On the 13th December, we entered the bro_Himalayan Journals — Volume 2 Or, Notes of a Naturalist in Bengal, the Sikkim and Nepal Himalayas, the Khasia Mountains, etc.

Rice is cultivated along the mud flats left by the annual floods, and

the banks are lower and less defined than in the Soormah, and support

no long grasses or bushes. Enormous islets of living water-grasses

(_Oplismenus stagninus_) and other plants, floated past, and birds

became more numerous, especially martins and egrets. The sun was hot,

but the weather otherwise cool and pleasant: the mean temperature was

nearly that of Calcutta, 69.7 degrees, but the atmosphere was more

humid.* [The river-water was greenish, and a little cooler (73.8

degrees) than that of the Soormah (74.3 degrees), which was brown and

muddy. The barometer on the Soormah stood 0.028 inch higher than that

of Calcutta (on the mean of thirty-eight observations), whereas on

the Megna the pressure was 0.010 higher. As Calcutta is eighteen feet

above the level of the Bay of Bengal, this shows that the Megna

(which has no perceptible current) is at the level of the sea, and

that either the Soormah is upwards of thirty feet above that level,

or that the atmospheric pressure there, and at this season, is less

than at Calcutta, which, as I have hinted at chapter xxvii, is

probably the case.]

On the 14th we passed the Dacca river; below which the Megna is

several miles wide, and there is an appearance of tide, from masses

of purple _Salvinia_ (a floating plant, allied to ferns), being

thrown up on the beach like sea-weed. Still lower down, the

vegetation of the Sunderbunds commences; there is a narrow beach, and

behind it a mud bank several feet high, supporting a luxuriant green

jungle of palms (_Borassus_ and _Phoenix_), immense fig-trees,

covered with _Calami,_ and tall betel-palms, clothed with the most

elegant drapery of _Arostichum scandens,_ a climbing fern with

pendulous fronds.

Towards the embouchure, the banks rise ten feet high, the river

expands into a muddy sea, and a long swell rolls in, to the disquiet

of our fresh-water boatmen. Low islands of sand and mud stretch along

the horizon: which, together with the ships, distorted by

extraordinary refraction, flicker as if seen through smoke. Mud is

the all prevalent feature; and though the water is not salt, we do

not observe in these broad deltas that amount of animal life (birds,

fish, alligators, and porpoises), that teems in the narrow creeks of

the western Sunderbunds.

We landed in a canal-like creek at Tuktacolly,* ["Colly" signifies a

muddy creek, such as intersect the delta.] on the 17th, and walked to

Noacolly, over a flat of hard mud or dried silt, covered with turf of

_Cynodon Dactylon._ We were hospitably received by Dr. Baker, a

gentleman who has resided here for twenty-three years; and who

communicated to us much interesting information respecting the

features of the Gangetic delta.

Noacolly is a station for collecting the revenue and preventing the

manufacture of salt, which, with opium, are the only monopolies now

in the hands of the East India Company. The salt itself is imported

from Arracan, Ceylon, and even Europe, and is stored in great wooden

buildings here and elsewhere. The ground being impregnated with salt,

the illicit manufacture by evaporation is not easily checked; but

whereas the average number of cases brought to justice used to be

twenty and thirty in a week, they are now reduced to two or three.

It is remarkable, that though the soil yields such an abundance of

this mineral, the water of the Megna at Noacolly is only brackish,

and it is therefore to repeated inundations and surface evaporations

that the salt is due. Fresh water is found at a very few feet depth

everywhere, but it is not good.

When it is considered how comparatively narrow the sea-board of the

delta is, the amount of difference in the physical features of the

several parts, will appear most extraordinary. I have stated that the

difference between the northern and southern halves of the delta is

so great, that, were all depressed and their contents fossilised, the

geologist who examined each by itself, would hardly recognise the two

parts as belonging to one epoch; and the difference between the east

and west halves of the lower delta is equally remarkable.

The total breadth of the delta is 260 miles, from Chittagong to the

mouth of the Hoogly, divided longitudinally by the Megna: all to the

west of that river presents a luxuriant vegetation, while to the east

is a bare muddy expanse, with no trees or shrubs but what are planted

On the west coast the tides rise twelve or thirteen feet, on the

east, from forty to eighty. On the west, the water is salt enough for

mangroves to grow for fifty miles up the Hoogly; on the east, the sea

coast is too fresh for that plant for ten miles south of Chittagong.

On the west, fifty inches is the Cuttack fall of rain; on the east,

90 to 120 at Noacolly and Chittagong, and 200 at Arracan. The east

coast is annually visited by earthquakes, which are rare on the west;

and lastly, the majority of the great trees and shrubs carried down

from the Cuttack and Orissa forests, and deposited on the west coast

of the delta, are not only different in species, but in natural

order, from those that the Fenny and Chittagong rivers bring down

from the jungles.* [The Cuttack forests are composed of teak, Sal,

Sissoo, ebony, _Pentaptera, Buchanania,_ and other trees of a dry

soil, and that require a dry season alternating with a wet one.

These are unknown in the Chittagong forests, which have Jarool

(_Lagerstroemia_) _Mesua, Dipterocarpi,_ nutmegs, oaks of several

kinds, and many other trees not known in the Cuttack forests, and all

typical of a perennially humid atmosphere.]

We were glad to find at Noacolly that our observations on the

progression westwards of the Burrampooter (see chapter xxvii) were

confirmed by the fact that the Megna also is gradually moving in that

direction, leaving much dry land on the Noacolly side, and forming

islands opposite that coast; whilst it encroaches on the Sunderbunds,

and is cutting away the islands in that direction. This advance of

the fresh waters amongst the Sunderbunds is destructive to the

vegetation of the latter, which requires salt; and if the Megna

continues its slow course westwards, the obliteration of thousands of

square miles of a very peculiar flora, and the extinction of many

species of plants and animals that exist nowhere else, may ensue.

In ordinary cases these plants, etc., would take up their abode on

the east coast, as they were driven from the west; but such might not

be the case in this delta; for the sweeping tides of the east coast

prevent any such vegetation establishing itself there, and the mud

which the eastern rivers carry down, becomes a caking dry soil,

unsuited to the germination of seeds.

On our arrival at Calcutta in the following February, Dr. Falconer

showed us specimens of very modern peat, dug out of the banks of the

Hoogly a few feet below the surface of the soil, in which were seeds

of the _Euryale ferox_:* [This peat Dr. Falconer also found to

contain bones of birds and fish, seeds of _Cucumis Madraspatana_ and

another Cucurbitaceous plant, leaves of _Saccharum Sara_ and _Ficus

cordifolia._ Specks of some glistening substance were scattered

through the mass, apparently incipient carbonisation of the peat.]

this plant is not now known to be found nearer than Dacca (sixty

miles north-east, see chapter xxvii), and indicates a very different

state of the surface at Calcutta at the date of its deposition than

that which exists now, and also shows that the estuary was then

much fresher.

The main land of Noacolly is gradually extending seawards, and has

advanced four miles within twenty-three years: this seems

sufficiently accounted for by the recession of the Megna. The

elevation of the surface of the land is caused by the overwhelming

tides and south-west hurricanes in May and October: these extend

thirty miles north and south of Chittagong, and carry the waters of

the Megna and Fenny back over the land, in a series of tremendous

waves, that cover islands of many hundred acres, and roll three miles

on to the main land. On these occasions, the average earthy deposit

of silt, separated by micaceous sand, is an eighth of an inch for

every tide; but in October, 1848, these tides covered Sundeep island,

deposited six inches on its level surface, and filled ditches several

feet deep. These deposits become baked by a tropical sun, and resist

to a considerable degree denudation by rain. Whether any further rise

is caused by elevation from below is doubtful; there is no direct

evidence of it, though slight earthquakes annually occur; and even

when they have not been felt, the water of tanks has been seen to

oscillate for three-quarters of an hour without intermission, from no

discernible cause.* [The natives are familiar with this phenomenon,

of which Dr. Baker remembers two instances, one in the cold season of

1834-5, the other in that of 1830-1. The earthquakes do not affect

any particular month, nor are they accompanied by any meteorological

phenomena.]

Noacolly is considered a healthy spot, which is not the case with the

Sunderbund stations west of the Megna. The climate is uniformly hot,

but the thermometer never rises above 90 degrees, nor sinks below 45

degrees; at this temperature hoar-frost will form on straw, and ice

on water placed in porous pans, indicating a powerful radiation.*

[The winds are north-west and north in the cold season (from November

to March), drawing round to west in the afternoons. North-west winds

and heavy hailstorms are frequent from March to May, when violent

gales set in from the southward. The rains commence in June, with

easterly and southerly winds, and the temperature from 82 degrees to

84 degrees; May and October are the hottest months. The rains cease

in the end of October (on the 8th of November in 1849, and 12th of

November in 1850, the latest epoch ever remembered): there is no land

or sea breeze along any part of the coast. During our stay we found

the mean temperature for twelve observations to be precisely that of

Calcutta, but the humidity was more, and the pressure 0.040 1ower.]

We left Noacolly on the 19th for Chittagong; the state of the tide

obliging us to go on board in the night. The distance is only 100

miles, but the passage is considered dangerous at this time (during

the spring-tides) and we were therefore provided with a large vessel

and an experienced crew. The great object in this navigation is to

keep afloat and to make progress towards the top of the tide and

during its flood, and to ground during the ebb in creeks where the

bore (tidal wave) is not violent; for where the channels are broad

and open, the height and force of this wave rolls the largest

coasting craft over and swamps them.

Our boatmen pushed out at 3 in the morning, and brought up at 5, in a

narrow muddy creek on the island of Sidhee. The waters retired along

channels scooped several fathoms deep in black mud, leaving our

vessel aground six or seven feet below the top of the bank, and soon

afterwards there was no water to be seen; as far as the eye could

reach, all was a glistening oozy mud, except the bleak level surfaces

of the islands, on which neither shrub nor tree grew. Soon after 2

p.m. a white line was seen on the low black horizon, which was the

tide-wave, advancing at the rate of five miles an hour, with a hollow

roar; it bore back the mud that was gradually slipping along the

gentle slope, and we were afloat an hour after: at night we grounded

again, opposite the mouth of the Fenny.

By moonlight the scene was oppressively solemn: on all sides the

gurgling waters kept up a peculiar sound that filled the air with

sullen murmurs; the moonbeams slept upon the slimy surface of the

mud, and made the dismal landscape more ghastly still. Silence

followed the ebb, broken occasionally by the wild whistle of a bird

like the curlew, of which a few wheeled through the air: till the

harsh roar of the bore was heard, to which the sailors seemed to

waken by instinct. The waters then closed in on every side, and the

far end of the reflected moonbeam was broken into flashing light,

that approached and soon danced beside the boat.

We much regretted not being able to obtain any more accurate data

than I have given, as to the height of the tide at the mouth of the

Fenny; but where the ebb sometimes retires twenty miles from

high-water mark, it is obviously impossible to plant any tide-gauge.

On the 21st we were ashore at daylight on the Chittagong coast far

north of the station, and were greeted by the sight of hills on the

horizon: we were lying fully twenty feet below high-water mark, and

the tide was out for several miles to the westward. The bank was

covered with flocks of white geese feeding on short grass, upon what

appeared to be detached islets on the surface of the mud.

These islets, which are often an acre in extent, are composed of

stratified mud; they have perpendicular sides several feet high, and

convex surfaces, owing to the tide washing away the earth from under

their sides; and they were further slipping seawards, along the

gently sloping mud-beach. Few or no shells or seaweed were to be

seen, nor is it possible to imagine a more lifeless sea than these

muddy coasts present.

We were three days and nights on this short voyage, without losing

sight of mud or land. I observed the barometer whenever the boat was

on the shore, and found the mean of six readings (all reduced to the

same level) to be identical with that at Calcutta. These being all

taken at elevations lower than that of the Calcutta observatory, show

either a diminished atmospheric pressure, or that the mean level of

high-water is not the same on the east and west coasts of the Bay of

Bengal: this is quite possible, considering the widely different

direction of the tides and currents on each, and that the waters may

be banked up, as it were, in the narrow channels of the western

Sunderbunds. The temperature of the air was the same as at Calcutta,

but the atmosphere was damper. The water was always a degree warmer

than the air.

We arrived at Chittagong on the 23rd of December, and became the

guests of Mr. Sconce, Judge of the district, and of Mr. Lautour; to

both of whom we were greatly indebted for their hospitality and

generous assistance in every way.

Chittagong is a large town of Mahometans and Mugs, a Birmese tribe

who inhabit many parts of the Malay peninsula, and the coast to the

northward of it. The town stands on the north shore of an extensive

delta, formed by rivers from the lofty mountains separating this

district from Birma. These mountains are fine objects on the horizon,

rising 4000 to 8000 feet; they are forest-clad, and inhabited by

turbulent races, who are coterminous with the Cookies of the Cachar

and Tipperah forests; if indeed they be not the same people.

The mountains abound with the splendid timber-trees of the Cachar

forests, but like these are said to want teak, Sal, and Sissoo; they

have, besides many others,, magnificent Gurjun trees

(_Dipterocarpi_), the monarchs of the forests of these coasts.

The natives of Chittagong are excellent shipbuilders and active

traders, and export much rice and timber to Madras and Calcutta.

The town is large and beautifully situated, interspersed with trees

and tanks; the hills resemble those of Silhet, and are covered with a

similar vegetation: on these the European houses are built.

The climate is very healthy, which is not remarkable, considering how

closely it approximates in character to that of Silhet and other

places in Eastern Bengal, but very extraordinary, if it be compared

with Arracan, only 200 miles further south, which is extremely

unhealthy. The prominent difference between the physical features of

Chittagong and Arracan, is the presence of mangrove swamps at the

latter place, for which the water is too fresh at the former.

The hills about the station are not more than 150 or 200 feet high,

and are formed of stratified gravel, sand, and clay, that often

becomes nodular, and is interstratified with slag-like iron clay.

Fossil wood is found; and some of the old buildings about Chittagong

contain nummulitic limestone, probably imported from Silhet or the

peninsula of India, with which countries there is no such trade now.

The views are beautiful, of the blue mountains forty to fifty miles

distant, and the many-armed river, covered with sails, winding

amongst groves of cocoa-nuts, Areca palm, and yellow rice fields.

Good European houses surmount all the eminences, surrounded by trees

of _Acacia_ and _Caesalpinia._ In the hollows are native huts amidst

vegetation of every hue, glossy green _Garciniae_ and figs, broad

plantains, feathery _Cassia_ and Acacias, dark _Mesua_, red-purple

_Terminalia,_ leafless scarlet-flowered _Bombax,_ and grey

_Casuarina._* [This, which is almost exclusively an Australian genus,

is not indigenous at Chittagong: to it belongs an extra-Australian

species common in the Malay islands, and found wild as far north as

Arracan.] Seaward the tide leaves immense flats, called churs, which

stretch for many miles on either side the offing.

We accompanied Mr. Sconce to a bungalow which he has built at the

telegraph station at the south head of the harbour: its situation, on

a hill 100 feet above the sea, is exposed, and at this season the

sea-breeze was invigorating, and even cold, as it blew through the

mat-walls of the bungalow.* [The mean temperature of the two days

(29th and 30th) we spent at this bungalow was 66.5 degrees, that of

Calcutta being 67.6 degrees; the air was damp, and the barometer

0.144 lower at the flagstaff hill, but it fell and rose with the

Calcutta instrument.] To the south, undulating dunes stretch along

the coast, covered with low bushes, of which a red-flowered

_Melastoma_ is the most prevalent,* [_Melastoma,_ jasmine, _Calamus,

AEgle Marmelos, Adelia, Memecylon, Ixora, Limostoma, Congea,_

climbing _Coesalpinia,_ and many other plants; and along their bases

large trees of _Amoora, Gaurea,_ figs, _Mesua,_ and _Micromelon._]

and is considered a species of _Rhododendron_ by many of the

residents! The flats along the beach are several miles broad,

intersected with tidal creeks, and covered with short grass, while

below high-water mark all is mud, coated with green _Conferva._

There are no leafy seaweeds or mangroves, nor any seaside shrub but

_Dilivaria ilicifolia._ Animal life is extremely rare; and a

_Cardium_-like shell and small crab are found sparingly.

Coffee has been cultivated at Chittagong with great success; it is

said to have been introduced by Sir W. Jones, and Mr. Sconce has a

small plantation, from which his table is well supplied. Both Assam

and Chinese teas flourish, but Chinamen are wanted to cure the

leaves. Black pepper succeeds admirably, as do cinnamon, arrowroot,

and ginger.

Early in January we accompanied Mr. Lautour on an excursion to the

north, following a valley separated from the coast by a range of

wooded hills, 1000 feet high. For several marches the bottom of this

valley was broad, flat, and full of villages. At Sidhee, about

twenty-five miles from Chittagong, it contracts, and spurs from the

hills on either flank project into the middle: they are 200 to 300

feet high, formed of red clay, and covered with brushwood. At

Kajee-ke-hath, the most northern point we reached, we were quite

amongst these hills, and in an extremely picturesque country,

intersected by long winding flat valleys, that join one another: some

are full of copsewood, while others present the most beautiful

park-like scenery, and a third class expand into grassy marshes or

lake-beds, with wooded islets rising out of them. The hillsides are

clothed with low jungle, above which tower magnificent Gurjun trees

(wood-oil). The whole contour of this country is that of a low bay,

whose coast is raised above the sea, and over which a high tide once

swept for ages.

The elevation of Hazari-ke-hath is not 100 feet above the level of

the sea. It is about ten miles west of the mouth of the Fenny, from

which it is separated by hills 1000 feet high; its river falls into

that at Chittagong, thirty miles south. Large myrtaceous trees

(_Eugenia_) are common, and show a tendency to the Malayan flora,

which is further demonstrated by the abundance of Gurjun

(_Dipterocarpus turbinatus_). This is the most superb tree we met

with in the Indian forests: we saw several species, but this is the

only common one here; it is conspicuous for its gigantic size, and

for the straightness and graceful form of its tall unbranched pale

grey trunk, and small symmetrical crown: many individuals were

upwards of 200 feet high, and fifteen in girth. Its leaves are broad,

glossy, and beautiful; the flowers (then falling) are not

conspicuous; the wood is hard, close-grained, and durable, and a

fragrant oil exudes from the trunk, which is extremely valuable as

pitch and varnish, etc., besides being a good medicine. The natives

procure it by cutting transverse holes in the trunk, pointing

downwards, and lighting fires in them, which causes the oil to flow.*

[The other trees of these dry forests are many oaks, _Henslowia,

Gordonia, Engelhardtia, Duabanga, Adelia, Byttneria, Bradleia,_ and

large trees of _Pongamia,_ whose seeds yield a useful oil.]

Illustration--GURJUN TREE.

On the 8th of January we experienced a sharp earthquake, preceded by

a dull thumping sound; it lasted about twenty seconds, and seemed to

come up from the southward; the water of a tank by which we were

seated was smartly agitated. The same shock was felt at Mymensing and

at Dacca, 110 miles north-west of this.* [Earthquakes are extremely

common, and sometimes violent, at Chittagong, and doubtless belong to

the volcanic forces of the Malayan peninsula.]

We crossed the dividing ridge of the littoral range on the 9th, and

descended to Seetakoond bungalow, on the high road from Chittagong to

Comilla. The forests at the foot of the range were very extensive,

and swarmed with large red ants that proved very irritating: they

build immense pendulous nests of dead and living leaves at the ends

of the branches of trees, and mat them with a white web. Tigers,

leopards, wild dogs, and boars, are numerous; as are snipes,

pheasants, peacocks, and jungle-fowl, the latter waking the morn with

their shrill crows; and in strange association with them, common

English woodcock, is occasionally found.

The trees are of little value, except the Gurjun, and "Kistooma," a

species of _Bradleia,_ which was stacked extensively, being used for

building purposes. The papaw* [The Papaw tree is said to have the

curious property of rendering tough meat tender, when hung under its

leaves, or touched with the juice; this hastening the process of

decay. With this fact, well-known in the West Indies, I never found a

person in the East acquainted.] is abundantly cultivated, and its

great gourd-like fruit is eaten (called "Papita" or "Chinaman"); the

flavour is that of a bad melon, and a white juice exudes from the

rind. The _Hodgsonia heteroclita_ (_Trichosanthes_ of Roxburgh), a

magnificent Cucurbitaceous climber, grows in these forests; it is the

same species as the Sikkim one (see chapter xviii). The long stem

bleeds copiously when cut, and like almost all woody climbers, is

full of large vessels; the juice does not, however, exude from these

great tubes, which hold air, but from the close woody fibres.

A climbing _Apocyneous_ plant grows in these forests, the milk of

which flows in a continuous stream, resembling caoutchouc (it is

probably the _Urceola elastica,_ which yields Indian-rubber).

The subject of bleeding is involved in great obscurity, and the

systematic examination of the motions in the juices of tropical

climbers by resident observers, offers a fertile field to the

naturalist. I have often remarked that if a climbing stem, in which

the circulation is vigorous, be cut across, it bleeds freely from

both ends, and most copiously from the lower, if it be turned

downwards; but that if a truncheon be severed, there will be no flow

from either of its extremities. This is the case with all the Indian

watery-juiced climbers, at whatever season they may be cut.

When, however, the circulation in the plant is feeble, neither end of

a simple cut will bleed much, but if a truncheon be taken from it,

both the extremities will.

The ascent of the hills, which are densely wooded, was along spurs,

and over knolls of clay; the rocks were sandy and slaty (dip

north-east 60 degrees. The road was good, but always through bamboo

jungle, and it wound amongst the low spurs, so that there was no

defined crest or top of the pass, which is about 800 feet high.

There were no tall palms, tree-ferns, or plantains, no _Hymenophylla_

or _Lycopodia,_ and altogether the forest was smaller and poorer in

plants than we had expected. The only palms (except a few rattans)

were two kinds of _Wallichia._

From the summit we obtained a very extensive and singular view.

At our feet was a broad, low, grassy, alluvial plain, intersected by

creeks, bounding a black expanse of mud which (the tide being out)

appeared to stretch almost continuously to Sundeep Island, thirty

miles distant; while beyond, the blue hills of Tipperah rose on the

north-west horizon. The rocks yielded a dry poor soil, on which grew

dwarf _Phoenix_ and cycas-palm (_Cycas circinalis_ or _pectinata_).

Descending, we rode several miles along an excellent road, that runs

to Tipperah, and stopped at the bungalow of Seetakoond, twenty-five

miles north of Chittagong. The west flank of the range which we had

crossed is much steeper than the east, often precipitous, and

presents the appearance of a sea-worn cliff towards the Bay of

Bengal. Near Seetakoond (which is on the plain) a hill on the range,

bearing the same name, rises 1,136 feet high, and being damper and

more luxuriantly wooded, we were anxious to explore it, and therefore

spent some days at the bungalow. Fields of poppy and sun (_Crotalaria

juncea_), formed most beautiful crops; the latter grows from four to

six feet high, and bears masses of laburnum-like flowers, while the

poppy fields resembled a carpet of dark-green velvet, sprinkled with

white stars; or, as I have elsewhere remarked, a green lake studded

with water-lilies.

The road to the top of Seetakoond leads along a most beautiful

valley, and then winds up a cliff that is in many places almost

precipitous, the ascent being partly by steps cut in the rock, of

which there are 560. The mountain is very sacred, and there is a

large Brahmin temple on its flank; and near the base a perpetual

flame bursts out of the rock. This we were anxious to examine, and

were extremely disappointed to find it a small vertical hole in a

slaty rock, with a lateral one below for a draught; and that it is

daily supplied by pious pilgrims and Brahmins with such enormous

quantities of ghee (liquid butter), that it is to all intents and

purposes an artificial lamp; no trace of natural phenomena being

discoverable.

Illustration--SEETAKUND HILL.

On the dry but wooded west face of the mountain, grows _Falconeria,_

a curious Euphorbiaceous tree, with an acrid milky juice that affects

the eyes when the wood is cut. Beautiful _Cycas_ palms are also

common, with _Terminalia, Bignonia, Sterculia,_ dwarf _Phoenix_ palm,

and Gurjun trees. The east slope of the mountain is damper, and much

more densely wooded; we there found two wild species of nutmeg trees,

whose wood is full of a brown acrid oil, seven palms, tree-ferns, and

many other kinds of ferns, several kinds of oak, _Dracaena,_ and

figs. The top is 1,136 feet above the sea, and commands an extensive

view to all points of the compass; but the forests, in which the ashy

bark of the Gurjun trees is conspicuous, and the beautiful valley on

the west, are the only attractive features.

The weather on the east side of the range differs at this season

remarkably from that on the west, where the vicinity of the sea keeps

the atmosphere more humid and warm, and at the same time prevents the

formation of the dense fogs that hang over the valleys to the

eastward every morning at sunrise. We found the mean temperature at

the bungalow, from January 9th till the 13th, to be 70.2 degrees.

We embarked again at Chittagong on the 16th of January, at 10 p.m.,

for Calcutta, in a very large vessel, rowed by twelve men: we made

wretchedly slow progress, for the reasons mentioned earlier, being

for four days within sight of Chittagong! On the 20th we only reached

Sidhee, and thence made a stretch to Hattiah, an island which may be

said to be moving bodily to the westward, the Megna annually cutting

many acres from the east side; and the tide-wave depositing mud on

the west. The surface is flat, and raised four feet above mean

high-water level; the tide rises about 14 feet up the bank, and then

retires for miles; the total rise and fall is, however, much less

here than in the Fenny, higher up the gulf. The turf is composed of

_Cynodon_ and a _Fimbristylis_; and the earth being impregnated with

salt, supports different kinds of _Chenopodium._ Two kinds of

tamarisk, and a thorny _Cassia_ and _Exoecaria,_ are the only shrubs

on the eastern islands; on the central ones a few dwarf mangroves

appear, with the holly-leaved _Dilivaria,_ dwarf screw-pine

(_Pandanus_), a shrub of _Compositae,_ and a curious fern, a variety

of _Aristichum aureum._ Towards the northern end of Hattiah, Talipot,

cocoa-nut and date-palms appear.

On the 22nd we entered the Sunderbunds, rowing amongst narrow

channels, where the tide rises but a few feet. The banks were covered

with a luxuriant vegetation, chiefly of small trees, above which rose

stately palms. On the 25th, we were overtaken by a steamer from

Assam, a novel sight to us, and a very strange one in these creeks,

which in some places seemed hardly broad enough for it to pass

through. We jumped on board in haste, leaving our boat and luggage to

season, the route to Calcutta, which is but sixty miles in a straight

line, involved a detour of three hundred.

From the masts of the steamer we obtained an excellent _coup-d'oeil_

of the Sunderbunds; its swamps clothed with verdure, and intersected

by innumerable inosculating channels, with banks a foot or so high.

The amount of tide, which never exceeds ten feet, diminishes in

proceeding westwards into the heart of these swamps, and the epoch,

direction, and duration of the ebb and flow vary so much in every

canal, that at times, after stemming a powerful current, we found

ourselves, without materially changing our course, suddenly swept

along with a favouring stream. This is owing to the complex

ramifications of the creeks, the flow of whose waters is materially

influenced by the most trifling accidents of direction.

Receding from the Megna, the water became saltier, and _Nipa

fruticans_ appeared, throwing up pale yellow-green tufts of feathery

leaves, from a short thick creeping stem, and bearing at the base of

the leaves its great head of nuts, of which millions were floating on

the waters, and vegetating in the mud. Marks of tigers were very

frequent, and the footprints of deer, wild boars, and enormous

crocodiles: these reptiles were extremely common, and glided down the

mud banks on the approach of the steamer, leaving between the

footmarks a deep groove in the mud made by their tail. The _Phoenix

paludosa,_ a dwarf slender-stemmed date-palm, from six to eight feet

high, is the all-prevalent feature, covering the whole landscape with

a carpet of feathery fronds of the liveliest green. The species is

eminently gregarious, more so than any other Indian palm, and

presents so dense a mass of foliage, that when seen from above, the

stems are wholly hidden.* [_Sonneratia, Heritiera littoralis,_ and

_Careya,_ form small gnarled trees on the banks, with deep shining

green-leaved species of _Carallia Rhizophora,_ and other Mangroves.

Occasionally the gigantic reed-mace (_Typha elephantina_) is seen,

and tufts of tall reeds (_Arundo_).]

The water is very turbid, and only ten to twenty feet deep, which, we

were assured by the captain, was not increased during the rains: it

is loaded with vegetable matter, but the banks are always muddy, and

we never saw any peat. Dense fogs prevented our progress in the

morning, and we always anchored at dusk. We did not see a village or

house in the heart of the Sunderbunds (though such do occur), but we

saw canoes, with fishermen, who use the tame otter in fishing; and

the banks were covered with piles of firewood, stacked for the

Calcutta market. As we approached the Hoogly, the water became very

salt and clear; the Nipa fruits were still most abundant, floating

out to sea, but no more of the plant itself was seen. As the channels

became broader, sand-flats appeared, with old salt factories, and

clumps of planted _Casuarina._

On the 28th of January we passed Saugor island, and entered the

Hoogly, steamed past Diamond Harbour, and landed at the Botanic

Garden Ghat, where we received a hearty welcome from Dr. Falconer.

Ten days later we bade farewell to India, reaching England on the

25th of March, 1851.

APPENDIX. A.

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS IN BEHAR, AND IN THE VALLEYS OF THE SOANE

AND GANGES.

Most of the instruments which I employed were constructed by Mr.

Newman, and with considerable care: they were in general accurate,

and always extremely well guarded, and put up in the most portable

form, and that least likely to incur damage; they were further

frequently carefully compared by myself. These are points to which

too little attention is paid by makers and by travellers in selecting

instruments and their cases. This remark applies particularly to

portable barometers, of which I had five at various times. Although

there are obvious defects in the system of adjustment, and in the

method of obtaining the temperature of the mercury, I found that

these instruments invariably worked well, and were less liable to

derangement and fracture than any I ever used; the best proof I can

give of this is that I preserved three uninjured during nearly all my

excursions, left two in India, and brought a third home myself that

had accompanied me almost throughout my journey.

In very dry climates these and all other barometers are apt to leak,

from the contraction of the box-wood plug through which the tube

passes into the cistern. This must, in portable barometers, in very

dry weather, be kept moist with a sponge. A small iron bottle of pure

mercury to supply leakage should be supplied with every barometer, as

also a turnscrew. The vernier plate and scale should be screwed, not

soldered on the metal sheath, as if an escape occurs in the

barometer-case the solder is acted upon at once. A table of

corrections for capacity and capillarity should accompany every

instrument, and simple directions, etc., in cases of trifling

derangement, and alteration of neutral point.

The observations for temperature were taken with every precaution to

avoid radiation, and the thermometers were constantly compared with a

standard, and the errors allowed for. The maximum thermometer with a

steel index, I found to be extremely liable to derangement and very

difficult to re-adjust. Negretti's maximum thermometer was not known

to me during my journey. The spirit minimum thermometers again, are

easily set to rights when out of order, but in every one (of six or

seven) which I took to India, by several makers, the zero point

receded, the error in some increasing annually, even to -6 degrees in

two years. This seems due to a vaporisation of the spirit within the

tube. I have seen a thermometer of this description in India, of

which the spirit seemed to have retired wholly into the bulb, and

which I was assured had never been injured. In wet-bulb observations,

distilled water or rain, or snow water was used, but I never found

the result to differ from that obtained by any running fresh water,

except such as was polluted to the taste and eye.

The hours of observation selected were at first sunrise, 9 a.m.,

3 p.m., sunset, and 9 p.m., according to the instructions issued to

the Antarctic expedition by the Royal Society. In Sikkim, however,

I generally adopted the hours appointed at the Surveyor General's

office, Calcutta; viz., sunrise, 9h. 50m. a.m., noon, 2h. 40m. p.m.,

4 p.m., and sunset, to which I added a 10 p.m. observation, besides

many at intermediate hours as often as possible. Of these the 9h.

50m. a.m. and 4 p.m. have been experimentally proved to be those of

the maximum and minimum of atmospheric pressure at the level of the

sea in India, and I did not find any great or marked deviation from

this at any height to which I attained, though at 15,000 or 16,000

feet the morning maximum may occur rather earlier.

The observations for nocturnal (terrestrial) radiation were made by

freely suspending thermometers with naked bulbs, or by laying them on

white cotton, wool, or flannel; also by means of a thermometer placed

in the focus of a silvered parabolic reflector. I did not find that

the reflector possessed any decided advantage over the white

cotton: the means of a number of observations taken by each

approximated closely, but the difference between individual

observations often amounted to 2 degrees.

Observations again indicative of the radiation from grass, whether

dewed or dry, are not strictly comparable; not only does the power of

radiation vary with the species, but much more with the luxuriance

and length of the blades, with the situation, whether on a plane

surface or raised, and with the subjacent soil. Of the great effect

of the soil I had frequent instances; similar tufts of the same

species of grass radiating more powerfully on the dry sandy bed of

the Soane, than on the alluvium on its banks; the exposure being

equal in both instances. Experiments for the surface-temperature of

the soil itself, are least satisfactory of any:--adjoining localities

being no less affected by the nature, than by the state of

disintegration of the surface, and by the amount of vegetation in

proximity to the instrument.

The power of the sun's rays in India is so considerable, and

protracted through so long a period of the day, that I did not find

the temperature of springs, or of running water, even of large deep

rivers, so constant as was to be expected.

The temperature of the earth was taken by sinking a brass tube a yard

long in the soil.

A thermometer with the bulb blackened affords the only means the

traveller can generally compass, of measuring the power of the sun's

rays. It should be screened or put in a blackened box, or laid on

black wool.

A good Photometer being still a desideratum, I had recourse to the

old wedge of coloured glass, of an uniform neutral tint, the distance

between whose extremes, or between transparency and total opacity,

was one foot. A moveable arm carrying a brass plate with a slit and a

vernier, enables the observer to read off at the vanishing point of

the sun's limb, to one five-hundredth of an inch. I generally took

the mean of five readings as one, and the mean of five of these again

I regarded as one observation; but I place little dependence upon the

results. The causes of error are quite obvious. As far as the effects

of the sun's light on vegetation are concerned, I am inclined to

think that it is of more importance to register the number of

hours or rather of parts of each hour, that the sun shines, and its

clearness during the time. To secure valuable results this should be

done repeatedly, and the strength of the rays by the black-bulb

thermometer registered at each hour. The few actinometer observations

will be found in another part of the Appendix.

The dew-point has been calculated from the wet-bulb, by Dr. Apjohn's

formula, or, where the depression of the barometer is considerable,

by that as modified by Colonel Boileau.* [Journal of Asiatic Society,

No. 147 (1844), p.135.] The saturation-point was obtained by dividing

the tension at the dew-point by that at the ordinary temperature, and

the weight of vapour, by Daniell's formula.

The following summary of meteorological observations is alluded to at

vol. i., chapter i.

I.--_Table-land of Birbhoom and Behar, from Taldanga to Dunwah.

Average elevation 1,135 feet._

It is evident from these observations, that compared with Calcutta,

the dryness of the atmosphere is the most remarkable feature of this

table-land, the temperature not being high; and to this, combined

with the sterility of the soil over a great part of the surface, must

be attributed the want of a vigorous vegetation. Though so favourably

exposed to the influence of nocturnal radiation, the amount of the

latter is small. The maximum depression of a thermometer laid on

grass never exceeded 10 degrees, and averaged 7 degrees; whereas the

average depression of the dew-point at the same hour amounted to 25

degrees in the morning. Of course no dew was deposited even in the

clearest star-light night.

February 1848.

Hour Sunrise 9 a.m. 3 p.m. 9 p.m.

TEMPERATURE

Mean 56.6 70.1 75.5 61.7

Max. 65.2 77.0 81.7 66.2

Min. 46.3 61.2 65.2 55.5

Range 18.9 15.8 16.5 10.7

WET-BULB

Mean 48.2 53.7 55.3 49.3

Max. Depression 12.5 19.3 22.5 20.5

Min. Depression 6.0 14.3 16.7 9.0

Elasticity of Vapour .276 .264 .248 .248

DEW-POINT

Mean 39.5 37.9 36.0 36.1

Max. 52.0 52.7 46.8 50.0

Min. 23.3 24.5 24.3 *9.1

Max. Depression 31.7 39.2 48.4 56.9

Min. Depression 10.4 24.3 34.9 16.2

Weight of Vapour in cubic feet 3.088 2.875 2.674 2.745

SATURATION

Mean .550 .330 .260 .410

Max. .680 .450 .320 .590

Min. .330 .260 .190 .140

Number of observations 7 7 7 10

Extreme variations of Temperature 35.4 degrees

Extreme variations of relative humidity .540

Extreme diff. Solar and Nocturnal Radiation 96.5 degrees

*Taken during a violent N.W. dustt-storm.

SOLAR RADIATION

MORNING

Hour Th. Black Bulb Diff. Phot.

9.30 a.m. 77.0 130 53.0 ...

10 a.m. 69.5 124 54.5 10.320

10 a.m. 77.0 137 60.0 ...

9 a.m. 63.5 94 30.5 10.230

9 a.m. 61.2 106 44.8 ...

9 a.m. 67.0 114 47.0 10.350

---------------------------------------------------

Mean 69.2 117.5 48.1 10.300

AFTERNOON

Hour Th. Black Bulb Diff. Phot.

3.30 p.m. 81.7 109 27.3 ...

3 p.m. 80.5 120 39.5 10.320

3 p.m. 81.5 127 45.5 10.330

3.30 p.m. 72.7 105 32.3 10.230

3 p.m. 72.5 110 37.5 10.390

---------------------------------------------------

Mean 77.8 114.2 36.4 10.318

NOCTURNAL RADIATION

SUNRISE

Exposed Th. On Earth On Grass

Temperature 51.1 48.3 46.6

Mean Diff. from Air 4.0 2.5 6.2

Max. Diff. from Air 9.0 3.7 9.0

Number of Observations 6 3 5

NINE P.M.

Exposed Th. On Earth On Grass

Temperature 56.4 53.8 54.4

Mean Diff. from Air 5.3 4.9 7.2

Max. Diff. from Air 7.5 5.5 10.0

Number of Observations 7 6 7

On one occasion, and that at night, the dew-point was as low as 11.5

degrees, with a temperature of 66 degrees, a depression rarely

equalled at so low a temperature: this phenomenon was transient, and

caused by the passage of a current of air loaded with dust, whose

particles possibly absorbed the atmospheric humidity. From a

comparison of the night and morning observations of thermometers laid

on grass, the earth, and freely exposed, it appears that the grass

parts with its heat much more rapidly than the earth, but that still

the effect of radiation is slight, lowering its temperature but 2

degrees below that of the freely exposed thermometer.

As compared with the climate of Calcutta, these hills present a

remarkable contrast, considering their proximity in position and

moderate elevation.

The difference of temperature between Calcutta and Birbhoom,

deduced from the sunrise, morning and afternoon observations, amounts

to 4 degrees, which, if the mean height of the hills where crossed by

the road, be called 1,135 feet, will be equal to a fall of one degree

for every 288 feet.

In the dampness of its atmosphere, Calcutta contrasts very remarkably

with these hills; the dew-point on the Hoogly averaging 51.3 degrees,

and on these hills 38 degrees, the corresponding saturation-points

being 0.559 and 0.380.

The difference between sunrise, forenoon and afternoon dew-points at

Calcutta and on the hills, is 13.6 degrees at each observation; but

the atmosphere at Calcutta is relatively drier in the afternoon than

that of the hills; the difference between the Calcutta sunrise and

afternoon saturation-point being 0.449, and that between the hill

sunrise and afternoon, 0.190. The march of the dew-point is thus the

same in both instances, but owing to the much higher temperature of

Calcutta, and the greatly increased tension of the vapour there, the

relative humidity varies greatly during the day.

In other words, the atmosphere of Calcutta is loaded with moisture in

the early morning of this season, and is relatively dry in the

afternoon: in the hills again, it is scarcely more humid at sunrise

than at 3 p.m. That this dryness of the hills is partly due to

elevation, appears from the disproportionately moister state of the

atmosphere below the Dunwah pass.

II. _Abstract of the Meteorological observations taken in the Soane

Valley (mean elevation 422 feet)._

The difference in mean temperature (partly owing to the sun's more

northerly declination) amounts to 2.5 degrees of increase in the

Soane valley, above that of the hills. The range of the thermometer

from day to day was considerably greater on the hills (though fewer

observations were there recorded): it amounted to 17.2 degrees on the

hills, and only 12.8 degrees in the valley. The range from the

maximum to the minimum of each day amounts to the same in both, above

20 degrees. The extreme variations in temperature too coincide within

1.4 degrees.

The hygrometric state of the atmosphere of the valley differs most

decidedly from that of the hills. In the valley dew is constantly

formed, which is owing to the amount of moisture in the air, for

nocturnal radiation is more powerful on the hills. The sunrise and

9 p.m. observations in the valley, give a mean depression of the

dew-point below the air of 12.3 degrees, and those at the upper level

of 21.2 degrees, with no dew on the hills and a copious deposit in

the valley. The corresponding state of the atmosphere as to

saturation is 0.480 on the hills and 0.626 in the valley.

The vegetation of the Soane valley is exposed to a less extreme

temperature than that of the hills; the difference between solar and

nocturnal radiation amounting here only to 80.5 degrees, and on the

hills to 96.5 degrees. There is no material difference in the power

of the sun's rays at the upper and lower levels, as expressed by the

blackbulb thermometer, the average rise of which above one placed in

the shade, amounted to 48 degrees in both cases, and the maximum

occurred about 11 a.m. The decrease of the power of the sun's rays in

the afternoon is much the most rapid in the valley, coinciding with a

greater reduction of the elasticity of vapour and of humidity in the

atmosphere.

The photometer observations show a greater degree of sun's light on

the hills than below, but there is not at either station a decided

relation between the indications of this instrument and the

black-bulb thermometer. From observations taken elsewhere, I am

inclined to attribute the excess of solar light on the hills to their

elevation; for at a far greater elevation I have met with much

stronger solar light, in a very damp atmosphere, than I ever

experienced in the drier plains of India. In a damp climate the

greatest intensity may be expected in the forenoon, when the vapour

is diffused near the earth's surface; in the afternoon the lower

strata of atmosphere are drier, but the vapour is condensed into

clouds aloft which more effectually obstruct the sun's rays. On the

Birbhoom and Behar hills, where the amount of vapour is so small that

the afternoon is but little drier than the forenoon, there is little

difference between the solar light at each time. In the Soane valley

again, where a great deal of humidity is removed from the earth's

surface and suspended aloft, the obstruction of the sun's light is

very marked.

DUNWAH TO SOANE RIVER, AND UP SOANE TO TURA, FEBRUARY 10-19TH.

Hour Sunrise 9 a.m. 3 p.m. 9 p.m.

TEMPERATURE

Mean 57.6 74.0 77.6 64.5

Max. 62.0 81.0 87.5 68.7

Min. 53.5 63.5 71.0 60.0

Range 8.5 17.5 16.5 8.7

WET-BULB

Mean 51.7 59.5 59.9 55.5

Max. Depression 8.5 18.5 26.0 12.5

Min. Depression 3.8 4.0 6.8 2.5

Elasticity of Vapour .352 .382 .357 .370

DEW-POINT

Mean 46.1 48.5 46.4 47.5

Max. 53.6 56.7 60.0 55.6

Min. 40.6 38.0 36.0 41.0

Max. Depression 16.9 33.5 44.2 24.1

Min. Depression 7.0 6.8 11.0 4.4

Weight of Vapour in cubic feet 3.930 4.066 3.658 4.014

SATURATION

Mean .680 .460 .352 .572

Max. .787 .818 .703 .860

Min. .566 .338 .237 .452

Number of observations 10 8 9 10

Extreme variations of Temperature 34.0 degrees

Extreme variations of relative humidity .623

Extreme diff. Solar and Nocturnal Radiation 80.5 degrees

NOCTURNAL RADIATION

SUNRISE

Exposed Th. On Earth On Grass

Temperature 53.2 54.0 51.5

Mean Diff. from Air 4.5 3.7 6.2

Max. Diff. from Air 8.5 9.0 7.5

Number of Observations 9 9 8

NINE P.M.

Exposed Th. On Earth On Grass

Temperature 59.9 60.7 56.4

Mean Diff. from Air 4.6 3.8 8.1

Max. Diff. from Air 11.5 10.5 13.5

Number of Observations 10 10 10

SOLAR RADIATION

MORNING

Time Temp. Black Bulb Diff. Phot.

9 a.m. 70.0 125 55.0 10.300

11 a.m. 81.0 119 38.0 10.230

10.30 a.m. 71.5 126 54.5 10.300

10 a.m. 72.0 117 45.0 10.220

10 a.m. 80.0 122 42.0 ...

10.30 a.m. 78.0 128 50.0 ...

----------------------------------------------------

Mean 75.4 122.8 47.4 10.262

AFTERNOON

Time Temp. Black Bulb Diff. Phot.

4 p.m. 76.5 90 13.5 ...

3 p.m. 80.0 105 25.0 10.210

3 p.m. 76.0 102 26.0 10.170

3 p.m. 87.5 126 38.5 ...

----------------------------------------------------

Mean 80.0 105.7 25.7 10.190

NOCTURNAL RADIATION FROM PLANTS

SUNRISE

Air Temp. 59.5 55.0

Calotropis ... 49.5

Diff. ... 5.5

Argemone 57.0 47.0

Diff. 2.5 8.0

NINE P.M.

Temp. 67.5 67.0 64.3

Calotropis ... ... 58.5

Diff. ... ... 5.8

Argemone 53.0 56.0 57.0

Diff. 14.0 11.0 7.3

III. VALLEY OF SOANE RIVER, TURA TO SULKUN (MEAN ELEV. 517 FEET), FEBRUARY 20TH TO MARCH 3RD.

Hour Sunrise 9 a.m. 3 p.m. 9 p.m.

TEMPERATURE

Mean 56.8 82.0 88.6 68.0

Max. 70.0 89.0 94.7 74.0

Min. 50.0 69.0 81.5 61.0

Range 20.0 20.0 43.2 13.0

WET-BULB

Mean 52.5 61.2 62.4 56.8

Max. Depression 10.0 24.3 30.2 15.0

Min. Depression 1.5 12.0 14.5 6.0

Elasticity of Vapour .380 .385 .289 .369

DEW-POINT

Mean 48.3 48.7 40.8 47.4

Max. 53.1 60.2 50.9 51.8

Min. 41.1 40.3 32.3 42.6

Max. Depression 17.3 45.2 57.2 27.1

Min. Depression 5.4 22.0 25.1 10.2

Weight of Vapour in cubic feet 4.240 4.097 2.975 3.933

SATURATION

Mean .754 .342 .211 .511

Max. .831 .488 .598 .703

Min. .570 .226 .154 .415

Number of observations 12 11 11 11

Extreme variations of Temperature 44.7 degrees

Extreme variations of relative humidity .677

Extreme diff. Solar and Nocturnal Radiation 100 degrees

NOCTURNAL RADIATION

SUNRISE

Exposed Th. On Earth On Grass

Temperature 51.7 52.4 48.8

Mean Diff. from Air 4.1 3.4 7.0

Max. Diff. from Air 8.0 7.0 11.5

Number of Observations 9 9 9

NINE P.M.

Exposed Th. On Earth On Grass

Temperature 61.2 64.3 55.8

Mean Diff. from Air 6.8 4.6 11.8

Max. Diff. from Air 10.5 8.5 17.0

Number of Observations 10 9 9

SOLAR RADIATION

MORNING

Time Temp. Black Bulb Diff. Phot.

11.30 a.m. 85.5 129 44.5 ...

10.30 a.m. 89.0 132 43.0 ...

Noon 90.0 132 42.0 10.140

Noon 85.0 130 45.0 ...

Noon 86.0 138 52.0 ...

Noon 90.0 138 48.0 ...

----------------------------------------------------

Mean 87.6 133 45.8 10.140

AFTERNOON

Time Temp. Black Bulb Diff. Phot.

3 p.m. 85.5 116 30.5 ...

3 p.m. 92.5 128 35.5 ...

3 p.m. 92.0 120 28.0 ...

3 p.m. 89.5 128 38.5 ...

3 p.m. 93.5 144 50.5 ...

----------------------------------------------------

Mean 90.6 127 36.6 ...

NOCTURNAL RADIATION FROM PLANTS

SUNRISE Mean

Air Temp. 61.0 57.0 57.0 58.5 57.0 50.0 50.5 56.0 55.9

Barley 56 46 52 52 52 45 43 ... 49.4

Diff. 5.0 11.0 5.0 6.5 5.0 5.0 7.5 ... 6.4

Calotropis 56.5 48.0 ... ... ... 45.5 ... ... 50.0

Diff. 4.5 9.0 ... ... ... 4.5 ... ... 6.0

Argemone 57.0 50.0 50.0 ... ... ... ... 49.0 51.5

Diff. 4.0 7.0 7.0 ... ... ... ... 7.0 6.2

NINE P.M. Mean

Air Temp. 68.5 70.0 69.0 74.0 62.5 67.5 61.0 ... 67.5

Barley ... ... ... ... 51.5 67.5 50.0 ... 56.3

Diff. ... ... ... ... 11.0 10.0 11.0 ... 10.7

Calotropis ... 65.0 57.0 59.0 ... 62.5 ... ... 60.9

Diff. ... 5.0 12.0 15.0 ... 5.0 ... ... 9.3

Argemone 56.0 67.0 57.0 ... ... ... ... ... 60.0

Diff. 12.5 3.0 12.0 ... ... ... ... ... 9.2

The upper course of the Soane being in some places confined, and

exposed to furious gusts from the gullies of the Kymore hills, and at

others expanding into a broad and flat valley, presents many

fluctuations of temperature. The mean temperature is much above that

of the lower parts of the same valley (below Tura), the excess

amounting to 5.4 degrees. The nights and mornings are cooler, by 1.2

degrees, the days hotter by 10 degrees. There were also 10 degrees

increase of range during the thirteen days spent there; and the mean

range from day to day was nearly as great as it was on the hills

of Bengal.

There being much exposed rock, and the valley being swept by violent

dust-storms, the atmosphere is drier, the mean saturation point being

.454, whereas in the lower part of the Soane's course it was .516.

A remarkable uniformity prevails in the depression of thermometers

exposed to nocturnal radiation, whether laid on the earth, grass, or

freely exposed; both the mean and maximum indication coincide very

nearly with those of the lower Soane valley and of the hills.

The temperature of tufts of green barley laid on the ground is one

degree higher than that of short grass; _Argemone_ and _Calotropis_

leaves maintain a still warmer temperature; from the previous

experiments the _Argemone_ appeared to be considerably the cooler,

which I was inclined to attribute to the smoother and more shining

surface of its leaf, but from these there would seem to be no

sensible difference between the radiating powers of the two plants.

IV. TABLE-LAND OF KYMORE HILLS (MEAN ELEV. 979 FEET), MARCH 3RD TO 8TH, 1848.

Hour Sunrise 9 a.m. 3 p.m. 9 p.m.

TEMPERATURE

Mean 65.3 81.6 88.1 71.1

Max. 69.0 82.5 90.0 76.0

Min. 57.5 79.5 84.5 68.0

Range 11.5 4.0 5.5 8.0

WET-BULB

Mean 57.7 65.3 63.3 60.3

Max. Depression 8.0 19.0 26.5 13.0

Min. Depression 6.0 14.0 21.5 8.3

Elasticity of Vapour .428 .468 .324 .433

DEW-POINT

Mean 52.0 54.5 43.7 52.3

Max. 55.5 57.9 47.8 56.7

Min. 45.9 49.0 37.9 46.8

Max. Depression 14.1 33.0 46.6 21.9

Min. Depression 11.6 12.9 42.2 13.8

Weight of Vapour in cubic feet 4.710 5.000 3.417 4.707

SATURATION

Mean .647 .421 .240 .542

Max. .741 .479 .295 .643

Min. .648 .344 .214 .491

Number of observations 4 3 3 4

Extreme variations of Temperature 32.5 degrees

Extreme variations of relative humidity .527

Extreme diff. Solar and Nocturnal Radiation 110.5 degrees

NOCTURNAL RADIATION

SUNRISE

Exposed Th. On Earth On Grass

Temperature 59.5 56.0 54.7

Mean Diff. from Air 3.5 1.5 8.2

Max. Diff. from Air 3.5 1.5 8.5

Number of Observations 2 1 2

NINE P.M.

Exposed Th. On Earth On Grass

Temperature 71.5 62.5 61.0

Mean Diff. from Air 3.3 5.5 8.2

Max. Diff. from Air 7.0 5.5 11.0

Number of Observations 3 1 2

The rapid drying of the lower strata of the atmosphere during the

day, as indicated by the great decrease in the tension of the vapour

from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., is the effect of the great violence of the

north-west winds.

From the few days' observations taken on the Kymore hills, the

temperature of their flat tops appeared 5 degrees higher than that of

the Soane valley, which is 500 feet below their mean level. I can

account for this anomaly only on the supposition that the thick bed

of alluvium, freely exposed to the sun (not clothed with jungle),

absorbs the sun's rays and parts with its heat slowly. This is

indicated by the increase of temperature being due to the night and

morning observations, which are 3.1 degrees and 8.5 degrees higher

here than below, whilst the 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. temperatures are half a

degree lower.

The variations of temperature too are all much less in amount, as are

those of the state of the atmosphere as to moisture, though the

climate is rather damper.

On the subject of terrestrial radiation the paucity of the

observations precludes my dwelling. Between 9 p.m. and sunrise the

following morning I found the earth to have lost but 6.5 degrees of

heat, whereas a mean of nine observations at the same hours in the

valley below indicated a loss of 12 degrees.

Though the mean temperature deduced from the few days I spent on this

part of the Kymore is so much above that of the upper Soane valley,

which it bounds, I do not suppose that the whole hilly range

partakes of this increase. When the alluvium does not cover the rock,

as at Rotas and many other places, especially along the southern and

eastern ridges of the ghats, the nights are considerably cooler than

on the banks of the Soane; and at Rotas itself, which rises almost

perpendicularly from the river, and is exposed to no such radiation

of heat from a heated soil as Shahgunj is, I found the temperature

considerably below that of Akbarpore on the Soane, which however is

much sheltered by an amphitheatre of rocks.

V. _Mirzapore on the Ganges._

During the few days spent at Mirzapore, I was surprised to find the

temperature of the day cooler by nearly 4 degrees than that of the

hills above, or of the upper part of the Soane valley, while the

nights on the other hand were decidedly warmer. The dew-point was

even lower in proportion, 7.6 degrees, and the climate consequently

drier. The following is an abstract of the observations taken at Mr.

Hamilton's house on the banks of the Ganges (below).

It is remarkable that nocturnal radiation as registered at sunrise is

much more powerful at Mirzapore than on the more exposed Kymore

plateau; the depression of the thermometer freely exposed being 3

degrees greater, that laid on bare earth 6 degrees, and that on the

grass 1.4 degrees greater, on the banks of the Ganges. During my

passage down the Ganges the rise of the dew-point was very steady,

the maximum occurring at the lowest point on the river, Bhaugulpore,

which, as compared with Mirzapore, showed an increase of 8 degrees in

temperature, and of 30.6 degrees in the rise of the dew-point.

The saturation-point at Mirzakore was .331, and at the corresponding

hours at Bhaugulpore .742.

MIRZAPORE (ELEV. 362 FEET), MARCH 9TH TO 13TH, 1848.

Hour Sunrise 9 a.m. 3 p.m. 9 p.m.

TEMPERATURE

Mean 61.1 76.1 86.0 76.0

Max. 63.0 83.0 ... ...

Min. 58.0 71.0 ... ...

Range 5.0 12.0 ... ...

WET-BULB

Mean 48.8 58.5 61.7 63.5

Max. Difference 51.5 56.5 24.3 12.5

Min. Difference 47.0 51.7 ... ...

Elasticity of Vapour .236 .302 .295 .480

DEW-POINT

Mean 34.3 41.9 41.3 55.2

Max. 39.7 ... ... ...

Min. 29.7 ... ... ...

Max. Difference 32.8 52.3 44.7 20.8

Min. Difference 23.8 15.7 ... ...

Weight of Vapour in cubic feet 2.574 3.271 3.089 5.127

SATURATION

Mean .405 .324 .264 .511

Max. .450 .603 ... ...

Min. .327 .176 ... ...

Number of observations 3 3 1 1

TERRESTRIAL RADIATION.

Mean

Air in Shade. Sunrise 60.0 62.5 63.0 58.0 60.9

Exposed Th. 55.0 54.5 55.5 53.0 54.6

Difference 5.0 8.0 7.5 5.0 6.4

Exposed on earth ... 56.0 50.5 54.0 53.5

Difference ... 6.5 12.5 4.0 7.7

Exposed on grass 52.0 52.5 50.5 50.0 51.3

Difference 8.0 10.0 12.5 8.0 9.6

APPENDIX B.

ON THE MINERAL CONSTITUENTS AND ALGAE OF THE HOT-SPRINGS OF BEHAR,

THE HIMALAYA, AND OTHER PARTS OF INDIA, ETC., INCLUDING NOTES ON THE

FUNGI OF THE HIMALAYA.

(By Dr. R. D. Thomson and the Rev. M. J. Berkeley, M.A., F.L.S.)

The following remarks, for which I am indebted to the kindness of the

able chemist and naturalist mentioned above, will be highly valued,

both by those who are interested in the many curious physiological

questions involved in the association of the most obscure forms of

vegetable life with the remarkable phenomena of mineral springs; or

in the exquisitely beautiful microscopic structure of the lower

Algae, which has thrown so much light upon a branch of natural

history, whose domain, like that of astronomy, lies to a great extent

beyond the reach of the unassisted eye.--J.D.H.

1. Mineral water, Soorujkoond, Behar (vol. i., chap. ii), contains

chloride of sodium and sulphate of soda.

2. Mineral water, hot springs, Yeumtong, altitude 11,730 feet (see

vol. ii., chap. xxii). Disengages sulphuretted hydrogen when

fresh.--This water was inodorous when the bottle was opened.

The saline matter in solution was considerably less than in the

Soorujkoond water, but like that consisted of chloride of sodium and

sulphate of soda. Its alkaline character suggests the probability of

its containing carbonate of soda, but none was detected.

The rocks decomposed by the waters of the spring consist of granite

impregnated with sulphate of alumina. It appears that in this case

the sulphurous waters of Yeumtong became impregnated in the air with

sulphuric acid, which decomposed the felspar,* [I have, in my

journal, particularly alluded to the garnets (an aluminous mineral)

being thus entirely decomposed.-J.D.H.] and united with its alumina.

I found traces only of potash in the salt.

Sulphuretted hydrogen waters appear to give origin to sulphuric acid,

when the water impregnated with the gas reaches the surface; and I

have fine fibrous specimens of sulphate of lime accompanied with

sulphur, from the hot springs of Pugha in west Tibet, brought by

Dr. T. Thomson.

3. Mineral water, Momay hot springs, (vol. ii., chap. xxii).--When

the bottle was uncorked, a strong smell of sulphuretted hydrogen was

perceived. The water contains about twenty-five grains per imp.

gallon, of chloride of sodium, sulphate and carbonate of soda; the

reaction being strongly alkaline when the solution was concentrated.

4. Effloresced earth from Behar (vol. i., chap. i), consists of

granite sand, mixed with sesquicarbonate of soda.

_On the Indian Algae which occur principally in different parts of

the Himalayan Range, in the hot-sprinys of Soorujkoond in Bengal,

Pugha in Tibet, and Momay in Sikkim; and on the Fungi of the

Himalayas. By the Rev. M. J. Berkeley, M.A.

It is not my intention in the present appendix to give specific

characters or even accurately determined specific names to the

different objects within its scope, which have come under

investigation, as collected by Dr. Hooker and Dr. Thomson. To do so

would require far more time than I have at present been able to

devote to the subject, for though every species has been examined

microscopically, either by myself or Mr. Broome, and working

sketches secured at the same time, the specific determination of

fresh water Algae from Herbarium specimens is a matter which

requires a very long and accurate comparison of samples from every

available locality, and in the case of such genera as _Zygnema,

Tyndaridea,_ and _Conferva,_ is, after all, not a very satisfactory

process.

The object in view is merely to give some general notion of the forms

which presented themselves in the vast districts visited by the

above-mentioned botanists, comprising localities of the greatest

possible difference as regards both temperature and elevation; but

more especially in the hot-springs which occur in two distant parts

of the Himalayas and in Behar, and these again under very different

degrees of elevation and of extrinsic temperature.

The Algae from lower localities are but few in number, and some of

these of very common forms. We have for instance from the Ganges,

opposite Bijnour, a _Batrachospermum_ and _Conferva crispata,_ the

former purple below, with specimens of _Chantransia,_ exactly as they

might occur in the Thames. The _Conferva,_ or more properly

_Cladophora,_ which occurs also under various forms, at higher

elevations, as in the neighbourhood of Simla and Iskardo, swarms with

little parasites, but of common or uninteresting species. In the

Bijnour specimens, these consist of common forms of _Synedra,

Meridion circulare,_ and a _Cymbella,_ on others from Dacca, there

are about three species of _Synedra,_* {Two of these appear to be _S.

Vaucheriae_ and _S. inaequalis._] a minute _Navicula_ and _Gomphonema

curvatum._ Nothing, in fact, can well be more European. One splendid

Alga, however, occurs at Fitcoree, in Behar, on the banks of nullahs,

which are dry in hot weather, forming a purple fleece of coarse

woolly hairs, which are singularly compressed, and of extreme beauty

under the microscope, from the crystalline green of the articulated

string which threads the bright red investing sheath. This curious

Alga calls to mind in its colouring _Caenocoleus Smithii,_ figured in

English Botany, t. 2940, but it has not the common sheath of that

Alga, and is on a far larger scale. One or two other allied forms, or

species, occur in East Nepal, to which I purpose giving, together

with the Behar plant, the generic name of _Erythronema._ From the

Soane River, also, is an interesting Alga, belonging to the curious

genus _Thwaitesia,_ in which the division of the endochrome in the

fertile cells into four distinct masses, sometimes entirely free, is

beautifully marked. In some cases, indeed, instead of the ordinary

spores, the whole moss is broken up into numerous bodies, as in the

fertile joints of _Ulothrix,_ and probably, as in that case, the

resultant corpuscles are endowed with active motion. In Silhet,

again, is a magnificent _Zygnema,_ allied to _Z. nitidum,_ with large

oval spores, about 1/285 part of an inch long, and a dark golden

brown colour, and containing a spiral green endochrome.

Leaving, however, the lower parts of India, I shall first take the

species which occur in Khasia, Sikkim, Eastern Nepal, and the

adjoining parts of Tibet.

In the hot valleys of the Gtreat Rungeet, at an elevation of about

2000 feet, we have the _Erythronema,_ but under a slightly different

form; at Nunklow, at about the same height; in Khasia, again, at

twice that elevation; in Eastern Nepal, at 12,000; and, finally, at

Momay, reaching up to 16,000 feet. In water, highly impregnated with

oxide of iron, at 4000 feet in Sikkim, a _Leptothrix_ occurred in

great abundance, coloured with the oxide, exactly as is the case with

Algae which grow in iron springs in Europe. At elevations between

5000 and 7000 feet, several European forms occur, consisting of

_Ulothrix, Zygnema, Oscillatoria, Lyngbya, Sphaerozyga, Scytonema,

Conferva,_ and _Cladophora._ The species may indeed not be identical

with European species, but they are all more or less closely allied

to well-known Hydrophytes. One very interesting form, however, either

belonging to the genus _Zygnema,_ or possibly constituting a distinct

genus, occurs in streams at 5000 feet in Sikkim, consisting of highly

gelatinous threads of the normal structure of the _Zygnema,_ but

forming a reticulated mass. The threads adhere to each other

laterally, containing only a single spiral endochrome, and the

articulations are very long. Amongst the threads are mixed those of

some species of _Tyndaridea._ There is also a curious _Hormosiphon,_

at a height of 7000 feet; forming anastomosing gelatinous masses.

A fine new species of _Lyngbya_ extends up as high as 11,000 feet.

At 13,000 feet occurs either some simple _Conferva_ or _Zygnema,_ it

is doubtful which from the condition of the specimens; and at the

same elevation, in the nearly dry bed of the stream which flows from

the larger lake at Momay, amongst flat cakes, consisting of

felspathic silt from the glaciers above, and the debris of Algae, and

abounding in Diatomaceae, some threads of a _Zygnema._ At 17,000

feet, an _Oscillatoria,_ attached or adherent to _Zannichellia_; and,

finally, on the bare ground, at 18,000 feet, on the Donkia mountains,

an obscure species of _Caenocoleus._ On the surface of the glaciers

at Kinchinjhow, on silt, there is a curious _Palmella,_ apparently

quite distinct from any European form.

Amongst the greater part of the Algae, from 4000 feet to 18,000 feet,

various Diatomaceae occur, which will be best noticed in a tabular

form, as follows; the specific name, within brackets, merely

indicating the species to which they bear most resemblance:--

Himantidium (_Soleirolii_) 4000 to 7000 ft. Sikkim

Odontidium (_hiemale,_ forma minor) 5000 to 7000 ft. Sikkim

Epithemia, _n. sp._ 7000 ft. Sikkim

Cymbella -- Sikkim

Navicula, _n. sp._ -- Sikkim

Tabillaria (_flocculosa_) 6000 to 7000 ft. Sikkim

Odontidium (_hiemale_) 11,000 ft. Sikkim

Himantidium 16,000 ft. Momay

Odontidium (_turgidulum_) 17,000 ft. Momay

Epithemia (_ocellata_) -- Tibet

Fragillaria 18,000 ft. Momay

Odontidium (_turgidulum_) -- Momay

Dictyocha (_gracilis_) -- Momay

Odontidium (_hiemale_) -- Kinchinjhow

We now turn to those portions of Tibet or the neighbouring regions,

explored by Dr. Thomson and Captain Strachey. The principal feature

in the Algology is the great prevalence of species of _Zygnema_ and

_Tyndaridea,_ which occur under a variety of forms, sometimes with

very thick gelatinous coats. In not a single instance, however, is

there the slightest tendency to produce fructification. _Conferva

crispata_ again, as mentioned above, occurs in several localities;

and in one locality a beautiful unbranched _Conferva,_ with torulose

articulations. At Iskardo, Dr. Thomson gathered a very gelatinous

species of _Draparnaldia,_ or more properly, a _Stygeoclonium,_ if we

may judge from a little conglomeration of cells which appeared

amongst the threads. A _Tetraspora_ in Piti, an obscure

_Tolypothrix,_ and one or two _Oscillatoriae,_ remarkable for their

interrupted mode of growth, complete the list of Algae, with the

exception of one, to be mentioned presently; as also of

_Diatomaceae,_ and of the species of _Nostoc_ and _Hormosiphon,_

which occurred in great profusion, and under several forms, sometimes

attaining a very large size (several inches across), especially in

the districts of Le and Piti, and where the soil or waters were

impregnated with saline matters. It is well known that some species

of _Nostoc_ form an article of food in China, and one was used for

that purpose in a late Arctic expedition, as reported by Dr.

Sutherland; but it does not seem that any use is made of them in

Tibet, though probably all the large species would form tolerable

articles of food, and certainly, from their chemical composition,

prove very nutritious. One species is mentioned by Dr. Thomson as

floating, without any attachment, in the shallow water of the pools

scattered over the plains, on the Parang River, separated only by a

ridge of mountains from Piti, broad and foliaceous, and scarcely

different from the common _Nostoc,_ which occurs in all parts of the

globe. I must not, however, neglect to record a very singular new

genus, in which the young threads have the characters of

_Tyndaridea,_ but, after a time, little swellings occur on their

sides, in which a distinct endochrome is formed, extending backwards

into the parent endochrome, separated from it by a well defined

membrane, and producing, either by repeated pullulation, a compound

mass like that of _Calothrix,_ or simply giving rise to a forked

thread. In the latter case, however, there is no external swelling,

but a lateral endochrome is formed, which, as it grows, makes its way

through an aperture, whose sides are regularly inflected. I have

given to this curious production the name of _Cladozygia Thomsoni._

The whole of the above Algae occurred at heights varying from 10,000

to 15,500 feet. As in the Southern Himalayan Algae, the specimens

were infested with many Diatomaceae, amongst which the moat

conspicuous were various _Cymbellae_ and _Epithemiae.

The following is a list of the species observed.

Cymbella (_gastroides_).

-- (_gracilis_).

-- (_Ehrenbergii_)

and three others.

Odontidium (_hiemale_).

-- (_mesodon_).

-- _n. sp._

Epithemia _n. sp._

Synedra (_arcus_).

-- (_tenuis_).

-- (_aequalis_).

Denticula (_obtusa_).

Gomphonema (_abbreviatum_).

Meridion circulare.

There is very little identity between this list and that before given

from the Southern Himalayas, as is the case also with the other

Algae. Till the species, however, have been more completely studied,

a very accurate comparison cannot be made.

In both instances the species which grow in hot springs have been

reserved in order to make their comparison more easy. I shall begin

in an inverse order, with those of the springs of Pugha in Tibet,

which attain a temperature of 174 degrees. Two _Confervae_ only occur

in the specimens which have been preserved, viz., an _Oscillatoria_

allied to that which I have called _O. interrupta,_ and a true

_Conferva_ extremely delicate with very long articulations,

singularly swollen at the commissures. The _Diatomaceae_ are:--

Odontidium (_hiemale_).

-- (_mesodon_).

-- _n. sp.,_ same as at Piti on _Conferva._

Denticula (_obtusa_).

Navicula.

Cymbella, three species.

Epithemia.

Scarcely any one of these except the _Navicula_ is peculiar to the

locality. A fragment apparently of some _Closterium,_ the only one

which I have met with in the collection, accompanies one of the

specimens.

The hot springs of Momay, (temp. 110 degrees) at 16,000 feet, produce

a golden brown _Caenocoleus_ representing a small form of _C.

cirrhosus,_ and a very delicate _Sphaerozyga,_ an _Anabaina,_ and

_Tolypothrix_; and at 17,000 feet, a delicate green _Conferva_ with

long even articulations. With the latter is an _Odontidium_ allied

to, or identical with _O. turgidulum,_ and with the former a fine

species of _Epithemia_ resembling in form, but not in marking, _E.

Faba, E. (Zebra)_ a fine _Navicula,_ perhaps the same with _N. major_

and _Fragilaria (virescens)._* [Mr. Thomas Brightwell finds in a

portion of the same specimen _Epithemia alpestris, Surirella

splendida, S. linearis,_ Smith, _Pinnularia viridis,_ Smith,

_Navicula (lanceolata)_ and _Himantidium (arcus)._] In mud from one

of the Momay springs (_a_), I detected _Epithemia (Broomeii n.s.),_

and two small _Naviculae,_ and in the spring (_c_) two species of

_Epithemia_ somewhat like _E. Faba,_ but different from that

mentioned above.

The hot springs of Soorujkoond, of the vegetation of which very

numerous specimens have been preserved, are extremely poor in

species. In the springs themselves and on their banks, at

temperatures varying from 80 degrees to 158 degrees, at which point

vegetation entirely ceases, a minute _Leptothrix_ abounds everywhere,

varying a little in the regularity of the threads in different

specimens, but scarcely presenting two species. Between 84 degrees

and 112 degrees there is an imperfect _Zygnema_ with very long

articulations, and where the green scum passes into brown, there is

sometimes an _0scillatoria,_ of a very minute stellate _Scytonema,_

probably in an imperfect state. _Epithemia ocellata_ also contributes

often to produce the tint. An _Anabaina_ occurs at a temperature of

125 degrees, but the same species was found also in the stream from

the springs where the water had become cold, as was also the case

with the _Zygnema._

The Diatomaceae consisted of:--

Epithemia Broomeii, _n. s._

-- thermalis, _n. sp._

Epithemia inaequalis, _n. sp._

Navicula Beharensis, _n. sp._

The vegetation in the three sets of springs was very different.

As regards the _Confervae,_ taking the word in its older sense, the

species in the three are quite different, and even in respect of

genera there is little identity, but amongst the _Diatomaceae_ there

is no striking difference, except in those of the Behar springs where

three out of the four did not occur elsewhere. In the Pugha and Momay

springs, the species were either identical with, or nearly allied to

those found in neighbouring localities, where the water did not

exceed the ordinary temperature. A longer examination will doubtless

detect more numerous forms, but those which appear on a first

examination are sure to give a pretty correct general notion of the

vegetation. The species are certainly less numerous than I had

expected, or than might be supposed from the vegetation of those

European hot springs which have been most investigated.

In conclusion, I shall beg to add a few words on the Fungi of the

Himalayas, so far as they have at present been investigated.

As regards these there is a marked difference, as might be

anticipated from the nature of the climates between those parts of

Tibet investigated by Dr. Thomson, and the more southern regions.

The fungi found by Dr. Thomson were but few in number, and for the

most part of very ordinary forms, differing but little from the

produce of an European wood. Some, however, grow to a very large

size, as for instance, _Polyporus fomentarius_ on poplars near

Iskardo, exceeding in dimensions anything which this species exhibits

in Europe. A very fine _AEcidium_ also infests the fir trees (_Abies

Smithiana_), a figure of which has been given in the "Gardeners'

Chronicle," 1852, p. 627, under the name of _AEcidium Thomsoni._

This is allied to the Hexenbesen of the German forests, but is a

finer species and quite distinct. _Polyporus oblectans, Geaster

limbatus, Geaster mammosus, Erysiphe taurica,_ a _Boletus_ infested

with _Sepedonium mycophilum, Scleroderma verrucosum,_ an _AEcidium,_

and a _Uromyces,_ both on _Mulgedium Tataricum,_ about half-a-dozen

Agarics, one at an altitude of 16,000 feet above the Nubra river, a

_Lycoperdon,_ and _Morchella semilibera,_ which is eaten in Kashmir,

and exported when dry to the plains of India, make up the list

of fungi.

The region of Sikkim is perhaps the most productive in fleshy fungi

of any in the world, both as regards numbers and species, and Eastern

Nepal and Khasia yield also an abundant harvest. The forms are for

the most part European, though the species are scarcely ever quite

identical. The dimensions of many are truly gigantic, and many

species afford abundant food to the natives. Mixed with European

forms a few more decidedly tropical occur, and amongst those of East

Nepal is a _Lentinus_ which has the curious property of staining

every thing which touches it of a deep rhubarb yellow, and is not

exceeded in magnificence by any tropical species. The _Polypori_ are

often identical with those of Java, Ceylon, and the Philippine Isles,

and the curious _Trichocoma paradoxum_ which was first found by

Junghuhn in Java, and very recently by Dr. Harvey in Ceylon, occurs

abundantly on the decayed trunks of laurels, as it does in South

Carolina. The curious genus _Mitremyces_ also is scattered here and

there, though not under the American form, but that which occurs in

Java. Though _Hymenomycetes_ are so abundant, the _Discomycetes_ and

_Ascomycetes_ are comparatively rare, and very few species indeed of

_Sphoeria_ were gathered. One curious matter is, that amongst the

very extensive collections which have been made there is scarcely a

single new genus. The species moreover in Sikkim are quite different,

except in the case of some more or less cosmopolite species from

those of Eastern Nepal and Khasia: scarcely a single _Lactarius_ or

_Cortinarius_ for instance occurs in Sikkim, though there are several

in Khasia. The genus _Boletus_ through the whole district assumes the

most magnificent forms, which are generally very different from

anything in Europe.

APPENDIX C.* [The tables referred to, at v. i. chapter ii, as under Appendix C., will be found under Appendix A.]

ON THE SOILS OF SIKKIM.

There is little variety in the soil throughout Sikkim, and, as far as

vegetation is concerned, it may be divided into vegetable mould and

stiff clay--each, as they usually occur, remarkably characteristic in

composition of such soils. Bog-earth is very rare, nor did I find

peat at any elevation.

The clay is uniformly of great tenacity, and is, I believe, wholly

due to the effect of the atmosphere on crumbling gneiss and other

rocks. It makes excellent bricks, is tenacious, seldom friable, and

sometimes accumulated in beds fourteen feet thick, although more

generally only about two feet. In certain localities, beds or narrow

seams of pure felspathic clay and layers of vegetable matter occur in

it, probably wholly due to local causes. An analysis of that near

Dorjiling gives about 30 per cent. of alumina, the rest being silica,

and a fraction of oxide of iron. Lime is wholly unknown as a

constituent of the soil, and only occasionally seen as a stalactitic

deposit from a few springs.

A layer of vegetable earth almost invariably covers the clay to the

depth of from three to twelve or fourteen inches. It is a very rich

black mould, held in its position on the slopes of the hills by the

dense vegetation, and accumulated on the banks of small streams to a

depth at times of three and four feet. The following is an analysis

of an average specimen of the surface-soil of Dorjiling, made for me

by my friend C. J. Muller, Esq., of that place:--

_a._--DRY EARTH.

Anhydrous 83.84

Water 16.16

------

100.00

_b._--ANHYDROUS EARTH.

Humic acid 3.89

Humine 4.61

Undecomposed vegetable matter 20.98

Peroxide of iron and manganese 7.05

Alumina 8.95

Siliceous matter, insoluble in dilute hydrochloric acid 54.52

Traces of soda and muriatic acid --

------

100.00

_c._--Soluble in water, gr. 1.26 per cent., consisting of soda,

muriatic acid, organic matter, and silica.

The soil from which this example was taken was twelve inches deep; it

abounded to the eye in vegetable matter, and was siliceous to the

touch. There were no traces of phosphates or of animal matter, and

doubtful traces of lime and potash. The subsoil of clay gave only 5.7

per cent. of water, and 5.55 of organic matter. The above analysis

was conducted during the rainy month of September, and the sample is

an average one of the surface-soil at 6000 to 10,000 feet. There is,

I think, little difference anywhere in the soils at this elevation,

except where the rock is remarkably micaceous, or where veins of

felspathic granite, by their decomposition, give rise to small beds

of kaolin.

APPENDIX D.

(Vol. i., chapter ii.)

AN AURORA SEEN FROM BAROON ON THE EAST BANK OF THE S0ANE RIVER.

Lat. 24 degrees 52 minutes N.; Long. 84 degrees 22 minutes E.;

Alt. 345 feet.

TheE following appearances are as noted in my journal at the time.

They so entirely resembled auroral beams, that I had no hesitation in

pronouncing them at the time to be such. This opinion has, however,

been dissented from by some meteorologists, who consider that certain

facts connected with the geographical distribution of auroras (if I

may use the term), are opposed to it. I am well aware of the force of

these arguments, which I shall not attempt to controvert; but for the

information of those who may be interested in the matter, I may

remark, that I am very familiar with the Aurora borealis in the

northern temperate zone, and during the Antarctic expedition was in

the habit of recording in the log-book the appearance presented by

the Aurora australis. The late Mr. Williams, Mr. Haddon, and Mr.

Theobald, who were also witnesses of the appearances on this

occasion, considered it a brilliant display of the aurora.

_Feb. 14th,_ 9 p.m.--Bax. Corr. 29.751; temp. 62 degrees;

D.P. 41.0 degrees; calm, sky clear; moon three-quarters full,

and bright.

Observed about thirty lancet beams rising in the north-west from a

low luminous arch, whose extremes bore W. 20 degrees S., and N. 50

degrees E.; altitude of upper limb of arch 20 degrees, of the lower

8 degrees. The beams crossed the zenith, and converged towards S. 15

degrees E. The extremity of the largest was forked, and extended to

25 degrees above the horizon in the S.E. by S. quarter. The extremity

of the centre one bore S. 50 degrees E., and was 45 degrees above the

horizon. The western beams approached nearest the southern horizon.

All the beams moved and flashed slowly, occasionally splitting and

forking, fading and brightening; they were brightly defined, though

the milky way and zodiacal light could not be discerned, and the

stars and planets, though clearly discernible, were very pale.

At 10 p.m., the luminous appearance was more diffused; upper limb of

the arch less defined; no beams crossed the zenith; but occasionally

beams appeared there and faded away.

Between 10 and 11, the beams continued to move and replace one

another, as usual in auroras, but disappeared from the south-east

quarter, and became broader in the northern hemisphere; the longest

beams were near the north and north-east horizon.

At half-past 10, a dark belt, 4 degrees broad, appeared in the

luminous arch, bearing from N. 55 degrees W. to N. 10 degrees W.; its

upper limb was 10 degrees above the horizon: it then gradually

dilated, and thus appeared to break up the arch. This appeared to be

the commencement of the dispersion of the phenomenon.

At 10.50 p.m. the dark band had increased so much in breadth that the

arch was broken up in the north-west, and no beams appeared there.

Eighteen linear beams rose from the eastern part of the arch, and

bore from north to N. 20 degrees E.

Towards 11 p.m., the dark band appeared to have replaced the luminous

arch; the beams were all but gone, a few fragments appearing in the

N.E. A southerly wind sprang up, and a diffused light extended along

the horizon.

At midnight, I saw two faint beams to the north-east, and two well

defined parallel ones in the south-west.

APPENDIX E.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE SIKKIM HIMALAYA, EAST NEPAL,

AND ADJACENT PROVINCES OF TIBET.

Sikkim is included in a section of the Himalaya, about sixty miles

broad from east to west, where it is bounded respectively by the

mountain states of Bhotan and Nepal. Its southern limits are easily

defined, for the mountains rise abruptly from the plains of Bengal,

as spurs of 6000 to 10,000 feet high, densely clothed with forest to

their summits. The northern and north-eastern frontier of Sikkim is

beyond the region of much rain, and is not a natural, but a political

line, drawn between that country and Tibet. Sikkim lies nearly due

north of Calcutta, and only four hundred miles from the Bay of

Bengal; its latitude being 26 degrees 40 minutes to 28 degrees N.,

and longitude 88 degrees to 89 degrees E.

The main features of Sikkim are Kinchinjunga, the loftiest hitherto

measured mountain, which lies to its north-west, and rises 28,178

feet above the level of the sea; and the Teesta river, which flows

throughout the length of the country, and has a course of upwards of

ninety miles in a straight line. Almost all the sources of the Teesta

are included in Sikkim; and except some comparatively insignificant

streams draining the outermost ranges, there are no rivers in this

country but itself and its feeders, which occupy the largest of the

Himalayan valleys between the Tambur in East Nepal, and the Machoo in

Western Bhotan.

An immense spur, sixty miles long, stretches south from Kinchin to

the plains of India; it is called Singalelah, and separates Sikkim

from East Nepal; the waters from its west flank flow into the Tambur,

and those from the east into the Great Rungeet, a feeder of the

Teesta. Between these two latter rivers is a second spur from

Kinchinjunga, terminating in Tendong.

The eastern boundary of Sikkim, separating it from Bhotan, is formed

for the greater part by the Chola range, which stretches south from

the immense mountain of Donkia, 23,176 feet high, situated fifty

miles E.N.E. of Kinchinjunga: where the frontier approaches the

plains of India, the boundary line follows the course of the Teesta,

and of the Rinkpo, one of its feeders, flowing from the Chola range.

This range is much more lofty than that of Singalelah, and the

drainage from its eastern flank is into the Machoo river, the upper

part of whose course is in Tibet, and the lower in Bhotan.

The Donkia mountain, though 4000 feet lower than Kinchin, is the

culminant point of a much more extensive and elevated mountain mass.

It throws off an immense spur from its north-west face, which runs

west, and then south-west, to Kinchin, forming the watershed of all

the remote sources of the Teesta. This spur has a mean elevation of

18,000 to 19,000 feet, and several of its peaks (of which Chomiomo is

one) rise much higher. The northern boundary of Sikkim is not drawn

along this, but runs due west from Donkia, following a shorter, but

stupendous spur, called Kinchinjhow; whence it crosses the Teesta to

Chomiomo, and is continued onwards to Kinchinjunga.

Though the great spur connecting Donkia with Kinchin is in Tibet, and

bounds the waters that flow directly south into the Teesta, it is far

from the true Himalayan axis, for the rivers that rise on its

northern slope do not run into the valley of the Tsampu, or Tibetan

Burrampooter, but into the Arun of Nepal, which rises to the north of

Donkia, and flows south-west for many miles in Tibet, before entering

Nepal and flowing south to the Ganges.

Sikkim, thus circumscribed, consists of a mass of mountainous spurs,

forest-clad up to 12,000 feet; there are no flat valleys or plains in

the whole country, no lakes or precipices of any consequence below

that elevation, and few or no bare slopes, though the latter are

uniformly steep. The aspect of Sikkim can only be understood by a

reference to its climate and vegetation, and I shall therefore take

these together, and endeavour, by connecting these phenomena, to give

an intelligible view of the main features of the whole country.*

[This I did with reference especially to the cultivation of

Rhododendrons, in a paper which the Horticultural Society of London

did me the honour of printing. Quarterly Journ. of Hort. Soc., vol.

vii., p. 82.]

The greater part of the country between Sikkim and the sea is a dead

level, occupied by the delta of the Ganges and Burrampooter, above

which the slope is so gradual to the base of the mountains, that the

surface of the plain from which the Himalayas immediately rise is

only 300 feet above the sea. The most obvious effect of this position

is, that the prevailing southerly wind reaches the first range of

hills, loaded with vapour. The same current, when deflected easterly

to Bhotan, or westerly to Nepal and the north-west Himalaya, is

intercepted and drained of much moisture, by the Khasia and Garrow

mountains (south of Assam and the Burrampooter) in the former case,

and the Rajmahal hills (south of the Ganges) in the latter. Sikkim is

hence the dampest region of the whole Himalaya.

Viewed from a distance on the plains of India, Sikkim presents the

appearance--common to all mountainous countries--of consecutive

parallel ridges, running east and west: these are all wooded, and

backed by a beautiful range of snowy peaks, with occasional breaks in

the foremost ranges, through which the rivers debouch. Any view of

the Himalaya, especially at a sufficient distance for the remote

snowy peaks to be seen overtopping the outer ridges, is, however,

rare, from the constant deposition of vapours over the forest-clad

ranges during the greater part of the year, and the haziness of the

dry atmosphere of the plains in the winter months. At the end of the

rains, when the south-east monsoon has ceased to blow with constancy,

views are obtained, sometimes from a distance of nearly two hundred

miles. From the plains, the highest peaks subtend so small an angle,

that they appear like white specks very low on the horizon, tipping

the black lower and outer wooded ranges, which always rise out of a

belt of haze, and from the density, probably, of the lower strata of

atmosphere, are never seen to rest on the visible horizon.

The remarkable lowness on the horizon of the whole stupendous mass is

always a disappointing feature to the new comer, who expects to see

dazzling peaks towering in the air. Approaching nearer, the snowy

mountains sink behind the wooded ones, long before the latter have

assumed gigantic proportions; and when they do so, they appear a

sombre, lurid grey-green mass of vegetation, with no brightness or

variation of colour. There is no break in this forest caused by rock,

precipices, or cultivation; some spurs project nearer, and some

valleys appear to retire further into the heart of the foremost great

chain that shuts out all the country beyond.

From Dorjiling the appearance of parallel ridges is found to be

deceptive, and due to the inosculating spurs of long tortuous ranges

that ran north and south throughout the whole length of Sikkim,

dividing deep wooded valleys, which form the beds of large rivers.

The snowy peaks here look like a long east and west range of

mountains, at an average distance of thirty or forty miles.

Advancing into the country, this appearance proves equally deceptive,

and the snowy range is resolved into isolated peaks, situated on the

meridional ridges; their snow-clad spurs, projecting east and west,

cross one another, and being uniformly white, appear to connect the

peaks into one grand unbroken range. The rivers, instead of having

their origin in the snowy mountains, rise far beyond them; many of

their sources are upwards of one hundred miles in a straight line

from the plains, in a very curious country, loftier by far in mean

elevation than the meridional ridges which run south from it, yet

comparatively bare of snow. This rearward part of the mountain region

is Tibet, where all the Sikkim, Nepal, and Bhotan rivers rise as

small streams, increasing in size as they receive the drainage from

the snowed parts of the ridges that bound them in their courses.

Their banks, between 8000 and 14,000 feet, are generally clothed with

rhododendrons, sometimes to the almost total exclusion of other woody

vegetation, especially near the snowy mountains--a cool temperature

and great humidity being the most favourable conditions for the

luxuriant growth of this genus.

The source of this humidity is the southerly or sea wind which blows

steadily from May till October in Sikkim, and prevails throughout the

rest of the year, if not as the monsoon properly so called, as a

current from the moist atmosphere above the Gangetic delta.

This rushes north to the rarefied regions of Sikkim, up the great

valleys, and does not appear materially disturbed by the north-

west wind, which blows during the afternoons of the winter months

over the plains, and along the flanks of the outer range, and is a

dry surface current, due to the diurnal heating of the soil. When it

is considered that this wind, after passing lofty mountains on the

outer range, has to traverse eighty or one hundred miles of alps

before it has watered all the forest region, it will be evident that

its moisture must be expended before it reaches Tibet.

Let the figures in the accompanying woodcut, the one on the true

scale, the other with the heights exaggerated, represent two of these

long meridional ridges, from the watershed to the plains of India,

following in this instance the course of the Teesta river, from its

source at 19,000 feet to where it debouches from the Himalaya at 300.

The lower rugged outline represents one meridional ridge, with all

its most prominent peaks (whether exactly or not on the line of

section); the upper represents the parallel ridge of Singalelah

(D.E.P.), of greater mean elevation, further west, introduced to show

the maximum elevation of the Sikkim mountains, Kinchinjunga (28,178

feet), being represented on it. A deep valley is interposed between

these two ridges, with a feeder of the Teesta in it (the Great

Rungeet), which runs south from Kinchin, and turning west enters the

Teesta at R. The position of the bed of the Teesta river is indicated

by a dotted line from its source at T to the plains at S; of

Dorjiling, on the north flank of the outer range, by _d_; of the

first point where perpetual snow is met with, by P; and of the first

indications of a Tibetan climate, by C.

Illustration--SECTION OF THE SIKKIM HIMALAYA ALONG THE COURSE OF THE

TEESTA RIVER.

A warm current of Air, loaded with vapour, will deposit the bulk of

its moisture on the ridge of Sinchul, which rises above Dorjiling

(_d_), and is 8,500 feet high. Passing on, little will be

precipitated on _e_ whose elevation is the same as that of Sinchul;

but much at _f_ (11,000 feet), where the current, being further

cooled, has less capacity for holding vapour, and is further

exhausted. When it ascends to P (15,000 feet) it is sufficiently

cooled to deposit snow in the winter and spring months, more of which

falling than can be melted during the summer, it becomes perennial.

At the top of ginchin very little falls, and it is doubtful if the

southerly current ever reaches that prodigiously elevated isolated

summit. The amount of surface above 20,000 feet is, however, too

limited and broken into isolated peaks to drain the already nearly,

exhausted current, whose condensed vapours roll along in fog beyond

the parallel of Kinchin, are dissipated during the day over the arid

mountains of Tibet, and deposited at night on the cooled surface of

the earth.

Other phenomena of no less importance than the distribution of

vapour, and more or less depending on it, are the duration and amount

of solar and terrestrial radiation. Towards D the sun is rarely seen

during the rainy season, as well from the constant presence of nimbi

aloft, as from fog on the surface of the ground. An absence of both

light and heat is the result south of the parallel of Kinchin; and at

C low fogs prevail at the same season, but do not intercept either

the same amount of light or heat; whilst at T there is much sunshine

and bright light. During the night, again, there is no terrestrial

radiation between S and P; the rain either continues to pour--in some

months with increased violence--or the saturated atmosphere is

condensed into a thick white mist, which hangs over the redundant

vegetation. A bright starlight night is almost unknown in the summer

months at 6000 to 10,000 feet, but is frequent in December and

January, and at intervals between October and May, when, however,

vegetation is little affected by the cold of nocturnal radiation.

In the regions north of Kinchin, starlight nights are more frequent,

and the cold produced by radiation, at 14,000 feet, is often severe

towards the end of the rains in September. Still the amount of clear

weather during the night is small; the fog clears off for an hour or

two at sunset as the wind falls, but the returning cold north current

again chills the air soon afterwards, and rolling masses of vapour

are hence flying overhead, or sweeping the surface of the earth,

throughout the summer nights. In the Tibetan regions, on the other

hand, bright nights and even sharp frosts prevail throughout the

warmest months.

Referring again to the cut, it must be borne in mind that neither of

the two meridional ridges runs in a straight line, but that they wind

or zigzag as all mountain ranges do; that spurs from each ridge are

given off from either flank alternately, and that the origin of a

spur on one side answers to the source of a river (_i.e.,_ the head

of a valley) on the other. These rivers are feeders of the main

stream, the Teesta, and run at more or less of an angle to the

latter. The spurs from the east flank of one ridge cross, at their

ends, those from the west flank of another; and thus transverse

valleys are formed, presenting many modifications of climate with

regard to exposure, temperature, and humidity.

The roads from the plains of India to the watershed in Tibet always

cross these lateral spurs. The main ridge is too winding and rugged,

and too lofty for habitation throughout the greater part of its

length, while the river-channel is always very winding, unhealthy for

the greater part of the year below 4000 feet, and often narrow,

gorge-like, and rocky. The villages are always placed above the

unhealthy regions, on the lateral spurs, which the traveller

repeatedly crosses throughout every day's march; for these spurs give

off lesser ones, and these again others of a third degree, whence the

country is cut up into as many spurs, ridges, and ranges, as there

are rills, streams, and rivers amongst the mountains.

Though the direction of the main atmospheric current is to the north,

it is in reality seldom felt to be so, except the observer be on the

very exposed mountain tops, or watch the motions of the upper strata

of atmosphere. Lower currents of air rush up both the main and

lateral valleys, throughout the day; and from the sinuosities in the

beds of the rivers, and the generally transverse directions of their

feeders, the current often becomes an east or west one. In the branch

valleys draining to the north the wind still ascends; it is, in

short, an ascending warm, moist current, whatever course be pursued

by the valleys it follows.

The sides of each valley are hence equally supplied with moisture,

though local circumstances render the soil on one or the other flank

more or less humid and favourable to a luxuriant vegetation: such

differences are a drier soil on the north side, with a too free

exposure to the sun at low elevations, where its rays, however

transient, rapidly dry the ground, and where the rains, though very

heavy, are of shorter duration, and where, owing to the capacity of

the heated air for retaining moisture, day fogs are comparatively

rare. In the northern parts of Sikkim, again, some of the lateral

valleys are so placed that the moist wind strikes the side facing the

south, and keeps it very humid, whilst the returning cold current

from the neighbouring Tibetan mountains impinges against the side

facing the north, which is hence more bare of vegetation. An infinite

number of local peculiarities will suggest themselves to any one

conversant with physical geography, as causing unequal local

distribution of light, heat, and moisture in the different valleys of

so irregular a country; namely, the amount of slope, and its power of

retaining moisture and soil; the composition and hardness of the

rocks; their dip and strike; the protection of some valleys by lofty

snowed ridges; and the free southern exposures of others at

great elevations.

Himalayan Journals — Volume 2 Or, Notes of a Naturalist in Bengal, the Sikkim and Nepal Himalayas, the Khasia Mountains, etc. · 第 18 / 21 章

On the 13th December, we entered the broad stream of the Megna.