46G Journal of a trip in the Sikkim Himalaya. [No. 5, 
assisted in cooking dinner. Cooking Inis become quite a pastime 
with us. We are now at an elevation for that troublesome and 
loathsome parasite, the Himalaya tick, which we have found rather 
abundant. 
Started at 8.46 ; and after going over five or six miles of difficult 
road, reached the Ratong which is here the same foaming, boiling tor¬ 
rent. We crossed immediately above a water-fall, over three very 
primitive constructions which served for bridges. The bed of the 
river at this spot has an elevation of 7,790 feet, and we found the 
temperature of the water to be 42°, too cold for bathing. After a 
very steep and fatiguing ascent of four or five miles, we reached our 
halting-place at Chockachaine at ^ before 2 p. m. There is a pool of 
indifferent water here, and a hut erected by the yak herdsmen who 
often reside here during winter. The height of the encampment, as 
ascertained by boiling water, was 10,300 feet. The hill sides were 
perfectly covered with forest trees and tangled underwood, the same 
as yesterday. As we ascended, the changes in the flora were very 
remarkable. We were now in the region of rhododendrons, of which 
we observed several kinds; also of oaks, whose acorns were scattered 
along our path in great profusion, holly ; walnut, cliesnut, long and 
short-leafed scarlet barberry ; many beautiful varieties of ferns; moss¬ 
es pendent from trees, besides other kinds, including the stag moss 
so well known at Darjeeling ; creepers of all kinds and sizes, epiphy¬ 
tical and parasitical plants'of various kinds; and towards the end of 
our day’s journey we were well amongst tall firs. We saw a few 
leeches, but found the ticks most abundant and voracious. 
Thermometer at sunrise 28° , but not so cold to the feeling. We 
ascertained that all the yaks had left Jongli and were in the vicinity 
of Chockachaine. We sent a man to drive the yaks to our camp for 
inspection, but we quitted before his return. Left at 8 o’clock and 
after a steep ascent reached Mon Lepcha at 11.15 a. m. and Jongli 
at 1 p. m. From Mon Lepcha the road is easy, but we found the 
first part of the road very trying, all of us suffering more or less from 
shortness of breath and headache. There are no huts at Mon Lep¬ 
cha : it is the name given to the locality, which is a feeding ground 
for yaks at an elevation of about 14,000 feet. Dr. Simpson took 
some photographic views of the snow which is very imposing from 
the spot. Between this and Jongli we passed several frozen rivulets. 
