t 



• 



I 



'4 fc LI 



I 



144 



MT^.F, LE^VIS ON A VISIT TO 



of tl 



le 



wind, 



\\i 



itli the natural result that the vogetation is stunted to a 



remarkable degree. The N.E, monsoon, on the other hand, havlno- expended 

 its violenco before reaching tliis monntaiti, leaves it in possesi^ion of a period 

 of calm of a most serene characterj so mucli so, that one can liear the rumble 

 of the streams some thousands of feet below, or tlie crowinn; of a cock in the 



scattered village beloAv the great eastern flanking precipice, 



Tlie effect of these extremes of wind -movement is to produce a marked 

 contrast of rainfall ; tliat on the eastern base being approximately 230 inches 

 per annum, ^vhile on the western limit another 100 inches* may be taken 



to falL 



During a short visit I paid to tlio valley on the west, in the evenings^ 

 between noon and It i\M., over 4, 5, and G inches of raia fell each afteruoon, 

 leaving tlie soil saturated with water^ and ihe air completely va])our-laden 

 from sunrise to 10 A.M., after wliich the rains fell afresh. 



With such conditions as these it Is easily roaHzed that the flora of tlie 

 locality is certain to be curiously afToctcd, not only in structural development, 

 but in particular as regards fructification. As might be expected, the plants 



tlicmselves, tliat form tlie vegetation on the summit of this remarkable 

 mountain, are typically of the character comprehtinded as ^Svet-zone flora/' 



Their nu^thod uf reaching the summit nuist probably have bi.^en along the 

 narrow wedge of forest that connects the base with fke top ; l)ut while that 

 assnmpi:ion may be admitted, it is difficult to reaHze that the ultimate result 

 corresponds to forms occurring at corresponding altitudes entirely sepai'ated 

 by stupendous chasms of unbridged space. Nor is the altitudinal distribution 

 free from exception, for ^vhile liliododendron arhoreiim is abundant from 

 4500 feet and upw^ards on '^ Adam^s Ponk,^' there is not a single example of 

 it to be seen on Kunadiyaparawita. Conversely, %vithin a very luirrow belt 

 between 4000 and 4500 feet altitude, Keiulrickla Wallcrl occurs on 

 Tvunadiyaparawita, while it is to be found in a broad belt between 3000 and 

 4;)00 feet in the Ilabekanda Forests, 20 miles awav. 



In neithet of these examples can any particular development of the seed 

 be found to suggest a special means for dispersion, 



Again^ the practical absence of animal life, birds, or monkej's at the 

 summit of this peak renders it unsafe to assume that seeds could have been 

 conveyed by their agency, nor can it bi! assumed, on examining the individual 

 structure of the fruits and seeds of tlie plants collected at the summit, that 

 the majority owe thoir presence to wind transport. 



One would expect to find that composites would occur in abundance on the 

 top of the niountain, but instead, I found only three (Xos. 2:^, 30, and 34). 



Tbe catalogue of plants at the end of this paper affords brief details 



* Some years ago a resident iu the valley on tho wewfeni side of this xnoiuifairi iiifornietl 

 pie that in two s^nccessive yeara the recorded rauifMll exceeded 400 inches each year. 



