482 Route of two Nepalese Embassies to Pehin. [No. 6. 



Utsang and Kham,* or, in other words, from the Bolor nearly to 

 the Yunling, whilst in the same extent of country in the Himalaya 

 very many languages are found. 



2nd. — The language of Tibet has express and familiar terms for 

 plain and valley which are respectively called thang and lung in 

 Tibetan, whereas the Himalayan tongues have no word at all for a 

 plain, no distinct one for a valley. t 



3rd. — It is well known, that there are very many lakes in Tibet 

 and several of them of great size — a fact which involves the exist- 

 ence of large level tracts also, as the contrary fact in the Himalaya 

 involves (what is notorious) the absence of wide spread levels. 



4th. — Tibet is the permanent habitat of wild animals of the true 

 ox, deer, and antelope types — all creatures of the plain and not of 

 the mountain, and none therefore found in the Himalaya. 



5th. — Tibet is annually the seasonal resort of vast numbers of 

 the wading and swimming tribes of birds which pass from the plains 

 of India to those of Tibet every spring, and stay in the latter till 

 the setting in of winter, whilst the whole of these birds entirely 

 avoid the Himalaya. " The storks know their appointed seasons 

 in the heavens," and their skilfully disposed phalanxes periodically 

 afford one of the finest sights we have. 



There are few of the Tibetan plains more noticeable than that 

 which occurs immediately on passing the Himalaya by the Bhairav 

 langiir— few contrasts more palpable than that of the cis and trans- 

 himalayan regions at this well known and central point ; and when 

 I lately requested Major Ramsay, the Resident in Nepal, to get 

 for me a confirmation or refutation of my opinion, he answered 

 " Dr. Hooker must be in error, when he says there are no extensive 

 plains in Tibet, because Tingri maidan (plain) for example, is fully 

 60 miles in length and 15 to 20 in breadth. Til bikram Thassa 

 assures me that, in the recent war, he marched along that plain for 

 several days and passed a lake three days in circuinfereiice and 



* Journal No. IV. for April, 1832, Article I. 



f The numerous names of places in Tibet which are compounded with the word 

 Tbang, a plain, as Chanthang in Nari, would alone suffice to prove that the general 

 surface of Tibet is very different from that of the Himalaya. 



