420 
T I B E T. 
to undertake; the preparations employed him till the beginning of 
the following month of March, when, I beg leave to recall to your 
remembrance, I had the honour to present him to you for his dis¬ 
mission. He then commenced his journey from Calcutta, and early 
in the month of April had passed, as he relates, the limits of the 
Company’s provinces, and entered the mountains that constitute the 
kingdom of Bootan; where, in the prosecution of his journey, he 
received, from the subjects of the Daeb Raja, the most ample and 
voluntary assistance to the frontier of his territory, nor did he meet 
with any impediment to oppose his progress, until his arrival upon the 
borders of Tibet. Here he was compelled to halt for near a fortnight, 
by a heavy fall of snow, that commenced upon his arrival at Phari, and 
continued for the space of six days, covering the face of the country to 
so great a depth, as totally to put a stop to all travelling, and rendered 
it impracticable for him to proceed, until a thaw succeeded to open 
the communication. 
During the time of,his confinement at Phari, he says, such was the 
severity of the cold, and the injurious effect, which so rapid a transi¬ 
tion from a temperate climate, produced on the health of himself and 
his companions, that it left him little room to doubt, if an early change 
had not fortunately taken place, and permitted his advance, that they 
must all have fallen victims to the inclemency of the weather. How 
ever, as early as it was possible for him to leave Phari, he proceeded, 
by long stages, on his journey ; and, without encountering any further 
difficulties, on the 8th of May following, reached Teshoo Loomboo, 
the capital of Tibet. 
