Dec. 1848. DESCEND TO NE0NG0NG. 311 



thermometer rose to 132°, at 9 a.m. on the 27th, or 94° 2 

 above the temperature of the air in the shade. I did not 

 then observe that of radiation from snow ; but if, as we 

 may assume, it was not less than on the following morning 

 (21° 2), we shall have a difference of 148° 6 Fahr., in 

 contiguous spots ; the one exposed to the full effects of the 

 sun, the other to that of radiation through a rarefied medium 

 to a cloudless sky. On the 28th the black bulb thermo- 

 meter, freely suspended over the snow and exposed to the 

 sun, rose to 108°, or 78° above that of the air in the shade 

 (32°) ; the radiating surface of the same snow in the shade 

 being 21° 2, or 86° 8 colder. 



Having taken a complete set of angles and panoramic 

 sketches from the top of Mainom, with seventeen hourly 

 observations, and collected much information from our 

 guides, we returned on the 28th to our tents pitched by 

 the temples at Neongong ; descending 7000 feet, a very 

 severe shake along Lepcha paths. In the evening the 

 Lamas visited us, with presents of rice, fowls, eggs, &c, 

 and begged subscriptions for their temple which was then 

 building, reminding Dr. Campbell that he and the 

 Governor- General had an ample share of their prayers, and 

 benefited in proportion. As for me, they said, I was 

 bound to give alms, as I surely needed praying for, seeing 

 how I exposed myself ; besides my having been the first 

 Englishman who had visited the snows of Kinchinjunga, 

 the holiest spot in Sikkim. 



On the following morning we visited the unfinished 

 temple. The outer walls were of slabs of stone neatly 

 chiselled, but badly mortared with felspathic clay and 

 pounded slate, instead of lime ; the partition walls were of 

 clay, shaped in moulds of wood ; parallel planks, four feet 

 asunder, being placed in the intended position of the 



