Dec. 1848. MONASTERIES. CAMP AT LINGDAM. 289 



view north, south, and west, was very fine ; below us flowed 

 the river, and a few miles up it was the conical wooded hill 

 of Tassiding, rising abruptly from a fork of the deep river 

 gorge, crowned with its curious temples and men don gs, 

 and bristling with chaits : on it is the oldest monastery in 

 Sikkim, occupying a singularly picturesque and prominent 

 position. North of this spur, and similar to it, lay that of 

 Raklang, with the temple and monastery of the same name, 

 at about this elevation. In front, looking west, across 

 the Great Rungeet, were the monasteries of Changa- 

 chelling and Pemiongchi, perched aloft ; and south of these 

 were the flat-topped spurs of the Kulhait valley, with their 

 villages, and the great mendong which I had passed on the 

 previous day, running like a white line down the spur. 

 To the north, beyond Tassiding, were two other monaste- 

 ries, Doobdee and Sunnook, both apparently placed on the 

 lower wooded flanks of Kinchinjunga ; whilst close by was 

 Dholing, the seventh religious establishment now in sight. 



We halted at a good wooden house to refresh ourselves 

 with Murwa beer, where I saw a woman with cancer in the 

 face, an uncommon complaint in this country. I here bought 

 a little black puppy, to be my future companion in Sikkim : 

 he was of a breed between the famous Tibet mastiff and 

 the common Sikkim hunting- dog, which is a variety of the 

 sorry race called Pariah in the plains. Being only a few 

 weeks old, he looked a mere bundle of black fur; and I 

 carried him off, for he could not walk. 



We camped at the village of Lingdam (alt. 5,550 feet), 

 occupying a flat, and surrounded by extensive pools of 

 water (for this country) containing Acorus, Potamogeton, 

 and duckweed. Such ponds I have often met with on these 

 terraces, and they are very remarkable, not being dammed 

 in by any conspicuous barrier, but simply occupying 



VOL. I. U 



