Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XXIII. Steamboating On the Ganges—Life on the River—The Greatest Business Firm in the World—Sceneries—Temples—Serampoor—Boat Races—An Excursion to the Himalayas—Darjieling and Himalaya Railroad—Tea Plantations—Darjieling—Llamas—View from the Mountains
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IS 235.2 Story of an Emigrant.
Catholic monks carrying the crucifix, and Llamas or Thibetan
priests in long, brown felt mantles, turning their
praying-wheel, which consists of an artistically made machine of
silver, in which are engraved the following words: "Rum
mahnee padme hang," which means, "Hail thee, jewel and
lotus flower," or "Glory to God."
Residences, churches, hotels and all public and private
buildings lie in a semi-circle on the western slope of one of
the mountains, offering a very fine picture. Excellent roads
are built in zigzag form up and down over hills and
mountains. There are scarcely any carriages but a kind of
palanquin called dandies, and small ponies which are so
surefooted that they can climb up and down the mountains like
goats. Both men and women ride these or are carried by
three strong bearers from Thibet. Darjieling is elevated
eight thousand feet above the level of the sea, and at this
place black clouds may often be seen sweeping along the
western side far below one’s feet. The air is so clear, fresh
and salubrious that it seems to infuse new strength, vitality
and almost new life. It impels either to activity or to sleep;
it is impossible to sit still or be mentally inactive. The view
of the landscape below is claimed to be the most beautiful in
the whole world. Beneath the terraces on which we walk
are seen smiling valleys, one below another, away down
far into the plains of Bengal, variegated by rivers, forests,
cities and many-colored fields, and far away to the distant
north against the blue horizon, one great mountain rises
above and beyond another, capped with eternal crowns of
snow high up among the restless clouds—twenty thousand
feet higher than Darjieling, and twenty-nine thousand feet
above the sea,— over five miles in height.
The loftiest peaks are Konchinjunga forty-five miles, and
Mount Everest, sixty miles distant from Darjieling. It is
claimed that these peaks can be seen for a distance of
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