Showing 22 results

SUMMARY:
Heavy rain at Tum La hampers collecting; most Primula are over, though a yellow-flowered Meconopsis is noted. On 9–10 July the party faces flooding on the Nagü Chu, Kusho warns the coolies, threats are reported from local Lopas about going to Nagü, and the plan shifts to bypass Shoka La and proceed to Lando.

CONTENT:
Tum La
Mola - Milung - Nagu Trip no more successful than Langong Trip

Primula etc. P. calliantha are all over. (5785). It is a nivalis primula & I think has yellow flowers. Omphalogramma elwesiana? 5786 is also common, flowers just about over, & P. valentiniana is also about over. The nivalis p. is the only new one, & I was awfully sorry not to be able to find even one plant with a flower on it. The one bright spot was a Meconopsis lyrata or horridula? 5790, which reminds me much of M. argemonantha, but it has yellow flowers, and not white ones. We left enough for seed, if we can again find the place, which will be difficult as we could recognize nothing to mark it by today, in the mist. It is a nice little thing, & should do well enough at home, judging by the altitude. This Tum La must surely be the lowest Pass in the Himalayas, only 12250 ft. I had thought of trying somewhere else after today, but will go south towards the Lopa village tomorrow, & look for low altitude flowers. We saw one of monal today & some snipe - no other game. Out at 5.00 am, back at 4.00 pm.

9th July. Halt. Tum La. Rained all night, & very hard all today. We are going to have some difficulty getting back to Nagü I think. Kusho went off today to warn the coolies to come early tomorrow, & he was twice nearly up to his waist in water. And some of the coolies say the loads will get wet, which must mean they expect about 3 ft of water somewhere. Some Lopas yesterday, going down to Nagü told my people that they did not want me to go down there & that if I did, they would shoot us with arrows - a nice cheerful welcome. However we went up again to the Tum La this morning & down the other side for a couple of miles. But it would be necessary to go much further to be of any use so I returned. Up to then we saw nothing. The path is very narrow, in dense forest of abies & rhododendron & we could not get off it. So I returned & went up the main Nagü Chu as far as we could conveniently. The whole valley is full of water & we were in 6" to 1 ft the whole time. The river does not seem able to carry it away fast enough. This little trip is now over, & it has not been any more successful than Langong really. As the Shoka La is said to be as low as the Tum La, I will miss it out & go on direct to Lando & hope for better things there. It will be nice again to get to a drier zone, though I hardly expect the Tsangpo valley below this is really dry. Primula alpicola 5801 - often blue.

10th July. To Camp in Nagü Chu, same as on 5th July. 12 1/2 miles. Rain all night & all today, but not very heavily. The path was worse than when going up, but luckily there are logs over the worst places,

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:
The writer follows a graded path up the Char Chu past villages to Shirap, noting butterflies, hares, and fine weather. They camp above Shirap en route to Trakan La with rain clearing to a fine evening and many Tibetan partridge, then halt at the pass for Ludlow's birthday, making botanical finds.

CONTENT:
142

Delph. brunonianum 1977, Pedicularis globifera 1979, Meconopsis horridula 1980, Aconitum gymnandrum 1981

The path is well graded the whole way, but gets narrower as one gets up. Two villages are passed in the main Char Chu, then at mile 9 or so the path leads up steeper away from the Char Chu left bank to Shirap, where there are several groups of houses. Got some good butterflies here. Hares abound all over the hillside. It is lovely to be in the warm sun all day again, and the rolling hills look very pretty indeed.

9th August. Camp 5 (4 miles above Shirap) of Trakan La. 15000'. 5 miles.
(Gent. krasica 1983, Ajuga lupulina 1984, P. alrodentata 1990)
An easy ascent over grassy hillside up a broad valley. Rain in the morning, then cleared up to a magnificent evening. There are a great number of Tibetan partridge on the hills round about and also hares.

Trakan La
10th August. Halt. Ludlow's birthday. Yesterday we all suffered from headaches, and the servants were none too bright. This must be one of the passes where one gets head, even if not high. Went up to the Trakan La this morning, then split up and came down separately. The best finds were a dwarf Delphinium on the pass, with huge flowers 1997, a fine Cremanthodium 1996 and a pretty little gentian 2008. Another blue gentian hardly in flower 1983 is also a fine one. There is also a primula in seed 1998, probably a nivalis: the seed are
(Delph. labrangeense 1997, Delph. brunonianum 1995, Cremanthodium 1996, Gent. krasica 1983, Gent. aglaia 1999, Gent. marquandii approx 2006, Prim. sinoplantaginea 1998, Wardaster lanuginosus 2001)

SUMMARY:
The writer describes abundant primulas and meconopsis around Shao, including a new white meconopsis and vast fields of yellowish white primulas, while noting Ludlow’s flea-infested lodging. The party proceeds toward Tsona, following the Shao Chu and a northern side valley to Kachen Tso and over Kachen La, with an easy descent past small lakes.

CONTENT:
Scotland, with the heather in full bloom. In Shao we put up in a stone built house - top storey. Very pleasant, though not too clean, as Ludlow discovered. He had many fleas and a louse or two in the morning. I have never seen so many primulas in one day. We found three yellow swamp ones, besides P. sikkimensis, another two small primulas, a huge big white one, P. Roylei that magnificent big purple blue one and some others. Besides this I found a new white meconopsis like horridula in growth and habitat and another. The small meconopsis found by Dawa on the Orka La was also near the Bum La. At Shao there are some disused fields where barley was once cultivated, and these are now absolutely full with a yellowish white primula - acres and acres of them.

15th July. TO TSONA. 16 miles. (B.P. 186.7° Temp. 50°. 13733' Corrected = 14282'). Path leads up the Shao Chu for half mile, strikes up a side valley to the North. Thence easy ascent over open country to the top of a rise at m 5 1/2. Beyond this the Kachen Tso is seen, and the path gradually ascends along the E and North sides of this to the KACHEN LA (15604') at m 7. The lake is about 1 1/2 m long and nearly a mile across. Just beyond the pass are two or three small lakes. Descent easy to the

SUMMARY:
The diarist reports poor flowering at Temo La and collects seeds of several Meconopsis and Primula species. Between halts at Dzeng and trips to Sang ha, the party travels by small boats, with Tendruk arranging transport and Chuka and Tsering accompanying, despite poor, windy, misty weather; some target species were not yet ripe.

CONTENT:
Temo La - not good for flowers - 6234
Stopped for half an hour to chat, then I went on. Taylor not too good. Got seed of Mec. impedita, 6235 Mec. speciosa, ? horridula 6236 Mec. integrifolia & a Prim. aff. macrophylla 6237. The Temo La is not good for flowers.

8th - 9th September. Halt Dzeng. Fine with showers.

10th - 14th September. To Sang ha & back to Dzeng, Temo. To collect seed. I went off on the 10th to collect seeds on the Sang ha. Tendruk went ahead to Sang the evening before to arrange transport, & Chuka, Tsering & I went down in two small kowahs the next morning, taking all necessary kit. It only took 2 1/2 hours to reach Sang, so we went on up the valley, to camp about 5 miles up. Next day up to a droppa just short of the Pass. We had rotten weather, no sun the whole time, but a strong wind, driving mist & rain, & of course no views. Bar Meconopsis, all of which were ripe, seed were hardly ready. I found three Ivory Poppy plants, Mec. integrifolia the brevistyla var, also M. simplicifolia, speciosa & impedita. M. Prainiana was not ripe. We collected various other seed too, but P. Cawdoriana was barely ready

SUMMARY:
Notes list seed needs and collections with specimen numbers and plant observations (e.g., Meconopsis, Primula, Notholirion) from areas including Tongsa Chu valley, Bumthang, Kyikyi La, Yuto La, and Tongsa-Tashiling. Mentions locations such as a cliff below Mandating and a Yakherd hut, with additional observations near camp.

CONTENT:
Seed wanted from Tongsa Chu valley. From Bumthang
19437 Meconopsis bella cliff below Mandating. Clematis big.
19439 White Androsace. just below there. Honeysuckle " x
19441 ? pink striped flower " Briggsia yellow on trees. x
Notholirion hyacinthinum. at Yakherd hut. Podocarpum. x
19447 Primula geraniifolia
19464 " hopeana - some with red tube.
Fine big Polygonum just beside them.
19467 Big thistle.
Meconopsis horridula.
" sinuata.
19469 Primula pusilla
? glabra.
Anemone rupicola.
Meconopsis horridula.
" sinuata
" bella
Thistle big white.
Iris blue.
19490 Lily x x x
19494 Polygonum fine big flowers. behind rhodo scrub in clearing.
19484 Geranium big flowered same clearing.
19498 Notholirion macrophyllum.
Yellow orchid on rock 100x before camp R side.

Seed from Kyikyi La. Rhododendron ciliatum. Notholirion macrophyllum, Thalictrum chelidonii. 19544.
Yuto La. Big clematis Gaultheria, Streptopus, Smilacina oleracea,
Tongsa-Tashiling. Codonopsis purpurea. Lily. alt. Briggsia White rose

19558. 19559. 19561.

SUMMARY:
The page details a route starting from Tsona Dzong across a plain to Nyaba La (approx. 15,250 ft), then past lakes to Gorpo La (17,779 ft), with notes on terrain, glaciers, and an easy western descent toward the Nyam Jang valley. Margin notes headed 'Gorpo La Aug. 15' list plants observed or collected, including Saxifraga, Scabiosa, Geranium, Caragana, Meconopsis, and Corydalis.

CONTENT:
58

very small pass, past ruined village, joining the route from Tsona Dzong at mile 4. From Tsona Dzong the route skirts the East end of the hill and crosses a broad open plain, and runs at a bearing of approximately 325° Magnetic. At mile 4 the plain narrows, and the path ascends a valley, climbing gradually to the Nyaba La at mile 6. This pass is approximately 15,250 feet, where the route splits, one to Dongkar keeping up to the left and going due north, while the other leads down to the West end of the Nyaba Tso, a lake about 1 mile x 1/2 mile broad to the East of the Nyaba La. From Nyaba La proceed North over open hillside. At mile 8 another similar sized lake is passed, lying to the East of the path. At mile 9 the path ascends, gradually turning westward and climbing pretty steeply to the Gorpo La, which lies between two high mountains, from which several glaciers fall to the Southeast. The one on the North must be well over 20,000 feet. The La is reached at mile 11 and is 17,779 feet. The path is rocky but easy. Descent on West side also easy, down a series of small plateaus. A route leads down the main valley to the West to the Nyam Jang.

[Margin Notes:]
Gorpo La Aug. 15
Saxifraga punctulata 820
" mutans 822
" lychnitis 874
Scabiosa hookeri 821
Geranium humile 833
Caragana jubata 825
Meconopsis horridula 826
pale lavender Corydalis (previously) 799 no label 17,500 ft
pale yellow anemone

SUMMARY:
List of Kodachrome and Dufaycolor photographs documenting Primula, Meconopsis, Anemone, Streptopus, Notholirion, and a thistle, with specimen numbers, habitats, and dated entries in June–July. Notes include issues with film ("25 feet stuck. wasted.") and that 12 films were sent in No. 20.

CONTENT: B. W. 11.

1. P. soldanelloides. 13/7
2. P. waddellii. 16/7
3. Meconopsis bella 19437 on cliff with Primula umbratilis 17/6
4. Meconopsis paniculata. "
5. Large thistle. 19467. 20/7
6. P. pusilla. 19469 camp 21/7
8. Anemone rupicola. 21/7
9. Meconopsis paniculata habitat "
10. ~ ~ ~ "
11. Streptopus simplex. 22/7
12. Notholirion macrophyllum 19498 22/7

Kodachrome 22
Primula soldanelloides. 19420 13/7.
Meconopsis horridula. 16/7.
Meconopsis bella 19437 on cliff with Primula umbratilis 17/6
Meconopsis paniculata "
P. hopeana stream. 20/7
P. " red tube. close. "

Kodachrome 23
25 feet stuck. wasted.
P. pusilla. 19469 20/7
Anemone rupicola. 21/7
Meconopsis paniculata habitat. 21/7.

Dufaycolor 19

1. P. macrophylla v. macrocarpa 19423 13/7
2. " " " "
3. P. soldanelloides. 19420 "
4. " " "
5. / / /
6. / / /

Dufaycolor 20 X

1. P. waddellii. 16/7
2. Meconopsis horridula 19436 16/7.
3. Meconopsis bella 19437 on cliff with Primula umbratilis 17/6
4. " " "
5. Meconopsis paniculata. "

Dufaycolor 20 X

1. P. hopeana with red tube 19464 20/7
2. Thistle. 19467 "
3. P. pusilla clump. camp 19469 22/7
4. Meconopsis paniculata habitat. 21/7
6. 12 films sent in No 20.

CONTENT:
32

Tsona July 18th
Codonopsis ovata 682
Prim. atrodentata 684
Dracocephalum tanguticum 685
Meconopsis horridula 686

...their best to get rid of the British. Their agents have offered Rs 100,000 to the Tib. Govt. & more will undoubtedly be offered when the head of the mission arrives. It seems likely that there will be trouble.

Poor R.B. Norbu must be having a very hard time, as he is being openly asked to return by the Chinese. I do hope the T. Govt aren't such BFs as to make up with the Chinks again. Tobgye advises us to make the most of our time in Tibet this year as we won't get back here again. He says we could always revisit Bhutan another year if we wanted to. Our stay here has been quite pleasant if not very productive. But at any rate things are smoothed out for our next move on to Mago — the head waters of the Tawang Chu. We saw some of the snow peaks showing today, & looking very inviting. We are north of the main range here, but will have to cross back again in a day or two. That means more flowers & birds, but also much more rain. It is wonderful how unpleasant rain can be when it never stops.

To 19th July. THANG. 6 miles. Over the NYONGCHUNG LA.
(B.P. on Pass. 184.7° Temp 60°. Mean in Tsona 55°. $\therefore$ Height

CONTENT:
now a good many yaks at the Thiba Tso, as also on the way up to Changsethang. Below the cliffs on the N side, there were just masses of flowers: Primulas hopeana, pusilla, roylei, atrodentata, sapphirina, 3383 & glabra: Meconopsis bella, horridula & paniculata; geraniums, saxifrages, salvias, & many more. It was all very pretty, & the big cushions of Androsaces make it look nicer than ever.

13th July. Chore. 6 miles. BP. 18.67 Temp. 57° Time 2.0pm. Ht. 15000 odd.
One of the nicest days I have ever had. Except for one shower, it was fine till 3.0pm when we came in. I have come on with only 8 loads, Tenduk & Son open: the remainder of the kit has gone down direct to Ram thang. The path leads up West of Thiba Tso, then keeps SE of the ridge which separates the Tang Chu & Rinchen Chu, at about 15500 - 16000 ft. We first saw a lot of 3383, it certainly is a beauty. When I stopped to admire that, I was standing on a primula very like P. menziesiana, but which seems different (No 3438.) There also was Gent. phyllocalyx in plenty. I have never seen so many alpines out together as on this march. In places the hillsides & cliffs were just covered with them, & the variety was great. At about 2 miles we came to a little grassy hollow & here we found the most extraordinary collection of coloured primulas. There must have