114 DORJILING. Chap. IV. 



very narrow at the top, along which most of the houses 

 are perched, while others occupy positions on its flanks, 

 where narrow locations on the east, and broader ones on 

 the west, are cleared from wood. The valleys on either 

 side are at least 6000 feet deep, forest-clad to the bottom, 

 with very few and small level spots, and no absolute 

 precipice ; from their flanks project innumerable little 

 spurs, occupied by native clearings. 



My route lay along the east flank, overhanging the 

 valley of the Rungmo river. Looking east, the amphi- 

 theatre of hills from the ridge I had crossed was very fine ; 

 enclosing an area some four miles across and 4000 feet 

 deep, clothed throughout with an impenetrable, dark 

 forest : there was not one clear patch except near the very 

 bottom, where were some scattered hamlets of two or 

 three huts each. The rock is everywhere near the surface, 

 and the road has been formed by blasting at very many 

 places. A wooded slope descends suddenly from the edge 

 of the road, while, on the other hand, a bank rises abruptly 

 to the top of the ridge, alternately mossy, rocky, and 

 clayey, and presenting a good geological section, all the 

 way along, of the nucleus of Dorjiling spur, exposing 

 broken masses of gneiss. As I descended, I came upon 

 the upper limit of the chesnut, a tree second in abundance 

 to the oak ; gigantic, tall, and straight in the trunk. 



1 arrived at Dorjiling on the 16th of April; a showery, 

 cold month at this elevation. I was so fortunate as to 

 find Mr. Charles Barnes (brother of my friend at 

 Colgong), the sole tenant of a long, cottage-like building, 

 divided off into pairs of apartments, which are hired by 

 visitors. It is usual for Europeans to bring a full 

 establishment of servants (with bedding, &c.) to such 

 stations, but I had not done so, having been told that 



