530 Journal of a trip to Si Mm. [May, 



on a 2-inch ledge which runs over the top of the large letters. This 

 may be done easily enough by bare-footed persons holding on with the 

 hand ; but that has no merit, and it is only he who walks 3 times 

 along it without holding on, who does a righteous and holy act. 



There is a filled up lake here, (Singdam,) about 100 yards across, with 

 a clear stream running out of its bed, which crosses the road and pre- 

 cipitates itself over a rock, about 40 feet high, and close to the road. 

 Thermometer fell during the night to 39°. Probable elevation 5,500 

 feet ; some neat houses close to our encampment, surrounded by fields 

 of wheat and barley, and well fenced. The inhabitants in this neigh- 

 bourhood are principally Bhotiahs, and they are generally well housed, 

 comfortable, and good-looking. 



Suneek, a village on the ridge N. of Tassiding. 



30 tk. — We had hoped for a bright morning, and a grand view of 

 Kunchinjinga from Lingdam, but awoke to a cloudy day and limited 

 prospect. This is comparatively speaking, for with Mainomchoo, the 

 singular Tassiding, Sunoong, Raklang, Dalling, and Pomiongchi, toge- 

 ther with the swelling and level spurs of Lingdam itself, we had a scene 

 of much beauty and interest. Soon after starting we passed through 

 Bamfoong, and two miles further on in a westerly direction came to 

 Kayzing, all the way by a nearly level and wide road. A buggy drive 

 of 3 miles might be constructed along the Lingdam Leang at little 

 cost, and used with perfect safety, so swelling and nearly level is it 

 throughout a great part of this extent. It is the finest situation by 

 far I have seen in Sikim for farming and grazing purposes. The plough 

 might be used most easily, and there are numerous sites for commodi- 

 ous farmsteads above and below the road. In such a locality the 

 industry and perseverance of colonists, like our excellent German ones 

 at Darjeeling, would be turned to full account. 



From Kayzing, we descended steeply to the Great Rungeet, crossing 

 the Runeok, a feeder of it from Lingdam. There is a bamboo suspen- 

 sion bridge over the Rungeet below Tassiding, of simple and singular 

 construction. Three large bamboos, the ends of which are held down 

 by stones on either bank, form the arched parapets by their smaller 

 ends being pulled down and lashed together. From these parapets 

 are ratan suspenders, on which the roadway also, of 3 bamboos, lies, 

 cross uprights fixed in the ground support the ends of the roadway. 



