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



impossible in general on account of the leeches, which at every halt 

 swarmed upon us. I saw a large Agamoid lizard about 2 feet 

 long, which I failed to secure, but two fine Japalurm were brought 

 to me and one or two snakes {Tropidonoti). Between Nimga 

 and Chungtam we found some of our coolies from Lachiing, and 

 their duffaclar. These men had been waiting for us for several 

 days, and the dufFadar had gone across the Tankra-la to Chdmbi 

 to look after us. 



Hooker mentions terraces along the banks of the Lichen-La - 

 chiing, the name here applied to the Tista, near this ; I could only 

 find traces of them, and they appeared to me due to deposits in 

 the bed of the river when it has been dammed up by landslips, 

 which it is occasionally to a great extent, as observed by Hooker 

 and by ourselves. For upwards of a mile, in one place, we walked 

 in the bottom of the valley over a great flat, in places nearly half 

 a mile broad, of boulders and gravel, evidently deposited in this 

 manner. The extreme steepness of the hill sides and the narrow- 

 ness of the river valleys in this neighbourhood renders land- 

 slips more common and more effective in damming up streams than 

 in most other parts of Sikkim. 



September 6th. We marched from Chungtam to Kedam, a short 

 march up the Lachiing valley, but involving a considerable ascent, 

 from 5200 to 6600 feet.* There is a very marked change about 

 this in the fauna and flora. As far as Chiingtam the common 

 birds are the usual Sikkim forms, but at Kedam we found flocks 

 of the Himalayan Siskin, Chrysomitris spinoides, and a titlark, Gory- 

 dalla striolata, abounded in all open spaces. Indeed this may 

 be considered the boundary between the Malay and Palaearctic 

 faunas, a boundary which, on the Chola range, is 3000 to 4000 

 feet higher. Elwes climbed up the hill sides after ghoral, which 

 inhabit the grassy and precipitous west slope of the valley, but 

 although he saw some, he was unsuccessful in bagging any. Eain 

 at night as usual. 



7th. A dull misty morning with a little rain. We started about 

 7 o'clock and climbed over a very indifferent road, crossing the 



* These elevations and all subsequently mentioned are taken from Hooker's 

 Himalayan Journals. 



