Himalayan Journals, vol 1 | Page 8

10. Construction of a cane suspension-bridge. p.149 Fig. 11. Lepcha boy carrying a bamboo water-vessel. From a sketch by Miss Colvile. p.156 Fig. 12. Amulet usually worn by Lepchas. p.161 Fig. 13. Trunk-like root of _Wightia gigantea,_ ascending a tree, which its stout rootlets clasp. p.164 Fig. 14. Interior of Boodhist temple at Simonbong. p.172 Fig. 15. Trumpet made of a human thigh-bone. p.173 Fig. 16. Tibetan amulet set with turquoises. p.176 Fig. 17. Head of Tibet Mastiff. From a sketch taken in the zoological gardens by C. Jenyns, Esq. p.203 Fig. 18. View on the Tambur River, with Ambies brunoniana. p.207 Fig. 19. Wallanchoon village, East Nepal. p.210 Fig. 20. Head of a Tibetan demon. From a model in the possession of Captain H. Strachey. p.226 Fig. 21. Ancient moraines surrounding the lower lake-bed in the Yangma valley (looking west). p.234 Fig. 22. Second lake-bed in the Yangma valley, with Nango mountain, (looking east). p.237 Fig. 23. Diagram of the terraces and glacial boulders, etc., at the fork of the Yangma valley (looking north-west up the valley). The terraces are represented as much too level and angular, and the boulders too large, the woodcut being intended as a diagram rather than as a view. p.242 Fig. 24. View of the head of the Yangma valley, and ancient moraines of debris, which rise in confused hills several hundred feet above the floor of the valley below the Kanglachem pass (elevation 16,000 feet). p.245 Fig. 25. Skulls of _Ovis ammon._ Sketched by J. E. Winterbottom, Esq. p.249 Fig. 26. Ancient moraines, in which small lake-beds occur, in the Kambachen valley (elevation 11,400 feet). p.260 Fig. 21. Brass box to contain amulets, from Tibet. p.270 Fig. 23. Pemiongchi goompa (or temple) with Chaits in the foreground. p.286 Fig. 29. Costumes of Sikkim lamas and monks, with the bell, mani, dobje, and trident. p.291 Fig. 30. The Do-mani stone, with gigantic Tibetan characters. p.294 Fig. 31. Implements of worship in the Sikkim temples. p.314 Fig. 32. Chaits at Tassiding, with decayed funereal cypresses. p.316 Fig. 33. Vestibule of temple at Tassiding. p.319 Fig. 34. Southern temple, at Tassiding. p.320 Fig. 35. Middle temple, at Tassiding, with mounted yaks. p.321 Fig. 36. Chair, altar, and images in the great temple at Tassiding. p.322 Fig. 37. Ground-plan of southern temple at Tassiding. p.323 Fig. 38. Interior of temple at Pemiongchi, the walls covered with allegorical paintings. p.329 Fig. 39. Doobdi temple, with young and old funereal cypress. p.337 Fig. 40. Summit of Kinchinjunga, with Pundim on the right; its black cliff traversed by white granite veins. p.347 Fig. 41. Image of Maitrya, the coming Boodh. p.357 Fig. 42. Stone altar, and erection for burning juniper ashes. p.361 Fig. 43. Facsimile of the vermilion seal of the Dhurma Rajah of Bhotan, head of the Dookpa sect of Boodhists. Opposite p.372 Fig. 44. A Mech, native of the Sikkim Terai. Sketched by Miss Colvile. p.406 Fig. 45. Mech pocket-comb (of wood). p.408
HIMALAYAN JOURNALS.

CHAPTER I.
Sunderbunds vegetation -- Calcutta Botanic Garden -- Leave for Burdwan -- Rajah's gardens and menagerie -- Coal-beds, geology, and plants of -- Lac insect and plant -- Camels -- Kunker -- Cowage -- Effloresced soda on soil -- Glass, manufacture of -- Atmospheric vapours -- Temperature, etc. -- Mahowa oil and spirits -- Maddaobund -- Jains -- Ascent of Paras-nath -- Vegetation of that mountain.
I left England on the 11th of November, 1847, and performed the voyage to India under circumstances which have been detailed in the Introduction. On the 12th of January, 1848, the "Moozuffer" was steaming amongst the low swampy islands of the Sunderbunds. These exhibit no tropical luxuriance, and are, in this respect, exceedingly disappointing. A low vegetation covers them, chiefly made up of a dwarf-palm (_Phoenix paludosa_) and small mangroves, with a few scattered trees on the higher bank that runs along the water's edge, consisting of fan-palm, toddy-palm, and _Terminalia._ Every now and then, the paddles of the steamer tossed up the large fruits of _Nipa fruticans,_ a low stemless palm that grows in the tidal waters of the Indian ocean, and bears a large head of nuts. It is a plant of no interest to the common observer, but of much to the geologist, from the nuts of a similar plant abounding in the tertiary formations at the mouth of the Thames, and having floated about there in as great profusion as here, till buried deep in the silt and mud that now forms the island of Sheppey.* [Bowerbank "On the Fossil Fruits and Seeds of the Isle of Sheppey," and Lyell's "Elements of Geology," 3rd ed. p. 201.]
Higher up, the river Hoogly is entered, and large trees, with villages and cultivation, replace the sandy spits and marshy jungles of the great Gangetic delta. A few miles below