294 THE SECOND HIMALAYAN JOURNEY 
till May 25. His itinerary gave him six marches further 
to the snows, but two months were to pass before he reached 
the Kongra Lama. 
It is worth recording, as an instance of his consideration for 
the people he was among, that he now resolved to forgo one 
of the most attractive parts of his programme, in the belief, 
afterwards dispelled, that the Sikkimese might suffer if he 
crossed the passes. Accordingly he tells his mother (]\Iay 24, 
1849) : 
It is my intention to proceed to the top of both of the 
Passes, without crossing, which the Eajah has forbidden ; 
and though I dispute his authority to give such a prohibition, 
I cannot act in defiance of it and cross the Passes in secret. 
Thibet is the Headquarters of the Sikkim people's Church, 
and, if through any act of mine the Passes were to be closed, 
I should inflict upon the natives what they would consider 
a serious injury — namely, the shutting of their Church Door. 
It is most reluctantly that I give up the intention of crossing, 
especially as the Eajah's own order and other circumstances 
convince me that I could do so if I chose, and that no one 
has power to hinder me, for the first Chinese village is distant 
two days' marches on the other side of the Border. How- 
ever, I have plenty to do on this side, and if by crossing I 
should throw any effectual impediment in the way of my 
Sikkim investigations, I should be a great loser by it. 
At Choongtam he was forced to divide his party again, 
leaving there all but fifteen. Three marches further, at 
Lamteng, there was another week's delay and very short com- 
mons, meagre supplies taking twenty days to come from Dar- 
jiling over the bad roads. On June 23 came news that a large 
convoy had been driven back hj landslips, but there was promise 
of another coming, so that on the next day he did not hesitate 
to move forward one march to Zemu Samdong, the bridge 
of the Zemu, a large tributary on the west bank of the Lachen. 
Here his guide, the local headman, or Lachen Phipun, alleged 
the Tibetan frontier to be. Not knowing which of these 
streams was the real Lachen, and having no crossing of a river 
marked here on his route. Hooker resolved to wait at least 
