116 
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF 
MY JOURNAL DURING THE BHOOTAN CAMPAIGN, 
1864 - 5 . 
BY CAPTAIN E. G. E. WARREN, R.A. 
Of the kingdom of Bhootan we know next to nothing—a beautiful 
shadow of doubt covers all connected with it. Its government is a joint- 
stock business, the head of the firm being the strongest man in the country 
at the time being; we know the names of certain functionaries, though 
what their functions are we can only guess at. The religion is Buddhism, 
with a servile devotion to dirt. 
Bhootan is about 250 miles in length, east to west, and 90 miles in 
breadth, north to south; of this a long stretch varying from 20 to 25 
miles in breadth and the entire length of the country lies in the plains, the 
remainder in the mountains of the Himalayas; thus the country boasts 
every degree of climate, the overbearing heat of Assam, the bracing air of 
England, and the cold of Greenland. 
Our earliest connection with the country was in the beginning of this 
century, and since then all our correspondence with it has had reference to 
outrages committed by the inhabitants of Bhootan on British territory and 
subjects. 
The long stretch of plain country before mentioned is divided into eighteen 
districts, called dooars, from the word Dooar anglice Gate, and are named 
after the mountain passes or gates which lead into the hills. Most of the dooars 
were wrested by the Bhooteas from the Assamese previous to our occupation 
of Assam, while other dooars had been held by Bhootan for a considerable 
time. On our occupation of Assam we found that Bhootan had been 
receiving rent for certain of these lands, and this payment we continued. 
Bobberies, murders, cattle-lifting, and violence of every description 
followed one another in rapid succession—Bhootan the aggressor, England 
the sufferer. In 1828, 1834, and 1836 we find we remonstrated in vain, 
down from the hills came the gangs of robbers, and the wretched inhabitants 
of our frontier led an unenviable time of it indeed. 
In 1838 Captain Pemberton was deputed to go to Poonakh, the capital 
of Bhootan, to make some satisfactory settlement regarding these outrages. 
He went by the eastern road, via Gowhatty and Dewangiri, and found the 
country in the throes of revolution; the Paro Penlow held the west, the 
Tongso Penlow the east country, the nominal ruler, the Dhurm Baja, being 
nowhere. This happy prince is (like the Chinese Emperor) supposed to be 
something god-like; lie is called an incarnation, and is in reality a puppet. 
The method of choosing his sanctity is sweetly simple and innocent. The 
shoes and drinking cup of the late departed Dhurm Baja are placed among 
