Showing 5 results

SUMMARY:
Describes a frosty halt day, continued collection of Gentiana (lacunulata), and praise for the seed collector Tupden. Notes comparisons of the Dhu Chu area with the Bumthang Chu, reports a letter from HH about upcoming arrivals (Hicks, MK, Tasho Drunyer), tallies seed and plant collections, and mentions confirmations by Ludlow and Taylor regarding Mec. Sherriffii.

CONTENT:
with Mec. paniculata, simplicifolia & horridula, all of which are in cultivation at home. Tupden is one of the best seed collectors there could be. He takes great pains & always goes on till called away. I wished to have had him from the beginning. Now I know him, I find him very good indeed. He is a Khampa, probably a runaway murderer or something like that, from Markham. The area of the Dhu Chu is something like shown opposite.

4th October Halt. Another lovely day, & very cold hard frost last night. The tents each night now are covered with frost inside & out, & this makes them very heavy. Nothing special happened today. I went out to look for more of yesterday's Gentiana (lacunulata) 19789, & after a while we found a lot of it. It reminds me of G. amplicrata which we first found at Zimsati near Sangacholing in Takpo. I don't think it is G. depressa, & certainly isn't G. amoena. The more I see of this area, the better it looks. It holds much more than the Bumthang Chu valley, although this is a tributary of the Bumthang Chu. It must be more than just not so many yaks here, although there is no doubt that many yaks, & sheep too, in a valley, make a very great difference to the flora. A letter came in from HH to say Tasho Drunyer will arrive on 6th. So with Hicks on 5th, MK on 6th & us on 7th, there will be some activity in Bumthang this week. The main seed collection is now over, & I have about 130 gatherings of seed now, besides the 40-50 taken before & some 25 rooted plants & a number of bulbs & tubers & corms & so on. Ludlow tells me he has 5 lbs. of seed of Mec. Sherriffii! That shows how common it is when it does occur. Taylor has confirmed that it is Mec. Sherriffii, but a very fine form of it.

SUMMARY:
Page records advances made to families of workers and details ration allowances. It also notes staff joining dates and payment arrangements in 1949, including amounts advanced and recipients such as spouses, brothers, and friends.

CONTENT:
Advances before leaving. For families
Tsongpon Rs 55. 100 + 15. Rs 30 To wife 1st Apr to 1st Oct - Rs 210 paid
Chento 35 60 + 10 Rs 15 To brother Thage Lepcha. Dalapchen School
Lhakpa 40 40 Rs 25 - wife Buddhimaiya Raini 1 May
Passang 35 40 + 10 nil
Kanden 45 80 Rs 20 brother Pasang Sherpa.

Ration allowance at Rs 20/- per head per month.
Advance on 27.3. Rs 30 = Rs 6/- each
5.4. 20 = Rs 4/-
Ngudup joined on 9.4.49. Rs 30/- paid to friend Pasang 4/7/49. Paid.
Yunden joined on 12.5.49. Rs 10/- paid.
Changchun to be paid from 9.4.49. Paid up to 5 Sept.
Tupden from 15.8.49 @ Rs 35. Advance paid Rs 30/-.
Namgye from 13.9.49.
Ngudup to be paid from 5.9.49.

SUMMARY:
Entries describe leaving frost-bound Gortsum after a storm, incentivizing the team to dig a large haul of lily bulbs (430 total) with little Meconopsis bella seed found, and reaching camp early. The next day at Dhur was a short march with collection of Notholirion macrophyllum bulbs and Thalictrum chelidonii seed, seed-drying and packing, games with companions, and Yundon sent to Shasjetang to collect more seed before rejoining at Kuji (Bumthang).

CONTENT:
5th October. Gortsum. Another lovely day. We were all anxious to be off this morning. It thundered last evening and rained and sleeted heavily, but cleared up about midnight and was sparkling and very cold indeed. My tent was thick with frost which we eventually thawed off by making 3 large fires and bringing the tent to them. It is a long march and we were anxious to get as many bulbs of the new lily as possible. So I offered Rs 1/- per 25 to Pasang, Yundru, Tupden and the man with a pony. On the word 'go' Yundru was down to it at once, the others were slower. When we had to stop, the result was Yundru 157, Pasang 123, Tupden and the pony man 75 each. So we have 430 bulbs, as well as a good deal of seed. I could find very little Mec. bella seed, although it was quite profuse in the same place, when in flower. We got in at 2.0 having walked very fast today. It is very very warm here to us, after those high camps, but I must say is rather pleasant for a change.

6th Oct. Dhur. A lovely day and a very short march. In at 8.30 am. We collected only two things on the way - bulbs of Notholirion macrophyllum and seed of Thalictrum chelidonii. I had a good day drying seed and packing things away, while everyone else washed clothes and bodies for our arrival tomorrow. By 2.30 I had finished work, so joined Ngudup, Namgyal, and HH's syce who had come out to meet me in a game of stone throwing, like we used to have with the high lama officials in Lhasa. From 2.30 till it was too dark to see at 5.45 we played without a pause, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Yundon went on today to Shasjetang to get seed of four other trees and shrubs, and will join us in Kuji (Bumthang) tomorrow.

SUMMARY:
Page lists black-and-white, Dufaycolor, and Kodachrome photographs with subjects, specimen numbers, and dates from late September to early October. Locations include Marlung, Tolegang La, Larko La, and Jin La, with scenes of alpine flora, yaks, and views. A companion named Tupden is noted collecting seed and climbing a cliff.

CONTENT:
B.W. 15

1. Lake in valley opp. camp Marlung. 27.9.
2. Valley S. of Tolegang La. 3.10
3. Woolly Saussurea on Tolegang La. "
4. Larko La to Jin La "
5. Gentian depressa 4.10
6. No 19789 "
7. • "
8. Small Aconite 19727 & Gent. 5/10
9. Primula capitata 19816. 5/10
10. " " "

Dufaycolor 25.

1. Woolly Saussurea on Tolegang La. 3/10
2. 1 + 2 no filter
5. Gent. depressa? 19789 4/10
6. //

Kodachrome 33
Yak at Kangkarpunsum. 27.9.
Group of Swertia, Gent., Delphinium etc. Tolegang 2/10
Tupden after seed of P. umbratilis }
P. umbratilis, with withered leaves, Tolegang 2/10
Tupden on cliff. }
View to E from Tolegang. 2/10 //

Kodachrome 34.
Valley S. of Tolegang La. 3/10
Yaks crossing the Tolegang La. "
Woolly Saussurea "
Larko La to Jin La "
Gentiana depressa? 19789 4/10
Small aconite 19727 5/10 //

SUMMARY:
The diarist reports fleas from bamboo mats, notes Lilium nepalense and collects fine Podocarpum seed while traveling from Kotakha across Suele La and Tsele La into the Phobsikha valley, then planning and taking the Chele La toward Rukusi and Chendesi amid disputes with coolies and route advice from locals. News arrives that Ludlow has sent Dawong back to Bumthang with a bad leg.

CONTENT:
Too many fleas in it, from the bamboo mats supplied by locals. Nothing of interest seen on the way, except we noticed that there are some Lilium nepalense, though not many. Kotakha is about 2½ miles beyond the Muele La, on the left bank of the wide valley. This valley here is called the Pausa Chu, and the headman says that lower down it is called the Biameshu Chu, which is marked on the map.

27th August. Issa in Phobsikha valley. Very heavy rain last night, but it was to a clear sky at last that we woke up, and set off at 5.0 am. It remained fine except for some showers till the evening. This is the first sun we have seen since I left Betty at 10.30 on the Hala-Kyu La. The ascent to the Suele La was easy in climbs, but the wind was really awful and very difficult to deal with. The pass is about 10500-11000' and about 5 miles from Kotakha. Descent easy into another broad open valley. Path skirts the top of this, keeping up pretty well. It then climbs easily again to the Tsele La at about mile 10. It is again about 11000'. Descent into the Phobsikha valley not very steep, and path comes down half way between Phobsikha and Gonte Gompa. I could not find where we were supposed to go. We had been told Gonte, but coolies insisted in coming here. The locals want us to go over the pass north of Gonte, which would mean we could not reach Chendesi tomorrow. I have refused to go that way, and we will go over another pass, the Chele La to Rukusi. Got very fine seed of Podocarpum today. No flowers at all.

28th August Chendesi - I got in at 1.0, but Tupden had to stay for one miserable coolie who did not turn up and is very late. He had to change twice, once only 3 miles away, and again at Rukusi. The pass, the Chele La, about 12000', was not bad at all, but the path this side is very poor. No news from Ludlow, but it seems he has had to send Dawong back to Bumthang with a very bad leg. He is