•238 Capt. Vembertotis Mission to Bootan, 1837-38. [March, 



Teemboo ; at which point there is a small pagoda, visible from 

 Chupcha. We then turned southwards, and continued for a long time 

 at nearly the same level, passing a small village, Punugga, three or 

 four hundred feet below us, and in which Capt. Turner had halted on 

 his ascent. The descent to Chuka was long and gradual, becoming 

 tolerably steep as we approached it. We reached the Teemboo by a 

 miserable road, about half a mile from Chuka castle, which occupies 

 a small eminence in what has once been the bed of the river. 



The march was seventeen miles. The road in many places was very 

 bad, and scarcely passable for loaded ponies. The scenery was frequent- 

 ly delightful, and vegetation was in the height of spring luxuriance. 

 The hills bounding the ravine of Teemboo continued very high until 

 we reached Chuka; they were well diversified, particularly at some 

 height above us, with sward and glade, and richly ornamented with 

 fine oaks, rhododendrons, cedar-like pines, and Pinus excelsa. Water 

 was most abundant throughout the march, and in such places the 

 vegetation was indescribably rich and luxuriant. 



No village besides that of Punugga was passed or seen, nor did I 

 observe any cultivation. I was much impeded by droves of cattle 

 passing into the interior, for the road was frequently so narrow, and 

 the mountains on which it was formed so steep, that I was obliged to 

 wait quietly until all had passed. These cattle were of a different 

 breed from those hitherto seen in Bootan, approaching in appearance 

 the common cattle of the plains, than which however they were much 

 finer and larger. 



We were sufficiently well accommodated in the castle of Chuka, 

 which is as bare of ornament as its neighbour of Chupcha; it is a place 

 of some strength against forces unprovided with artillery, and com- 

 mands the pass into the interior very completely. There is a miser- 

 able village near it, and several trees of the Ficus elastica. 



16th. To Murichom. We descended to the Teemboo, which runs 

 some fifty feet below the castle, and crossed it by a suspension 

 bridge, of which a figure has been given by Capt. Turner ; it is very 

 inferior in size and construction to that of Rassgong, although, unlike 

 that, it is flat at the bottom. We continued following the Teemboo 

 winding gradually up its right bank, chiefly through rather heavy 

 jungle, and descending subsequently about 600 feet to its bed by a 

 dreadfully dangerous path, built up the face of a huge cliff. We con- 

 tinued along it until we crossed a small torrent at its junction with 

 the large river, and then ascended gradually, following the ravine of 

 this through humid jungle. As we approached Murichom we left 

 the Teemboo a little to our left, and continued through a heavily 



