12 UI-XATIOX BKTWEEN CLIMATE AND VEGETATION 



2. those which form a reticulated mass or network round the 

 trunk, by the coalescence of their lateral branches and rootlets, 

 &c. : these wholly envelop and often conceal the tree they 

 enclose, whose branches appear far above those of its destroyer. 

 To the first of these groups belong many natural orders, of 

 wliicli the most prominent are I^eguminoscB {Bauhinia, Ccssal- 

 p/nia, DaJbergia, Milletia, Butea, 3Iimosa) ; Vines, Pothos, 

 Comhretacece^ Menispermacece, 3Ialpi(jhiacecc, and a few other 

 natural orders. The inosculating ones are almost all figs and 

 WigJitia. 



At niglit the Lepchas sit late chatting round the fire, 

 wretchedly housed, miserably clad, and very insufficiently fed. 

 A more thoroughly happy people it would be difficult to find 

 any where ; they very rarely quarrel among themselves, and 

 their disposition is singularly cheerful and lively. The flute is 

 their favourite and only musical instrument : it is of bamboo ; 

 has only 4 equi-distant holes, situated far below the mouth-hole, 

 which again is remote from the butt end of the instrument ; and 

 it is very difficult to sound. I have often listened with real 

 pleasure to the simple music of this rude wind instrument ; its low 

 and sweet tones are singularly ^Eolian, as are tlie airs usually 

 played, wdiich fall by octaves : it seems to harmonize willi the 

 solitude of their primaeval forests. 



A thermometer sunk 2 feet 4 inches in the deep vegetable 

 mould and clay fell to 62°, and stood at 61 "7 on the following 

 morning. 



Except for the occasional hooting of an owd, the night was 

 profoundly still for sevei'al hours after dark, it being too early 

 in the season for the cicadas. A dense mist slirouded every 

 thing, and the rain pattered on the leaves of our hut. At mid- 

 night a tree frog broke the stillness with his curious metallic 

 clack, and others quickly joining in the chorus, they kept up 

 their strange nmsic till morning. This is called the " Simook " 

 (Lepcha), and like many Batrachians, has a voice less like that 

 of an animal than any organized creature I know. The cries of 

 beasts, birds, and insects are all explicable to our senses, and we 

 can recognize most of them as belonging to such or such an 

 order of animal ; but the voices of many frogs are like nothing- 

 else, and allied species utter totally dissimilar noises. In some, 

 as this, it is like the sound of the concussion of metals, in others 

 of the ringing of steel or brass — any thing but the natural effects 

 of lungs, larynx, and muscles.* 



31ay 2\st. — Early this morning we proceeded upwards, our 



* A very common Tasmauian species utters a sound that appears to ring 

 in an underground vaulted chamber beneath the feet. 



