G12 Notes upon a Tour in the Sihhim Himalayah Mountains. [No. 7. 



that very speedily made us forget all the labour we had gone 

 through the previous week. As we proceeded we looked down into 

 the deep blue valley of the Bungbi, which at this point is about 

 10,000 feet deep. The eye, in looking down these stupendous val- 

 leys, wanders from the tough arctic lichen and snow rhododendron at 

 the observer's feet over fine forests of fir trees, rhododendron, birch, 

 oak, on the slopes of the mountains, down to the tropical trees and 

 plants, plantains, bamboos and gigantic grasses in the valleys. The 

 scenery was now rapidly changing ; instead of the suffocating heat of 

 the valleys with their abundant tropical vegetation, we were breathing 

 a bracing pure air, with the Thermometer standing at 41° ; the trees 

 were small ; of soil there was but a very scanty sprinkling under 

 our feet, and looking either to the east or the west a wild confused 

 snowy scene, treeless mountains, rocky peaks destitute of vegetation, 

 bare precipices and deep — profoundly deep — valleys had replaced 

 our hitherto confined view. 



At 8-30 we arrived at a foot path descending towards Nepal ; at 

 this spot were the remains of a Grurung's hut and a small shallow 

 pool of water measuring 150 by 30 feet. 



At this spot I measured a cherry tree and ascertained it to be 

 twelve feet in circumference. Plants and trees met with this morn- 

 ing were rhododendrons of many kinds, from the rhododendron with 

 a leaf fourteen inches in length with a deep ferruginous tinge on the 

 under side of the leaf to the small aromatic rhododendron with a 

 leaf only ith of an inch in length, bearing a purple flower ; yellow 

 hearts-ease, rose, hypericum of several kinds, one thorny with a 

 yellow flower, thistle, hemlock, yellow-flowered potentilla, dock 

 garlic with a pink flower, and many others. 



The sheep track to-day was almost entirely over bare gneiss rock, 

 in which were fine crystals of schorl. 



During this march we passed several caves in the gneiss called 

 by the Lepchas, L'haps, into which they, with solemn faces assured 

 us, their Lamas can with a lighted candle in hand, travel subterra- 

 neously from one mountain to another — no one besides the Lamas 

 possessing this faculty. 



At 11 a. M. we came upon the tracks of the Sippiyook or wild 

 sheep, an enormous animal judging by his foot-print, at a spot where 



