NOETH INDIA WOOD 309 



the attractions of almost every elevated terrain of the Himalayan 

 Range that it is difficult to make a selection. Perhaps my choice of 

 Kashmir and its surromidings is influenced by a happy spring and 

 summer spent in that terrestrial paradise. From our house boat on 

 the Jhelum we made excursions into the higher mountains, to Gul- 

 marg and toward Thibet, then across the Indus into Afghanistan and 

 to other localities. 



Owing chiefly to the higher latitude, greater elevation, and dis- 

 tance from the ocean, the flora of the valleys and plains that stretch 

 along the southern aspect of the Himalayas is less decidedly tropical. 

 The humidity is less and the lowered temperatures of the cold months 

 are more marked. Kashmir, for example, has a " real winter " with 

 plenty of snow and ice, spring rarely appearing before the end of 

 April. The summers are hot and the small European population 

 generally moves to higher levels during July and August. 



The dominant factor in plant life everywhere is elevation. At the 

 higher levels of the Indian hills many floral species are found iden- 

 tical with those of the British Isles; in the Alpine areas there are 

 varieties very similar to those of the Arctic Zone, while certain 

 flora found throughout Japan, China, and Siberia is more or less 

 abundant; for example, the rhododendrons, the tea plant, Adamia, 

 and numerous others, although I have never noted a number of well- 

 known European and Asiatic plants, such as wild azaleas, arbutus, 

 or Erica. However, the flora of the Himalayan Range very largely 

 includes that of both central and southern India. 



To my mind the most wonderful form of plant life in the Hima- 

 layas is its silva. In the eastern sections the mountains are prac- 

 tically covered by dense forests up to 13,000 feet, and some tropical 

 examples are found as high as 7,000 or 8,000 feet. The western ranges 

 are not so liberally supplied ; the upper limit of forest and jungle is 

 somewhat less, about 11,000 feet, tropical types disappearing at 4,000 

 or 5,000 feet. 



From this brief outline it may be gathered that the Himalayan 

 chain with its foothills, valleys, and river bottoms furnishes the 

 botanist with an almost complete repertory not only of the great 

 majority of Indian plant life but of illustrations of the principal 

 floral families of the entire world. On the other hand, the region 

 has very few indigenous species — few plants with characters all its 

 own. Sir Thomas Holdich calculates the number of flowering 

 species to be between 5,000 and 6,000, among them several hundred 

 common English plants chiefly from the Alpine and temperate 

 regions. 



The yield of the forests of Kashmir is of great value. All the 

 northward-facing sloj)es are covered with dense forests, a consider- 



