1862.] 
Journal of a trip in the Silclcim Himalaya. 
479 
In the valleys, where Lepidoptera exist in countless myriads during 
the rains, very few were seen by us, and no Coleoptera at all. JPyra- 
meis Gallirhoe was common at great elevations. I observed it on the 
snow, and on the glaciers at 13,000 to 16,000 feet, but it was the sole 
inhabitant of these cold and dreary regions. It is difficult to under¬ 
stand how an insect so delicately formed as a butterfly, could exist at 
an elevation where the thermometer must have stood at zero at 
night time. We saw a few small birds resembling larks at Aluh- 
tong, and an occasional eagle, but the absence of all wild animals 
and game was remarkable. None of the lakes or pools of water, as 
far as we could ascertain, contained any fish, or any living creature. 
From the time we left Darjeeling to the date of our return, a period 
of twenty-two days, we experienced delightful weather. When in 
the vicinity of Jongli, the clouds would generally ascend the valleys 
from the plains between 2 or 3 in the afternoon and obscure 
the snow peaks for a time, but after an hour or two they would dis¬ 
appear and leave us to enjoy cloudless evenings and nights, and the 
rare, but truly magnificent spectacle presented by the moonlit 
snowy masses around us. The great enjoyment and advantages of 
fine weather, the absence of leeches, pipsas, sand-flies, musquitoes and 
other such like torments experienced by former Sikkim Himalayan 
travellers, also the absence of extreme heat, deadly miasma in the 
valleys, and fear of contracting jungli fever, all point to November as 
the most desirable month of the year for travelling in these still 
unexplored regions. The third day after our return, the weather 
suddenly became raw and cold. At Darjeeling we had rain and hail, 
and the military stations of Jellapahar and Sinchul were covered 
with hail and snow. At the latter place the fall was 3|- inches thick, 
and remained for several days on the ground. 
Camp ; March , 1862. 
