22 2 Voyage of the Novara. 



tlie Alpine districts of our own land, one of wliicli, first dis- 

 covered by Jungliulm, and named by liim Primula Imperialis* 

 is one of the loveliest flowers in Nature, and which has never 

 yet been found in any other part of the globe ; while in the 

 brushwood around we heard the cooing of a bird of the thrush 

 species [Turdus fumidus)^ which, with the exception of a small, 

 very elegant little fellow, somewhat resembling the willow- 

 wren, was the sole representative of the feathered tribe in 

 these elevated regions. 



All our hopes were now directed towards the ensuing 

 morning, which it was hoped would bring us better weather. 

 By five in the morning every one was on foot, watching with 

 anxious look the advent of the star of day. But alas! ere 

 long all was once more enveloped for us in a dense but fine 

 vapour, and the thermometer indicated only 47°. 33 Fahr. 



About fifty feet higher than the two huts for shelter erected 

 on the plateau rises a trigonometrical pole, which, visible 

 from a great distance, serves as a land-mark for the govern- 

 ment surveyors during their labours in this neighbourhood. 

 Any clear morning, when the sky is free from clouds, one 

 must enjoy from this firee, airy out-look a splendid distant 

 view over a large portion of the Preanger Regency. As for 

 ourselves our panorama continued to be lamentably circum- 

 scribed, and all we could do was, to watch for those fleeting 



* Now named Cankrienia Chrysantha. The plant most characteristic of this 

 region was the ^najfluilium arhoreum. 



