t to penetrate to Katmandu. This delusion ought to have been
dispelled by the occupation of Muckwanpore by Sir David Ochterlony; not
that it is a contingency they need take much trouble to provide against,
since it would never be worth our while to do more than take possession
of the Terai.

The present state of the roads renders it impossible for goods to be
conveyed into Nepaul, except upon men's backs; and as the traffic would
be considerable in various articles of commerce, the prosperity and
wealth of the country would be incalculably increased by an improvement
in the means of transit.

Jung Bahadoor is quite alive to the real state of the case, and sees at
once the absurdity of the policy pursued by the Nepaul government, but he
feels that any innovation of the sort would be too unpopular for him to
attempt in his present position. His recently imbibed liberal notions
coincide but little with the cramped ideas of a semi-barbarous durbar. He
is well aware that neither bad roads, troops, nor any other obstacle that
he could oppose to our advance, would avail in case of our invading
Nepaul. His feeling as regards a war with the British was not inaptly
expressed in a remark he once made to me,--"If a cat is pushed into a
corner it will fly at an elephant, but it will always try to keep out of
the corner as long as possible."

At Bhimphede, where we arrived about mid-day, I dismounted from the
elephant on which I had journeyed comfortably for 200 miles, and for
which I had begun to feel quite an affection, and was soon high up the
precipitous ascent of the Cheesapany pass. It crosses a mountain which
rises nearly 2000 feet above the village at its base; the path is so
steep that a horse can barely scramble up it; and the ascent of the Rigi,
in Switzerland, seemed a mere nothing in comparison: this pass in its
turn is not nearly so steep as the Chandernagiri, which is the last pass
before you descend into the valley of Katmandu.

Having so much mountain work before me, I determined on walking the rest
of the journey, that being the most satisfactory and enjoyable way of
travelling across a highland country and viewing its scenery; my
companion betook himself to a cot or dandy swung on a pole, preferring
that method of getting carried over the hills to the one in general use
amongst the natives, which I imagine is peculiar to Nepaul. An
open-mouthed conical basket, like that of the Parisian chiffonnier, but
wi