146 
THE VEGETATION OF THE ZEMU 
befalls the fruits of the larger Rubi, the Lepcha considering it a 
waste to put such things, into drying paper. 
So far we had seen little of the leech, that pest of Sikkim 
jungles. This good fortune followed us throughout the tour, as 
neither of us, and scarcely any of the coolies, got a single bite. 
The road between Cheungtong and Lachen is very up-and-down and 
if was late before we reached Lachen — eight days from Darjeeling 
for our laden men. 
We made our base at Lachen. The next day was spent in over- 
hauling and arranging our stores. These had arrived intact in 
spite of the shaking given them by the mules over the rough 
paths. As we anticipated uncertain weather and little shelter in 
the upper valleys ye arranged that one of our Lepcha plant 
collectors should renlain at head-quarters with a lad and attend 
to the thorough drying of the plants we sent down. It would have 
been impossible under the conditions which prevail at this season 
in the Zemu and Llonakh to get our collections properly looked 
after in camp. The danger from damp would have been too 
great. Through this precaution we were able to preserve all our 
collections with little or no damage. 
Signs of more ambitious cultivation are evident in Lachen. 
Fairly well -tended gardens are to be' seen in the vicinity of the 
rough houses. The potatoes to be obtained here are of excellerTt 
quality. A flourishing weaving school has been established by the 
Swedish Mission and turns out rugs, blankets, etc., made fron> 
Tibetan wool, dyed with materials ^extracted from forest plants. 
At the time of our arrival most of the inhabitants had gone to the 
high hill pastures in the upper valleys with the flocks and herds. 
The Phipon or headman came to pay. his respects and we arranged 
with him for a guide who joined us next morning. 
On the 9th we left with our camp equipment and enough food 
for a few days. A march of between two or three miles brought us 
to Zemu Samdong, i.e., the bridge over the Zemu. We found the 
latter almost as large and quite as rough a cataract as the Lachen. 
Here we bade farewell to the road and turned into the Zemu 
valley proper. The track was of the roughest and impossible for 
ponies. Our camping ground being uncertain, we had to keep 
with our coolies and see that they did not linger too far behind. 
Only once on the expedition did we have to pass the night without 
our blankets and without any food — and that was a sufficient lesson. 
The forest was at first mixed. Gradually the rhododendrons 
prevailed until ultimately we were almost entirely enclosed by 
them. In the afternoon we came on the junction of the Uonakh 
