SIKKIM, a native state of India, in the eastern Himalaya Mountains, between 27° 9' and 27° 58' N. lat., and between 88° 4' and 89° E. long., and bounded on the north and north-east by Tibet, on the south-east by Bhután, on the south by the British district of Darjiling, and on the west by Nepál. It covers an area of 2600 square miles, with an estimated population of 7000. The Tibetan name for Sikkim is Dingjing or Demo-jong, and for the people Deunjong Maro; the Gúrkhas call them Lepchas, but Mr Clements Markham, in his work on Tibet (1879), says that their proper name is Rong. The whole of the state is situated at a considerable elevation within the Himalayan mountain zone. From the level of the sea to an elevation of 12,000 feet, Sikkim is covered with dense forests of tall umbrageous trees. The mountains in the south are generally lower than those of Darjiling district, but north of Tumlung the passes are of great height. Jelap-la, the most southerly of these, rises to 13,000 feet; the two next are the Guiatu-la and Yak-la, leading into the Chumbi valley of Tibet, the latter being 14,000 feet high; further north are the Cho-la (15,000 feet), on the direct road from Tumlung to Chumbi, and the Tankra-la (16,083 feet), the most snowy pass in Sikkim. The state is drained by the Tista and its affluents, and by the Am-machu which rises near Parijong, at the foot of the Chamalhari peak (23,929 feet), and flows through the Chumbi valley into the district of Jalpaiguri under the name of the Torsha. Through Sikkim lie the most promising routes for trade with Tibet. At present, however, the Tibetan passes are closed to ordinary British subjects, though an active trade is maintained in certain articles by Bhuteas and Tibetans....