1871.] W. T. Blanford— Journey through Sikkim. 371 



hard-working, and not given to making difficulties. We had also a 

 second head man or daffadar who, in charge of sixteen coolies, Lep- 

 chas and Bdtias, with rice and spare stores, was sent direct to 

 Lachimg via Tamldng. Another daffadar was in charge of the 

 Nepalese coolies, of whom we took ten, in the hope that they 

 would go with us into Tibet, if the Butias were afraid to cross 

 the frontier. Neither of these daffadars proved of much use. 



Most of the provisions were packed in bamboo Lepcha baskets, 

 lined with leaves to keep out the wet, and each man had a 

 " goung," a cane mat about 4^ feet by 3 in size, made of leaves 

 between two net- works of split bamboo, serving to protect both him 

 and his load from the rain. 



We had arranged to start from Gring on the 13th of August, but 

 as I was not very well, Elwes went on to catch up the coolies, 

 who had preceded us by three days, and I left next morning. I 

 quickly rode down to the Rangit bridge and along the road on the 

 right bank of the Rangit leading to the Tista. But before I had 

 proceeded far beyond the Rangit bridge, I had to send my 

 pony back, for the road was blocked up with landslips, and the 

 bridges had been washed away by the rain, and from this point 

 I walked on to the Tista bridge, about 1£ miles below the 

 junction of the Rangit. The heat was great, as the sun was shin- 

 ing brightly. After crossing the fine cane bridge over the Tista, 

 I found my Biitia shikari and a mule which Elwes had sent down 

 for me from Kalingpimg. He had found nothing to carry him up, 

 and was nearly knocked over by the heat in the steep climb of 4000 

 feet without a break. 



I ascended easily enough, thanks to the mule Elwes had with 

 some difficulty very kindly procured for me, and I reached the rest 

 house at Kalingpung about 4 p. m. The left bank of the Tista is 

 here in the Daling Ddar, formerly part of Bdtan, but annexed 

 after the war of 1864. The rest house, or dak bungalow, is a large 

 bamboo hut. Elwes had gone on some sixteen miles to a place call- 

 ed Phyddong, where we had arranged to overtake the coolies, and 

 he had promised to wait there for me next day. 



Kalingpiiug is a civilized place with a police guard. It is not 

 visible fromDarjiling, bat can be seen from the Lebong spur west 



