MY FIRST MISSION TO BHUTAN
we twice crossed within two miles on bridges of the cantilever order in good repair. After passing the second bridge we came to two caves, Pyak-che and Au-pyak, formed by overhanging rocks, but of no great depth. These “robber caves,” as their name implies, were formerly used by the Hah-pa folk as a base from which to issue to rob and terrorise peaceful merchants. At one time the Hah-pa were amongst the richest people in Bhutan, but, as Eden relates, they took to evil ways and fell on evil times. But in justice to the Hah-pa it must be acknowledged that for the last fifteen years their winter grazing-grounds near Sipchu and the lower hills have been seriously curtailed by the increasing irruption of Nepalese settlers, and thus the chief source of their wealth—cattle-rearing and dairy produce—has begun to fail, while the constant quarrels arising between them and the Paharias entail much worry and expense.
A little further on we crossed the Chalu-chhu, and the valley widened out into the most delightful glades and upland swards, forming rich grazing-grounds; in fact, Chalu-thang would form a perfect site for a summer sanatorium, for it is a well-wooded, gently sloping park, spreading for several miles up the vales of the Chalu-chhu and Tak-phu-chu. Growing in abundance were spruce, larch, silver fir, holly-oak, various pines and rhododendrons, interspersed with grassy slopes, while the main valley had the appearance of a gigantic avenue leading up to the snowy pyramid of Senchu-la. Out of the valley a somewhat steep ascent round a grassy knoll brought us to the Dong-ma-chhu, up which runs another track, meeting the head of the Langmarpu-chhu, and thus by a more northerly but difficult path gaining the Hah road. Our route, however, took us over the Lungri Sampa, up a steep and stony path, to our camp at Tak-phu, a somewhat bare and extensive flat, an old moraine well within sight of the Kyu-la (Chula). There was plenty of timber, but we found our chief protection from the wind in the walls of the
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