Showing 65 results

SUMMARY:
Mail from Sarshang reports mixed results with new Meconopsis seed: Hay and Sandeman failed while Anderson succeeded; Taylor comments on germination methods. The diarist moves from Camp Kangchukka on the Pele La range with detailed route notes, persistent rain, and remarks on Primula no. 3249 possibly being P. stirtoniana. Camps, meadows, and forest routes are described en route toward Rukubzhi and Longte Chu.

CONTENT:
11th June. Camp Kangchukka, on Pele La range. 10 miles. Ht. approx 12000' (To 12000 ft.)

Another mail came in yesterday in only 10 days from Sarshang. Not very good news about the new Meconopsis seed. Hay, Sandeman & Edinburgh have all failed with it, but Anderson & another man have some up. Taylor says they were too kind to the seed, & tried bottom heat. However other seeds are reported at nearly 100% germination. Rained last night, & fine this morning till 10, then rain all day. The only interesting thing seen was Primula no. 3249, which I have been taking for P. tenuiloba. But now I see its size, it cannot be that. This is a fine Primula, with big leaves - perhaps Stirtoniana, which I do not know well. Climbed up to E. on to ridge, then along ridge to South till m 2. Then down past an open glade through the forest below the ridge. At m 4 again along a ridge which is followed to m 6 where there is a large open grassy glade. From here up to the ridge again. At m 8 turn to the R. & down to a lush open meadow. Then descent through forest to a big open meadow & some temporary houses at m 10. A good camp.

12th June. Rukubzhi (To Longte Chu) 6 miles. Approx 9000'. Rained all last night, &

SUMMARY:
The diarist reads Cooper's article and concludes specimen 1166 is a Primula petiolaris, collects three young buds to send via air mail from Trashigong, and notes widespread smoke from jhumming across Bhutan. On 13 March they travel from Sanden to the Nyakhsung La, encountering snow, taking bearings, and searching for seeds, with primulas flowering at around 14,000 ft.

CONTENT:
did not see them. Reading Cooper's article in the New Flora and Silva, it appears that 1166 is a petiolaris primula. I have taken three young buds, if they reach Trashigong alright, I will send them off by air mail. The wind this evening has died down completely, and the smoke from 'jhumming' has come up over the hills everywhere, so that one can only see a couple of miles. This morning I noticed the pall of smoke all over Bhutan, it must have risen to a height of over 16,000 ft, out of which the bigger snow peaks were dimly seen.

13th March. Sanden. 10 miles. 9,800'. I left at 6:00 am and took two hours to reach the Nyakhsung La. There was a lot of snow on the path, which leads up a nala to the north east just beyond Mera, then turns more north and along a north face. The first two miles are fairly steep, the next two easy and more level. A round of bearings from the pass did not help to put Mera on the map much. On the pass around about, I spent two or three hours, looking for seeds of flowers. The primula is interesting. It was in flower at 14,000 ft., and it continued

[Marginal notes: Nyakhsung La; Primula denticulata 1176; Primula capitata 1177; Primula gracilipes 1178]

SUMMARY:
Notes rhododendrons and primulas in flower, sends a messenger with mail to Tsona, and interacts with the head lama while noting the death and prospective reincarnation of Drukpa Rinpoche; photographs the monastery and Rinpoche’s daughter. On 14 May travels to Zimsäthí via the nala east of Sanga'Choling, noting route details toward the Takar La.

CONTENT:
Rhododendron primulaeflorum var. cephalanthoides. 1583

Right bank, I could see Rhododendrons in full flower, and North face slopes are well wooded with fir. A primula is in flower on the river banks (1593).

13th May. Hall. Fine. A day of pretty hectic rush. As no mail had arrived here, we appointed a man to take one to Tsona for us, and hope he will bring one back. Packed up flowers and birds all day and received the head lama present. Drukpa Rinpoche is dead, and died 7 years ago. His incarnation is thought to have been found in Kham, but it is not yet known. He apparently, though so holy, was married, and has a grown daughter here, one of the prettiest Tibetan women I have seen. She hung about all day, and at last I found it was to have a photo taken, which I did, and promised to let her have one later. The monastery is very picturesque indeed in the evening light, and I took a photo this evening of it.

14th May. To Zimsäthí. 10m. BP 18.700 Temp 51° Time 2.30pm Alt. 14,135'
Road leaves up the nala just East of Sanga'Choling. It is good but pretty steep, past cultivation of kyu and on, becoming less steep. The road to the Takar La goes

SUMMARY:
Diary entries describe a difficult march through dense, muddy rhododendron jungle with steep ascents to Pang La (c. 14,000') and a descent to camp near SAWANG, followed by a steep drop to a bridge over the Khoma Chu and an easy ascent along the river to SAWANG. Plant collecting at Pang La yielded few notable finds, and the day was hampered by thick mist; leeches were bad near SAWANG.

CONTENT:
because of equally dense mist.

(4) 14th August. CAMP NEAR SAWANG. 12 miles. West of Pang La 9000'. Path continues through dense jungle, but ascent easy to m 1 1/2 where ridge is crossed. Thence level for a while through scrub jungle, gradually becoming steeper, with a ridge on the right hand side. At m 3 it becomes steep for a short distance, then easy to m 4 1/2 where there is a cairn. We ploughed our way through mud in dense rhodo jungle for 1500'. Beyond this path is partly over rocks & partly through rhododendron jungle, easy at first then very steep final ascent to Pang La (14000') at m 5 1/2. Descent for 1/2 m easy then pretty steep, with cliff running on right hand side. At m 7 dense jungle is reached, & thence path is very bad & exceedingly steep & muddy through jungle the whole way till it emerges at m 12, the first signs of cultivation are seen. Below is the Khoma Chu, and over it SAWANG. Small camp, water & fuel good & ample. //

Pang La. 14 Aug.
Aconitum fletcherianum 462
Cremanthodium thomsonii - 461
Primula 464
Begonia josephii 466
Flora disappointing

(5) 15th August. TO SAWANG. 4 miles. 7700'. Path drops very steeply indeed through dense jungle for 2 miles to bridge over Khoma Chu (6800'). Here the path joins the main road from Lhuentse over the Yeb La. This bridge is very old & not strong. Route then ascends easily along through hot steamy forest R. bank of river to first cultivation at SAWANG. Water & fuel ample: leeches bad. //

Yesterday was about the worst day we've had. We did not have rain till about 3.0 pm when our tents were in, but there was thick mist all day, so we saw no view at all. And there should have been wonderful views from that range. The map is so completely wrong as

SUMMARY:
Camped on a steep slope near Chukar, the party finds the location friendlier than Mago or Tsena though lacking level ground. On a halt day, the writer went with Danang to nearby cliffs to collect primulas and delphinium, noted Thalictrum of Mago and the Tulung La Meconopsis, and arranged for a local man to care for specimens with plans to retrieve them from Trashiyangsi in October.

CONTENT:
67

is hardly surprising however. Our yak men are a deformed looking lot, but cheerful enough. Everyone here is pleasanter than in either Mago or in Tsena. I wish we had known of this place before. I'm sure it would have proved of great interest a month or more earlier. There is barely room for tents here, we are all on a horrible slope. If it rains hard, we will undoubtedly be washed out of our tents. But there is no level ground anywhere near. Probably a better camp would be beside the river, but in fact we did not go down so low, as I would have had a hard climb tomorrow.

19th August. Halt at Chukar. In the morning I went with Danang up to the cliffs, wandered about them hoping to find more than the three primulas of yesterday, but got nothing new. Bagged 16 of the new primula & 6 of the blue one. Also this evening bagged 6 delphinium. A local man is to look after them, & I will send a man from Trashiyangsi in October to retrieve the lot. I hope the scheme works. The pretty Thalictrum of Mago is growing here too & the Tulung La Meconopsis. Quite a good day on the whole, but

SUMMARY:
The party halted and went up the valley to the North (E) of Migitun in heavy rain and mist, noting two waterfalls and abundant primulas. Finds included Danong's little yellow primula (1658), a plant thought to be P. violacea (1685), and a new primula (1686); leeches and midges were troublesome. An earlier note mentions an old man with a huge goitre and concerns about being carted about.

CONTENT:
huge goitre of a lifetime's standing by one old man. All seem reasonably pleased, but I don't suppose they will like carting us about very much.

24th May. Halt. Went up the valley to the North (E) of Migitun. It was too misty to see much. About 2 miles up on the R. are two waterfalls. On the way to these we found Danong's little yellow primula 1658, in masses, growing on the now free course of a perennial snow avalanche. Beside these were also a few of what I think is 1621, two other primulas of the sikkimensis section, one reddish the other yellow. I take the former 1685, to be P. violacea. Danong also found a new primula, but very little of it 1686, which is a pretty thing, though whether really it is white or should have some colour I rather doubt. On the whole a pretty good day for flowers, but otherwise foul, as it rained hard all day, and could not see where likely places were, the mist being right down the hillside. There are leeches here, but as yet not very many. The chief pest are midges, which are very trying. I went into

SUMMARY:
The diary records a halt with a flea outbreak at a disused hut, clearing weather that revealed steep surrounding hills, and exploration up the valley NE of Migitun. Several Primula species and a pretty heath were found on avalanche-swept slopes, while Buddhow discovered a scarce white Rhododendron maddenii (lindleyi) further down the valley.

CONTENT:
a disused hut where some yaks were grazing. Within half a minute or less, Tenduk's legs were covered with fleas - so were my stockings.

25th May. Halt. Stayed more or less in camp till the evening. It cleared up after the last few days of rain, - let us see the country, which is very grand looking, with precipitous sided hills almost all round. Only down here in the valley is it at all open.

26th May Halt. I went up the valley NE of Migitun, - found Prim. 1662 (Yargong-chu) in quantities about 2000 ft up. Nothing else very interesting except a heath 1713 which is very pretty & should do well at home. I hope we get seeds. Prim 1711 (tsariensis) & 1712 (micropila) were both very beautiful. They both grow on slopes swept by snow avalanches & are the first to come out, with that queer little white prim which we found at Chichchar. Buddhow went straight down the valley & at about 5 m. down, found a fine white Maddenii (lindleyi) rhododendron 1702, which unfortunately was very scarce. I hope we can find some more of it. There was another too, which was not in flower. He also got a pretty

SUMMARY:
Notes on collecting a different Primula near a pass and on labelling flowers and preparing bird skeletons. On 28 August they packed, received final mail including a letter from Tobgye, and could not send replies until reaching Gyantse. On 29 August they traveled from Menchu Mu over Kang La to a shelter at Mencheman, describing the route, elevations, scarce fuel, and an 8-hour march for the coolies.

CONTENT:
75

same place - 16 small & 6 big. Today bagged seven of a different primula near the pass, not in flower (No. 489). Very cold misty afternoon, spent labelling flowers & making skeletons of birds.

28th August. Fine most of the morning low down. Mist & rain later. Packed up & discarded what we could. We should have a number of loads less now. A final mail arrived yesterday evening with a home mail & letter from Tobgye. But it was sent by 'dak' so we cannot send any letters back. We need now write no more letters till reaching Gyantse.

29th August. MENCHU MU. 15300'. 4 miles. There is one hut at Narim Thang, occupied during the summer months. It is situated at the South end of the plain. Leaving this the path crosses the wet plain, then climbs steeply to a lake, which is passed on the West side at m 1. Path then ascends very steeply to the West up a rocky gorge to the pass (Kang La (16300')), which is crossed at m 2. The pass is a rocky knife edge. Immediately on the north side is a small glacier & the path descends steeply over this gradually working to the R side, when it ends at m 3. Thence pretty steep down through rhododendron scrub to a valley running from E to West, where a shelter is situated, called Mencheman, at m 4. The only fuel is growing rhododendron. Coolies took 8 hours

SUMMARY:
Notes prolific flowering and collections including a new primula (P. jaffreyana 2257), an iris (2251), Incarvillea lutea (2252), and Thalictrum chelidonii. Reports shortage of drying paper, and mail issues: the runner found no mail at Tsona but had a chit from the Dzongpen; outgoing mail was forwarded by the Dzongpen and more is to be sent via Chayul.

CONTENT:
Rhod. sanguineum 1881, R. campylogynum 1882, forrestii var. repens 1883.
Diapensia himalaica 1884, Prim. valentiana 1885. P. Elizabethae 1886 sp. nov.
Omphalogramma bathysepala sp. nov. 1887

...see how much more prolific the flowers were on this side. The most interesting things were a new primula P. jaffreyana 2257. Common to quite low down. A beautiful iris 2251, which I think is near the K.W.'s Karta iris, a queer lily-like affair 2252 (Incarvillea lutea), I don't know what it is.

Thalictrum chelidonii was in flower about halfway here, beautiful as ever. There were also a number of shrubs in flower too. Altogether yesterday I collected 20 different species. Now I have no paper left to put the dried flowers in. No mail turned up, but the runner is there. He found no mail in Tsona. We thought he was doing us down, but he had a chit from the Dzongpen which shows he was alright. Our last outgoing mail was still lying there, but both were sent on by the Dzongpen.

30th June. Halt. Sanga Choling. Another perfect day. Packed up mail to send off tomorrow via Chayul. Packed up as many dried flowers as possible, but have no paper; with this confounded tamasha going on, I cannot get hold of anyone. I now only have about 80 sheets of drying paper to play about with, which is...

[Marginal Notes:]
P. jaffreyana 2257
Iris decora 2251
Thalictrum 2253
Meconopsis 2256
Jeffreyana 2257
Tibetica 2258
Dracocephalum 2255
Primula 2255
Rosa macrophylla var. farreri 2259
Gentiana 2249
Cryptantha 2250
Clematis 2254
Gentiana tibetica 2258
Jasminum officinale 2261

SUMMARY:
On 8 August the party travelled 9 miles to Lungur (below the Tongu La) in heavy rain, noting glaciers and a snow mountain to the west; despite having six 'riding' yaks they all arrived on foot. The writer engaged a lama to collect seed of Thalictrum, Meconopsis and Primula (including a small Meconopsis near the Tulung La), purchased a local hat for 5 tankhas, and found two gentians and an Allium on the way down to Mago.

CONTENT:
tomorrow morning, so as we may examine
them and take photos. I purchased a local type
of hat today, price 5 tankhas.

8th August. To LUNGUR. 13035'. 9 miles. (the camp of July 22 below the Tongu La) Left in comparatively
good weather, but by 1.0 pm the rain came on very heavily
indeed, and we all arrived about 3.30 very wet, cold and
[Mago 8th Aug] pretty miserable. I have taken the lama with me
who will come on tomorrow too for a bit. I have
shown him, and told him to collect seed of Thalictrum,
Meconopsis and Primula and tomorrow will show him the
[mec. bella 708] other small mec (708) near the Tulung La. I think he
will manage to collect all. He knows something of
Meconopsis when they should be ready, as they eat
the seeds, and also the shoots before the flowers appear.

[Gentianella paludosa 776, " azurea 777, Allium aff sikkimense 778] Found 2 gentians today, and an Allium
and one or two other things not out on our way
down to Mago.

There are signs of a big
snow mountain to the west of Lungur up the side
valley. Glaciers can be dimly seen through the
mist.

Today we had 6 "riding" yaks with
us, but it is significant that all of us arrived
in camp walking. One never knows what a
yak may do. One minute he will be as docile
as possible, and the next he will have you off.