1849.] excursion from Darjiling to Tonglu. 435 



herbaceous, as pseudo-ginseng. Symplocas, Limonia and Celastrus are 

 common shrubs, and small trees. Cipus capreolata clothes the trees 

 up to this height. I have not observed Cyrtandracece or Begonias to 

 ascend higher than this. 



At 9000 ft. we arrived on a long flat spur or shelf of the mountain, 

 covered with lofty trees, and a dense jungle of small bamboo. Mag- 

 nolias here formed the majority of the trees, with a few oaks, (annulata 

 very rare). Great Pyri and two other species of Rhododendron, both 

 attaining the height of 30 to 40 feet, R. barbatum, Wall., and R. arbo- 

 reum, Wall., var. roseum, D., C. Kadsura and scandent Arabacece and a 

 Saurauja climb the loftiest trees : Stauntonia crawls round their base, 

 or over lower bushes. Limonia is the common shrub and Symplocos. 

 A beautiful orchidseous plant, with pale purple flowers (Ccelogyre WaU 

 lichii ?) grows on the trunks of all the great trees, and perhaps attains 

 a greater elevation than any other epiphytical species, for I have seen 

 it at 10,000 ft. A very large, broadly cucullate spathed Ariscema, first 

 appears at 8000 ft. and is abundant thence to the top of the mountain, 

 where smaller kinds also abound at 10,000 ft. 



It is to be remarked that Leguminosce nowhere appears in Sikkim 

 above 6000 ft. except the Parochetus communis, which however I did 

 not see on this ascent. This total absence of one of the largest and 

 most ubiquitous natural orders, through 4000 ft. of elevation, is most 

 remarkable, and characterizes the whole Himalayan range of Sikkim. I 

 know of no parallel case to this any where on the globe. In the equally 

 humid forests of South Chili and Fuegia, the order is extremely rare, 

 but species do exist, and the whole flora of those countries is much poorer 

 than this, in numbers of plants. Grasses also are extremely scarce, 

 anywhere above 4000 ft. and below 10,000 ft., always excepting the 

 ubiquitous bamboos, which by their giant dimensions may fancifully be 

 supposed to compensate the want of many herbaceous species : or it 

 may perhaps be stated better thus : — where the proportion of trees is 

 very great, both in number, species and individuals, arboreous grasses 

 replace the herbaceous species of less jungly regions. 



A loathsome tic infests the small bamboo, and a more hateful insect 

 I never encountered. The traveller cannot avoid these coming on his 

 person (sometimes in great numbers) as he brushes through the forest. 

 They are often as large as the little finger nail, get inside one's dress 



3 L 



