1852.] A Journey through Sikim. 417 



" They eat enormously at the expense of other people, but on their 

 own charges they will fast to faintness rather than spend a penny, and 

 it is the same with drink ; a Bhotia, although so fond of it will rarely 

 buy it ; a Lepcha if he wants it will freely give any price for it." So 

 much for characteristic differences in these tribes. 



Goreh 29th. Started from Padom at 6 a. m., reached Kedong 

 where I encamped in 1848, at 9, and this place at \ past 12. A hard 

 march it is ; the road is so slippery in many places, that I found it 

 impossible to walk alone with shoes on, and had recourse to the sup- 

 port of a barefooted Lepcha. No use to-day of the chair, which we 

 had to take to pieces in order to carry it along the cliffs of Sungdum.* 

 Near Goreh, to the West of the " Rungki" stream, there has been a 

 great land slip by which the road has been quite obliterated for \ of 

 a mile, and it was a difficult matter to get along the slip, as it is almost 

 perpendicularly scarped on this side the Rungki ; however, the road 

 is worse even than over the land slip, or along the cliffs of Sungdum ; 

 at two places there is nothing to walk on but the stem of a tree with 

 notches cut in it, standing erect against the face of the rocks ; and 

 above one of them was a dripping rock which rendered the notches as 

 slippery as ice, and wetted us thoroughly as we climbed them. 



Last night it rained heavily ; the tent of Nipal blanketing in which 

 I slept, leaked like a fine sieve. 



The rain came down in large drops, but was spurted through the 

 tent roof like the spray of a water fall. I got one umbrella over my 

 head in bed, and another over as many of my things as it would cover, 

 and got up this morning pretty dry, but little refreshed. "We 

 marched this morning in heavy rain, which lasted 4 hours. 



There is a fine crop of Sunkoo Rice in ear on the shoulder of 

 Sungdum, and near the Rhododendron Arboreum I noticed at this 

 place in December last ; — elevation say 4,500 feet. Rice at Goreh cut 

 sometime ago ;— elevation probably 1,000 feet less. 



The whole country to the North and South is in heavy clouds. 

 Nothing to be seen. 



The Cheeboo Lama was my companion all the morning, and his 

 sensible and fluent talk beguiled the hours. He is a student of 

 " Mendooling," a famous School or College in Thibet, and situated 

 * See Journal of 1848. 



