368 W. T. Blanford — Journey through Sikkim. [No. 4, 



tervening period. Captain Chamer, the solitary visitor who reached 

 the Northern passes, made a rapid journey in search of sport in 

 the spring of 1870, but was not very successful.* 



It had for a long time appeared to me that the fauna of the al- 

 pine portion of Sikkim was far less known than that of most other 

 accessible regions of the Himalaya. Much novelty, amongst the 

 vertebrata at least, was not to be expected, because Mr. Hodgson's 

 collectors had ransacked for years the neighbouring regions of 

 Nipal. But still no one, except Dr. Hooker, had ever observed 

 the animals of the country, and the attention of that veteran Hima- 

 layan traveller was mainly devoted to the botany , although numer- 

 ous notes on the fauna are scattered through his delightful 

 " Himalayan Journals." I believe that the popularity of that 

 model naturalist's note book has rather tended to prevent further 

 exploration of the country. Few people can conceive how very 

 little is really known of the fauna of upper Sikkim, despite the 

 number of years that have elapsed since its leading features were 

 first described, or that the animals of the upper Lachen and La- 

 chung valleys are no better known than those of the Pangong 

 lake and Ladak. 



The vertebrate fauna of British Sikkim, one of the richest, if not 

 the very richest in the whole world, has been pretty completely 

 explored by Hodgson, Tickell, Jerclon, Beavan and others, but not 

 one of these observers penetrated to the snows. The only travels 

 in Sikkim since the time of Hooker and Campbell, of which accounts 

 have been published, are those of Captain W. S. Sherwill, (J. A. S. 

 B. 1853, XXII, pp. 540, 611,) and Major J. L. Sherwill, (J. A. S. B. 

 1862, XXXI, p. 457). Both relate to the Singalela range and 

 the higher valleys south of Kanchanjanga. Several visits have 

 been made to the Chola and neighbouring passes, but no ac- 

 counts have been published of any of them, and neither of the 

 Slier wills makes more than passing mention of the fauna of the 

 country. 



In the autumn of 1870, I had at last an opportunity of devoting 

 three months' leave to the interior of Sikkim. At the same time I 



* I learn from Colonel Haughtori 1 that an account of Captain Chamer's jour- 

 ney has appeared in the " Sporting News" of the present year. I have not had 

 an opportunity of reading it. 



