254 Capt. Pemberton's Mission to Bootan, 1837-38. [April, 



soil, and its effects on vegetation. The winds are more violent through- 

 out the lower tracts than elsewhere, and as in many of these places 

 they are enabled to supply themselves with dust, they often became 

 very positively disagreeable, and formed no inconsiderable part of the 

 annoyances we were subjected to during our residence at Punukka. 

 These partial winds* are frequently so violent as to unroof the 

 houses ; it must be remembered, however, that the roofs are generally 

 mere shingles, kept in their places by large stones. During our stay 

 at Punukka, the regal or sacred part of the roof was blown off; the 

 clattering that ensued from the falling of the copper plates, mixed 

 with the noise of the shingles and stones of other parts of the palace, was 

 very great; a deputation was immediately sent from the palace to 

 request that we would fire off no more guns near the palace, and we 

 found out afterwards that we were looked upon with a very suspicious 

 eye. 



We were not much incommoded with rain, neither should I consi- 

 der it to be abundant throughout the lower elevations, at least no 

 part of the vegetation I saw in such tracts seemed to indicate even a 

 small amount of moisture. We were only once delayed by snow, and 

 on our return enjoyed uninterrupted fine weather until we reached 

 Buxa, where, as might be expected from its proximity to the plains 

 and the season, the weather was unsettled. 



As regards quantity of vegetation, Bootan exhibits, it appears to me, 

 considerable peculiarities. In the other parts of the Himalayan chain I 

 have seen, and generally throughout India, the bases and lower portions 

 of the mountains are the most thickly wooded, and it is generally a 

 tolerably certain indication of elevation when less wooded tracts are 

 met with ; but in Bootan not only is the vegetation of the lower 

 ranges contiguous to the plains unusually scanty throughout a consi- 

 derable part of their extent, but throughout the interior it is generally 

 absolutely barren within certain elevations. This scantiness at the 

 base of the mountains is perhaps at its maximum due north from 

 Gowahatti, in which direction the vegetation is almost entirely grami- 

 neous ; to the westward it certainly lessens, but even to the north of 

 Kungpore (Bengal) the woods are thin, especially when contrasted 

 with the Toorais of other portions ; at the same time the vegetation of 

 the lower ranges is in this direction nearly as dense as it is else- 

 where. Of its extent to the eastward I have no actual evidence to of- 

 fer ; but as to the north of. Jeypore there is a well defined Toorai, and 



• The general winds have, it would appear, the usual direction ; that is, they blow 

 from thc^ plain?. 



