1862.] Journal of a trip in the SiTcJeim Himalaya. 479 



In the valleys, where Lepidoptera exist in countless myriads during 

 the rains, very few were seen hy us, and no Coleoptera at all. Pyra- 

 ntels GallirJioe was common at great elevations. I observed it on the 

 snow, and on the glaciers at 13,000 to 16,000 feet, but it was the sole 

 inhabitant of these cold and dreary regions. It is difficult to under- 

 stand how an insect so delicately formed as a butterfly, could exist at 

 an elevation where the thermometer must have stood at zero at 

 night time. We saw a few small birds resembling larks at Aluh- 

 tong, and an occasional eagle, but the absence of all wild animals 

 and game was remarkable. None of the lakes or pools of water, as 

 far as we could ascertain, contained any fish, or any living creature. 



From the time we left Darjeeling to the date of our return, a period 

 of twenty-two days, we experienced delightful weather. When in 

 the vicinity of Jongli, the clouds would generally ascend the vallej'S 

 from the plains between 2 or 3 in the afternoon and obscure 

 the snow peaks for a time, but after an hour or two they would dis- 

 appear and leave us to enjoy cloudless evenings and nights, and the 

 rare, but truly magnificent spectacle presented by the moonlit 

 snowy masses around us. The great enjoyment and advantages of 

 fine weather, the absence of leeches, pipsas, sand-flies, musquitoes and 

 other such like torments experienced by former Sikkim Himalayan 

 travellers, also the absence of extreme heat, deadly miasma in the 

 valleys, and fear of contracting jungli fever, all point to November as 

 the most desirable month of the year for travelling in these still 

 unexplored regions. The third day after our return, the weather 

 suddenly became raw and cold. At Darjeeling we had rain and hail, 

 and the military stations of Jellapahar and Sinchul were covered 

 with hail and snow. At the latter place the fall was 3^ inches thick, 

 and remained for several days on the ground. 

 Camp ; March, 1862. 



