378 W. T. Blanford — Journey through Sikkim. [No. 4, 



a short march the next day into the juniper region, and to halt 

 there.* ■ 



2\st. It was clear at sunrise, but soon clouded over, indeed 

 from the first the only view was towards the Tista. We went only 

 about a mile up the steep path, coining soon upon dwarf juniper, 

 Juniperus recurva, and silver fir, Abies Webbiana, which soon increas- 

 ed in size and abundance, until at about 11000 feet, (estimated) 

 the dwarf bamboos for the most part disappeared, and the forest, 

 no longer so high as below, consisted of the silver fir and rhodo- 

 dendrons of various kinds. At about this elevation, we came out 

 into an open space, on the narrow ridge of the spur, gay with a 

 brilliant yellow composite flower, on which many of the peculiar 

 red-tailed green honey-suckers, JEthopyga ignicauda, were feeding. 

 The lovely Myzornis pyrrhoura was common ; I also shot Conostoma 

 cemodium, a thorough crateropodine in its habits despite its thick 

 bill, Pyrrhula aurantiaca and Troehalopterum subunieolor, a com- 

 mon Darjiling laughing thrush, which I was rather surprised 

 to find at this elevation. I obtained a few land shells amongst 

 the dead leaves, including a species of Alycceus, a Diplom- 

 matina, and a discoid Cyclophorus, the two former certainly unde- 

 scribed, a peculiar green Helix and a Glessula. I do not know of 

 any previously recorded instance in which Cyelophoridce have been 

 found at so great an elevation, and as Alycaus and Biplommatina 

 are typically Malayan, none being known in the plains of India, 

 their presence at this height affords a remarkable instance of the 

 extent to which this damp-loving fauna has crept up the slopes of 

 the Sikkim Himalaya. 



August 22nd. The name given to us by our men for the night's 

 encampment was Lingtu. I suspect this is really the name of a 

 summer cattle station farther up the ridge. It poured all night, 

 and as our coolies had no house to get into they improvised huts of 

 boughs. All the men we had were Biitias and Nipalese, who are 

 both hardy races, and stand cold much better than the Lepchas. 



# At this place and at many others on our road we met Butias carrying 

 heavy loads of salt and coming from Chumbi. There is a considerable traffic 

 between Chumbi and Darjiling entirely carried on by coolies. The exports 

 into Chumbi are, I believe, sugar, rice, and a little English hardware.' 

 The import of Darjiling tea into Tibet is absolutely prohibited. 



