166 POPULAR GEOGRAPHY OP PLANTS. 



also read of Cedar-trees, which are perhaps what we call 

 the Himalaya Fir, or Deodar Pine, which is a species of 

 Cedar. But the Ehododendrons seem to be the crowning 

 beauty. Where the mountain path leads through the midst 

 of these plants " no garden can surpass the loveliness of the 

 scene ;" and in some parts the Gentians " enamel the sward 

 with blossoms of such intense brilliancy, that the eye can 

 scarcely rest upon them." In Dr. Hooker's account of his 

 researches in the Himalayas there is one passage which 

 beautifully illustrates the theory of the different vertical 

 regions of vegetation, in which he describes one wonderful 

 scene which exhibits several of .these regions at a glance, 

 one above the other : " Prom the deep valleys choked with 

 tropical luxuriance, to the scanty yak pasturage on the 

 heights above, seems but a step at the first coup d'ceil, but 

 resolves itself on a closer inspection into five belts. 1. 

 Palm and Plantain. 2. Oak and Laurel. 3. Pine. 4. 

 Ehododendron and Grass. 5. Eock and Snow. Prom the 

 bed of the Eatang, in which grow Palms with Screw-pine 

 and Plantain, it is only seven miles in a direct line to the 

 perpetual ice. Prom the plains of India, or outer Hima- 

 laya, one may behold snowy peaks rise in the distance, be- 

 hind a foreground of tropical forest ; here, on the contrary, 



