after eleven a.m. it rained smartly till evening; the temperature
at sunset was 47^°.
Next morning, before commencing the descent, I
ascended a ridge on the mountains to the south, to the
height of about 1000 feet above the pass. The
snow had evidently only just melted from the greater
part of the surface; it still lay in large patches under
the trees, and the spring plants were just bursting into
flower. The forest, as is usually the case at that height,
was principally the alpine oak. A rose, willow, currant,
cherry, Lonicera, and Viburnum nervosum were bursting
into leaf, and Rhododendron campanulatum was abundant
and in full flower. The greater part of the herbaceous
vegetation consisted of Primula denticulata, a yellow
Corydalis, and species of Thermopsis, Anemone, Caltha,
Onosma, Potentilla, Valeriana, Trillium, and Gentiana. I
continued to ascend to the limit of herbaceous vegetation,
stopping only where the ground was uninterruptedly covered
with snow. The uppermost level of trees was still
at least 500 feet above me. In descending I followed the
course of a ravine full of snow, the sides of which were
covered by a dense forest of silver fir.
After reaching the direct road from the pass, which I
had quitted to ascend the hills in the morning, there was
a short ascent over a low spur, and then a long and very
steep descent, to the bottom of a deep rocky ravine, so
narrow and sheltered from the sun’s rays, that the stream
was still covered with a great thickness of snow. Over
this I crossed to the north side of the valley, down which
the road ran for the remainder of the march, descending
at first with great rapidity, but on the latter half much
more gently. There was plenty of fine forest, but, as
usual, it was for the most part confined to the south
side of the valley. The road lay along grassy slopes,
sometimes steep and rocky, at other times, where there
was any extent of tolerably level ground, covered knee-
deep with a rank herbage of dock, Polygona, thistles,
and a variety of other plants not yet in flower. It was
in general at a considerable height above the bottom of
the valley, which was deep and gloomy, and filled with
snow during a great part of the way. I encamped at a
village called Langera, at the height of about 7600 feet,
and was surprised to observe large patches of snow still
lying on the banks of the stream, at least three hundred
feet below me.
On the 5th of June, my road again lay on the left side
of the valley, and usually along the hill-sides at some
height above the stream, to which it descended only once
or twice. The valley was very pretty, being generally
deep and more or less rocky, and on the south side well
wooded. For the first three miles, large patches of snow
were seen now and then in the most shady parts, more
than once covering over the stream. The forest presented
a good deal of variety. Except Picea, all the
common pines occurred, as well as horse-chesnut, cherry,
elm, Celtis, Populus ciliata, and holly-leaved oak. Fo-
theryilla was very common all along, and on the latter
half of the march Quercus lanata and Andromeda ova-
lifolia made their appearance. The occurrence of these
trees I regarded as a sure indication that the rams were
somewhat more heavy than on the west side of the pass,
and as a confirmation of the view I had taken when in