338 Journal of a visit to [May, 



progress will be sickness ; but having once reached Primsong's, safety 

 would be perhaps insured. I speak here in allusion to the season, the 

 route being, from the great height of the mountains to be crossed, only 

 practicable during the rains. I shall close this portion of my letter 

 with a few remarks on the Lamas, for which I am indebted to 

 Primsong. He describes them as resembling the Chinese, whose 

 peculiar manner of wearing their hair thev adopt ; the country is very 

 populous, the houses well built, and the people are well supplied with 

 grain, the staple one being rice. They are of a large stature, well 

 clothed, wearing Chinese trousers and shoes, navigating their rivers 

 by means of boats, and using horses, of which they possess three 

 varieties, as beasts of burthen. They possess in addition, no less than 

 seven kinds of cattle. They distil ardent spirits, and their manufactures, 

 which are numerous, are said to be very superior. 



On my arrival at Jingska, I determined on crossing the country 

 towards Beesa, having heard that tea existed in this direction. 

 Leaving Jitigsha, I proceeded up the Karan to the east, thence diverg- 

 ing to the south along the now nearly dry bed of the Kamptee. During 

 the march I passed one small Singpho village, and in the evening 

 arrived at Onset, the largest Singpho village I ever saw. On the 

 following day I left for Sutloon, and after a march of three hours halted 

 beyond Suttoon close to the head of the Tenga Pdnee. From this, on 

 the following day, I proceeded crossing the Tenga Pdnee, the course of 

 which I followed for some distance, thence diverging to the S. W. 

 towards the Minaboom range through excessively heavy bamboo 

 jungle. On reaching the Mattock Pdnee I ascended its dry bed for 

 some distance until we reached the hills. This range, along which I 

 proceeded some distance, is entirely sandstone, and in no part exceeds 

 five hundred feet in height ; thence descended and arrived at the 

 Meerep Pdnee, in the bed of which we halted. The next day carried 

 me after a long march to Beesa, the course first laying down the Meerep 

 Pdnee, thence to the westward and through a very low and uninterest- 

 ing and nearly uninhabited country. We emerged from the jungle about 

 a mile and a half above Beesa, to which place our course lay along the 

 nearly dry bed of the formerly larger now small Diking. This river 

 which up to last year drained a great portion of the Singpho country 

 on this side of the Patkaye range, is now nearly dry, its waters having 

 taken a new course into the Kamroop, and thence into the Booree 

 Diking. It is now only navigable for small boats as far as the 

 Degaloo Goham's village, which is but a short distance from its 

 mouth. 



