Mac and party returned from Tiger Hill about 9am and had been successful in getting a view of the summit of Mt. Everest 120 miles distant. From my bedroom window I can see the range of snow-clad mountains, amongst them being Kinchinjunga, the next highest m mountain to Everest over 28 thousand feet high – visibility perfect. After breakfast we had a ride through the shopping centre and markets, passing the Singtom, Tuckvar, Lebing, and Rungeet estates where tea is grown at an elevation of 6,500 feet. On to the Lebong race course where a N.C.O of the Black Watch described the district to us and showed us the grandstand where natives attempted to assassinate the Governor of Bengal last year. There is a hill on which the soldiers have their own bookmakers, judge and winning post – they know too much about the Bengalese sportsmen to trust them. The course is circular and is of sand – the black sand denotes the course. Darjeeling is built on the side of a mountain and it reminds one of Torquay, Ventnor and Naples but on a more magnificent scale. The inhabitants are well muffled up in all styles of clothes and their features resemble the Chinese. They come from Nepal, Tibet and China and, of course, there are native Indians. They had a severe earthquake here last year which did a lot of damage and this has been followed by the recent Quetta earthquake which was more terrible. Made a few purchases from the Tibetans in the hotel and then to bed.
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