

Dec. 1848. RAKLANG PASS. 293 



is acid and very pleasant. The large succulent fern, called 

 Botrychium* grew here plentifully ; it is boiled and eaten, 

 both here and in New Zealand. Ferns are more commonly 

 used for food than is supposed. In Calcutta the Hindoos 

 boil young tops of a Polypodium with their shrimp curries ; 

 and both in Sikkim and Nepal the watery tubers of an 

 Jspidium are abundantly eaten. So also the pulp of one 

 tree-fern affords food, but only in times of scarcity, as does 

 that of another species in New Zealand {Cyathea meduttaris): 

 the pith of all is composed of a coarse sago, that is to say, 

 of cellular tissue with starch granules. 



A thick forest of Dorjiling vegetation covers the summit, 

 which is only 6,800 feet above the sea : it is a saddle, 

 connecting the lofty mountain of Mainom (alt. 11,000 feet) 

 to the North, with Tendong (alt. 8,663 feet) to the south. 

 Both these mountains are on a range which is con- 

 tinuous with Kinchinjunga, projecting from it down into 

 the very heart of Sikkim. A considerable stand was made 

 here by the Lepchas during the Nepal war in 1787 ; they 

 defended the pass with their arrows for some hours, and 

 then retired towards the Teesta, making a second stand 

 lower down, at a place pointed out to me, where rocks on 

 either side gave them the same advantages. The Nepalese, 

 however, advanced to the Teesta, and then retired with 

 little loss. 



Unfortunately a thick mist and heavy rain cut off all 

 view of the Teesta valley, and the mountains of Chola to 

 the eastward ; which I much regretted. 



Descending by a very steep, slippery path, we came to a 



* Botrychium Virginicum, Linn. This fern is eaten abundantly by the New 

 Zealanders : its distribution is most remarkable, being found very rarely indeed 

 in Europe, and in Norway only. It abounds in many parts of the Southern 

 United States, the Andes of Mexico, &c., in the Himalaya mountains, Australia. 

 and New Zealand. 



