96 Diary of an Excursion to the Shaiool [No. 170. 



called " Jy-be-Jy" or '* Jyan," and are very ornamental in May, 

 June, and July. With these occurs a very handsome species of 

 Dracocephalum or Lamium, called Gurounta, with a strong camo- 

 mile odour when bruised. On bare rocky ground from 12,800 feet up- 

 wards is found the Centaurea (Aplotaxis) taraxicifolia, the " Dhoopree," 

 with heads of purple blossom and a delicious fragrance like that of the 

 sweet colt's foot. The showy musk-scented Delphinium (brunonia- 

 num ?) grows near the foot of the Pass, and is called '■ Soopaloo," 

 " Ruskur," " Ruskachung :" it is, I believe, the " Liokpo," of Upper 

 Kunawur, and is a curious illustration of the association in these lofty 

 regions of musk in the vegetable as well as the animal kingdom. The 

 Hymenolsena Govaniana, and several similar Umbelliferse, with bracts 

 greatly developed and beautifully fringed with white, are common, some 

 of them attaining the crest of the Pass ; among those lower down is 

 one with decompound leaves, of a strong aromatic parsley-like fra- 

 grance, here called Nesir, and mentioned by Fraser as occurring near 

 Jumnootree, under the name of Mahee. All this lofty region (from 

 12,000 to 13,000 feet) abounds with the Kanda, a species of prickly 

 Meconopsis, probably M. nepalensis, in form like Royle's M. aculeata 

 (which in his plate seems too deeply coloured,) except that the flowers 

 are of the most lovely azure. Amongst the Doodach rocks grows the 

 Sedum himalensis, very like the Rhodiola rosea of England, and 

 amongst the rocks and snow at the source of the Undretee I found the 

 Saxifraga granulata of England, and a Ranunculus (choorensis ?) much 

 like the R. glacialis of Switzerland. Such are a few of the plants 

 which " blush unseen" on these desolate wilds ; a more leisurely exa- 

 mination would easily double the number. Nature, where she cannot 

 be useful, seems determined to be ornamental, and converts these tracts 

 where grain will not ripen, into pastures and flower gardens, where 

 thousands of butterflies and insects enjoy their brief existence. The 

 utility of nature must not indeed be limited to man, for there is scarcely 

 one of these plants, the seeds of which do not support myriads of in- 

 sects as well as many birds ; and the highly successful experiment at 

 Muhasoo is a sufficient proof that many of the forest tracts at least, 

 and perhaps even the pasture lands above them might, by a moderate 

 expenditure of industry and enterprise, be rendered available for the pro- 

 duction of excellent potatoes, and thus enable the Himalaya to support 





