Page:Narratives of the Mission of George Bogle to Tibet (1879).djvu/95

xcii trade, and in the opening of friendly intercourse along our Himalayan frontier. In November, 1847, Dr. Hooker left England on his memorable expedition to Sikkim, where he resided for two years, and his exploring journeys throw much new light on the geography of the Himalaya, and furnish the only information we have respecting some of the passes into Tibet. He, with Dr. Campbell, was the first European to visit the passes at the head waters of the Tista, and he is still the only European who has explored those on the Tambur river, in Eastern Nepal.

In November, 1848, Dr. Hooker entered the valley of the Tambur, a tributary of the Kosi, in Eastern Nepal, ascending it, and its affluent the Yangma, until he reached the passes of Wallanchún (10,385 feet), Yangmachen, and Kambachen or Nango, obtaining a view into Tibet. From some of the points on this adventurous journey the scenery was superb, and its grandeur is brought home to us by a master hand. From the Tonglo hill, above the Tambur valley, "Kanchan-junga was nearly due north—a dazzling mass of snowy peaks intersected by blue glaciers which gleamed in the slanting rays of the rising sun, like aquamarines set in frosted silver. To the east was a billowy mass of forest-clad mountains, on the north-east horizon rose Donkia and Chumalhari, to the west Mount Everest."

Afterwards, in the autumn of 1849, accompanied by Dr. Campbell, he went up the valley of the Tista in Sikkim, and