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



with the houses near each other, and all supported on piles as at 

 Lachung. We put up in one of them. The village is at a rather 

 higher elevation than Lachung,* and the pine trees, {Abies Smithi- 

 ana) descend about 500 feet below it. 



On the road I obtained Proparus chrysceus and one or two other 

 good birds. 



October 2nd. The weather was still magnificent, and the road, 

 though still steep, a great improvement on that of the day before. 

 Indeed after crossing the Zemu, (where we stopped to breakfast, 

 and I shot a Picus hyperythrus,) and ascending the opposite bank, 

 the road was quite practicable on horseback. The communications 

 of the people of the Lachen valley with Sikkim are evidently much 

 more restricted than are those of the inhabitants of Lachung, but 

 the former, like the latter, carry on a considerable trade with 

 Tibet, the road by Kongra Lama being easier than that by the 

 Donkia pass. 



The forest after passing the Zemu is mostly small ; junipers 

 abound and are finer than in the Lachung valley. About 4 

 o'clock, after a long march, we reached Tallam Samdong, a large 

 village of stone houses, one of the best of which had been pre- 

 pared for us. "We had a number of clean fir boards laid down and 

 made ourselves comfortable. 



3rd. The morning was spent in a vain search after a flock 

 of wild sheep on the opposite slope of the valley. We ascended 

 about 1500 feet amongst shrubs with rich autumnal tints, but al- 

 though tracks were numerous, no sheep could be found. On the 

 road down, we shot a number of snow pigeons, Columba leuco?iota, 

 which are more abundant here than at any other place I have 

 seen in Sikkim, and on which Hooker lived to a great extent 

 when the Dewan and the Siiba of Singtam tried to starve him out 

 of the country. There were a few choughs and crows, but no ra- 

 vens. 



After breakfast we obtained some pretty good ponies and rode 



to Tangu, a very short march, of not more than 6 or 7 miles, by a 



very tolerable road for Sikkim. At Tangu were many people with 



their yaks, the elevation, 12,750 feet, being only a thousand feet 



# 8,900 feet above the sea, according to Hooker. 



