CHAPTER VI. 



Excursion from Dorjiling to Great Rungeet — Zones of vegetation — Tree-ferns — 

 Palms, upper limit of — Leebong, tea plantations — Gang — Boodhist remains — 

 Tropical vegetation — Pines — Lepcha clearances — Forest fires — Boodhist 

 monuments — Fig — Cane bridge and raft over Rungeet — Sago-palm — India- 

 rubber — Yel Pote — Butterflies and other insects — Snakes — Camp — Tempe- 

 rature and humidity of atmosphere — Junction of Teesta and Rungeet — Return 

 to Dorjiling — Tonglo, excursion to — Bamboo flowering — Oaks — Gordonia — 

 Maize, hermaphrodite flowered — Figs — Nettles — Peepsa — Simonbong, culti- 

 vation at — European fruits at Dorjiling — Plains of India. 



A very favourite and interesting excursion from Dorjiling 

 is to the cane bridge over the Great Rungeet river, 

 6000 feet below the station. To this an excellent road has 

 been cut, by which the whole descent of six miles, as the 

 crow flies, is easily performed on pony -back ; the road dis- 

 tance being only eleven miles. The scenery is, of course, 

 of a totally different description from that of Sinchul, 

 or even of the foot of the hills, being that of a deep 

 mountain-valley. I several times made this trip ; on the 

 excursion about to be described, and in which I was 

 accompanied by Mr. Barnes, I followed the Great Rungeet 

 to the Teesta, into which it flows. 



In descending from Dorjiling, the zones of vegetation 

 are well marked between 6000 and 7000 feet by — 1. The 

 oak, chesnut, and Magnolias, the main features from 7000 

 to 10,000 feet. — 2. Immediately below 6,500 feet, the tree- 

 fern appears {Alsophila gigantea, Wall.), a widely-distributed 



