MOUNTAIN SICKNESS 279 
mosses and lichens Hooker had last seen on the wild moun- 
tains of Cape Horn and the rocks of the Antarctic islands, and 
as on the Antarctic voyage, glacial terraces and erratic blocks 
suggested similar problems of ice action. Marching through 
snow from two to four feet deep among bushes was very difficult; 
as on his second, but not his third visit to high altitudes, Hooker 
was affected by mountain sickness as well as his men. 
The temperature fell to zero and it was bitterly cold. 
My Lepchas, several of whom had never been in the snow 
before, behaved admirably and not one uttered a complaint. 
At this elevation a few steps under any circumstances is 
fatiguing, and the glare of the new fallen snow in so rarefied 
an atmosphere gives soreness at once to unprotected eyes. 
I cut the veils Mrs. Campbell made me into little pieces for 
some of the party, others hung Yaks' tails over their eyes 
or pieces of paper, or unloosed their queues and combed the 
long hair over the forehead. 
But the natives ascribed mountain sickness to another 
cause ; namely, the Dwarf Ehododendrons : 
The scent (of resinous leaves) was overpowering ; the Bhoteas 
attribute the headaches of these regions to them and not 
to the rarefied air. I think I can feel my head throb still 
every time I smell the plants in my collection. 
Discomforts apart, the journey to Jongri was a great 
success. There was a rich botanical harvest on the way up, 
above the pines, ten species of Ehododendrons, one or two of 
them new ; and lower down, forty-six species of ferns. Geo- 
logically it equalled in interest the Yangma valley, a remarkable 
glaciated valley on the west of Kinchin. * I quite believe,' 
he exclaims, ' no two such spots have ever been explored in the 
whole Himalayan range.' 
The trip wound up with a quaint episode. The homeward 
way led Hooker again to the Changachelling convents near 
Pemiongchi, the Lamas of which he knew from his visit on 
the outward march. 
They are re-ornamenting their temple very beautifully ; 
the workmen come from Lhassa and the colors from Pekin. 
