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



complete abstraction from all sublunary matters, and meditation ; 

 and the poor old Raja, who appears to be a mere puppet, acts up 

 to the Buddhist ideal. His brother, on the contrary, a much 

 younger man, is a fine tall intelligent Tibetan, whose face beams 

 with shrewdness. He is the picture of a diplomatist, and is pro- 

 bably the real ruler of Sikkim. Hooker's old enemy, the Dewan, 

 or Pagla Dewan, as he is called in Sikkim, is no longer allowed 

 to enter the country, but he is still a powerful man and holds the 

 post of Governor of Churnbi. He is greatly esteemed by all Ti- 

 betans, and all whom we afterwards met spoke of him with great 

 respect. Doubtless the Eaja is much influenced by him, and it 

 is to be hoped that he has learned by experience the folly of a 

 policy of opposition to the British Government. 



Our whole conversation was with the Raja's brother, of course 

 through an interpreter, Guruk officiating in that capacity. We 

 were first assured of the Raja's satisfaction at seeing us, and then 

 followed a string of questions as to our ages, occupations, families, 

 &c. After this we requested to be allowed to proceed through 

 Chiimbi to the Tankra pass, but we were assured that our en- 

 tertainer had no power to permit us to go through Tibetan 

 territory, that the orders of the Tibetan government, and still 

 more of the Chinese government, were imperative, and we were 

 begged to prosecute our Journey via Tamlung and the Tista valley 

 to Lachung, and promised that the Raja, in his own dominions, 

 would give us every assistance, and have all the roads repaired. 

 We were assured that there is no road along the range from the 

 Chola to the Tankra-la, that it is only possible to go from one to the 

 other ?n« Chiimbi, at the same time it was admitted that the distance 

 is very trifling, not more than 3 or 4 days easy marching, by Chiimbi, 

 whilst there is a long circuit to be made by Tamlung and Chung- 

 tarn. Of course we had to yield, though it was disgusting to be 

 obliged to return to the hot valleys, and to lose so much time in 

 them. Our assurance that the Chinese government had by treaty 

 consented to allow Europeans to travel in all parts of its dominions 

 was met by the reply that orders to the contrary had been received 

 from Lhassa and Pekin, and was evidently not believed. It is to 

 be regretted that no steps have been taken by the British Govern- 





