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Journal of a trip in the Sikkim Himalaya. 
[No. 6. 
Left Rinchingpoong at 9 a. m. ; passed Soomtong at 9.30 ; and 
after two hours of steep descent reached the broad and rapid stream 
of the Kullait, close to where the Itongsong stream falls into it. 
Here we had a refreshing bathe and washed clothes. The Ivullait is 
here divided into two streams. The first and smaller was crossed by 
a slender bridge made of bamboos, having a pendent roadway formed 
of a single bamboo. Across the second the fishermen have construct¬ 
ed a very ingenious weir of bamboos tied together with cane. During 
the night, when the fish descend the rapids, they are driven by the 
force of the water on to an open frame-work of bamboos where they 
are easily captured. The fishermen cooked some fish by baking or 
stewing them in a bamboo, a device which succeeded admirably and 
occupied only a few minutes. We boiled water and made murvva; 
and having scrambled across the second stream by the aid of the 
fisherman’s weir, by 1 p. M. were wending our way up the very steep 
Pemionchee hill on the north side of the valley, and at 3.45 p. m. 
reached Gazing, and the coolies an hour later. We put up in the 
house of a villager, and were shortly afterwards treated to rnurwa and 
plantains by a sturdy Llama with a peculiar drooping eyelid. All our 
beds were placed in a row, and dinner was served up on an extempore 
table formed of a plank taken from the flooring. In front was a 
flaring fire, surrounded by a dozen people of all ages and both sexes, 
principally the members of our host’s family, besides some of our 
own coolies, including the cook and his deputy. All the members of 
the family had their heads shaved on account of the recent death of 
an old servant. After dinner we had singing, but it was not without 
some difficulty that we persuaded the Bhooteas to favour us. The 
Llama, who was in grief, sat apart in one corner of the spacious 
apartment constantly mumbling his prayers, but after partaking of 
two cups of tea and a cheroot, he was induced to join the social party 
round the fire. A Dowager Llama was very seriously engaged in her 
devotions with a praying cylinder the whole time. On breaking up 
festivities we went to bed, exposed to the gaze of all the fair inmates, 
who after seeing us comfortably settled for the night modestly retir¬ 
ed. But I may as well mention that we had by this time relin¬ 
quished the vulgar fashion of undressing before retiring to rest. Our 
slumbers were frequently disturbed by the barking of dogs, squeaking 
of pigs, and squalling of children. The latter we found in the 
