424 Notes, chiefly Botanical, made during an [May, 



The soil at the bases of these hills is very fertile, owing to the wash- 

 ing down of vegetable mould from above, the rapid decomposition of the 

 rocks and the ashes of the burnt forest. Beneath the mould is gener- 

 ally a stratum of red clay which uniformly covers the hills at all 

 elevations, and to a greater or less depth, even 15 feet. This varies 

 much in quality, apparently owing to the admixture of matter from the 

 subjacent rocks. Of the latter some gneisses decompose with the 

 greatest rapidity, others resist for ages the elements. A clayey soil 

 covers even the sharpest ridges, retained in its position by the arboreous 

 vegetation ; much of it makes excellent bricks, from containing a very 

 large percentage of alumina.* 



A large bamboo ("Pao," Lepcha) is the prevailing plant near the base 

 of these valleys; it attains a height of 40 — 60 ft. and the culms average 

 in thickness the human thigh ; it is unarmed, deep green, or purplish, 

 and used for large water vessels. Besides this there are nearly a dozen 

 kinds of bamboo known to the Lepchas, and all have been pointed out 

 to me. Whether these are different species or no it is impossible to 

 say, for different genera are too similar in their foliage to be thereby 

 specifically distinguished. Three kinds usually flower, one commonly, 

 and of these, two bear no leaf on the flowering plant, which dies after 

 seeding. A certain patch of ground or clump of plants seem to flower 

 at the same time, but I could not detect, nor do the Lepchas recognize 

 any cause for this isolation of the flowering plants. Bamboos, in the 

 general acceptation of the term (for remotely allied genera bear the 

 same trivial English name,) occur at all elevations below 12,000 feet, 

 forming even in the Pine-woods and above their zone in the skirts of 

 the Rhododendron scrub, a small and sometimes almost impervious 

 jungle. It would take many pages to describe the numerous purposes 

 to which the various species, even in Sikkim, are put. In an economi- 

 cal point of view they may be classed into those which do, and those 

 which do not split readily. The young shoots of one or more are 

 eaten : and the seeds of another, raw, cooked, and made into a fer- 

 mented drink. 



Gordonia is here the common forest tree ; (G. Wallichii ?) an erect 

 and singularly handsome tree, much prized in all parts of the sub- 



* Nearly 30 per cent, according to the analysis of my friends, J. and C. Mul- 

 ler, Esqs. 



