1853.] Notes upon a Tour in the SiTcMm Himalayah Mountains. 557 



long stick under the more distant ones, whilst the other Lepchas 

 were busy throwing branches of trees and bushes into all the small 

 channels where any animal could possibly find a passage. The shout- 

 ing and screaming that was kept up rendered it an impossibility to 

 get an answer from any of the Lepchas ; at last after my frequent 

 enquiries as to what they had seen, my guide, with open mouth and 

 eyes, told me that it was a fish with hands and legs that they 

 sought ; in other words they had seen one of the large brown edible 

 hill frogs which, to judge by the immense sensation caused by its 

 appearance, must indeed be relished by a Lepcha. The search, I 

 am sorry to say, was a fruitless one. 



Our homely meal this evening was added to by our Lepchas, who 

 brought us a quantity of the roasted shoots of the young bamboo, 

 which are put into the ashes until thoroughly heated ; these shoots, 

 which are conical in shape, and of the size of a man's forearm, or a 

 foot in length and four inches in diameter at the bottom of the cone, 

 are deliciously tender and sweet, resembling an artichoke in tender- 

 ness, and a good young cabbage mixed with new walnuts in taste. 

 The only parts that are not edible are the Septa dividing the joints. 

 These shoots and the roasted seeds of the Kuthoor Phort served 

 up upon a large leaf were most welcome additions to our salt sup- 

 per. 



6th August, 1852. — Left our Lepcha hut at 7 A. M. The hut we 

 had slept in had its walls composed of large sheets of bark, some as 

 much as four feet broad and seven in length. This hut and two 

 others constitute the village of Budhoo. 



Just as we were starting, the Lepchas of Budhoo brought us as 

 presents a large live cock, baskets of rice and some milk. The latter 

 being very acceptable I took it, making them a present in return ; 

 and having given a silver coin to each member of a small troop of 

 children, we proceeded in a westerly direction or up the valley of 

 the Kullait, hoping by this route to reach the summit of the Singah- 

 leelah range. Immediately upon leaving the huts, we entered a 

 fine forest of oak, chesnut, walnut, birch, olive and other fine forest 

 trees ; our path was about 3,000 feet above the Kullait which we 

 could hear roaring below, as it dashed over the huge rounded masses 

 of gneiss which compose its bed. Numerous kokla or green pigeons 



