Jan. 1849. YOKSUN. FUNEREAL CYPRESSES. 335 



now cultivated on it. From the top the view of the 

 Ratong valley was very fine : to the north lay Yoksun, 

 appearing from this height to occupy a flat, two miles long 

 and one broad, girdled by steep mountains to the north 

 and east, dipping very suddenly 2,200 feet to the Ratong 

 on the west. To the right was a lofty hill, crowned with 

 the large temple and convents of Doobdi, shadowed by 

 beautiful weeping cypresses, and backed by lofty pine-clad 

 mountains. Northward, the gorge of the Ratong opened 

 as a gloomy defile, above which rose partially snowed moun- 

 tains, which shut out Kinchinjunga. To the west, massive 

 pine-clad mountains rose steeply ; while the little hamlet of 

 Lathiang occupied a remarkable shelf overhanging the 

 river, appearing inaccessible except by ropes from above. 

 South-west, the long spurs of Molli and Catsuperri, each 

 crowned with convents or temples, descended from Singal- 

 elah ; and parallel to them on the south, but much longer 

 and more lofty, was the great mountain range north of the 

 Kulhait, with the temples and convents of Pemiongchi, 

 and Changachelling, towering in the air. The latter 

 range dips suddenly to the Great Rungeet, where 

 Tassiding, with its chaits and cypresses, closed the view. 

 The clay was half cloud, half sunshine ; and the various 

 effects of light and shade, now bringing out one or other 

 of the villages and temples, now casting the deep valleys 

 into darker gloom, was wonderfully fine. 



Yoksun was the earliest civilised corner of Sikkim, and 

 derived its name (which signifies in Lepcha " three chiefs") 

 from having been the residence of three Lamas of great 

 influence, who were the means of introducing the first 

 Tibetan sovereign into the country. At present it boasts of 

 but little cultivation, and a scattered population, inhabiting 

 a few hamlets, 5,500 feet above the sea : beautiful lanes 



