30 BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 
shrubby ones, I have several species of Lonicera and Rhododendron 
from upwards of 17,000 feet, with Gnaphalia and Ephedra. A nettle 
(Urtica) attains this elevation, as do Zannichellia and Ranunculus in 
water. Composite are, however, much the most alpine natural order; 
many genera, Guaphalium, Saussurea, Artemisia, and Erigeron, ascend- 
ing to 17,000 and 17,500 feet, together with Astragalus and Valeriana 
(Nardostachys). A coleopterous insect, allied to Meloe? and Acarus, 
are found inhabiting 18,500 feet, along with the Kiang, or wild ass, 
and various ruminants; there, too, the fox, hare, and two species of 
smaller rodents burrow, all of which have parasites. At 17,000 feet 
bees live and feed; Diptera are common; Ephemera is found, and 
Papilionide of two genera (Polyommatus and Argyuris), ‘The 
absence of the large Carabide, which occur in the European Alps, is 
a striking anomaly. At 16,000 feet I have observed the house-fly 
and Lumbricus. The musk-deer I never saw at great elevations, not 
even in midsummer above 12,000 feet; there is, however, another 
species in Thibet. A monkey inhabits the Pine-woods at 11,000 feet, 
but is more common at 9,000. The limits of the Pines are highly 
curious and well marked, differing both from Bhotan and the north- 
western Himalaya. There is no Deodar, nor P. excelsa or Gerardiana, 
nor Cupressus torulosa ; whereas the C. funebris ? of China is commonly 
planted, and there is a wild Larch (Pinus longifolia) 14,000 feet; 
Few (Taxus), 7-10,000 feet. Abies Brunonis, Larch, and Abies 
Khutrow (alias Smithiana), all grow between 8—11,000 feet. An erect 
Tree-Juniper and fruticose Rhododendron, eight feet high; Birch, 
Willow, and Pyrus, ascend to near 15,000 feet in favourable situations, 
but are all stunted. Lonicere are, however, the commonest shrubs at 
14,000 feet, of several species, with Rosa and Berberis. 
My geological notes want all to be worked up. Gneiss is the 
prevalent formation between 7 and 17,000 feet ; above that, encrinitic 
granites, and in Thibet, fossiliferous limestone and tertiary rocks. 
Below 7,000 feet come the mica and clay-slates, sandstone, and coal. 
There is no lime in Sikkim proper, except as a deposit. Hot springs, 
of temperature 110°, I have found at 17,000 feet, with sulphurous 
salts. The most curious and novel geological feature consists in the 
magnificent moraines, which abound in every valley, descending from 
the snow. They commence at 10-11,000 feet, and may thence be 
traced continuously up to the glaciers themselves, whose lower edges, 
often twenty miles higher up the valley, are always at about 17,000 
