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IN THE'TERAI 289 



Sikkim, were ' reported Iron Hills ' ; inspection, however, 

 showed that ' the Iron is, I believe, only Manganese, which will 

 disappoint Mr. Campbell ; but I have found a small (useless) 

 seam of coal and vestiges of coal fossils.' Other observers 

 had seen in the alluvial plains of the Ganges and the flat-topped 

 terraces of gravel along the foothills the sure sign of a deep 

 sea that in geologically recent times had washed the base of 

 the mountains as they were gradually upheaved ; Hooker 

 himself confesses that he could never look at the Sikkim 

 Himalayas from the plain without seeing in them the weather- 

 beaten front of a mountainous coast, while the deep valleys 

 he explored seemed essentially long fiords with terraced pebble 

 beds and transported blocks such as could be seen on the 

 raised beaches of our Scotch sea lochs exposed by the rising 

 of the land. 



For the rest, other picturesque episodes of the trip may 

 be read in the ' Journals ' ; the elephant fair at Titalya, 

 where Dr. Campbell joined them, on business as a buyer for 

 the Government ; the coolness of shooting the rapids of the 

 Teesta after the heat and haze of the plains ; the carnival 

 at the young Eajah of Jeelpigoree's Durbar, with its battle, not 

 of confetti, but of small paper bombs of red powder ; the 

 weariness of riding elephants, and the fierce storm of hail as 

 they returned which cut to pieces Dr. Campbell's experimental 

 tea garden and lay unmelted there for four days. 



Now began preparations for the second and longer Hima- 

 layan journey, through eastern Sikkim. The plan was parallel 

 to that of the former trip. As formerly they had ascended 

 the Tambur river, so now the party was to follow the river 

 Teesta to its head- waters ; then ascend either fork to the pass 

 at its head leading into Tibet. The western fork w^as the 

 Lachen, its pass the Kongra Lama ; the eastern the Lachoong, 

 leading to the Donkia pass, under the great mountain of that 

 name. These passes were far to the northward of the passes 

 visited in 1848, for the barrier chain trends north-east from 

 Kinchinjunga, and the line now taken was some fifty miles to 

 the eastward. Thus it was expected that the direct route 

 would take no less than twenty-five to thirty marches. 



