616 Notes upon a Tour in the SiklcimHimalayah Mountains. [No. 7. 



slab of gneiss, one of those curious little animals the Neodon sik- 

 kimensis whose habits and proportions resemble that of the Arvicola, 

 but the tail is comparatively short ; length from snout to the root 

 of the tail five inches — of the tail li inch. This genus was disco- 

 vered by Mr. B. H. Hodgson in Upper India. Froin amongst the 

 rhododendron bushes, we put up a large number of the beautiful 

 scarlet-legged and three-spurred pheasants, of which I only bagged 

 one ; in the marshy ground great quantities of a beautiful primrose 

 were in full blossom — also chrysanthemum, a blue dock, dwarf 

 rhododendrons, grass in abundance, many beautiful flowers and 

 potentilla ; as we were admiring these beauties, we heard the deep 

 barking of the Gurung's dogs betokening the vicinity to one of their 

 large flocks. A Nepalese of our party was sent on ahead to have 

 the fierce dogs called off, or the better part of our party would have 

 been torn to pieces by these ferocious brutes. We soon came up 

 to the Gurungs seven in number, fine athletic looking Hindus with 

 very scant clothing. They stood in the midst of their flock of three 

 hundred sheep surrounded by their fine-looking dogs which resemble 

 the Newfoundland breed. These shepherds had pitched their one 

 long mat-hut twenty feet in length upon a grassy knoll under the 

 shadow of some rhododendron trees. They called the country Is- 

 sunghee, and said that they were moving downwards, having con- 

 sumed all the grass nearer the snows. Their sheep, which are of a 

 very large breed, were in excellent condition, and some of the wethers 

 of a size unknown in England ; they asked eight rupees for a largo 

 wether, from whose carcass twenty men might have been well fed. 

 In the hut we found the Sirdar or chief, Pahulmun by name, of 

 Chynepoor in Nepal ; he told me that he had five brothers each 

 owning a flock of sheep, and that they were all upon the neigh- 

 bouring mountains. The wool from these sheep is converted into 

 very good blankets, several of which I saw in the tent — the Gurungs 

 appeared to be well fed, their food consisting of mutton and Indian 

 corn, heaps of the latter were being weighed out in the tent 

 prior to being cooked for dinner. The men had an abundance of 

 good brass cooking pots and blankets, and the Sirdar was armed with 

 a handsome silver-mounted kookree or Nepal knife : — snow falls here 

 early in October—elevation about 12,000 feet. 



