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 



