MURICHOM. 



299 



melina ! Conbreta sp. ! Boehmeriae ! Piper spica caudata pendula 

 and another species ! ! Euphorbia ! Galina of Panga, Croton malvi- 

 folius ! Bambusa major ! Bauhinia ! Engeldhaardtii ! 



Although we subsequently ascended 1500 feet, very little change 

 occurred : no re-appearance of tropical forms, Sterculiacea novum of 

 Moosmai, Adamia, Volkameria ! serrata, Triumfetta mollis ! Briedlia 

 avalis of Chilleeri ! Gortnera ! Corydalis ! Hydrangeacae ! Melastoma 

 malabathrica ! 



The march was very tiresome, some of the ranges passed were 

 high and well clothed with firs. Those marked thus* are subtropi- 

 cal or tropical, and one glance will show their predominance : only 

 Corydalis straggles down. The woods were in many places damp, in 

 others dry : it was obvious that less rain had fallen between Chupcha 

 and Chuka, than in other situations : a large proportion of Laurineae 

 and Acanthaceae appeared in the woods, with Gordonia : the oaks and 

 chesnuts when they did present themselves bore a tropical form, point- 

 ed out by their coriaceous undivided or merely serrated leaves. I cer- 

 tainly never saw such a predominance of tropical forms, at such an 

 elevation as 3,500 or 4,000 feet. 



For Lyellia I had been hunting for three years, but never thought 

 of looking for it at low elevations ; as it was I believe given out to be 

 a native of high places. Of birds, Bucco, Picus intermedius, green 

 pigeon, azure shrikelet, occurred. 



May \lth. — Murichom is a small village of eight or nine thatched : 

 houses, it is well and prettily situated : about it maize and wheat are in 

 cultivation, Ficus, Hoya, Dendrobium, Croton malvaefolius, Meliacea, 

 Cedrela Toona, orange, Verbesina, Datura, Artemisia major, Echites, in 

 fact it would be difficult to point out an elevational plant. The same 

 remark applies to the march to Gygoogoo, distant twelve miles, and 

 situated 500 feet below the road, but still it is about the same 

 level as Murichom. The march commenced with a steep descent, 

 followed by a steeper ascent, then winding along, in and out, at an 

 average elevation of 5,000 feet. The road was very bad, rocky and 

 rugged as usual, P. and B. passed the village, and pushed on to 

 Buxa, a distance of twenty miles, which place they reached at 7 p. m. 

 At Murichom, Ficus cordata, fructibus pyriformibus, Clerodendron 

 infortunata, Adamia, Spilanthes, Melastoma malabathrica, Bignonia, 

 Pentaptera. The Oollook or Simia Hylobates, of Upper Assam. 



Scarcely any thing worth noticing occurred ; the vegetation being 

 precisely the same. No oaks or chesnuts, at least comparatively few : 



