4 
REPORT ON A BOTANICAL TOUR IN SIKKIM, 1892. 
the proximity of the path to the ridge, streams supplying a sufficiency 
of water for our camp were few and far between, often necessitating 
long marches to obtain our two chief desiderata— z. space large en- 
ough to contain our tents, and water for cooking. At the end of the 
first day we found such a place at Ewanangi, a halting stage for 
shepherds. Its elevation by B. P. thermometer was 11,174 feet. 
The camping ground was covered with -young plants of the fornnid- 
able Cnicus eriophoroidesy a large thistle. At the commencement of 
this march we struck the Islumbo Pass, and continued in a northerly 
direction. The path runs through woods of Rhododendron arboreum^ 
R» cinnabarinumy R. Falconeriy R. barbatumy and R. Hodgsoniy Acer 
caudatuniy Betula utilisy Pieris ovalifolUy Juniperus pseudo-sabtna 
Abies Webbianay Prunus ru/a, Arundinaria spathifloruy q\.c. These 
trees grow' so densely that very few herbaceous plants exist beneath 
them. Saxifraga ligulatay a few species of PolygonuMy Ferns of two 
species, and several species of Potentilla being most in evidence, A 
variety of beautiful mosses grow on the rocks On open knolls the soil 
is carpeted with Gaultheria nummulariuy and the heather-like Cas- 
Slope i astigiata. 
The following day’s march was from Ewanangi to Megu. Tw’c 
Gentians become common about 12,000 feet, On^y Gentiana stylo- 
phora, with large, terminal, greenish, lily-like dowsers, the othei 
Swertia Hookei iy conspicuous by its brown leaves and inflorescence 
growing together in whorls on a stem often six feet high. A white 
and pink Primula is common Rhododendron Anthopogon is abun- 
dant. Its fragrant leaves are largely collected and burned as incense 
in Buddhist temples. Small trees are represented by the species of 
Rhododendron formerly enumerated, hyPyrus foliolosay Prunus rufuy 
and the bushy variety of Juniperus recurvay which forms excessively 
clpse thickets. Spircea bella Pyrus ^ kamnioides grow in open 
situations. Clematis montana with large white flowers climbs over 
bushes and at once arrests attention. A succession of steep ascents 
and descents where we first saw plants of Meconopsis simplicifolia 
in flower nestling under Berberry bushes, was followed by a compara- 
tively level path running over the rocks of a glacial deposit, at the end 
of which lay the large and grassy flat of Megu, the elevation of which 
by B, P. thermometer was 12,767 feet. Its bright green surface was 
interspersed with many plants of white primroses and yellow Cala* 
thodeSy a refreshing sight after tr? veiling through such a long waste 
of Rhododendron, A colony of marmots lived in the rocks above 
the camping gnound. I always understood that they avoid the damp 
climate of the Sikkim mountains and live only in the dry regions be- 
yond the snows. The tailless rat, another denizen of the same dry 
