CHAPTER XVI
AN EXPLORATION OF EASTERN BHUTAN AND A PORTION OF TIBET IN 1906
From Gangtak viâ Dewangiri to Tashigong and Tashi-yangtsi, and on to Tsekang. Horse-flies. Dorunga. Cypripedium Fairianum. Sudden rise of the river. Tigers near the camp. Chungkhar. Borshang iron-mines. Tashigong. Stick lac cultivation. Suspension bridges. Source of the Dongma-chhu. Tashi-yangtsi. Prayer-wheels. Old roads. Chorten Kara. New flowering trees.
For some years I had been extremely anxious to explore Eastern Bhutan and its neighbouring portion of Tibet, but it was not until May 1906 that circumstances enabled me to make arrangements to do so, and I left Gangtak accompanied by Mr. Dover, the State engineer. To reach Dewangiri, the point from which I intended to enter Bhutan, I had to travel to Siliguri, thence by rail to Dhubri, and on by steamer up the Brahmaputra to Gauhati, in Assam, and from thence march to the hills. I had a good deal of camp kit in addition to my personal baggage and riding-mules with me, and on reaching Gauhati preliminary arrangements took some time. Marching at the foot of the hills at this time of the year was very trying; mosquitoes swarmed at night, and the incessant croaking of frogs kept one awake; while worst of all was the plague of horse-flies, which attacked the mules, oxen, and elephants unmercifully. They were literally in swarms, and the sides of the elephants, streamed with blood from their attacks.
A little place called Dorunga lies at the foot of the hills,
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