Amongst other luxuries, we procured the flesh of
yah calves, which is excellent veal; the Tibetan
mutton we generally found dry and stringy.
In these regions many of my goats and kids had
died foaming at the mouth and grinding their teeth ; and
I here discovered the cause to arise from their having
eaten the leaves of Rhododendron cinnabarinum, which
species .alone is said to be poisonous ; when used as
fuel, it causes the face to swell and the eyes to inflame ;
of which I observed several instances. As the subject
of fire-wood is of every-day interest to the traveller
in these regions, I may here mention that the rhododendron
woods give poor fires ; juniper bums the
brightest, and with least smoke. The silver fir, though
emitting much smoke, gives a cheerful fire, far superior
to larch, spruce, or Abies Brunoniana. At Dorjiling,
oak is the common fuel : alder is also good. Chesnut
is invariably used for blacksmith’s charcoal. Magnolia
has a disagreeable odour, and laurel burns very badly.
The phenomenon of phosphorescence is very con-:
spicuous on stacks of fire-wood. At Dorjiling during
the damp, warm, summer months (May to October), at
elevations of 5 to 8000 feet, it may he witnessed every
night by walking a few yards in the forest—at least it
was so in 1848 and 1849 ; and during my stay there
billets of decayed wood were repeatedly sent me by
residents, with inquiries as to the cause of their
luminosity. I t is no exaggeration to say that one does
not need to remove from the fireside to see this
phenomenon, for if there is a partially decayed log
amongst the fire-wood, it is almost sure to glow with
a pale phosphoric light. A stack of fire-wood,
Collected near my host’s (Mr, Hodgson’s) cottage, presented
a beautiful spectacle for two months (in July and
August), and on passing it at night, my pony was always
alarmed by it. The phenomenon invariably accompanies
decay, and is common on oak, laurel, birch,
and probably other timbers; it equally appears on cut
wood and on stumps, but is most frequent on branches
lying close to the ground in the wet forests. I have
reason to believe that it spreads with great rapidity
from old surfaces to fresh-cut ones. That it is a vital
phenomenon, and due to the mycelium of a fungus, I
do not in the least doubt, for I have observed it
occasionally circumscribed by those black lines which
are often seen to hound mycelia on dead wood, and to
precede a more rapid decay. I have often tried, hut
always in vain, to coax it into developing some fungus,
by placing it in damp rooms, &c. When camping in
the mountains, I have caused the natives to bring
phosphorescent wood into my tent, for the pleasure
of watching its soft undulating light, which appears to
pale and glow with every motion of the atmosphere i
hut except in this difference of intensity, it presents
no change in appearance night after night. Alcohol,
heat, and dryness soon dissipate i t ; electricity I never
tried. I t has no odour, and my dog, who had a fine
sense of smell, paid no heed when it was laid under
.his nose.
The weather continuing bad, and snow falling, the
country people began to leave for their winter quarters
at Lamteng, In the evenings we enjoyed the company