22 1 Capt. Pembertoris Mission to Bootan, 1837-38. [March, 



and we considered it to be the most desirable spot we had yet met 

 with. 



The valley is for the most part occupied by wheat fields, but the 

 prospect of a crop appeared to me very faint. Two or three villages 

 occur close to Bhoomlungtung. The tillage was better than any 

 we had seen, the fields being kept clean, and actually treated with 

 manure, albeit not of the best quality; in a few instances they were 

 surrounded with stone walls, as were the court yards of all the houses, 

 but more commonly the inroads of cattle were considered sufficiently 

 prevented by strewing thorny branches here and there. The houses 

 were of ordinary structure, but unspeakably filthy. 



With the exception of a sombre looking oak near Bhoomlungtung, 

 and some weeping willows, the arboreous vegetation consists entirely 

 of firs. The shrubby vegetation is northern, and so is the herba- 

 ceous, but the season for this had not yet arrived. It was here that I 

 first met with the plant called after Mr. James Prinsep ; the compli- 

 ment is not, in Bootan at least, enhanced by any utility possessed by 

 the shrub, which is otherwise a thorny, dangerous looking species. 

 Here too we first saw English looking magpies, larks, and red- 

 legged crows. 



March 1st. Proceeded to Byagur or Juggur. We were told that 

 the march was a short one, and that we should continue throughout 

 down the bed of the Tung-Tchien, the river of Bhoomlungtung; 

 we found, however, that we soon had to leave this, and commence 

 ascending. After a second descent to a small nullah, we encountered 

 a most tedious ascent, which continued until we surmounted a ridge 

 overlooking Byagur, to which place we descended very rapidly. The 

 height of this ridge was 9950 feet, yet we did not meet with a vestige 

 of snow. The distance was fourteen miles. We passed two or three 

 small villages, but saw scarcely any vegetation after leaving the valley. 

 The vegetation continued the same, the road traversing either sward or 

 fir woods, consisting entirely of Pinus excelsa. 



The valley in which Byagur is situated is still larger than that of 

 Bhoomlungtung: it is drained by a large river which is crossed by a 

 somewhat dilapidated wooden bridge; the elevation is about 8150 feet. 

 The village so called is a moderately sized one ; but there are several 

 others in the valley, which is one of the very few decently inhabited 

 places we met with. The inhabitants are much cleaner than those 

 of Bhoomlungtung. The Soobah was absent at Tongsa; his castle, 

 which is a very large, irregular, straggling building, is situated on a 

 hill 500 feet above the plain, some of its defences, or outworks, 

 reaching nearly to the level of the valley. During the hot weather 



