58 



ZEMU VALLEY. Chap. XX. 



opposite bank was carried away by the daily swelling 

 river, while the continued bad weather prevented any 

 excursions for days together. Botany was my only resource, 

 and as vegetation was advancing rapidly under the influ- 

 ence of the southerly winds, I had a rich harvest: for though 

 Composite, Pedicularis, and a few more of the finer Hima- 

 layan plants flower later, June is still the most glorious 

 month for show. 



Rhododendrons occupy the most prominent place, 

 clothing the mountain slopes with a deep green mantle 

 glowing with bells of brilliant colours; of the eight or 

 ten species growing here, every bush was loaded with 

 as great a profusion of blossoms as are their northern 

 congeners in our English gardens. Primroses are next, 

 both in beauty and abundance ; and they are accompanied 

 by yellow cowslips, three feet high, purple polyanthus, and 

 pink large-flowered dwarf kinds nestling in the rocks, and 

 an exquisitely beautiful blue miniature species, whose 

 blossoms sparkle like sapphires on the turf. Gentians begin 

 to unfold their deep azure bells, aconites to rear their tall 

 blue spikes, and fritillaries and Meconopsis burst into 

 flower. On the black rocks the gigantic rhubarb forms 

 pale pyramidal towers a yard high, of inflated reflexed 

 bracts, that conceal the flowers, and over-lapping one 

 another like tiles, protect them from the wind and rain : a 

 whorl of broad green leaves edged with red spreads on the 

 ground at the base of the plant, contrasting in colour with 

 the transparent bracts, which are yellow, margined with 

 pink. This is the handsomest herbaceous plant in Sikkim: 

 it is called " Tchuka," and the acid stems are eaten 

 both raw and boiled ; they are hollow and fall of pure 

 water : the root resembles that of the medicinal rhubarb, 

 but it is spongy and inert ; it attains a length of four 



