Dr. Thomson on the Climate and Vegetation of the Himakuja. 201 



forest. In these more shady places the plantain and tree fern luxuriate, 

 and a dense brushwood covers the ground. Not unfrequently large tracts 

 are covered with thickets of Calamus, a prickly palm which attaches itself 

 by long hooked flagelli to the trees, and often presents a formidable barrier 

 to the traveller who tries to penetrate into its recesses. The trunks of 

 the trees are often clothed with a dense mass of Pothos, and of the huge 

 leaved Scindapsus, completely encircling them all round, and converting 

 them into leafy columns, while the wide-spreading branches of the higher 

 trees bear a profusion of Orchideje, which overspread them even to the 

 very top, and, when in flower, have a most gorgeous effect. 



In shady valleys, as low as 2,000 feet, appear the first specimens of 

 oaks and chestnuts, which in the equable temperature of such j^laces, de- 

 scend much further on the mountain slopes than in the more arid and 

 variable climate of the western Himalaya. 



On attaining an elevation of about 6,000 feet, the vegetation has be- 

 come temperate. The purely tropical forms have almost entirely disap- 

 peared, and in their place the forest abounds in trees of temperate climes. 

 Species of oak, holly, cherry, laurel, Rhododendron, Styrax, and Magnolia, 

 of gigantic size, form the forest, densely covered with mosses and orchideas, 

 and with an underwood of species of Berberis, Daphne, Lonicera, many 

 species of Vitis, and smaller species of bamboo than those of the tropical 

 region. Ferns are at such elevations extremely abundant. 



From the station of Darjiling, the view in every direction overlooks 

 mountain ranges, covered with dense forest, except in a few spots where 

 partial clearances have been made for cultivation. No bare or grassy 

 mountains meet the eye, no rocks or precipices afford any relief from the 

 prevailing uniformity, which, but for the magnificence of the snowy moun- 

 tains behind, would be undoubtedly monotonous and fatiguing. 



The ascent from the plains of north-west India to Simla, is about the 

 same length as that to Darjiling, but presents the most marked contrast 

 in vegetation, being throughout bare and grassy. The road ascends at first 

 in ten miles to an elevation of 6,500 feet, then descends to about 1,000 

 feet, and ascends gradually to 5,000. The ascent commences from the 

 Pinjore Dhiin, a lateral valley which runs at the foot of the mountains from 

 the Sutlej to the Jumna rivers. There is no forest in this valley, which 

 is open, and to a great extent cultivated. The lower hills are covered 

 with a shrubby vegetation characteristic of a dry climate. Species of 

 Zizyphus, Carissa, Butea, Adhatoda, Bergera, ^gle, Flacourtia, and other 

 common shrubs, with one species of bamboo, and only one fig. After the 

 ascent commences, these bushes are only scattered at intervals over the 

 hills, the greater part of the surface being bare and grassy. A similar 

 open country extends all the way to Simla, except where a few fir trees 

 (Piuus longifolia) crest the ridges, and in the more shady ravines, which 

 arc lined with a few small trees. 



The transition from tropical to temperate vegetation begins, in so far 

 as it is indicated by the small amount of shrubby vegetation, at about 



