The temples here have a good deal of the Burmese shape, but the dome is more like that of a Mussulman mosque.

January 22nd.—­Yesterday evening Mr. Blake’s Khidmutgar died rather suddenly, he had been ailing for some days, but apparently not serious; his indisposition was owing to over-loading the stomach with radishes, etc. in which all partook too freely during the protracted halt, thus causing a good deal of sickness.

This place is so straggling that it is difficult to make a guess at the number of the houses, the greater number of the people are temporary residents and mostly are natives of Kampo,{205a} they are more dirty than the Booteas, and seem to have an especial predilection for begging.  When wishing to be very gracious they bow and gesticulate awkwardly, shewing their tongue at the same time.  Their principal dress is coarse woollen clothes, and in lieu of turbans they wear caps or hats.  Their beasts of burden are principally asses, which are perhaps, from bad treatment, undersized:  they likewise use goats, and largish animals between goats and sheep in appearance; of these we saw one male only, it had once spiral horns.  Even a little black kid was not exempt from carrying its share, this was ornamented by woollen tassels of a red colour, fastened through a hole in the ear.

Pemberton tells me, that most of these people come hither with the view of going to Hazoo, a place of pilgrimage in Assam; some remain here as a security for the return of their brethren in three months, the period during which leave is granted by our friend the Rajah of this place.  Their language is totally different from that of the Booteas.  The day before yesterday an edict against catching fish, being taken off as I supposed it would be on shewing the Rajah some flies, Blake and I went down, and repeated our visit yesterday; the bed of the river at the debouchment of the path leading towards Tongsa, is elevated 1,431 feet, (70.209.8), {205b} it is of no great size, and is generally fordable; the fish are almost exclusively Bookhar. {205c} I saw one or two Sentooreahs, {205d} and caught a long thin Bola, {206a} beautifully banded with purplish-blue.  The Bookhars as usual take a fly well, especially red hackles; the largest was caught by Blake, and must have weighed nearly three pounds.

Very little worth noticing occurred in the vegetation.  Sedgwickia is common and of very large size, 2,400 feet above the river, as well as tree ferns.

Equisetum occurs in the bed of the river; in some places at the same level a species of Ranunculus, Aroidea, Succulent Urticeae were common; along the edges or in the small churs, that have established themselves here and there, and which are covered with the usual Sacchara, but of smaller size; Erythrina, Leptospartion, Sambucus, Boehmeria tomentosa, Kydia calycina, Grislea, Tupistra, Leea occurred, Ficus elastica is not uncommon, one specimen presented itself, which had sprung up on another tree, fifty feet from the ground; this it had destroyed, and the appearance was singular enough.