Page:Poets of John Company.djvu/141

Rh The Rungit's silver fall, None know the story of their land, None can its meaning understand,
 * As does that Sahib tall.

And cheery Gordon, blithe and gay, Sang as they toiled along the way
 * To Tibet's frontier far;

That soldier minstrel whose guitar By Lachen's stream or Lushai hill Has often cheered the camp, and still
 * Is heard in Cooch Behar.

And in the vales of Sikkim lone, As gay he bought her brooch or zone. Did many a maiden fair Sigh, as she brushed a tear away, "He will not buy what eke he may; "He buys all things throughout the land. "Oh, would he only buy my hand,
 * "That soldier debonnair!"

And Sarat Chandra, hardy son
 * Of soft Bengal, whose wondrous store

Of Buddhist and Tibetan lore
 * A place in fame's bright page has won,

Friend of the Tashu Lama's line,
 * Whose eyes have seen the gleaming shrine
 * Of holy Lhassa, came to show
 * The wonders of the land of snow.

They journeyed over steep Tendong,
 * And through the vale of Teesta fair,

By Shilling's slopes and Yeung's Mendong,
 * And Kubbi's smiling pastures rare
 * And Ryott's roaring falls.

To where, high perched on Mafi's breast
 * With banners gay and brazen crest,
 * Shone Sikkimputti's halls.