gathering rhododendron-seeds, of which I procured
twenty-four kinds on this and the following day..
A very remarkable plant, which I had seen in flower
in the Lachen valley, grew on the ridge at 7000 fe e t;
it hears a yellow fruit like short cucumbers, full of a
soft, sweet, milky pulp, and large black seeds; it
belongs to a new genus, allied to Stauntonia, of which
two Himalayan kinds produce similar, hut less agreeable
edible fruits. At Laghep, iris was abundant, and
a small bushy berberry with oval eatable berries. The
north wall of the house (which was in a very exposed
spot) was quite hare, while the south was completely
clothed with moss and weeds.
A beautiful yellow poppy-like plant grew in ©lefts
at 10,000 fe e t; it has flowered in England, from
seeds which I sent home, and hears the name of Cath-
cartia.*
We continued, on the following morning, in an
easterly direction, up the same narrow steep ridge, to
a lofty eminence called Phieung-goong, from being
covered with the Phieung, or small bamboo. Hence
we followed an oblique descent to the bed of the
Rutto river, through thick woods of silver-fir and
rhododendron, and halted at Barfonchen, a stone
hut in the forest. Some yaks were grazing in the
vicinity, and from their herdsman we learnt that the
* The name "was given in honour of the memory of my friend, the late
J. F. Cathcart, Esq., of the Bengal Civil Service. This gentleman was
devoted to the pursuit of botany, and caused a magnificent series of drawings
of Dorjiling plants to he made by native artists during his residence
there. Mr. Cathcart, after the expiration of his Indian service, returned
to Europe, and died at Lausanne on his way to England.
He wart was at Choombi, on the road to Yakla: he
had kept wholly, out of the way during the summer,
directing every unfriendly action to be pursued towards
myself and the government by the Sikkim officers,
consisting of his brothers and relatives, whom he left
at Tumloong.
The night was brilliant and starlight; the minimum
thermometer fell to 27°, a strong north-east wind blew
down the valley, and there was a thick hoar-frost, with
which the black yaks were drolly powdered. The
broad leaves of the rhododendrons were curled, from
the expansion of the frozen fluids in the layer of cells
on the upper surface of the leaf, which is exposed to
the greatest cold of radiation. The sun restores them
a little, but as winter advances they become irre^
coverably curled, and droop at the ends of the
branches.
We left Barfonchen on the 7th November, and
ascended the river, near which we put up a woodcock.
Emerging from the woods the mountains became
bleak, bare, and stony. At 13,000 feet the ground was
covered with ice, and all the streams were frozen.
Crossing several rocky ledges, behind which were
small lakes, a gradual ascent led to the summit of the
Chola pass, a broad low depression, 14,925 feet above
the sea, wholly hare of snow.
Campbell had preceded me, and I found him
conversing with some Tibetans, who told him that
there was no road hence to Yakla, and that we should
not be permitted to go to Choombi. As a Chinese
guard was posted in the neighbourhood, he accom