Part 127 - Halt at Dongkar; visit from Tsona Dzongpon; glacier observations and botanical notes

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SUMMARY:
The party halts at Dongkar amid showers, hosts the Tsona Dzongpon who enjoys cigarettes and Cointreau, and arranges to send him a Rhoorki chair from Calcutta. Notes mention Bhutanese traders from Trashiyangsi, glacier views near the Gorpa La with a route to Gor, and botanical finds including a notable gentian (Lomatogonium spathulatum) and other species.

CONTENT:
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number of Bhutanese here from Trashiyangsi today - trading.

Note. The glaciers on the hills to the north of the Gorpa La are extensive, and certainly show from Dongkar through an angle of 68° Mag to 98° Mag. There is a route down the valley from the Gorpa La to the village of Gor. A few peas are grown in Dongkar.

17th August. Halt at Dongkar. A good day with some showers, but lovely in between. We had some pretty heavy rain in the night, and a good deal came in through the tent, which is otherwise magnificent. The Tsona Dzongpon called and stayed an hour. He was given a tin of cigarettes on the quiet and was very pleased with them. Later on he asked for a drink of something warming! And he a lama. He was given a glass of Cointreau, and judging by the noise made, thoroughly enjoyed it. He sat in my Rhoorki chair and was so pleased with that too, that we are going to send one from the Army & Navy in Calcutta. Found a few flowers, but only one of interest, a fine gentian growing in very dry stony ground. (834). It must be near that found on the Thuka La by Dansey near Lingmathang, though the habitat is so entirely...

[Margin Notes:]
Donkhar 17/Aug
Lomatogonium spathulatum sp. nov. 834
Potentilla 835.
Adenophora smithii 836
Pedicularis rhinanthoides var. labellata 837
Primula sikkimensis 838
Picris spinulosa 839

Lomatogonium spathulatum sp. nov. 834