13 
and soon afterwards attack tlie bivalves. If the Government approves of our Quar er y 
Records,’ I hope often to make use of the opportunity to report upon many pa aeon o o b ica 
subjects under my observation.” 
An important paper on the Ornithology of the Sutlej Valley (34) was Stoliczkas firs., 
contribution to a branch of natural history which he had, it is believed, taken up piac ica y 
for the first time during his Himalayan journeys. His observations were primarily ma e on 
birds seen and obtained during the summer months, from May to October, but having 
employed natives to shoot for him during the winter, he was enabled to add further notes 
founded on the information so afforded.* 
The introduction to this paper contains a valuable description of the physical features and 
the distribution of animal and vegetable life throughout the region itself and those boun mg 
it. A German translation of it appeared in Petermanns Mittheilungen in the ) eai 
Although too long for insertion here, some extracts will perhaps be sufficient to direct those 
who are specially interested in the subject to the paper itself. 
“ The fauna has an essentially Tibetan character. The Kyang, Equus hemionus is very 
“ plentifully met with in a wild state ; the Yak, Poephagus grunniens, has become domesti- 
“ cated, and is at present very rarely found wild to the south of the Indus ; Oms amnion, 
“ Ovis nahura (Burrell, Moschus moschiferus, and other ruminants arc, however still tolerably 
“ common. Ursus tibetanus, Lynchm europeus, Vulpes montanus and V. fernlatm, Mustela 
“ ermwea, and others are also not rare. Of birds a large number of 
“ Rimcm™, ALAUDiDiE, Cobyid.®, and others, mostly of European type, are to be met 
“ with. As to reptiles and fishes, I have not been able to procure any information, but 1 
“ should think they are not specifically very different from those of Western Tibet. 
* ******** 
“The highest peaks in the North-west Himalayan chain rise on an average somewhat 
“ above 22,000 feet, and the limit of snow lies in general at about 17,000 feet, increasing 
about 18,500 feet on the Tibetan slopes. 
In the narrow valley Indian tropical plants were found at the base of hills upon w " , 
higher up, the finest cedar and pine forests flourished, while beyond their limit glacial o 
Alpine plants occurred in the interval up to the edges of the eternal ice an snow. 
“ The province of Kunawar, in which many of the ornithological cbseivations here ' 
“ were made, extends from Shipki to Wangtu Bridge (N. lat. 31 27 E ? lonS ‘ J ^ J' tl 
“ large portion of this province is situated on the north-eastern declivity of tlm ^ Central 
“ Himalayan range, and has much Tibetan admixture in its fauna and flora 
“ Rom the Chinese frontier to the west, we soon see the Tibetan Caragana and t i P 
“ squamosa replaced by the larger Jnniperus excelsa, Emus excelsa, and a ew ’ 
. “ fine specimens of apricot and poplar trees become abundant^ and the firs vmeyau s ate 
be observed in the neighbourhood of small cottages. 
“ limit of vegetation almost corresponds with the snow line, lying between 17,000 and 
“ 18,000 feet ; the limit of growth of trees being nearly 12,000 feet. We often find at tins 
“ >«nit Betula bmpaltm, and in other places Pmus excelsa, which ranges almost highc 
“ and extends further into the interior than either Finns gerardiana or Cedrus deodo . 
* Dr. Stoliczka’s collection of Himalayan birds was subsequently described by Herr A. von lelzeln the 
bw Ornithologie ” for 1868, and a translation of the same by Lord Walden was published in the Ibis foi w P- 
