512 SIKKIM. Chap. XXIX. 



at a greater distance than oue thousand miles from the equa- 

 tor, and they are essentially inter-tropical plants ; though 

 they only flourish at considerable elevations above the sea. 

 The reason appears to be that one of their chief requirements 

 is a tolerably equable climate throughout the year, which the 

 temperate zones, with their great differences of temperature 

 between winter and summer, do not afford. For this reason 

 sites were selected, in the first instance, both in India and 

 Ceylon, within the tropics ; and indeed this point was essen- 

 tial for the first experiments, because all the other conditions 

 of the growth of chinchonse could not have been found 

 beyond the equatorial zone. Under cultivation, however, it 

 is probable that, with other favouring circumstances, these 

 plants might thrive within the temperate zone, at short 

 distances from the tropic, and attention was naturally drawn 

 to the hill districts of the Eastern Himalayas, in Bengal. 

 The usefulness and importance of the introduction of the 

 chinchonse into India will be much enhanced if their cultiva- 

 tion can be extended to these regions, and attempts will, 

 therefore, be made to form chinchoua plantations in Sikkim, 

 Bhotau, and subsequently in the Khassya hills. 



The province of Sikkim,^ at the base of the mighty Hima- 

 layan peak of Kuuchiuginga, consists entirely of the basin of 

 the river Tista, which, with its tributaries, drains the whole 

 country. Its position, opposite to the opening of the G-angetic 

 vaUey, between the mountains of Beliar on the one hand 

 and the Khassya hills on the other, exposes it to the full 

 force of the monsoon. Its rains are, therefore, heavy and 

 almost uninterrupted, accompanied by dense fogs and a satu- 

 rated atmosphere throughout the year. There are frequent 

 winter rains accompanied by cold fogs, alternating with frost, 

 hail, and snow. March and Aj)ril are the driest months, 



^ I have taken the following brief I Khassya hills, from Dr. Hooker's Flora 

 notices of Sikkim, Bhotan, and tlie | Indica, and HimaJaijan Journals. 



