May, 1848. MAIZE. FIGS. PEEPSA. LITTLE RUNGEET. 157 



Gordonia is their most common tree (G. WattieKii), much 

 prized for ploughshares and other purposes requiring a hard 

 wood : it is the " Sing-bran g-kun " of the Lepchas, and 

 ascends to 4000 feet. Oaks at this elevation occur as 

 solitary trees, of species different from those of Dorjiling. 

 There are three or four with a cup- shaped involucre, and 

 three with spinous involucres enclosing an eatable sweet 

 nut ; these generally grow on a dry clayey soil. 



Some low steep spurs were well cultivated, though the 

 angle of the field was upwards of 25°; the crops, chiefly maize, 

 were just sprouting. This plant is occasionally hermaphro- 

 dite in Sikkim, the flowers forming a large drooping panicle 

 and ripening small grains ; it is, however, a rare occurrence, 

 and the specimens are highly valued by the people. 



The general prevalence of figs,* and their allies, the 

 nettles, f is a remarkable feature in the botany of the 

 Sikkim Himalaya, up to nearly 10,000 feet. Of the former 

 there were here five species, some bearing eatable and very 

 palatable fruit of enormous size, others with the fruit small 

 and borne on prostrate, leafless branches, which spring from 

 the root and creep along the ground. 



A troublesome, dipterous insect (the " Peepsa," a species 

 of Siamidium) swarms on the banks of the streams ; it is 

 very small and black, floating like a speck before the eye ; 

 its bite leaves a spot of extravasated blood under the cuticle, 

 very irritating if not opened. 



Crossing the Little Rungeet river, we camped on the 

 base of Tonglo. The night was calm and clear, with faint 



* One species of this very tropical genus ascends almost to 9000 feet on the 

 outer ranges of Sikkim. 



f Of two of these cloth is made, and of a third, cordage. The tops of two are 

 eaten, as are several species of Procris. The " Poa " belongs to this order, yielding 

 that kind of grass cloth fibre, now abundantly imported into England from the 

 Malay Islands, and used extensively for shirting. 



