304 SIKKIM HIMALAYA. Chap. XIIT. 



Dewan, who vehemently opposed the marriage. As, how- 

 ever, the minister had established his influence over the 

 youngest, and estranged the Rajah from his eldest son, and 

 was moreover in a fair way for ruling Sikkim himself, the 

 Church rose in a body, procured a dispensation from Lhassa 

 for the marriage of a priest, and thus hoped to undermine 

 the influence of the violent and greedy stranger. 



In the evening, we paid a farewell visit to the Dewan, 

 whom we found in a bamboo wicker-work hut, neatly hung 

 with bows, arrows, and round Lepcha shields of cane, each 

 with a scarlet tuft of yak-hair in the middle ; there were 

 also muskets, Tibetan arms, and much horse gear ; and at 

 one end was a little altar, with cups, bells, pastiles, and 

 images. He was robed in a fawn-coloured silk gown, lined 

 with the softest of wool, that taken from unborn lambs : 

 like most Tibetans, he extracts all his beard with tweezers ; 

 an operation he civilly recommended to me, accompanying 

 the advice with the present of a neat pair of steel forceps. 

 He aspires to be considered a man of taste, and plays the 

 Tibetan guitar, on which he performed some airs for our 

 amusement : the instrument is round-bodied and long- 

 armed, with six strings placed in pairs, and probably comes 

 from Kashmir : the Tibetan airs were simple and quite 

 pretty, with the time well marked. 



During our stay at Bhomsong, the weather was cool, con- 

 sidering the low elevation (1,500 feet), and very steady ; 

 the mean temperature was 52^°, the maximum 71-^°, the 

 minimum 42f°. The sun set behind the lofty mountains 

 at 3 p.m., and in the morning a thick, wet, white, dripping 

 fog settled in the bottom of the valley, and extended to 

 800 or 1000 feet above the river-bed; this was probably 

 caused by the descent of cold currents into the humid 

 gorge : it was dissipated soon after sunrise, but formed 



