IN THE EAST INDIES. 73 
and wish them a Merry Christmas and a Happy New 
Year from me. 
Most affectionately, 
Rosamond. 
Darjeeling, November 25, 1906. 
Dear Mother, Father and Brothers: 
This is my Christmas letter. You will probably 
get this a few days late, but you know the steamers 
do not leave every day and this is the nearest to 
Christmas day that I can send letters off. Of course, 
I send you all my love and best wishes, and _ best 
thanks, too. 
I have had the best time yet here, for I have been 
able to really be wholly a naturalist for a few days 
with no sights to see except what we caught. I got 
up a party of coolies, guides, ponies, ete., and while 
Ros. did the sights of Darjeeling with Katherine, I 
went off to the Teesta valley on the border of the in- 
dependent kingdom of Sikkum. The ride is about 
thirty-five miles and going down it drops 6900 feet. 
The ecooles, with bedding and food, left about three 
o’clock in the morning on Thursday and I left with 
two guides at 5.45. We arrived at 11.40 and I caught 
butterflies, ete., until dark. JI had one Lepcha, a 
native of Napal, who was a splendid butterfly catch- 
er, etc., but of course we could not converse without 
an interpreter. We rode about on ponies sent ahead 
and had splendid luck, for, with what I have bought 
very reasonably, fifty-five cents a hundred, we have 
several thousand. I got eighteen dozen with my hel- 
per; many are splendid and some are very rare in col- 
lections. We also got some fine moths, scorpions, beet- 
