A bOTAMVAL lOlU 1 .\ s. IM)IA. I'Hl 



set'ini'J to know . It rost- boforo lis. stot>ii and precipitons. We wore told 

 that a forest road k-ads np to tlio top, wliuro a forust hnt woidd bo ready 

 ti> receive us. We ilecided to start early next niorniug. Bnt it was not 

 sToinii to be early, owintj to the late arrival of the coolies. It was a stiff" 

 climb of ten miles in the scorching heat of the snn, with no food and with 

 very little and bad water. All onr scientific interest was j^one and we did 

 not care a straw for plants during those hours, and I made up my mind 

 never to go in for botany in future. It was t)idy later on during our di'S- 

 cent that we ni>ticed that the lower slopes are well covered with deciduous 

 forest. The lower region contains a C'l/acs, one or two species of Plianix, 

 Anof/tissus latif'ilid, Ad'tna cordlfn/in, /ht/fn-r'/ia pfitiicii/ffta, I'tcrucarpus mrir- 

 .<i(/>iu»i, Sc/iIcicJiera trijui)a, and other marketable timber trees, and also the 

 rare AquUana (if/aUoc/ia, the " scented eagle wood " of commerce. The 

 upper part of the deciduous zone produces blackwood (JU(l/)pr(/ia latifnHa), 

 Ldj/t'i-xtriviiiia )uicrocarpa, and some teak of fair size. Above the deciduous 

 zone there follows a belt of bare, rocky grass land. The top of the hill 

 tjonsists of an \nululatiug plateau, perhaps l-l scpiare miles in area, which is 

 entirely covered with a continuous, dense evergreen forest which runs down 

 in long irregularly shaped masses for a considerable distance into the valleys 

 on either side. It was in this part of the mountain, at about o,I00 feet alti- 

 tude, that most of us reached the forest hut towards sunset. We had to 

 cross an elephant trench in order to reach it, and the two rooms were just 

 biir enough to accommodate our camp beds. As we wanted to make 

 this hut our headquarters, the first thing to do was to make a time table 

 and to fix on a menue. We decided to go out at daybreak, to return be- 

 tween 1 and 4 p.m., after that to press plants till sunset. The menu 

 caused us very little trouble. Tli-^re was no quarrel about the choice and 

 sequence of the courses : 



Early morning: Cafe noir with native bread. 



Lunch : l\ice and pejiper sauce with cafe noir. 



Dinner : Rice and pepper sauce with cafe noir. 

 It happened once or twice that Mr. Prater shot a giant squirrel, and 

 when he had removed and bottled everything that science claimed, we 

 were alLnved to make a meal of the rest. 



In spite of the meagre fare we have been able to make a complete 

 botanical survey of the whole plateau, i.e., of a belt between 4,000 and 

 5. .100 feet. The Sur\-ey map speakes of a dark impenetrable forest. This 

 is literally true. You are free to examine the vegetation only along the 

 solitary forest road, or on a path where an elephant has trodden before, or 

 along a water course, if you like to walk for half a day in water up to your 

 knees. A very few small bare patches exempted, the whole plateau forms 

 luie huge evergreen forest. The trees stand dense, have generally a 

 rounded head, and rise to an enormous height. It is, therefore, very 

 difficult to get at their flowers and fruits. In most cases it is impossible to 

 climb the trees. Itopes and hooked knives on hmg sticks are useful under 

 •ordinary circumstances, but up there they could rarely be used. In many 

 cases the gun was the only instrument to get leaves and flowers down. 

 The stems are usually straight and so close together that huge trees, whose 

 lower parts have decayed, are kept in position by their neighbours. The 

 upper part of the stem and the branches are covered with epiphytic vegeta- 

 tion, usually ferns, orchids, species of I'lprr, and especially of Kcndiiclda 

 nalheri, one of the most beautiful plants liulia has produced, not to men- 

 tion a great profusion of the most varied mosses and lichens and parasitic 

 species of Lorfmthn.^ and Viscuiii . The undergrowth of the forest is dense 

 and high, and perfectly impenetrable, uidess you constantly use your hatchet. 

 It is, however, no pleasure cutting down siliceous bamboos and spinous 



