Showing 8 results

SUMMARY:
Zimpon visits from Tashi Cho Dzong and demonstrates imported rice mills, with the diarist comparing Kashgar huskers. The party travels through Pyimitangha to Paro and Ha Dzong amid variable weather, meets Tasho and his men near the Belaka, and laments missing a Codonopsis previously collected on 14 Aug 1937.

CONTENT:
Zimpon rode down from Tashi Cho Dzong to see us, he stayed a long time with us. He has imported two rice mills & I went to see one. It is a small & easily transported machine, which husks 30 mds a day. He takes 5% of rice as payment. He made the wooden driving wheel & the power is water. It all works very well. I showed him how the rice huskers of Kashgar work, & think he will make one to try.

11th August. Pyimitangha. 5.15 to 10.30. Fine till we got in, then a few showers, & a fine evening. A nice valley, dryer than any seen in Bhutan, with mixed pine & broadleaf forest. Ceratostigma griffithianum common on first half of March, but in poor flower this year.

12th Aug. Paro. Mist & some rain until close to Paro. Were met on the Belaka by some of Tasho Drugyel's men with tea & biscuits, & later on by Tasho himself. This was unfortunate, as I had no chance of finding the Codonopsis again, which I got on 14 Aug 1937, & which is new. This was very sad indeed, but I will have another chance on returning.

13th August Ha Dzong. 6.30 to 2.30 Heavy rain to start with but clearing up. Did not see any Peony, but was not looking carefully

SUMMARY:
Halted in Bumthang, the diarist visited H.H., discussed plans regarding Paro and Chamurchi, local administrative matters including Tashi Drunyer, received reports from Lhasa about Kapsinpa Shape’s imprisonment, and noted heavy rain damage near Chenderi and the Ha–Chamurchi road area; Betty was expected in London, and Dorji was treated with penicillin and M&B 760. On 5th September they marched in rain to Shabjetang and observed a new Codonopsis common near the Dhur river, collecting tubers and another pressing.

CONTENT:
3rd & 4th Sept. Halt Bumthang. I went to H.H. each day, had 3 hours alone the first day and a short visit, when Choden was present, the second day. H.H. was very easy to talk to and had much more to say. He is worried about Paro and the poor servants who are there running the place—or failing to. He will go there himself in a month or two's time. Then on to Chamurchi for a month or more. I tried to get him to say he would go on to Kalimpong, but I don't think he will. He talks now of doing many things for the locals, and probably will. I just hope they will be practical and not overdone. I asked him not to spoil Tashi Drunyer by letting him do nothing and have a dozen servants or so, but to give him a definite job of work. I wonder if he will. Tashi will be left in Bumthang though, with his brother, when H.H. goes to Paro. Two of Purbo Wangdi's servants returned from Lhasa yesterday. They described Kapsinpa Shape as being very securely imprisoned, with iron manacles on wrists and legs and a cangue round his neck, and shut up in a closely walled-in room, from which there is no normal exit. More reports of road damage come in from near Chenderi and more extensive from the Ha-Chamurchi road area. The rain must certainly have been very, very heavy these last 15 days or so. Betty should have reached London on the 3rd, all being well. I continued to give Dorji penicillin injections, 100,000 units at a time till I had given 10 injections. Then I gave him a course of M&B 760. He is very much better and should manage to reach Ludlow all right.

5th September Shabjetang. Rain almost all day. Left at 6:30 and in at 10:00. Nothing of interest, except that the new Codonopsis (Convolvulaceae 19674) is common from the mouth of the Dhur river, for quite a long way up this valley. We took 14 tubers and another pressing. There is a...

SUMMARY:
After heavy rain, the writer reached Damthang and rediscovered a striking blue Codonopsis near Hatö village, planning to mark plants for seed and corm collection. The next day they returned to Ha via Ha La, photographed Meconopsis habitat, and noted abundant Polygonum vacciniifolia. A remark notes that Tasho remains unmoved by commendable deeds in Bhutan.

CONTENT:
deserves the thanks of everyone in Bhutan for what he has done. It leaves Tasho unmoved. He hardly thinks of such things at all.

16th August Damthang. We left this morning after a night of very heavy rain, at 9.30 were in Damthang at 1.30. The only interesting thing which happened on the way was the finding again of the very lovely Codonopsis which I got in 1937 under 3568. This we failed to find near Paro where originally taken, & was very worried about it. But here - just below Hatö village - we found many plants, & should have no real difficulty in getting seed & corms fit in October. I will in any case have them marked with stakes. The flower is most beautiful, a bright vivid blue, & bigger than Codonopsis vinciflora. This is shown up well by a wine red ring 1/2" diam in the centre of the flower, & a rusty brown large globular stigma. Otherwise it is just like C vinciflora. If we get this introduced, it should be a great attraction at home. The corms or tubers are like potatoes, & can be as much as 2" long.

17th August. Return to Ha via Ha La. The day started well, after heavy rain at night, & B & I got up to the Ha La by 9.30 in drizzling rain. But when we reached the place where Mec. superba grows, between the two passes, the sun came out & we had one hour quite bright again. During this I took some habitat photos of the Mec., which of course is now in unripe fruit. It was very pretty up there, as flowers are still numerous. The most beautiful is certainly Polygonum vacciniifolia sprawling over rocks & forming huge clumps of bright rich pink.

SUMMARY:
After a very cold night with snowfall, the party enjoyed clear weather and fine scenery with Sengdam La visible, noted a large flock of Grandala at Tumbabe, and observed various birds including geese and mallard (two of which were shot and retrieved). They marched from Lunang to Daú below Chunjima, remarked on Lunang ironwork, and collected plants including Notholirion hyacinthinum, a Codonopsis (seed), and a probable Primula sonchifolia.

CONTENT:
Last night was very cold indeed, and 1/2" snow fell. The fall was general down to well below this place. It was rather sickening to wake up to a perfect clear morning, which if we had had yesterday would have given us wonderful views. Today the scenery was very fine, even without any sight of Gyala Peri or Namcha. Sengdam La, 20,700', is visible for a good part of the day, in a fine background to the open grassy valley & Picea-clad hills on either side. Again at Tumbabe, we found a huge flock of perhaps 300 Grandala, feeding on Hippophae. I took both cine & still photos of these. Birds were very numerous again, all of a sudden. Trochalopteron henrici & affinis & Ianthocincla ocellata, besides rose finches & accentors. We saw no game birds but 2 geese, which certainly were not bar-headed or grey lag. I think they must have been white fronted. I could easily have shot both, but had just sent off Tsongpen with the gun. In Lunang they make pierced iron work — waist belt ornaments, swords cases & so on. We have seen the waist belt pieces — six, each about 3" long. Total price asked 20 sangs, which would normally equal about Rs 3/-.

21st Dec. Daú. (about 2-3 m. below Chunjima). Last night the cold was intense, due to snow & a very clear sky. There is little doubt that this side of the Temu La is much colder than in the Tsangpo valley at similar heights. It was a difficult job rolling up the tent, but we were off at 7.50 again, arrived here about 2.0. This was a short march, but a very pleasant one indeed. At first the temp was so low that we couldn't get warm, but by 9.30 we were in the sun & comfortable. About a mile from Lunang, I saw four mallard on the river, & shot two. Both fell in the half frozen river, but were rescued. Otherwise there were few birds seen today anything of interest. Of plants we saw more. Notholirion hyacinthinum was again seen & seed of a Codonopsis was taken.
R. Hunter 12021 The most interesting find however, was what I took to be Primula sonchifolia. It was growing on a slope which got no sun, & so the ground was frozen very

CONTENT:
We only found 2 Codonopsis, one could not find the tuber, and the seed was not nearly ripe. This is a nice march to have got over. There is nothing now to worry about except officials and presents in Paro. We seem to have got near the end of our trip very suddenly, with only three days to go.

22nd October Pyimitangka. Low clouds in the morning looking like rain. But they soon cleared away and the day was beautiful, with just enough cloud for extra beauty. Ceratostigma griffithianum is in better flower now than it was in August, so we did not get much seed - 31 seeds actually, out of a big bundle of heads. The river is very low. Both this river and the main Thimpu river look lovely for trout, and neither comes down very dirty at any time.

23rd October. Paro. Lovely day. We came slowly, with a wait on the pass where the view was very pretty. Then down to search for Codonopsis. Here 5 of us looked with great care and we got in all 6 tubers only and a few seed. The Zimpon spent a long time with us and promises to give transport tonight, ready for a very early start in the morning.

24th Oct. Ha. Again a lovely day, but with dense cloud in the morning, through which we ascended about 2000 ft up. The Zimpon's promises meant exactly nothing at all. Coolies came at all hours in the morning, not the evening before, and some did not leave Paro till midday. So coolies were not all in till 8.0pm. Took a few seed on the way and roots of P. griffithii from the Chelai La. Ludlow joined up here, in very good form and very fit. Chuni and Ugyen also here, and came to dinner.

25th Oct. Today the bulk of our kit went off to Rinchenpong, with the...

SUMMARY:
Inventory of seed collections recorded since Tongkyuk on 8 January 1947, listing numerous taxa with field numbers. Notes include plant types, colours, heights, and fruits (e.g., Rhododendron spp., Clematis, Gaultheria, Viburnum, Quercus, Acer).

CONTENT:
68

Seed collected since Tongkyuk 8.1.47.

12039 Cremanthodium sp. 12236 Gaultheria discolor white.
12063 Deutzia Philadelphus tomentosus 12237 Daphne longilobata
12064 Piptanthus sp. 12238 Gaultheria wardii blue.
12078 (2) Viburnum atrocyaneum 12239 Rhod. sp. virgatum ser?
12081 Ground orchid 12245 Rhod. sp. scopulorum
12084 Clematis yunnanensis 12249 Quercus.
12085 (3) Tree bunches br. red fruit. 12263 Peach. Prunus amygdalus.
12089 Comp. shrub. Senecio scandens 12504 Acer
12093 " - " (bright yellow) Senecio scandens 12505 Rhod. trichocladum
12095 Shrub 4'-6' not seen Pyracantha semiserrata 12508 Pieris formosa
12098 " - " 10'-15'
12099 Clematis sp.
12100 Clematis sp. yunnanensis
12105 Shrub flr cream fruit scarlet. Damnacanthus indicus
12106 (2) Anemone sp.
12117 Rhod. Madd. Ser. sino-nuttallii
12125 Daphne longilobata
12135 Euonymus.
12141 Juniper. Cupressus torulosa
12142 Tree 100' not known. Cedrela
12145 Codonopsis. Leptocodon gracilis
12161 Aster.
12181 Tree not known.
12188 Briggsia Schefflera sp.
12208 Rhod. sp. (irroratum ser?)
12231 Rhod. sp. scopulorum
12231 A " - "

SUMMARY:
Notes record seeds sent via Tashi to Ha on 21.8., and plant collections/observations along routes between W' phodrang, Tsalimape, Pyimitangha, and Paro. Species noted include Astilbe, Campanula, Cotoneaster, Ceratostigma, Clematis, Anemone japonica, Polygonum wallichii, Luculia pinceana, Saxifraga, and Codonopsis. MK is mentioned as having met the party.

CONTENT:
115

Seed sent Tashi to Ha on 21.8. 19613 Podocarpum himalaicum
19280 Streptopus simplex

Pyimitangha to Paro. Seed of big white Astilbe. } where MK met us.
✓ purplered "
yellow Saxifraga near top L side 1/4 m down
Codonopsis

Tsalimape to Pyimitangha. ✓ Campanula. all open steep earth bank.
✓ Cotoneaster. 19632
X many colored shrubs R bank river below 3rd br.
✓ Ceratostigma 1st village.
X Red Clematis upper ruined village below Pyi.
✓ Anemone japonica between 2 ruined villages ...
W' phodrang to Tsalimape. ✓ Polygonum wallichii opp Tahudu.
X Luculia pinceana 1/2 m above "
✓ Red Clematis 2nd clearing beyond S/G bridge R bank

SUMMARY:
Page lists numbered plant collections with taxa and brief notes, recorded at multiple sites including Chendebi, Ritang, Thampela, Rinta tso, Orila tso, Busa, Maruthang, Tsalimape, Hein Laiza, Kyikyi La, Pelela Pass, Ha, and Chela La. Entries are dated between 13 and 25 October 1949.

CONTENT:
19579 ?? Chendebi 17/10
165 19581 Morina fine Chendebi 17/10
150+ 19831 Lilium nepalense Chendebi 17/10
19832 Primula umbratilis var. alba Ritang 17.10.
19833 Lychnis wardii Thampela 17.10.
19834 Pedicularis sp. Rinta tso 17.10.
170 19835 Primula tsariensis var. alba Orila tso 17.10.
19836 Primula uniflora Orila tso 17.10.
19837 Gentiana tubiflora Thampela 17.10.
19838 Codonopsis sp. (red) Thampela 17.10.
19839 Codonopsis white Orila tso 17.10.
175 19840 Meconopsis villosa Busa 17.10.
19841 Geranium sp. large flower Maruthang 17.10.
19544 Thalictrum chelidonii Maruthang 17.10.
19582 Shrub? Ritang 18/10 many colored
19075 Philadelphus sp. Chendebi 17.10.49
180 19518 Astilbe sp. pink Tsalimape 21.10.
19544 Thalictrum chelidonii Hein Laiza 21.10.
(4) 19590 Clematis small red Hein Laiza 21.10.
(2) 19573 Anemone sp. (japonica) Tsalimape 22.10.
(2) 19535 Clematis sp. big flowered Kyikyi La 13.10.
185 19266 Briggsia sp? yellow. On tree trunks. Ritang 17.10.
19586 Morina fine Pelela Pass 23.10.
19620 Codonopsis sp. Pelela Pass 23.10.
19629 ? Tall white like Astilbe Pelela Pass 23.10.
19620 Codonopsis sp. Ha 25.10.49
190 19626 Sedum sp. pink Chela La 24.10.