298 SIKKIM HIMALAYA. Chap. XIII. 



and a low, contracted forehead : his manners were courteous 

 and polite, but evidently affected, in assumption of better 

 breeding than he could in reality lay claim to. The Rajah 

 himself was a Tibetan of just respectable extraction, a native 

 of the Sokpo province, north of Lhassa : his Dewan was 

 related to one of his wives, and I believe a Lhassan by 

 birth as well as extraction, having probably also Kashmir 

 blood in him.* Though minister, he was neither financier 

 nor politician, but a mere plunderer of Sikkim, introducing 

 his relations, and those whom he calls so, into the best estates 

 in the country, and trading in great and small wares, from a 

 Tibet pony to a tobacco pipe, wholesale and retail. Neither 

 he nor the Rajah are considered worthy of notice by the 

 best Tibet families or priests, or by the Chinese commis- 

 sioners settled in Lhassa and Jigatzi. The latter regard 

 Sikkim as virtually English, and are contented with knowing 

 that its ruler has no army, and with believing that its pro- 

 tectors, the English, could not march an army across the 

 Himalaya if they would. 



The Dewan, trading in wares which we could supply 

 better and cheaper, naturally regarded us with repugnance, 

 and did everything in his power to thwart Dr. Campbell's 

 attempts to open a friendly communication between the 

 Sikkim and English governments. The Rajah owed every- 

 thing to us, and was, I believe, really grateful ; but he was 

 a mere cipher in the hands of his minister. The priests 

 again, while rejoicing in our proximity, were apathetic, and 

 dreaded the more active Dewan ; and the people had long 

 given evidence of their confidence in the English. Under 

 these circumstances it was in the hope of gaining the 

 Rajah's own ear, and representing to him the advantages 



* The Tibetans court promiscuous intercourse between their families and the 

 Kashmir merchants who traverse their country. 



