June, 1849. VIOLENT STORMS. 59 



feet, and grows as thick as the arm. The dried leaves 

 afford a substitute for tobacco ; a smaller kind of rhubarb 

 is however more commonly used in Tibet for this purpose ; 

 it is called " Chula." 



The elevation being 1.2,080 feet, I was above the limit 

 of trees, and the ground was covered with many kinds of 

 small-flowered honeysuckles, berberry, and white rose.* 



I saw no birds, and of animals only an occasional musk- 

 deer. Insects were scarce, and quite different from what 

 I had seen before ; chiefly consisting of Phryganea (May- 

 fly) and some Carabidce (an order that is very scarce in 

 the Himalaya) ; with various moths, chiefly Geometrce. 



The last days of June (as is often the case) were marked 

 by violent storms, and for two days my tent proved no pro- 

 tection ; similar weather prevailed all over India, the baro- 

 meter falling very low. I took horary observations of the 

 barometer in the height of the storm on the 30th : the tide 

 was very small indeed ('024 inch, between 9*50 a.m. and 

 4 p.m.), and the thermometer ranged between 47° and 57° 8, 

 between 7 a.m. and midnight. Snow fell abundantly as 

 low as 13,000 feet, and the rivers were much swollen, the 

 size and number of the stones they rolled along producing 

 a deafening turmoil. Only 37 inches of rain fell between 

 the 23rd of June and the 2nd of July ; whilst 21 inches 

 fell at Dorjiling, and 6*7 inches at Calcutta. During the 

 same period the mean temperature was 48° ; extremes, |p|. 

 The humidity was nearly at saturation -point, the wind 

 southerly, very raw and cold, and drizzling rain constantly 



* Besides these I found a prickly Aralia, maple, two currants, eight or nine 

 rhododendrons, many Sedums, Rhodiola, white Clematis, red-flowered cherry, birch, 

 willow, Viburnum, juniper, a few ferns, two A ndromedas, Menziesia, and Spiraea. 

 And in addition to the herbs mentioned above, may be enumerated Parnassia, 

 many Saxifrages, Soldanella, Draba, and various other Cruciferce, Nardostacliys, 

 (spikennrd), Epilobium,, Thalictrum, and very many other genera, almost all typical 

 of the Siberian, North European, and Arctic floras. 



