616 



broken masses of rock, which are scaled by the aid of interwoven 

 roots of trees. On these rocks grow Hymenophylla, a few Orchideaa, 

 Begonia, Cyrtandraceas, Aroidese of curious forms ; the anomalous 

 genus Streptolirion of Edgeworth, and various Cryptogamia; and the 

 Rhododendron arboreum is first met with, its branches often loaded 

 with pendulous mosses and lichens, especially Usnea and Borrera. 

 Along the flat ridges, towards the top, the yew appears, with scattered 

 trees of Rhododendron argenteum, succeeded by R. Campbellise. At 

 the very summit, the majority of the wood consists of this last species, 

 amongst which, and next in abundance, occurs the R. barbatum, with 

 here and there, especially on the eastern slopes, R. Falconeri. Min- 

 gled with these are Pyri, Pruni, maples, barberries, and Azaleas, 

 Olea, Ilex, Limonia, Hydrangea, several Caprifoliaceee, Gaultheria, 

 and Andromeda ; the apple and the rose are most abundant. Staun- 

 tonia, with its glorious racemes of purple flowers, creeps over all ; so 

 do Kadsura and Ochna ; whilst a currant, with erect racemes, grows 

 epiphy tally on Rhododendron and on Pyrus. 



" The habits of the Rhododendrons differ considerably, and, con- 

 fined as I was to one favourable spot by a deluge of rain, I had ample 

 time to observe four of them. R. Campbelliae, the only one in full 

 flower early in May, is the most prevalent, the ropes of my tent 

 spanning an area between three of them. Some were a mass of scar- 

 let blossom, displaying a sylvan scene of the most gorgeous descrip- 

 tion. Mr. Nightingale's Rhododendron-groves, I thought, may surpass 

 these in form and luxuriance of foliage, or in outline of individual 

 specimens; but for splendour of colour those of the Himalaya can 

 only be compared with the Butea frondosa of the plains. Many of 

 their trunks spread from the centre thirty or forty feet every way, and 

 together form a hemispherical mass, often forty yards across, and from 

 twenty to fifty feet in height ! The stems and branches of these 

 aged trees, gnarled and rugged, the bark dark-coloured, and clothed 

 with spongy moss, often bend down and touch the ground : the foli- 

 age is, moreover, scanty, dark green, and far from graceful ; so that, 

 notwithstanding the gorgeous colouring of the blossoms, the trees, 

 when out of flower, like the Fuchsias of Cape Horn, are the gloomy 

 denizens of a most gloomy region." — p. 13. 



