant in the Himalayas. For miles and miles the traveller trudgjes by sheep paths through impenetrable scrubs of rhododendrons. Their flowers are of varied colours, but none are blue. They are devoid of strong perfume, with the exception of E. Anthopoffon, li. setosiim and li. nivale. These three when bruised or trodden upon, exhale an overpowering scent from the superficial glands with which they are crusted, aggravating the headaches suffered by every one at high elevations. The discomfort is intensified in bright weather, as the warmth engendered by the sun causes the vapours to rise in greater volume. Many loads of their twigs are annually collected and taken to the Buddhist temples of Sikhim, where they are burned as incense. They are also of much service in camp, as they burn readily when lighted, a consideration of extreme importance in a country where the wetness of ordinary wood causes such delay in obtaining brisk fires. By comparison with the drier regions of Upper Sikhim, the chief characteristics of the vegetation along the Siugalelah Range are its poverty in variety of forms, and its wealth in individual species of rhododendrons. Sir J. D. Hooker, in his appendix on the Physical Geography of Sikhim, thus explains the cause of this peculiarity: — " The banks (of rivers between 8,000 and 14,000 feet are generally covered with rhododendrons sometimes to the total exclusion of other wooded vegetation, especially near the snowy mountain, a cool temperature and great humidity being the most favourable conditions for the luxu- rious growth of this genus." Such conditions prevailing throughout the Singalelah Range, due to its proximity to Kanchinjingna, account for the overwhelming abundance of rhododendrons, and may also be accepted as probable reasons for the comparative absence of variety in herbaceous plants, most of which would be unable to maintain a struggle for existence in such an adverse climate and against such formidable competitors. The Alpine jmrt of the Lachung Vallei/ and its siirronnding heights. — The first quickly obtainable introduction to the flora of this dis- trict can be had by visiting the Tankra mountain which overlooks the eastern bank of the river. A magnificent forest of enormous pine trees extends without a break from 9,500 to 12,500 feet. Polgpodium siilcanoenimi, P. Ilcndersoni, P. hastatiim, and P. erythro- carpmn depend gracefully in large clusters from their stems. A great variety of plants grows along the banks of the rapidly flowing Tunkra river, a tributary of the Lachung. Here, as elsewhere, edible fruits are few in number, the only plants yielding them being Fragaria Dal- toniana, a strawberry with long oval fruits, and Fragaria vesca, the wild strawberry of Europe, both possessing the well-known and appreciated THE VEGETATION OF TEMPERATE AXD ALPINE SIKHIM. 103 flavour; various species of Rihcs bear racemes of red and yellow fruits reminding of red currants. No species of liubus, strange to saj^, grows above 13,000 feet. Other noteworthy plants were two species of Crcmaiifhodium, Polygonum vaccimfoUum^ Oxijria digijna ; Pedicular is of several species, all with purple flowers, Potcntilla fnUicosa, yellow and white saxifrages, Epilohimn, Ladiica macrantlia, Parnassia, and aconites. Above the region of trees is a dense low growth of Rhododendron campamdatum, the unfolding leaves of which colour the landscape with a dark glaucous tint. The bladder-headed Saussurea ohvaUata thrives on the damp verges of water-courses, and bumble bees aff"ect its foetid flower-heads which are enclosed in white inflated papyx'aceous bracts. Equally- remarkable plants are the woolly Saussurea (S. gossgpiphora), delight- ing to grow in sandy dehris, appearing at first sight as balls of white fleecy wool. The young flower-heads are comj^letely enveloped in their soft protective covering: but when the florets expand, a ring opens on the top disclosing the inflorescence inside. In similar situations is found Crepis glomcrata, whose carrot-like stem buried in the ground is flattened on a level with the surface and bears a broad head of yellow flowers surrounded by small radiating leaves pressed closely to the soil. Rheum nobile is common, and ascends to 17,000 feet. Between the minor pass of Kanko and the glacier below Tankra La, there are multitudes of bright-hued flowering jjlants mostly confined to the sloping banks of the streams. On the Kanko La itself there are three small localized pi'imroses — P. uniflora, P. mtis- coides and P. soldanelloides — LiguJaria^ brown and yellow Chrgsosplenium, yellow saxifrages, blue and yellow forms of Corgdalis, several species of Pedicularis and blue gentians. Dr. Hooker enumerated the plants to be found on the bleak pass of Tankra: — "A pink-flowered Arenaria, two kinds of Corgdalis, the cottony Saussurea, diminutive primroses, Leontopodiwn, Scdum, Sazij'raga, Ranunculus hijperlorea^ Ligularia, two species of Polggomim, a Trichostomum, Sfcreocaulon and Lecidea geogra- phica, not one grass or sedge. In addition to these I found Meconopsis horridula, a lovely plant belonging to the Papavcracece, an order with notoriously delicate flowers. It affects the most inclement situations, sheltering itself under the shade of large rocks. The fragrant spikenard {Nardostachgs Jatamansi) is plentiful in the depression below the Tankra peaks, and Picrorhiza Karrooa, intensely bitter when chewed, is abundant about 1-1,000 feet, as are species of Lagotis which bear a superficial resemblance to the latter. The only woody plant beyond the Kanko La is the humble Diplarchs pauci flora. Another interesting Alpine tract of comparatively easy access from Lachung is the Lebu valley, through which runs the scarcely 10-i THE VEGETATION OF TEMPERATE AND ALPINE SIKHIM. used trade route to Tibet over the Ghoro La, the second highest pass in Sikhini, being at an elevation of 17,000 feet. The northern side of this valley is enclosed by an almost continuous precipitous spur, broken in one place only by a deep forest-clad dejjression ; the range on the other flank is more gently sloped, and is covered -with forest and succeeding smaller vegetation, and is more diversified by ravines. From 13 to 15,000 feet there is an impenetrable growth of rhodo- dendrons and willows, with numerous small trees of Pynis foliolosa and P. mkrophjlla ; and intermingled with grass under these bushes is an equal luxuriance of herbs, such as aconites, Senecio^ Saxifraga, Prunela, Potentilla, Polygonum, and thistles. Cnicus criophor aides, which is moderately common in most valleys, is so abundant as to be a jDerfect pest. From 14 to 15,000 feet the vegetation is more sparse and scattered, being chiefly Rhododendron campanidatiim and R. antho- pogon. From 15,000 feet to the pass the floor of the valley is broad and swampy. Sedum of many species are common amongst the stones, and Rheum nohilc, descending at last from what would be its more congenial perches in other valleys, is found in numbers over the level surface. Dense stiS' growths of Ejjhedra vulgaris, a plant of the order Conifera?, abound on steep banks. Its presence is always a certain witness of the proximity of the dry, arid regions of Tibet. Saxi- frages, Allardia, Meconopsis horridula, Cgananthus, gentians, Saussurea of three spiecies. Rhododendron nivaje, some grasses and sedges almost complete the scanty details of the vegetation. Saussurea tridactgla, growing at the foot of the ascent to the pass, is the last flowering plant seen, and the rocks above, suffering continual denudation by the weather, do not bear either mosses or lichens. Numbers of yaks are grazed in this valley up to 17,000 feet, cattle range up to 13,000 feet. These animals possess sufficient instinct to avoid eating the poisonous aconites, which at their highest attained levels grow only to the height of the accompanying low herbage. Goats and Tibetan ponies, from the information I gathered, share in the same knowledge ; while sheep, strange to say, must be muzzled or driven quickly through areas infested with these plants. One of the rhododendrons, also, is equally poisonous to animals. The species known to possess this property is Rhododendron cinnabarimmi. Honey, which is collected in spring, but at no other time of the year, is said to be rendered deleterious by the admixture of nectar from rhodo- dendron flowers. By travelling up the main Lachung valley one anives at the flat of Yeunitong, standing at the entrance to the Alpine zone extending northwards to Tibet. A thick turf of grass covers the surface of the flat, and on it grows a yellow Anemone {Anemone obtusiloba) with THE VEGETATION OF TEMPERATE AND ALPINE SIKHIM. 105 leaves appressed to the ground, a surculose saxifrage, the dandelion [Taraxacum officinale), the aromatic yellow EUlwltzia criostachja, and groups of Scnccio diversifoUus, Other plants are Pcdicularis tublflora, a small floating Hanuncubis, 3fcconopsis smpIicifoUa and M. NcpaUnsis, Salvia glutinosa, Li/cknis nutans, Cucahalus baccifcr, audi Asaritm Jiimalacium. Aroids of the genus Ariscvma are common. In early summer their tuberous roots are prepared and used for food according to the method described by Sir J. D. Hooker. As the people neglect agricultural pursuits, they depend almost entirely on the milk and its products from the yaks and cattle for their sustenance. When this source of nourishment is withheld in the early part of the year, they are driven to utilize the nauseous food obtained from Aroids, which causes disastrous results if continued for a time. In this and all other valleys, every range facing a southerly direction, in even the least degree, is, in summer, exposed to the full force of the southerly winds, laden with mist and drizzling rain, which blow with increasing violence as the day advances, to die away only at night. These continuous currents rapidly denude the surface, wash down the superincumbent earth, and wear away rocks which become precipices or crags of fantastic shapes. Vegetation, therefore, cannot find permanent foothold under such adverse circumstances, and its abundance, of trees especially, is confined to the sheltered flanks on the opposite side where a copious rainfall is absorbed by the deep and fertile soil. At the highest elevations where vegetation is naturally more scanty, the valleys are broader and their bounding spurs are com- paratively lower in altitude. The currents, therefore, act equally in all directions, causing the whole area to assume an uniformly bleak and desolate appearance. From Yeumtong to Momay Samdong an ascent of four thousand feet has to be effected. The distance is not gi'eat, but the steepness of the intervening tract rapidly discloses a radical change in the aspect of the country and of its vegetation. A forest of silver fir, maples, birch, Fynis, rhododendrons, willows, and other trees and shrubs extends to 13,000 feet; for a few hundred feet farther some scattered black juniper trees occur; an equal distance upwards is occupied by smaller rhododendrons and willows; above, the valley is broad with enormous rocks on its surface and supports low-growing plants only. Of this place Sir J. D. Hooker gives the following description : — "It was a wild and most exposed spot; long stony mountains grassy on the base near the river; distant snowy peaks, stupendous precipices, moraines, glaciers, transported boulders and rocks rounded by glacial action, formed the dismal landscape which everywhere 106 THE VEGETATION OF TEMPERATE AND ALPINE SIKHIJI. met tlie view. There was not a bush six inches high, and the only approach to a woody plant were minute creeping willows and dwarf rhododendrons with a very few prostrate junipers and Ephedra. The bottom of the Lachung Valley at Momay is broad, tolerably level and grassy. The ground was marshy and covered with cow- slips. Ranunculus, gi'asses and sedges, Ci/anmdkiis, blue asters, gentians, etc. Wild clover, shepherd's purse, dock, plantain, and chickweed are imported here by yaks; but the common Pn