129 
Extracts from the Private Letters of Dx. J. D. Hooker, written 
during a Botanical Mission to INDIA. 
Continued from p. 120. 
CALCUTTA TO DARJEELING IN SIKKIM-HIMALAYA. 
Botanized in the afternoon of the last day of February, under a 
broiling sun, upon the ridges near the river, but found little novelty. 
The Mahoua, Olibanum, Ehretia, and Cochlospermum (the latter con- 
fined to the driest ridges of hills), were all frequent, and streaming 
with their respective odoriferous gums. The Catechu, also, formed 
every third tree, in some places even more numerous. On the ground, 
the dwarf Palm was growing in immense abundance, and the woods 
were, in places, glowing like fire with the red flowers of the Butea. 
March 1st.—This morning we left the Soane river, and struck in- 
land, over a very hilly country, full 1000 feet below the Kymaor hills, 
which, as I stated above, recede from the river. They appear to form 
a vast amphitheatre of rocky precipices, facing the south, and about 
eight or ten miles broad. The roads, or rather pathways, were very 
bad, and quite impassible for the carts, without much engineering, cut- 
ting through forest, smoothing down the perpendicular banks of th 
water-courses to be crossed, and clearing away the rocks as we er 
might. In one place, we traversed the empty bed of a mountain 
torrent, with perpendicular banks full thirty feet high, and thence 
plunged into a close forest, abounding with Zizyphi, Catechu, two 
other Acacias, the Hardwickia, with various trees, small Bauhinias, a 
Pterospermum (new to me), atid the species of Paras Nath, but neither 
Ferns, Mosses, Lichens, Orchidee, nor other evidences of a moist 
climate. The direction was towards Mungeza Peak, the grand spur 
above-mentioned ; between which, and a high conical hill, the path 
efiled. Whether we rode on the elephants or proceeded on foot, 
the thorny bushes proved most troublesome, and accustomed as we 
had been to compare ourselves to pincushions at our journey’s end, our 
previous scratchings were nothing to what we sustained this day. 
The low hills are chiefly round-backed ridges of sandstone, with fre- 
quently beds of shale, but no appearance of coal. Peacocks and 
Jungle-cocks were very frequent, and the squalling of the former con- 
VOL. I. 
