NATURAL HISTORY NOTES
To a naturalist Tibet offers considerable difficulties: it is true that
in some places animals are so tame that they will almost eat out of your
hand; for instance, in the Rongbuk Valley the burhel (wild sheep) come
to the cells of the hermits for food, and in every village the ravens
and rock-doves are as fearless as the sparrows in London. But against
this tameness must be set the Buddhist religion, which forbids the
people from taking life, so that, whereas in most countries the native
children are the best friends of the naturalist, in Tibet we got no help
from them whatever. Also, in order to avoid giving possible offence, we
were careful to refrain from shooting in the neighbourhood of
monasteries and villages, and that was a very severe drawback, as birds
congregated principally about the cultivated lands near villages.
Another difficulty we found was in catching small mammals, which showed
the greatest reluctance to enter our traps, whatever the bait might be.
One species only, a vole (_Phaiomys leucurus_), was trapped; all the
others were shot, and that involved a considerable expenditure of time
in waiting motionless beside burrows. In spite of these disadvantages we
made considerable collections of mammals and birds, and we brought back
a large number of dried plants and seeds, many of which it is hoped will
live in the gardens of this country.
[Illustration: LOWER KAMA-CHU.]
Crossing over the Jelep La from Sikkim into Tibet in the latter part of
May we found the country at 12,000 feet and upwards at the height of
spring. The open level spaces were carpeted with a dark purple and
yellow primula (_P. gammieana_), a delicate little yellow flower
(_Lloydia tibetica_) and many saxifrages. The steep hillsides were
ablaze with the flowers of the large rhododendrons (_R. thomsoni_, _R.
falconeri_, _R. aucklandi_) and the smaller _Rhododendron
campylocarpum_, an almost infinite variety of colours.[18] A descent
through woods of pines, oaks and walnuts brought us to the picturesque
village of Richengong, in the Chumbi Valley, where we found
house-martins nesting under the eaves of the houses. Following up the
Ammo Chu, in its lower course between 9,000 and 12,000 feet, we found
the valley gay with pink and white spiraeas and cotoneasters, red and
white roses, yellow berberis, a fragrant white-flowered bog-myrtle,
anemones and white clematis. Dippers, wagtails and the white-capped
redstart were the commonest birds along the river-banks. From Yatung we
made an excursion of a few miles up the Kambu Valley, and there found a
very beautiful Enkianthus (_Enkianthus himalaicus_), a small tree about
15 feet high, with clusters of pink and white flowers; in the autumn the
leaves turn to a deep copper red.
[18] We marked many of the best-flowering specimens with the
intention of collecting their seeds on our return in the autumn.
Unfortunately when we came over the Jelep La in October it was
in a heavy snowstorm which made collecting impossible.
At about 11,000 feet is a level terrace, the plain of Lingmatang, where
the stream meanders for two or three miles through a lovely meadow
covered in the spring with a tiny pink primula (_P. minutissima_): it
looks a perfect trout stream, but what fish there are (_Schizopygopsis
stoliczae_) are small and few in number.
Between 11,000 and 13,000 feet you ascend through mixed woods of pine,
larch, birch and juniper with an undergrowth of rhododendrons and
mountain ash. The larches here have a much less formal habit of growth
than those of this country, and in the autumn they turn to a brilliant
golden colour. The berries of the mountain ash, when ripe, are white and
very conspicuous. At this altitude _Rhododendron cinnabarinum_ reaches
its best growth, in bushes of from 8 to 10 feet in height, and the
flowers have a very wide range of colour. In the woods hereabouts may
often be heard and sometimes seen the blood pheasant, and here lives
also--but we did not see it--the Tibetan stag.
At about 13,000 feet at the end of May you find a yellow primula
covering the ground more thickly than cowslips in this country; the air
is laden with the scent of it, and growing with it is a pretty little
heath-like flower (_Cassiope fastigiata_) with snow-white bells. Here
and there is seen the large blue poppy (_Meconopsis_ sp.) and a white
anemone with five or six flowers on one stem. Soon the trees get
scantier and scantier, pines disappear altogether and then birches and
willows and junipers, until only dwarf rhododendrons (_R. setosum_) are
left, covering the hillsides like purple heather.
In a few miles the country changes in character completely, and you come
out on to the open plain of Phari. Here at 14,000 feet we saw the common
cuckoo sitting on a telegraph wire and calling vigorously. This is Tibet
proper, and henceforward you may travel for scores of miles and hardly
see any plant more than a few inches high. In some places a little
trumpet-shaped purple flower (_Incarvillea younghusbandii_) is fairly
common, it lies prone on the sand with its leaves usually buried out of
sight; and as we went Westward we found a dwarf blue iris (_I.
tenuifolia_). Animals are few and far between: the Kiang, the wild ass
of Tibet, is occasionally seen in small parties; they are very
conspicuous on the open plains in full daylight, but almost invisible at
dusk. The Tibetan gazelle is fairly numerous, and it is not uncommon to
see one or two in company with a flock of native sheep and taking no
notice of the shepherd, but when a stranger tries to approach they are
off like a flash. Another animal of the plains is the Tibetan antelope
(_Pantholops_), which is found in large numbers a little to the North of
the region we visited, but the only signs of it we saw were the horns
used as supporting prongs for the long muzzle-loading guns of the
Tibetans. The Tibetan antelope was probably the Unicorn described by the
French priest Huc in 1845.
The only mammals that are commonly seen on the plains are the small
mouse-hares or pikas (_Ochotona_), which live in colonies on the less
stony parts of the plain, where their burrows often caused our ponies to
stumble; they scurry off to their holes at your approach, but if you
wait a few moments you will see heads peeping out at you from all sides.
These engaging little creatures have been called "Whistling Hares," but
of the three species which we found none was ever heard to utter a sound
of any kind. The Tibetan name for them is Phuese. It is interesting to
record that from one specimen I took three fleas of two species, both of
them new to science.
Birds are few on these stony wastes, larks, wheatears and snow-finches
being the commonest. Elwes' shore-lark was found feeding young birds at
the beginning of June, when the ground was not yet free from snow, and
the song of the Tibetan skylark, remarkably like that of our own
skylark, was heard over every patch of native cultivation.
A small spiny lizard (_Phrynocephalus theobaldi_) is common on the
plains and on the lower hills up to 17,000 feet; it lives in shallow
burrows on the sand and under stones.
Rising out of the plain North of the Himalayas are ranges of rounded
limestone hills, 18,000 to 19,000 feet high, running roughly East and
West. The hills between Phari and Khamba Dzong are the home of the big
sheep (_Ovis hodgsoni_), which are occasionally seen in small companies.
There are many ranges to the West of Khamba Dzong, apparently well
suited to this animal, but it was never seen. On the slopes of these
hills are found partridges (_Perdix hodgsoniae_), and in the ravines are
seen Alpine choughs, rock-doves (_Columba rupestris_) and crag-martins.
Once or twice at night we heard the shriek of the great eagle-owl, but
the bird was not seen.
At rare intervals on these plains one meets with small rivers,
tributaries of the Arun River; along their banks is usually more grass
than elsewhere, and here the wandering Tibetan herdsmen bring their yaks
to graze. The wild yak is not found anywhere in this region. It might be
supposed that so hairy an animal as the yak would become dirty and
unkempt. Actually they are among the cleanest of creatures, and they may
often be seen scraping holes in soft banks where they roll and kick and
comb themselves into silky condition. The usual colour of the
domesticated yak is black, more rarely a yellowish brown. A common
variety has a white face and white tail. The calves are born in the
spring, late April or early May.
Here and there the rivers overflow their banks and form lakes or meres,
which in the summer are the haunt of innumerable wild-fowl: bar-headed
geese and redshanks nest here, families of ruddy shelducks (the Brahminy
duck of India) and garganey teal are seen swimming on the pools.
Overhead fly sand-martins, brown-headed gulls, common terns and
white-tailed eagles. Near one of these lakes one day I watched at close
distance a red fox stalking a pair of bar-headed geese, a most
interesting sight, and had the satisfaction of saving the birds by
firing a shot in the air with my small collecting gun just as the fox
was about to pounce on his intended victim.
Tinki Dzong is a veritable bird sanctuary. The Dzong itself is a
rambling fort covering a dozen or so of acres, and about its walls nest
hundreds of birds--ravens, magpies, red-billed choughs, tree-sparrows,
hoopoes, Indian redstarts, Hodgson's pied wagtails and rock-doves. In
the shallow pool outside the Dzong were swimming bar-headed geese and
ruddy shelducks, with families of young birds, all as tame as domestic
poultry. A pair of white storks was seen here in June, but they did not
appear to be breeding. In the autumn the lakes in this neighbourhood are
the resort of large packs of wigeon, gadwall and pochard. The Jongpen
explained to us that it was the particular wish of the Dalai Lama that
no birds should be molested here, and for several years two lamas lived
at Tinki, whose special business it was to protect the birds.
[Illustration: JUNIPERS IN THE KAMA VALLEY.]
Crossing over a pass of about 17,000 feet (Tinki La), the slopes gay
with a little purple and white daphne (_Stellera_), said by the natives
to be poisonous to animals, we came to a plain of a different character,
miles of blown sand heaped here and there into enormous dunes, on which
grows a yellow-flowering gorse. Here, near Chushar, we first met with
rose-finches (Severtzoff's and Przjewalsk's) and the brown ground-chough
(_Podoces humilis_): the last-named is a remarkable-looking bird, which
progresses by a series of apparently top-heavy bounds, at the end of
which it turns round to steady itself; in the middle of June it was
feeding its young in nests at the bottom of deep holes in sand or old
mud walls.
Following up the valley of the Bhong-chu we crossed the river by a stone
bridge near Shekar Dzong. Here we found a colony of white-rumped swifts
nesting high up in cliffs and ruddy shelducks nesting in holes among the
loose boulders below. Occasionally we saw a pair of black-necked cranes,
which are said by the natives to breed near lakes a little to the North,
but we had no opportunity of visiting them. The slopes of the hills
facing South were covered with a very pretty shrub (_Sophora_) with blue
and white flowers and delicate silvery grey leaves, and among the loose
stones a small clematis (_C. orientalis_) was just beginning to appear.
Groups of small trees, like a sea buckthorn, growing 15 to 20 feet high,
indicate a gradual change in the climate as you go Westwards. Here also
for the first time we began to find a few butterflies, of the genera
_Lycaena_ and _Colias_.
At Tingri we found ourselves in a large plain about 20 miles long by 12
wide; a large part of the plain is saturated with soda and is almost
uninhabited by bird or beast. In our three weeks' stay at Tingri we
collected several mammals, including a new subspecies of hamster
(_Cricetulus alticola tibetanus_) and a number of birds. This was the
only place where we ever received any natural history specimen from a
Tibetan. A woman came into our camp one day and, after making certain
that she was not observed by any of the villagers, produced from a sack
a well-worn domestic cat's skin stuffed with grass and a freshly killed
stoat (_Mustela longstaffi_). The skin of the stoat is highly prized by
the Tibetans, who say that it has the property of restoring faded
turquoises to their former beauty. About the houses of the village were
nesting tree-sparrows, hoopoes, rock-doves and ravens, the latter so
tame that they hardly troubled to get out of the way of passers-by. In a
tower of the old fort lived a pair of the Eastern little owl (_Athene
bactriana_), which appeared to live principally on voles. On the plain
the commonest birds were the long-billed calandra lark, Brook's
short-toed lark, the Tibetan skylark, and Elwes' shore-lark, all of
which were found with eggs, probably the second brood of the season, at
the beginning of July. The nest of the yellow-headed wagtail, rare at
Tingri, was found with eggs, and Blanford's snow-finch was found feeding
its young more than 2 feet down the burrow of a pika (_Ochotona
curzoniae_). The common tern and the greater sand-plover nested on the
shingly islands in the river.
Plants at Tingri were few and inconspicuous: a small yellow cistus, the
dwarf blue iris, a small aster and a curious hairy, claret-coloured
flower (_Thermopsis_) were the most noticeable. Along the rivers which
traverse the plain is very good grazing for the large flocks of sheep
and goats of the Tibetans; the sheep are small and are grown entirely
for wool. By a simple system of irrigation a large area of land near
Tingri has been brought into cultivation. The principal crop here is
barley, which constitutes the chief food of the people; they also grow a
large radish or small turnip, the young leaves of which are excellent
food. The animals usually used for ploughing are a cross between the yak
and ordinary domestic cattle, called by the Tibetans "zoh"; they are
more powerful than the yak and are excellent transport animals. We found
barley grown in many districts up to 15,000 feet--it does not always
ripen--and in the valley of the Dzakar Chu near its junction with the
Arun River is a small area where wheat is grown at an altitude of about
12,800 feet. Peas are grown in the Arun Valley near Kharta, where they
ripen in September and are pounded into meal for winter food of cattle
as well as of the Tibetans themselves. Mustard is grown in the lower
valleys below 14,000 feet. It is to be regretted that we did not bring
back specimens of these hardy cereals.
During the course of an excursion of about three weeks in July to the
West and South of Tingri we covered a large tract of unexplored country,
much of which is more Nepalese than Tibetan in character. Going over the
Thung La we found numerous butterflies of the genus _Parnassus_, and
near the top of the pass (18,000 feet) we found for the first time the
beautiful little blue _Gentiana am[oe]na_; it is not easy to see until
you are right over it, when it looks like a little square blue china
cup; some of the flowers are as much as an inch in diameter. Here also
was just beginning to flower the dwarf blue poppy (_Meconopsis
horridula_), which grows in a small compact clump, 6 to 8 inches high,
with as many as sixteen flowers and buds on one plant; the flowers are
nearly 2 inches across and of a heavenly blue. In this region, too, we
met for the first time marmots, which live in large colonies at about
16,000 feet; the Himalayan is larger than the Alpine marmot, and it has
a longish tail which it whisks sharply from side to side when it is
alarmed; it has a twittering cry, curiously like that of a bird of prey.
Continuing down the valley of the Poe Chu to Nyenyam, we found several
birds that we had not met hitherto, notably the brown accentor,
Himalayan tree-pipit, Adams's snowfinch, the Himalayan greenfinch and
Tickell's willow-warbler. At about 12,500 feet we first found the
white-backed dove (_Columba leuconota_), which inhabits the deep gorges
of the Himalayas but does not extend out on to the Tibetan plain. Beside
the big torrent that flows South from Gosainthan we saw a pair of that
curious curlew-like bird, the ibis-bill (_Ibidorhynchus struthersi_); it
was evident that they had eggs or young on an island in the torrent, at
about 13,800 feet, but unfortunately it was impossible to reach it.
The most conspicuous flowers in this region were a little bushy cistus
with golden flowers the size of a half-crown, a dwarf rhododendron (_R.
lanatum_) with hairy leaves, a white potentilla with red centre, which
carpeted the drier hillsides, a white gentian (_G. robusta_), and a very
remarkable louse-wort (_Pedicularis megalantha_) with two quite distinct
forms--one purple, the other yellow.
Crossing a pass to the East of Nyenyam, we camped on a level spot
covered densely with white primulas (_P. Buryana_) six to eight inches
high; an inch or two of snow fell during the night, and so white are
these flowers that it was difficult to see them against the snow. Near
the top of another pass we found at about the same altitude, 15,000
feet, another primula (_P. Wollastonii_) with three to six bells on each
stem, the size of a small thimble, of a deep blue colour, and lined
inside with frosted silver. In the moister valleys hereabouts a pretty
pink-flowered polygonum (_P. vacciniifolium_) rambled everywhere over
the rocks and boulders. The Rongshar Valley in July was chiefly notable
for the large gooseberry bushes, 10 to 12 feet high, and for the
profusion of red and white roses. A wall-creeper, the only one we saw in
Tibet, was seen creeping about the temple at Lapche, a few miles to the
West of Rongshar.
From the beginning of August our headquarters were at Kharta in the Arun
Valley, about 20 miles East of Mount Everest, and from there we made
excursions South to the Kama Valley, and West up the Kharta Valley in
the direction of Everest. Kharta itself is curiously situated as regards
climate: the wide dry valley of the Arun narrows abruptly and the river
passes into a deep gorge, where it falls rapidly at a rate of about 200
feet to the mile on its way to Nepal. The heavy monsoon clouds roll up
the gorge to its mouth, where they are cut off sharply, so that within a
mile you may pass from the dry climate of Tibet to the moist, steamy air
of a Nepalese character, with its luxuriant vegetation.
In the immediate neighbourhood of Kharta were several birds we had not
met elsewhere, notably Prince Henry's laughing thrush (_Trochalopterum
henrici_), which is very much venerated as a sacred bird by the
Tibetans, the Central Asian blackbird, almost indistinguishable from our
blackbird except by its voice, the solitary thrush, Indian brown
turtledove, and a meadow-bunting (_Emberiza godlewskii_), probably a
migrant from the North.
Several species of small gentians and two very fragrant onosmas were
flowering in August, and in this place _Clematis orientalis_ attains its
best growth, clambering over the trees and the houses of the natives;
the flower of this clematis has a very wide range of colour from an
apricot yellow to almost black. About the houses are often planted
junipers and poplars, and it was about 10 miles from Kharta that we saw
a poplar nearly 40 feet in girth, which we were informed was five
hundred years old.
A few miles to the south of Kharta is a valley filled with a dozen or so
of small lakes or tarns, inhabited apparently only by tadpoles (_Rana
pleskei_); no fish could be seen. Not far from here was discovered
an interesting toad of a new species (_Cophophryne alticola_).
Growing about the lakes were large beds of purple and yellow iris
(_I. sibirica_, near); the steeper banks were blue with a very striking
campanula (_Cyananthus pedunculatus_); growing out from among the dwarf
rhododendrons in dry places were tall spikes of a claret-coloured
meconopsis, now going to seed--some spikes had as many as twenty
seed-pods; and in the moist places beside the lakes and streams was the
tall yellow primula (_P. elongata_), growing to a height of over 30
inches.
Ascending from the lakes to the Chog La we saw a small black rat amongst
the huge boulders of a moraine; it appeared to be a very active little
animal, and though four or five were seen at different times in similar
situations we failed to secure a specimen. Near the Chog La we found the
snow-partridge (_Lerwa lerwa_), and one was shot out of a flock of very
beautiful blue birds--Hodgson's grandala. Another very handsome bird in
this region is the red-breasted rose-finch, which is found up to 18,000
feet. Descending from the Chog La towards the Kama Valley we found at
16,000 feet the giant rhubarb (_Rheum nobile_), and at 14,000 feet we
picked quantities of the wild edible rhubarb. A little lower down we
came to large blue scabius, 3 to 4 feet high, a dark blue monkshood and
quantities of the tall yellow poppy. Rhododendrons, birches and junipers
begin at about 13,500 feet, and at 12,000 feet the junipers are the
predominating tree; they are of immense size, upwards of 20 feet in
girth and from 120 to 150 feet in height and of a very even and perfect
growth. Here we met with the Sikkim black tit (_Parus beavani_), and a
little lower down among the firs (_Abies webbiana_) we came upon
bullfinches (_Pyrrhula erythrocephala_). At 11,000 feet I saw a langur
monkey (_Semnopithecus entellus_), the only monkey I saw in Tibet.
Excepting one solitary bat, the only other mammal we saw in this valley
was another species of pika (_Ochotona roylei nepalensis_), which
appears here to be confined to a zone between the altitudes of 12,000
and 14,000 feet; it is not found in dry valleys.
Among the trees in the lower Kama Valley grow many parnassias, a tall
green fritillaria, a handsome red swertia and a very sweet-scented pink
orchis. We found the tubers (but not the flowers) of an arum, which the
Tibetans collect and make of it a very unpalatable bread. We went down
through large rhododendrons, magnolias, bamboos, alders, sycamores, all
draped in long wisps of lichen (_Usnea_), to the junction of the Kama
with the Arun River, where we found ourselves in the region of the blue
pine. The lower part of the Kama Valley is unpleasantly full of leeches,
and in the course of an excursion to the Popti La (14,000 feet), one of
the principal passes from Tibet to Sikkim, we were astonished to find
them very numerous and active at an altitude of 12,000 feet. At our
low-altitude camps in this valley hundreds of moths were attracted by
the light of our camp fire, and a few came to the dim candle lamps in
our tents. A collector who came here with a proper equipment could not
fail to make a large collection of moths.
[Illustration: FOREST IN THE KAMA VALLEY.]
Proceeding up the Kharta Valley in the beginning of September we found
that most of the roses and rhododendrons had gone to seed, but some of
the gentians, particularly _Gentiana ornata_, were at their best. Near
our camp at 17,000 feet, along the edges of streams, a very handsome
gentian (_G. nubigena_) with half a dozen flowers growing on a single
stem was very conspicuous, and growing with it was an aromatic little
purple and yellow aster (_A. heterochaeta_); in the same place was a
bright yellow senecio (_S. arnicoides_) with shining, glossy leaves. A
curious dark blue dead-nettle (_Dracocephalum speciosum_) was found on
dry ground at the same altitude. In the stony places grew up to 19,000
feet the dwarf blue meconopsis mentioned above, and many saxifrages,
notably a very small white one (_S. umbellulata_). On the steeper rocks
from 16,000 feet to the snow-line (roughly 20,000 feet) were found
edelweiss (_Leontopodium_) of three species. Very noticeable at these
altitudes are the curious saussureas, large composites packed with
cotton wool; if you open one of them on the coldest day, even when it is
covered with snow, you find it quite warm inside, and often a bumble bee
will come buzzing out.
Another very interesting plant at 17,000 to 18,000 feet is a dwarf blue
hairy delphinium (_D. brunnoneanum_) with a strong smell. The Tibetans
dry the flowers of this plant and use them as a preventive against lice.
This has its disadvantages, for when a Tibetan dies his body is
undertaken by the professional butcher, who cuts it up and exposes it on
the hills to be disposed of by the vultures and wolves. A body tainted
with the delphinium flowers is unpalatable to the scavengers, and it is
known that a man must have been wicked in life whose body is rejected by
the vultures and wolves.
The smallest rhododendrons (_R. setosum_ and _R. lepidotum_) disappear
before 19,000 feet, after which vegetation is almost non-existent. A
few grasses and mosses are still found to 20,000 feet, and the highest
plant we found was a small arenaria (_A. musciformis_), which grows in
flat cushions a few inches wide up to 20,100 feet.
Mammals in the upper Kharta Valley are not numerous. A pika of a new
species (_Ochotona wollastoni_) is found from 15,000 to 20,000 feet, and
a new vole (_Phaiomys everesti_) was found at 17,000 feet. The small
black rat previously seen was here too, and an unseen mouse entered our
tents and ate our food at 20,000 feet. Fox and hare were both seen above
18,000 feet, and undoubted tracks of them on the Kharta Glacier at
21,000 feet. Wolves were seen about 19,000 feet, and those tracks seen
in snow at 21,500 feet, which gave rise to so much discussion, were
almost certainly those of a wolf. Burhel were fairly common between
17,000 and 19,000 feet, and we found their droppings on stones at 20,000
feet.
Birds of several species were found from 17,000 feet upwards. The
Tibetan snow-partridge (_Tetraogallus tibetanus_) is common in large
parties up to the snow-line. Dippers (_Cinclus cashmirensis_) are found
in the streams up to 17,000 feet, and at about the same altitude lives
in the big boulders of moraines a small and very dark wren, which is
almost certainly new, but only one immature bird was brought home.
Snow-finches and the Eastern alpine accentor appeared to be resident up
to the snow-line. Several migrating birds were seen in September at
17,000 feet and above, among them Temminck's stint, painted snipe,
pin-tailed snipe, house-martin and several pipits. More than once at
night the cry of migrating waders was heard, curlew being unmistakable,
and (I think) bar-tailed godwit.
Our camps at 17,000 feet and at 20,000 feet were visited daily by
Laemmergeier, raven, red-billed chough, alpine chough and black-eared
kite, and I saw twice a hoopoe fly over the Kharta Glacier at about
21,000 feet; a small pale hawk flew overhead at the same time. The
highest bird seen was a Laemmergeier (bearded vulture); when I was
taking photographs from our camp on the Lhakpa La (22,350 feet) I saw
one of these birds come sailing over the top of the North peak of
Everest and apparently high above the peak, probably at an altitude of
not less than 25,000 feet.[19]
[19] Detailed accounts of the collections made will be found: Mammals,
_Annals and Magazine of Nat. Hist._, Feb. 1922. Birds, _Ibid._,
July, 1922. Insects, _Annals and Magazine of Nat. Hist._, May and
June, 1922.