Among the Himalayas Author:Laurence Austine Waddell Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III UP THE TEESTA VALLEY TO THE KING'S CAPITAL They journeyed over steep Tendong And through the Vale of Teesta fair. By Silling's slopes and Ye... more »ung's Meudong And Kubbi's smiling pastures rare And Ryott's roaring falls, To where high perched on Man's breast With banners gay and brazen crest Shone Sikhim Raja's " halls. C. Macaulay's textit{Lay of Lachen. The rustle of the early breeze amongst the trees, the crackling of the freshly-lit camp fires, and the stir of our waking servants outside, awoke us next morning, just as the first streaks of daylight were stealing through the chinks of our tent. We were up, dressed, and outside in a few minutes: and whilst an early cup of tea was clearing away the cobwebs of sleep, our tent was struck and packed up; and both we and our coolies were again on the move, soon after the sun had risen. To get the men started off in the chill of the morning, cost Kintoop much trouble;PLEASURES OF MOUNTAINEERING 91 for these men, unlike the coolies of the plains, always eat before starting. Nor was it easy to get the strongest men to carry the heaviest loads, for these were usually shuffled on to the weaker back of some "willing horse", and the strongest coolie often contrived to make up a bulky-looking load, containing little else than the light wraps of himself and his comrades. It was a real pleasure to step out briskly in the keen cool air to get warm; and to stop here and there by the wayside to pluck some of the tempting brambles and yellow raspberries that overhung our winding path, as we brushed aside the dew-drops which hung like pearls from the tips of the foliage. And we enjoyed again the delights of drinking delicious water from the crystal streamlets that crossed our path. As we ascended this open...« less