4G0 Journal of a trip in tlie Siklcim Himalaya. [No. 5. 



Left Rinchingpoong at 9 a. m. ; passed Soomtong at 9.30 ; and 

 after two hours of steep descent reached the hroad and rapid stream 

 of the Kullait, close to where the Rongsong stream falls into it. 

 Here we had a refreshing bathe and washed clothes. The Kullait is 

 here divided into two streams. The first and smaller was crossed by 

 a slender bridge made of bamboos, having a pendent roadway formed 

 of a single bamboo. Across the second the fishermen have construct- 

 ed a very ingenious weir of bamboos tied together with cane. During 

 the night, when the fish descend the rapids, they are driven by the 

 force of the water on to an open frame-work of bamboos where they 

 are easily captured. The fishermen cooked some fish by baking or 

 stewing them in a bamboo, a device which succeeded admirably and 

 occupied only a few minutes. We boiled water and made murwa ; 

 and having scrambled across the second stream by the aid of the 

 fisherman's weir, by 1 p. M. were wending our way up the very steep 

 Pemionchee hill on the north side of the valley, and at 3.45 p. At. 

 reached Grazing, and the coolies an hour later. We put up in the 

 house of a villager, and were shortly afterwards treated to murwa and 

 plantains by a sturdy Llama with a peculiar drooping eyelid. All our 

 beds were placed in a row, and dinner was served up on an extempore 

 table formed of a plank taken from the flooring. In front was a 

 flaring fire, surrounded by a dozen people of all ages and both sexes, 

 principally the members of our host's family, besides some of our 

 own coolies, including the cook and his deputy. All the members of 

 the family had their heads shaved on account of the recent death of 

 an old servant. After dinner we had singing, but it was not without 

 some difficulty that we persuaded ths Bhooteas to favour us. The 

 Llama, who was in grief, sat apart in one corner of the spacious 

 apartment constantly mumbling his prayers, but after partaking of 

 two cups of tea and a cheroot, he was induced to join the social party 

 round the fire. A Dowager Llama was very seriously engaged in her 

 devotions with a praying cylinder the whole time. On breaking iip 

 festivities we went to bed, exposed to the gaze of all the fair inmates, 

 who after seeing us comfortably settled for the night modestly retir- 

 ed. But I may as well mention that we had by this time relin- 

 quished the vulgar fashion of undressing before retiring to rest. Our 

 slumbers were frequently disturbed by the barking of dogs, squeaking 

 of pigs, and squalling of children. The latter we found in the 



