8 A NATURALIST IN HIjMALAYA 



damp heat. On every side stand pines and firs of 

 enormous bulk and stature. The blue pine and silver 

 fir, intermingled with the spruce and deodar, clothe 

 the hillside in a dark green. The colour is softened 

 by a lighter vegetation mainly composed of the cherry, 

 ilex, chestnut and sycamore. The trees drip with 

 moisture. The sun is dimmed by their broad expanse; 

 all life is still beneath their looming shade. Tiny 

 flowers of every tint raise their heads above the 

 tangled undergrowth, some of the only spots of colour 

 in the gloomy scene. We climb higher and penetrate 

 deeper into the forest. The gloom deepens and active 

 life seems to be absent, but it is only lost in the 

 immensity of the scale. The birds are scattered 

 through the ocean of verdure and are hidden in the 

 lofty trees. Living creatures in reality swarm in the 

 dark forest. Peer into every mossy nook, search 

 amongst the ferny dells, break asunder the dead, 

 crumbling tree-trunks, and thousands of living crea- 

 tures will be revealed to view. Troops of monkeys 

 go crashing through the trees. Woodpeckers of 

 brilliant plumage clamber nimbly up the giant conifers 

 or sweep through open glades in long undulating 

 flight. Flocks of titmice hang upon the branches, 

 doves rise in alarm from the green undergrowth, 

 beautiful blue magpies flutter heavily from tree to tree, 

 the hills re-echo to the low call of the cuckoo and the 

 sweet note of the whistling-thrush, or the nuthatch 

 chops and hammers on the leafless top of an old 

 gnarled pine. In every dark recess spiders have hung 

 their pendent webs or have spread from branch to 

 branch their inimitable snares ; beneath the stones 

 they seek a shelter or chase their victims over the 



