INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 179 



uninterrupted, and are accompanied by dense fogs and a satu- 

 rated atmosphere. This weather indeed prevails throughout 

 the year, as there are frequent winter rains, which are gene- 

 rally accompanied by cold fogs, and alternate with frost and 

 snow. March and April are the driest months, and in fine 

 seasons are often bright and clear, but the rains commence in 

 May, to continue with little intermission till October. The 

 bounding mountain-chains are very lofty, and snow-clad 

 throughout a great part of their extent, but the central range 

 which separates the Rangit from the Tista is depressed till 

 very far in the interior. The river-valleys are also consider- 

 ably depressed, but less markedly so than those of western 

 Bhotan. The rainy winds have thus free access to the heart 

 of the province, and sweep almost without interruption up to 

 the base of Kanchinjanga (28,178 feet), the loftiest mountain 

 and most enormous mass of snow in the world. The snow- 

 level is here about 16,000 feet. Between the two principal 

 sources of the Tista, however, the Lachen and the Lachung, a 

 lofty snowy range is projected; and as this chain has £ south- 

 west direction, and is moreover sheltered to a considerable 



extent by the boundary chain between Sikkim and the Tibetan 

 valley of Chumbi, we have in these valleys a rapid diminu- 

 tion of the rain-fall and an equally rapid transition to the 

 Tibetan climate, while the level of perpetual snow rises to 

 above 18,000 feet. 



From the level of the sea to an elevation of 12,000 feet 

 Sikkim is covered with a dense forest, only interrupted where 

 village clearances have bared the slopes for the purposes of 

 cultivation ; and there the encroachment of the forest is with 

 difficulty prevented by frequent fires and the incessant la- 

 bour of the villagers. 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 undergrowth of shrubs^/which 

 renders it almost impenetrable. In the tropical z/me large 

 Figs abound, with Terminalia, Vatica, Myrtacece, J^fiurels, Eiu 



