NUNKLOW. 



9 



layas, mountains intercepted by large tracts of very high land, pro- 

 bably Bootan. The coldest weather we have experienced here was 

 when the thermometer sank to 46°; even in the middle of the day 

 the sun is not oppressive. It is singular enough, that the first at- 

 tempts, so to speak, at a Fauna occur here. The woods abound with 

 small birds. I shot one squirrel, with a very short tail and rounded 

 head. Red deer (the Gyee of the Burmese) occur, though rarely. 

 Two or three solitary snipes may be found during a day's excursion, 

 and perhaps a brace of quail, which are nearly as large as English 

 partridges. Pheasants are reported to occur in the woods. I should 

 add, that both here and at Nunklow snipe of a very large descrip- 

 tion, and of the habits of the solitary snipe, are found in small num- 

 bers. They are very brown, as large as a wood- cock, and their cry 

 is that of a common snipe. Lieutenant Townsend informs me, that 

 these birds are a totally distinct species. Lieutenant Vetch tells 

 me, that the Khasiyas declare that they are the females of the wood- 

 cock, in other words, wood-hens, and that in March wood-cocks 

 abound in the places with these wood-hens. He likewise informs 

 me, that the only difference he could ascertain to exist between 

 these birds and wood-cocks, consists in their having very short and 

 thick legs. 



I have seen two of this particular description, but have never 

 shot any. 



After Myrung one can speak much less in favour of these hills. 

 Nunklow is a pretty spot, and commands a really magnificent 

 view of the Himalayas, of the Bootan mountains, and of the plains 

 of Assam. Altogether this view is the finest which, in my limit- 

 ed experience, I have ever seen : I did not however like Nunk- 

 low, nor do my wishes recur to it.* The route thither is pretty 

 enough, and not fatiguing. I may mention Nunklow as the sta- 

 tion of some fine trees, among which is a Betula, two ^Esculi, 

 oaks, etc. in abundance. The pine is in fine order, but not large. 

 Much more cultivation is carried on in this portion of the hills 

 than elsewhere, and paddy is cultivated apparently to some ex- 

 tent. The temperature is much warmer, and the air by no means so 

 bracing as that of Myrung. Perhaps at this place the flora resembles 

 that of lower Himalaya more than other place we have yet seen. The 

 march from Nunklow to Nowgong is very long, and, as we started 

 late, owing partly to mismanagement and partly to the want of 



* On a hill near the Bungalow are the tombs of Lieuts. Burlton and Beddin- 

 field, two distinguished officers murdered by the natives in 1829. 



c 



