MEGALITHS 335 



the scenery was splendid, far more beautiful than any part 

 of the Himalaya, and much more Brazilian in character ; 

 with groves of Areca Palm, fine rocks and a better mixture 

 of brushwood and large trees than the complete forest of 

 the Sikkim Himalaya presents. The vegetation was quite 

 different, everything new to us. 



The outstanding features were the heaviness of the rainfall 

 and the abundance of plant life. At the very start they filled 

 nearly a ream with the plants collected on their walk from 

 Punduah before breakfast. 



To Us Father 



June 21, 1850. 



Scattered Pandani and the wonderful Stonehenge-like 

 tombs of the natives are the arresting objects of the view ; 

 the former quite out of the places with which we associate 

 their presence ; the latter singularly in harmony with the 

 moorland scene, whether as recalling the Druidical remains, 

 or the erratic boulders of our own bleak open counties in 

 England and Scotland, they are wild uncouth objects. 



Of the weather ' most horrible ' is the term, I believe, 

 for all the time between May and October ; we are con- 

 sidered to be singularly fortunate in getting out to any 

 distance for seven days out of ten for the first three it 

 rained a deluge ; and then the said clearance commenced, 

 which is unprecedented in the memory of the oldest inhabi- 

 tant. 



Thick fog and torrents are the prevailing character, 

 the rainfall equalling often in forty-eight hours the whole 

 annual English fall. The statements are incredible, and I 

 have set up my rain-gauges to see for myself ; it is windy too, 

 which is bad for me, as the rain gets on my spectacles and 

 stops work ; the damp is of course ruinous. 



With half a dozen collectors at work and three good coal- 

 fires burning in the drying bungalow, it was very hard work 

 for Hoffman (his servant) and six men to get the plants 

 changed and papers dried daily. 



I had no idea [he continues] of the richness and variety 

 of the Flora, nor can you ever have of the bulk of tropical 



