10 THE SIKKIM HIMALAYA 



the open air, and in a climate of perpetual 

 summer. 



Beyond this highly cultivated and thickly popu- 

 lated part, and still in the plains, we come to a wild 

 jungle country which stretches up to the foothills, 

 and is swampy, pestilential, and swarming with 

 every kind of biting insect. It is a nasty country 

 to travel through. But it has its interests. There 

 grow here remarkable grasses, with tall straight 

 shoots gracefully bending over at the top from the 

 weight of their feathery heads ; and so high are 

 these gigantic grasses that they often reach above 

 the head of a man on an elephant. The areas 

 covered by them are practically impenetrable to 

 men on foot, and there is a mysterious feel about 

 this region, for it is the haunt of rhinoceros, tigers, 

 and boars. In passing through it we have an un- 

 easy feeling that almost anything may appear on 

 the instant, and that once we were on foot and away 

 from the path we would be irretrievably lost 

 drowned in a sea of waving grass. 



From this sea of grass rise patches of forest and 

 single trees. The most prevalent is the Sal tree 

 (Shorea robusta), a magnificent gregarious tree with 

 a tall straight stem and thick glossy foliage. But 

 the most conspicuous in March and April is the 

 Dak tree (Butea /rondosa), an ungainly tree, but 

 remarkable for its deep rich scarlet flowers, like 

 gigantic sweet-peas but of a thick velvety texture. 

 These flowers blossom before the leaves appear, and 

 when the tree is in full bloom it looks like a veritable 

 flame in the forest. 



