63 
1891.] L. A. Waddell— Place and River-names in Sihhim , Sfc. 
As regards the effluent rivers which debouch on the plains, the 
Paharias have accepted the current Bengali names for these, viz. : — 
Tista. The Sanskrit form of the name is Tri-srota ( Skt . -f* 
= ‘ the three currents.’ The Tista, until the year 1787 A. D., 
when it suddenly forsook its old bed and opened for itself 
a new channel, on emerging from the hills divided into three 
portions named the Atrai, the Purnabhadra and the Karotoya 
rivers, which each followed independent courses to the Ganges 
and the Brahmaputra respectively. The name is of very old 
application, being mentioned as the Tri-srota in the Puranas ; 
and as this name well described its leading physical feature in 
the plains, and under the Prakrit rules the r of compound 
consonants is dropped in ordinary speech, thus forming 
‘ Tisota ’ or ‘ Tista ’—this seems to be its true etymology. An 
alternative etymology might be suggested, viz., Skt. Sg, 
trish ta — ‘ harshly sounding ’ ; but in the deltaic portion of its 
course this is not a character of its slow-flowing waters, and 
the literate Bengalis had no access to its course within the 
hills. 
Mahananda. This is the Bengali corruption of the Lepcha name 
Mahal-di, which name, as already shown, describes the most 
obvious feature of this river suddenly bending away to the 
right. The letters l and n are always interchangeable in 
speech, but after having made this interchange, as no plausible 
interpretation could be put on such a word, the Bengalis, and 
following them the Pahariyas, usually pronounce it ‘ Mahdnadi 
i. e., ‘ the great river,’ although its size does not warrant such 
a title. 
Balasan or Balason is the Bengali name for the plains-portion of 
the Rishi Chhu of the Sikhimites. It is believed to be derived 
from the Bengali 3tf^, bdli (H. balu) sand, -f sona , 
gold, with reference to its extensive bed of yellowish sand. 
Mech or Minch, the remaining morang (tarai) river (excepting 
the Clienga) is said to be so named from being the western 
boundary of the tribe, called by Bengalis Mecli and by them¬ 
selves Bodo —the semi-aborigines of the morang. 
THE MOUNTAIN-NAMES. 
The mountain names are mainly of Lepcha and Bhotiya origin. 
The names of the snow-clad peaks are almost wholly Bhotiya (Tibetan) ; 
as the Lepchas affect the lower levels and the valleys; while the 
Bhotiyas usually keep to the cooler heights, and were brought into 
