22 
REPORT ON A BOTANICAL TOUR IN SIKKIM,. 1892. 
pictures carved near it suggested its name, and i concluded tliat the 
name was a contracted form of Gorucknath ; afterwards it was 
explained that the meaning was witidiirg in allusion to the wind- 
ing route to the pass. 
Yaks are grazed from 14 up to !^,ooo feet in this valley during 
the summer, and at Sebu I found a large herd of cattle. 
From Sethang I returned to Lachung in two marches, arriving on 
the 8th September. 
The time untifthe 14th was devoted to arranging and packing 
my collections and luggage. We returned to Tumloong by the 
Teesta vaiiey path and arrived there on the 20th September. 
Third t<>uri The Chola -range. — I left Tumloong on the 22nd 
Septemt^r for my third and last excursion. The first march was to 
Rongpo, elevation 6,000 feet^ a halting stage of the Sikkim Rajas 
during their journeys to and from the Chumbi valley, their favourite* 
Summer resort. The path descends through cultivated fields to the 
oeds of two arms of the Ryott-river which unite a little further down. 
They are crossed by cane suspension bridges... The succeeding 
ascent is steep- and.passes through many fields of dry ground rice and 
miilet. An edible vaiiety of Job’s tears (Coix lachrymd) is grown 
near watercourses.. The whole valley is; thickly populated, and the 
inhabitants practise a careful system of cultivation. 
An oak {Quer.cus semecarpifolia) is common at Rungpo, but the 
test of the vegetation is of the usual type at this elevation. 
Onwards to Chola Pass the marches were made eastwards up a 
continuously steep ridge. The second day^s journey brought us to 
Laghep (10,400 feet), a small cattle station with a camping. aground 
on a projecting knoll c(Jvered thickly with Iris nepalensisr, .This 
locality is celebrated for its variety of Rhododendrons, every species 
existing in Sikkim, excepting R. nivale^ being found within a distance 
of two days short marches. It was too early in the season to obtain 
seeds, as they do not ripen until November. 
oi Tl£Gaisn^ a insignis which Sir J. D. Hooker observed 
at at 7^000 feet still grow abundantly there. 
The next day^s march was a short one to Pheyeunggong, 12,40c 
feet, a large flat-topped peak where the Abies Webbtana is first 
seen Beyond Pheyeunggong we descended to-the Rutto river, where 
we found quantities of Cathcariia villosa ilV fruit This plant is^ 
extremely local in its distribution, being found only in this small 
valley arid in oiie small area near the summit of Lingtu. The ascent 
continues along the broad valley of Rutto, which becomes bleak 
upwards. Abies Wehhiana^ however, attains an elevation of 12,600 
feet at Chamanako, where we halted. 
