372 W. T. Blanford — Journey through Sik/cim. [No. 4, 



of the Rangnii valley. It is on the crest of the spur immediately 

 east of the Tista, and just above the confluence of the Tista and 

 great Rangit rivers. 



August \bth. I again borrowed a mule and started as soon after 

 daybreak as I could get the three or four men who were with me 

 to move. The road led for about ten miles in a north-east direction 

 along the flank of the great spur which runs up to Damsong, pass- 

 ing mainly through clearings in which maize, marwa and hill rice 

 were growing luxuriantly. At length the path ascended to about 

 6000 feet, leaving the clearings and traversing the splendid open 

 forest which clothes the outer hills of Sikkim at this elevation. 

 Here as usual leeches abounded, but as the day was fine they were 

 not troublesome. I found three or four land shells and a very re- 

 markable slug of an undescribed genus allied to Vagimdus, pale 

 brown in colour with a carinate back. 



I now sent back the mule I had been riding and walked on, leav- 

 ing the road to Damsong on my left. After about four miles 

 through the forest, the path descended to clearings again and I 

 met Elwes coming to meet me. He had found everything in order, 

 and we soon reached Phyudong, a small cluster of good houses 

 with a little open flat covered with grass on which our tents were 

 pitched. 



We had two tents, one for ourselves, the other for our men. The 

 first was made out of an old Jabbalpur shilddrihj cutting it down 

 to 8 feet square and 6 feet high in the middle, removing the lining 

 and replacing it by blanket, and fitting very light bamboos instead 

 of the absurdly heavy ones which are usual in the plains of India. 

 This tent proved both warm and waterproof ; it had but one fault, 

 weight, as when wet it required two coolies to carry it. The other 

 tent for our men, of Darjiling manufacture, was much larger and 

 made of American drill. It was light enough certainly, but it was 

 far from waterproof. We had dispensed with tables, chairs and 

 cots, in order to travel as lightly as possible. 



Phyddong is rather a pretty place on the southern slope of the 

 Rishet valley which here forms the boundary between the Butan 

 Duars and Independent Sikkim. The stream at the bottom of the 

 valley runs west towards the Tista, through dense tropical jungles : 



