Showing 5 results

SUMMARY:
The diarist halts at Tsona, collects and packs Paraquilegia and catches Parnassius butterflies, while dealing with staff illness and asking the Dzongpen to arrange further collection and forwarding to Sahden amid rainy, snowy weather. Delays occur when yaks fail to arrive under the Tibetan 'Tao' system, with details of payments and origins from the Mago direction. The party then camps west of Gorpa La, noting barometric readings for nearby passes and Dongkar, and a route skirting Tsona hill.

CONTENT:
57

13th August - Halt Tsona. B.P. 186.7 Temp. 58°. Spent the morning taking bits of Paraquilegia, & catching parnassius, a number of P. imperator were seen & caught, but of the others only P. epaphus. Packed the Paraquilegia in two boxes, below stones, then charcoal, then earth. Ramzana down with fever. Ahmad Sheikh now better. Always one of them seems to have it. Bagged six lots of Paraquilegia flowers, & asked the Dzongpen to arrange to collect & send on to Sahden. He promises to, but I am a little doubtful. A good deal of rain, & some fresh snow on the hills round about.

[Marginal notes: Cyananthus incanus 794, Meconopsis horridula, Clematis orientalis 797, Butterflies, Paraquilegia]

14th August. Halt at Tsona. Yaks did not turn up, so we had to wait. The system of 'Tao' in Tibet is a curse. Our yaks had to come from 2-3 days journey away in the Mago direction to take us in the opposite direction. We pay them 2 tankas a day per yak, besides which they get 3 tankas per day from the Tsona people.

[Marginal note: Gentiana aglaia 798]

15th August. Camp West of GORPA LA. 14 miles. (B.P. of Gorpa La 181.1" Temp 50°. B.P. of SANG LA. 181.9" Temp 50°. B.P. of Dongkar 188.5 Temp 58°.). If camped at Tsona village, route leaves towards the West, & skirts the Tsona hill, turning to the North, over a

SUMMARY:
Travel notes describe the route over the Mo La toward Lhuntse, observations around Shö and Bung with terraced cultivation, a possible pass to Cyandro, and contrasts between the wooded hills south of the Char Chu and the drier side. A report from Sanga Choling mentions Tibetan funerary practices involving the river. On 8 August at Shirap (14000', 11 miles), the weather improved and several alpine plants were noted, with some barley cultivation above the tree line.

CONTENT:
about m. 1, where a bridge leads over to the R. bank then over the Mo La to Lhuntse. Nothing of interest in flower, but many of the big gentian (G. waltonii?) all the way up here on the dry hillside. Shö is a big place, even bigger than Bung with a great deal of terraced cultivation and several small villages amongst the fields. By going up the valley to the E of the Mo La one can get over a pass to Cyandro. The hills to the S. of the Char Chu look very inviting, all wooded with fir and rhododendron. This side is too dry and only has small shrubs on it. The Char Chu is still pretty big. I heard at Sanga Choling that all dead Tibetans are thrown into the river. So there, besides drinking its very muddy water, we were also drinking a kind of infusion of dead bodies. However it tasted alright, and we are none the worse.

8th August. Shirap. 14000' 11 miles. A lovely day, misty in the morning, then brighter as the day wore on. Nothing much at first but masses of G. waltonii in bud. Then a fine Campanula (robusta?), Cyananthus incanus, Gentiana detonsa. This is a beautiful place, above the tree zone, but with a little barley cultivation.

SUMMARY:
Notes describe a distinctive blue flower and, at Sanga Chöling, a lovely day interrupted by a hailstorm while collecting seeds of several species. The party met Pemako people who encouraged a southern approach, camped in the same garden where an incarnation welcomed them with tea and peaches, and heard mail was in Tsona with plans to send a man. The following day was a halt for letter writing and drying seeds, with Gentiana specimens noted for specific passes.

CONTENT:
not seen before. The blue is not intense, but clear, & the plicae show up a more lilac blue, quite distinct from the lobes. It opens well out to a [T-shape] shape, & though stumpy, is very pretty. It grows more or less singly, but has up to 4 flowers on a scape.

21st Sept. Sanga Chöling. 10 m. 10900'. A lovely day, with a very bad hailstorm in between sun & clear sky. We all dawdled down here,
Gen. veitchiorum 2596 G. waltonii 2597 Cyananthus incanus 2593
only getting in at 4.0pm. spending the time collecting seed. A few expected things were not ripe, like Prim. pulchelloides, & the big androsace. But we got some of P. szechuanica, P. tibetica, the pretty, dry zone iris, & two salvias. Met the same Pemako people who were here with us last, & they again affirmed how ready they would be if we were to go to Pemako, from the South or North. They favored the South & said it was much easier that way, - they could come down much near the plains. They seem a very nice lot. Camped in the same garden, & were met by this incarnation with tea & peaches. No sign of a mail, but we hear it is in Tsona & intend sending a man off in a couple of days.
Sanga Chöling

22nd September Halt. A lovely day, no rain. Wrote letters & dried seeds etc.
Gentiana urnula for Traka La 2704, G. algida for Sokpo La 2705 2707
" waltonii for Shirap

SUMMARY:
Knight arranges to forward mail to Tsona or Sangachöling, with plans to have someone at S.C. bring it on. The diarist travels in heavy rain from Cyandro to Kyimpu, changing coolies en route, and notes several alpine plants, hoping to find Gentiana amoena in flower on the Leda.

CONTENT:
Knight fixed about the mail, but he will always forward mail either to Tsona or to Sangachöling. We must get someone at S.C. to bring it on to us. I think perhaps this is the best way of doing it.

26th July. Cyandro. 12 miles. Rained all day very hard. Nothing seen at all till near Cyandro, where I saw a good deal of that pretty vinca-blue creeper 2423 (Codonopsis vinciflora), collected again under a new number. Here there is one big Aconite (Aconitum orochryseum sp. nov. 2433, viridiflorum 2433) 5 1/2 - 6 ft tall, but nothing else of interest seen. Had to change coolies half way, but there was not very much delay, as notice had been sent on. Great hopes for tomorrow: we should find some good things on the way up the Leda, & I hope that Gentiana amoena will be in flower on the top.

27th July. Kyimpu. 12,500. 12 miles. Yesterday was really a foul day; it rained all evening then all night. Today was reasonably fine till about 10. Then rain hard all day. There was not very much to be seen all day - on the way up a small campanula & a very small Meconopsis (Meconopsis 2451), with fine blue flowers. Gentiana amoena seems hardly any further on than when I was there last, three weeks ago. Near it were two Cremanthodium (Cremanthodium sherriffii 2458, Cremanthodium purpurifolium 2454), one of which I had (Rhododendron lepidotum 2447, Codonopsis convolvulacea 2448, Cyananthus incanus 2452, thermile 2457, Fritillaria fusca sp. nov. 2459).

SUMMARY:
Slight rain on the descent from Bela La to Paro; arrival about 1 pm, followed by a visit from Paro from 2 pm to 6 pm, whose over-familiar manner and open dislike of the Maharaja are noted, with mention of the death of his mother Ashi Palden and inquiries about floating logs down the Wangde Chu. Botanical notes record Cyananthus incanus (3564), Cyananthus lobatus (3565), Codonopsis convolvulacea (3568), and a Codonopsis resembling C. vinciflora with a wine-red ring at the corolla base and hairs to the ring.

CONTENT:
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Bela La - Paro. Aug 10 Cyananthus incanus 3564, Cyananthus lobatus 3565 Codonopsis convolvulacea 3568
11-12000ft.
92

Slight rain today. Arrived in about 1.0pm. Then Paro came to me at 2.0pm stayed till 6.0pm. He is quite easy to talk to and has lots to say, but I'm not sure that I like him very much. He is too friendly - in fact he embraced me many times, rubbed his forehead on my chest and clutched my hand for as long as he could. He most certainly does not like the Maharaja and said so pretty openly. The late Maharaja he liked but not this one. He sometimes says one thing, sometimes another; he never told him I was coming so on and so on. I did not like the way he talked at all. A good deal is probably due to the death of Ashi Palden his Mother, who had a very good influence over him. I fancy he was trying to get something out of me, and was asking about floating logs down the Wangde Chu.

On the way down from the pass we found a Codonopsis which looks like Codonopsis vinciflora, but has a ring of wine red at the base of the corolla and hairs from the base to the ring