The great attraction of Darjeeling is its scenery, which is unspeakably grand.
Although Mount Everest appears fairly bright at 100 miles' distance, as seen from the neighbourhood of Darjeeling, we cannot suppose that the atmosphere is as transparent as is implied in the above numbers; and, of course, this is not to be expected, since there is certainly suspended matter to be reckoned with.
The British connexion with Darjeeling dates from 1816, when, at the close of the war with Nepali, the British made over to the Sikkim raja the tarai tract, which had been wrested from him and annexed by Nepal.
In 1835 the nucleus of the present district of British Sikkim or Darjeeling was created by a cession of a portion of the hills by the raja of Sikkim to the British as a sanatorium.
He is starring in the upcoming movie, The Darjeeling Limited (due out in September 2007).