34 LAMTENG VILLAGE. Chap. XIX. 



valley, which slopes so steeply as to appear for many 

 miles almost a continuous landslip, 2000 feet high. 



Lamteng village, where I arrived on the 27th of May, 

 is quite concealed by a moraine to the south, which, with 

 a parallel ridge on the north, forms a beautiful bay in the 

 mountains, 8,900 feet above the sea, and 1000 above 

 the Lachen. The village stands on a grassy and bushy 

 flat, around which the pine-clad mountains rise steeply to 

 the snowy peaks and black cliffs which tower above. It 

 contains about forty houses, forming the winter- quarters of 

 the inhabitants of the valley, who, in summer, move with 

 their flocks and herds to the alpine pastures of the Tibet 

 frontier. The dwellings are like those described at 

 Wallanchoon, but the elevation being lower, and the situation 

 more sheltered, they are more scattered ; whilst on account 

 of the dampness of the climate, they are raised higher from 

 the ground, and the shingles with which they are tiled 

 (made of AbiesWebbiana) decay in two or three years. Many 

 are painted hlac, with the gables in diamonds of red, black, 

 and white : the roofs are either of wood, or of the bark of 

 Abies Brimoniana, held down by large stones : within they 

 are airy and comfortable. They are surrounded by a 

 little cultivation of buck-wheat, radishes, turnips, and 

 mustard. The inhabitants, though paying rent to the 

 Sikkim Rajah, consider themselves as Tibetans, and are 

 so in language, dress, features, and origin : they seldom 

 descend to Choongtam, but yearly travel to the Tibetan 

 towns of Jigatzi, Kambajong, Giantchi, and even to 

 Lhassa, having always commercial and pastoral transac- 

 tions with the Tibetans, whose flocks are pastured on the 

 Sikkim mountains during summer, and who trade with the 

 plains of India through the medium of these villagers. 



The snow having disappeared from elevations below 



