March 13th.—­Tongsa:  this, although the second place in the kingdom, is a poor wretched village, the houses, always excepting the palace, are poorer than ordinary, abounding in rats, fleas, and other detestable vermin.  Our reception would seem to be uncordial:  we are miserably housed in the heart of the village, which is a beggarly one.  On descending the hill some people in the Pillo’s house behaved very insolently, roaring out, and making most insolent signs for me to dismount, of which of course I took no notice:  sparrow-hawk was seen at 8,000 feet.  There is but little cultivation, indeed the adjoining hills are barren in the extreme.  The little cultivation there is of barley, which is now in the ear, and decent enough; the crops being much better than any we have yet seen, although in many fields it is difficult to see any crop at all.  The village, including the houses on the surrounding adjoining heights does not contain thirty houses.  There is one flock of sheep, which are in good condition, some small shawl-goats, and a few cattle, but of a lighter breed than the Mithans, from which they are very distinct, and which we have scarcely seen since crossing Dhonglaila, the first high ridge.  There is some rice cultivation along the nullah or torrent, on which the village is situated.  Pears, peaches likewise occur, and are now both in flower.  The hills around are bare, nothing but shrubby vegetation being visible, the tree-jungle not descending below 7,500 feet, except on one spur to the south-west, on which it reaches nearly to our present level.

The shrubby vegetation consists of Hamamelidae, Salix, Gaultheria fruticosa, Rosa, Rubus, Pomacea, Elaeagnus, Berberis asiatica, among which Artemisia major occurs on sward.  Primula Stuartii, Potentilla and P. supina, Oxalis acetoseltoides, Juncus, Bartramia, Polytrichum glaucum, Fragaria vesca.  In the fields Lamium, Crucifera, Thlaspi, Gnaphalium aureum, Prenanthoid, Fragaria indica, Viola, Ranunculus, Oxalis acetosella, Poa annua.

Urtica urens, and urentior occur about the houses, Cupressus pendula and a Magnoliaceous tree, with exquisitely fragrant blossoms.

The palace is a huge, long, straggling piece of patch-work, of ordinary construction, and less imposing than that of Byagur, which the Pillo makes his summer residence on the Bhoomlungtung; it is however ornamented with three gilt umbrellas.  It is situated on the bank of the nullah, and defended by some outworks, 6 to 700 feet above it; to the east, these might, from their situation, be easily demolished by stones.  The palace itself is commanded in every direction, particularly by the hill, along which we came from Jaisa; indeed a person might jump from the summit of this on to the outpost, and thence on to the palace; so precipitous is the descent.