536 Journal of a trip to SiMm. [May, 



very precipitous ; breadth of the stream 50 feet. At the top of the first 

 ascent is Kamett, a small hamlet of Lepchas ; further up is " Tashong," 

 where the road to Darjeeling by Rinchinpoong goes off to the left, and 

 next is Sakiong, the site of a decayed Goomba. Here there was a good 

 deal of wheat and barley cultivation well fenced in. From Sakiong 

 the ascent is steep, and through a fine forest all the way to Pomi- 

 ongchi. From the Ratong it took us 2\ hours good marching. 

 * * * I never go fast up hill when marching. This I have adopted 

 from the coolies, who never quicken their pace to the sweating point, 

 unless very much urged, and then they knock up. 



Elevation of Pomiongchi 7000 feet.* The Goomba commands a 

 superb prospect of the snowy range, and almost of the whole of Sikim. 

 It is beautifully built of stone, is 3 stories high, about 30 feet, is 80 

 feet long by 40, and has stood for 8 reigns of the Sikim dynasty, which 

 the Lamas reckon at 400 years, i. e. an average of 50 years per reign, 

 which is doubtless too much. The present Raja however has reigned 

 64 years. He came to the throne at 6 years old. His father, who fled 

 at the Goorkha invasion, and died in Thibet, reigned 33 years. The 

 particulars of other reigns are not known. 



When the Goorkhas invaded Sikim the Sikimites assembled to op- 

 pose them at Nagri, (the Nagarcote of our treaty of 1816 with Nipal,) 

 but while a portion of the force kept the Sikimites in occupation at 

 Nagri, the main body turned their flank to the north, and came over 

 Islimbo into the valley of the Kullait ; so rapid and sudden was the 

 incursion that the Lamas at Pomiongchi had not time to remove their 

 books or other monastery property, but fled to the Ratong, where they 

 died of cold and hunger. 



The library, which had 400 volumes of Thibetan works in gold letter 

 press on black ground, was burned, and a similar fate fell upon the 

 books, &c. at Rabdenchi, the old Durbar, which is close by Darjeeling, 

 bears S. 4 E. from Pomiongchi, and is distant about 30 miles. 



The following are the principal figures and images in the Goomba : — 



In the vestibule — 



1 Tangla. — A Thibetan deity mounted on a white horse. 



* The elevations noted in this journal are from Colonel Waugh and Dr. Hooker. 

 They are respectively Trigonometrical and Barometrical results. 



