546 Notes upon a Tour in the SiJckini Himalayah Mountains, [No. 6. 



eaten as pickles, forming a pleasing acidulous adjunct to the Lim- 

 boo's simple rice diet. The fresh shoots, which I tasted, resemble a 

 new and sweet walnut. 



3rd August, 1852, direction North-west. 



At six this morning we descended the steep northern face of the 

 Goke spur by a footpath, along which the Sikkimites attempted an 

 entry into Darjeeling, during the late disturbances. I measured 

 the slope of the path and found it to be 30°, a most uncomfortable 

 gradient for a rough and narrow footpath flanked on one hand by 

 a nearly precipitous descent, down which Mr. Smart and myself both 

 rolled, until stopped by the dense underwood. Our road lay through 

 a dark forest of noble trees, principally Grordonia, called by the 

 Lepchas "sum brung kun," whose smooth, upright, and perfectly 

 straight stems present fine specimens of forest trees. Most of these 

 trees were encircled at various heights by epiphytical ferns, growing 

 in a crown-like form completely round the stem. Each frond of 

 this elegant fern measures five feet in length, and from the great 

 elegance of its shape serves to adorn the tree that bears it. The 

 underwood was principally composed of the gigantic bamboo, fici, 

 bauhinias and ferns ; the whole so thick, matted and tangled as to 

 render the forest as dark as late twilight ; not a ray of sunshine 

 could penetrate or shine upon us ; but I noticed that wherever a 

 stray beam of sunshine did force its way through the tangled masses 

 of foliage overhead, that it tinged the ground with a deep purple or 

 garnet colour. The noise from the cicadas was quite oppressive and 

 wearisome. One was caught and, as I conjectured yesterday, was of 

 a totally different species from those seen at Darjeeling. It had trans- 

 parent wings, and was three inches in length. On its sides are too 

 long horny plates, and upon pressing these plates whilst the animal 

 continued to cry, a modulation of the extraordinary and wild sound 

 emitted by this strange fly was caused, bearing however no resem- 

 blance to harmony. Under skilful hands and by delicate manipulation, 

 a tune might be extorted from this cicada, thus in a measure verify- 

 ing the old fable of the cicada having been used as a supplementary 

 note to the Lyre. 



The underwood abounded with the yellow webs of the large red 

 and black Epiroe, or bird-easing spiders, each web containing a 

 spider. 



