SIKHIM AND BHUTAN
Lingshi-la, and its difficulties, we made a very early start along a fair bridle-path, which led us past the Tsango-chhu and then turned to the left above a small, flourishing valley, absolutely blocked at one end by a cliff extending from side to side in a perfect level, over which a very fine waterfall fell. This little valley was excellently cultivated, and had a great many large, fine fir-trees on its sides. Our path brought us at an easy gradient to the top of the cliff, which we discovered was the lower edge of another long level valley. In this way we progressed by a succession of steps, as it were, until we came to the last tread of the stairway, which was an almost precipitous slope of stone and rocks, up which our laden yaks and mules struggled slowly but surely, the zigzag, so far as alignment went, being so good that no one dismounted. Surmounting this, we came to a small roundish flat, in the centre of which were the walls, still good, of the fort built by the Tibetans and mentioned by the Thimbu. A short incline then brought us to the top of the Lingshi Pass (17,100 feet), where we had a magnificent view of the plains and hills of Southern Tibet. From this view I learnt more of the real geography of the great Kalo Hram-tsho plain than in my journey over it on the way to Lhasa the year before. The succession of lakes, amongst them the Rhum-tsho, was most clearly mapped out at my feet. To the north, in unclouded sunshine, lay a treeless, arid plain; to the south damp mists and clouds shut out all view of the verdant, wooded valleys of Bhutan.
After a short, somewhat abrupt descent, in places still covered with snow, we came on a rocky decline, which brought us, after a weary ride, to the sand-dunes of Hram, and finally to the hamlet of Hram-toi. In the evening we all dined together, with the Thimbu as our guest for the last time in the mess-tent, which I had promised to give him as a parting gift. We toasted the Thimbu and wished him the best of fortune, and had kindly answers from him in return, and on the morrow the Bhutan Mission would practically be a thing of the past. We breakfasted
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