P R E F A C E .
y^ARJEELING, in the Sikkim portion of the Himalaya, the native country of the plants figured and described in the
Mowing pages, is situated in lat. 27° N., and long, the same as Calcutta, from which it is distant about 880 miles.
Its elevation above the sea is 7,200 feet. The mean temperature of the year is about 55° of Fahrenheit, and that of each
month, as detailed in a Calendar communicated by Dr. Campbell, the Hon. the E. I. C. Resident at Darjeeling, to the
late Lord Auckland, and now lying before me, is as follows
January 41* May 59° September
February 43° June 64° October .
March . 53° 50* July | . 65° " November
.April' . . . i 57° August . . . 65° December
“ In five years,” further observes Dr. Campbell, “ there have been three heavy falls of snow: one in December, 1842 ;
one in January, 1839; and one in February, 1841.”
The mountain Sinchul, upon a spur of which, looking north, Darjeeling stands, attains an elevation of 9,000 feet,
and to the west of it, next Nepal, rises another conspicuous mountain, Tonglo, reaching a height of 10,000 feet. Due north
of Darjeeling, at a distance of only sixty miles, the horizon is bounded by the great snowy range (as seen, or rather
attempted to be shown, in the vignette of the title-page), having for its principal feature the peak of K in c h in - ju n g a , which
has lately been ascertained to be 28,172 feet in elevation, the loftiest mountain yet known in the world. Dr. Hooker thus
describes his first impressions of this scene:—“ Much as I had heard and read of the magnificence and beauty of Himalayan
scenery, my highest expectations have been surpassed! I arrived at Darjeeling on a rainy misty day, which did not allow
me to see ten yards in any direction, much less to descry the Snowy Range, distant sixty miles in a straight line. Early
next morning I caught my first view, and I literally held my breath in awe and admiration. Six or seven successive ranges
of forest-clad mountains, as high as that whereon I stood (8,000 feet), intervened between me and a dazzling white pile of
snow-clad mountains, among which the giant peak of Kinchin-junga rose 20,000 feet above the lofty point from which
I gazed! Owing to the clearness of the atmosphere, the snow appeared, to my fancy, but a few miles off, and the
loftiest mountain at only a day’s journey. The heavenward outline was projected against a pale blue sky; while little
detached patches of mist clung here and there to the highest peaks, and were tinged golden yellow, or rosy red, by the
rising sun, which touched these elevated points long ere it reached the lower position which I occupied.