114 LACHOONG VALLEY. Chap. XXTI. 



with masses of the aromatic dwarf species, which, being full 

 of resinous glands, blazed with fury. Next day, after a 

 very transient glimpse of the Kinchinjunga snows, 1 

 descended to Lachoong, where I remained for some days 

 botanizing. During my stay I was several times awakened 

 by all the noises and accompaniments of a night-attack or 

 alarm ; screaming voices, groans, shouts, and ejaculations, 

 the beating of drums and firing of guns, and flambeaux of 

 pine-wood gleaming amongst the trees, and flitting from 

 house to house. The cause, I was informed, was the 

 presence of a demon, who required exorcisement, and wdio 

 generally managed to make the villagers remember his 

 visit, by their missing various articles after the turmoil 

 made to drive him away. The custom of driving out 

 demons in the above manner is constantly practised by the 

 Lamas in Tibet : MM. Hue and Gabet give a graphic 

 account of such an operation during their stay at 

 Kounboum. 



On the 29th of August I left Lachoong and proceeded 

 up the valley. The road ran along a terrace, covered 

 with long grass, and bounded by lofty banks of unstra- 

 tified gravel and sand, and passed through beautiful groves 

 of green pines, rich in plants. No oak nor chesnut 

 ascends above 9000 feet here or elsewhere in the interior 

 of Sikkim, where they are replaced by a species of hazel 

 (Corylus) ; in the North Himalaya, on the other hand, an 

 oak (Qiiercus semecarpifolia, see vol. i. p. 187) is amongst 

 the most alpine trees, and the nut is a different species, 

 more resembling the European. On the outer Sikkim ranges 

 oaks (Q. annulata ?) ascend to 10,000 feet, and there is 

 no hazel. Above the fork, the valley contracts extremely, 

 and its bed is covered with moraines and landslips, which 

 often bury the larches and pines. Marshes occur here and 



