1883.] S. E. Veal—JVotes of a trip up the Diliing, 29 



ward by stones, to break the force of the wind which now began to 

 rise. It was hardly dark ere the storm broke. The thunder rolled and 

 roared as it only can in the tropics, and the lightning played here 

 and there as a constant flickering blaze. Rain fell as heavily as it well 

 could, but my water-proof was lashed taught outside, and though 1 hardly 

 expected it, I rode out the storm which lasted some three hours, without 

 getting wet. The men though they had a large water- proof got wet 

 gradually, and in the early morning at dawn, I got up and donning 

 my great coat (which I never needed so much in my life before) I got 

 in some logs and tried to start a fire. It was, however, useless as the 

 wind was a perfect hurricane, blew all but the big logs clean away and I 

 had to start and build a low stone wall of big stones, to windward. By 

 filling the larger holes with sods, I at last got shelter enough to try again, 

 and arranged the firewood and logs, ere I struck a light ; by using up half 

 a candle I got it caught at last, and it soon was a fine blaze. I looked in 

 and saw the men asleep still and roused them, I made my servant issue 

 tea for a big brew, that soon put all square ; such wind, however, they all 

 never experienced before. The guide, four Singphus and Thang, as soon 

 as they saw the storm coming, ran from their bivouac near us, and made 

 for a couple of big holes in the bank under the stem and among the roots 

 of a huge tree ; where, at five feet from the ground, they crawled in and 

 lay all night in fear of the tree falling, in which case all were at once dead 

 men. Old Lutak said he had not closed his eyes once, and he certainly 

 looked like it. It was some time ere the driving clouds, down the gorge, 

 allowed the sun to come out, and meantime we had breakfast. By this 

 time we spied men in a shanty on the opposite bank but could not be 

 heard as the rapid was in the way, yesterday on our arrival here I forgot 

 to say we came up just as two Singphu men and one woman, emerged from 

 the same ford, and reported it waist deep, the two men came up wet and 

 shivering and the young woman soon after, shivering certainly but not 

 wet which was a mystery, and after a talk they started on for Bishi, we 

 now discussed the passage, and the men opposite beckoned us to go 

 upstream. Nden Gam volunteered to shew us an alternative track. 

 By going up some distance on the west side and scrambling on the 

 rocks at side, we came to a place where a huge tree stem lay out in 

 the stream and off it he stepped into water not more than two feet deep 

 and took an oblique line to where the men opposite stood, and we crossed 



There was here some more discussion as to the proper route, and even- 

 tually it was settled that the old direct route over the hill was too steep 

 for the loads, and in lieu of it we were taken along the most execrable 

 track I ever saw. At times we had all to help each other up places steep as 



