170 TONGLO. Chap. VII. 



of wood, and I laid a " corduroy road " of the same to my 

 little observatory. 



During the night the rain did not abate ; and the tent- 

 roof leaked in such torrents, that we had to throw pieces of 

 wax-cloth over our shoulders as we lay in bed. There was 

 no improvement whatever in the weather on the following 

 morning. Two of the Hindoos had crawled into the tent 

 during the night, attacked with fever and ague.* The 

 tent being too sodden to be carried, we had to remain 

 where we were, and with abundance of novelty in the 

 botany around, I found no difficulty in getting through 

 the day. Observing the track of sheep, we sent two 

 Lepchas to follow them, who returned at night from some 

 miles west in Nepal, bringing two. The shepherds were 

 Geroongs of Nepal, who were grazing their flocks on a 

 grassy mountain top, from which the woods had been 

 cleared, probably by fire. The mutton was a great boon 

 to the Lepchas, but the Hindoos would not touch it, 

 and several more sickening during the day, we had the 

 tent most uncomfortably full. 



During the whole of the 22nd, from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., 

 the thermometer never varied 6^ degrees, ranging from 

 47^ in the morning to 54°, its maximum, at 1 p.m., 

 and 5 Of at night. At seven the following morning it was 

 the same. One, sunk two feet six inches in mould and 

 clay, stood constantly at 5 Of . The dew-point was always 

 below the temperature, at which I was surprised, for more 

 drenching weather could not well be. The mean dew-point 

 was 50 J, and consequent humidity, 0973. 



* It is a remarkable fact, that both the natives of the plains, under many cir- 

 cumstances, and the Lepchas when suffering from protracted cold and wet, take 

 fever and ague in sharp attacks. The disease is wholly unknown amongst 

 Europeans residing above 4000 feet, similar exposure in whom brings on rheiimatism 

 and cold. 



