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SUMMARY:
The diary records marches from Lhapso Dzong to Lenda and then to Rabdang, with notes on weather, route conditions, and abundant vegetation including birch, pines, willows, walnuts, and bamboo, as well as sightings of Crossoptilon and snow cock. Transport was problematic, with shortages of coolies and poor paths, and Pintso had to remain behind.

CONTENT:
G. nubigena, G. waltoni (lower down) and G. depressa. A few seeds of the first two were taken. Within a thousand feet of the pass, which is 16470', a bigger rhododendron vellereum bush begins (3587). Later on it becomes very common indeed and almost covers the hillside on the North and West slopes. Other signs of increased rainfall are the Crossoptilon, which are common in the shrubs. We also saw several other ones, snow cock at about 16000'. Lower down again there is quite an extensive birch forest of small trees up to 25 feet or so (local name kewah or tyewah).

30th March. To LHAPSO DZONG. 11500' 7 miles. Fine day, some clouds. Path easy down the valley, mostly on the Left bank, through shrubs. Lhapso Dzong is an old dzong in poor repair, standing on the Right bank where the valley turns to the North. A few Crossoptilon seen. Although so low there is still a lot of vegetation on the hills.

31st March. To LENDA. 11000' 13 1/2 miles. Clouded over most of the day; some snow on the hilltops and a few spots of rain in the valley. Transport mostly coolies; left at 6.45 - in at 2 to 2.30 pm. The path is good with the exception of a mile or two between miles 10 and 12, where the path climbs pretty steeply up the Right bank and at one place is so narrow that ponies have to be offloaded. Peach blossom is fully out here and also at Dzam, in 4 1/2 where the main Tsangpo is met. Willows also are green. There are two here, one a weeping willow (3593) and the other the ordinary kind 3594. We were surprised to see pines on the way today. The first was very near Lhapso, but that was isolated, and the hills above were covered with juniper. But the hills above here have thick pine forest on them. Walnuts also are common in the cultivated areas. We expected a very hot march, but it is actually quite cold, due to the clouds. A little way below Dzam, there are small clumps of bamboo in each village. It seems an odd place and climate to find bamboo, but perhaps they are introduced.

1st April. To RABDANG alt 10800' 11 miles. Clouded all day, with strong up valley wind in the afternoon. There is a most rotten arrangement for transport at Lenda. The order went to Gyatsa Dzong, across the river and a mile down stream. The Dzong ordered transport and then there were 15 too few coolies turned up. Poor Pintso again had to remain behind. We left at 7.15 and were in at 2.45 pm. The path is bad, up and down the Right bank the whole way and in many places unfit for pony transport. The coolies are awful.

SUMMARY:
Cold halts with little flowering observed; the party notes the first primula in flower and red Rhododendron irroratum, investigates the place-name Makandro near the Gyala Peri range, and sends Sandup and Ramzana to try to film and collect a takin without success. Villagers repay a loan in kind, and on March 13 they move to Tongkyuk, recording a yellow Litsea and plentiful “Winter” plants.

CONTENT:
were here. If they went, it would be fine. I saw 10 here today, the first we have seen.

7th March. Cloudy & cold. Disappointing day as we found nothing in the flower line at all, but luckier for a blackbird (maximus) & a thrush we have never seen before.

8-9-10th March. Halt. This place is very cold indeed, & shrubs are not nearly so far on here as a few miles down the valley. But we have found a few things, notably the first primula in flower to be seen. This appears to be P. chungensis (12279), but might perhaps be Bulleyana or Cockburniana. The same red Rhod. Irroratum Ser. (12280) is also in flower in a valley 2m below here. I have been trying to find the name Makandro which Ward gives to the peak on the Gyala Peri range. So far I have found no one who knew the name. Here, one shikari told me there were two Makandros, one a ridge almost due South of here, & one a ridge almost due North. The fine flat topped peak which lies at 150° from here is locally called Gelung Sokpo. I asked Sandup to enquire about the name Makandro. He asked the monks, who eventually told him there were such places, but that he should not mention the name or talk about the places. I have taught Sandup how to take cine pictures, & he will go off tomorrow to try to get a picture of & one shot at a female takin. We have found pretty good supplies here - some peas, wheat, a few eggs(!), tsampa.

11th-12th March. Halt. It is very cold here every day at midday. Sandup & Ramzana went off across the river for a drive up the nala to the South after takin. They have taken the cine camera & a small roll film camera to try to get pictures of live animals before shooting one female to make up the collection for the B.M. On our way through here in Jan we lent the headman 400 sangs to run their case against the ex Dzongpon in Lhasa. Now the whole village is repaying - in wheat, peas, tsampa, eggs, turnips, & any other commodity they can find. Headmen very helpful & a good type. Ramzana & Sandup back; saw no takin or marks.

13th March. Tongkyuk. Rain last night & a good deal, off now today. Dull & cold, & we saw nothing at all on the way barring the yellow shrub Litsea No. 12257. Yesterday Ramzana brought back lots of Winter No. 12291 which was plentiful up the valley.

SUMMARY:
Entries record travel to Takhte (Takhts) on March 9 and a halt there on March 10, with plant collections including Primula, Rhododendron, and Magnolia specimens numbered 1202–1211.

CONTENT:
$102.2 = 1.0644$
$52 = 1.0444$

$1.0644$
$1.0444$

$1.0644$
$42576$
$42576$
$42576$

$1.11165$

$101.5 = 1.1034$
$41^\circ = 1.0199$

$1.1034$
$1.0199$

$1.1034$
$11034$
$99306$
$99306$

$1.12535$

Ludlow 93.4 March 9. To Takhte or Takhts.
P. dentic. 1202 P. gracilipes 1207
Rh. maddenii 1204. Rh. lindleyi 1205. R. kendrickii 1206.

" 24-25 March 10. Halt at Takhte.
Rh. grande 1208. Rh. camelliiflorum 1209
Mag. campbellii 1211

SUMMARY:
Travel past last year's camp at Tsingorn, then from Kini the route climbs steeply above the Tawang Chu with largely bare hillsides, passing some cultivation and villages. A very short march follows to Changpu via a side nala, with notes on tropical vegetation and observations of inquisitive locals including Tibetans.

CONTENT:
past our last year's camp at Tsingorn. Very hot and rather uninteresting, a few flowering trees and shrubs of a tropical kind being found only. On the west face, there is more vegetation than on the east, and nearly all trees are again Pinus longifolia.

20th March. KINI. 6 miles. B.P. 203.6 Temp. 67°. Ht approx. 4770'.
After getting to the bridge over the Trashingangsi river, the path climbs pretty steeply at first up the shoulder. It keeps above the R. bank of the Tawang Chu, 1000 ft or more above it. The hillside is almost completely bare at this time of year, with some fields uncultivated. Some vegetation is passed in re-entrants. The last two miles are approximately level. Above the path there are villages and a good deal of cultivation. This valley is like the Gamri Chu, in that there are many inhabitants. The people are very inquisitive, having never seen any Europeans before. There seem to be a good number of Tibetans living in these villages.

21st March. Changpu. 4 miles. B.P. 200.1 Temp 72°. Ht approx 6872'.
An absurdly small march. The path leads down from the small village of Kini to a side nala with a small river.

SUMMARY:
Preparations include sending bird specimens by post and leaving half the kit, with the Dzongpen arranging coolies to accompany the party to Lung and back. The party marches to Kap via a bridge to the right bank past Kumha; the writer ascends a gorge to about 14,000 ft, finding masses of rhododendron and juniper in a generally dry valley.

CONTENT:
50

birds in boxes ready for the post, which we do not expect for another fortnight. We are leaving here about half our kit. The Dzongpen has kindly arranged that coolies from here will go the whole way to Lung, stay there with us and return here. No one knows quite what this trip will be like. For birds - almost certainly good, for flowers it is difficult to say, whether Chayul Chu will be wet enough or not. I hope so.

24th April. To Kap. 6 m. B.P. 192.4° Temp. 55° Time 4.30 p.m. Approx ht. 11071 (This ht. is about 200 ft above the river bed, beside the village). I left early with Tenduk, Danong and Tsongpen, Ludlow and L. following later with the kit about 8.0 a.m. The Dzongpen, who has been so kind all along, seeing them off. Road down L bank for a mile then cross by bridge to R bank and at m 2 pass Kumha, where there is a good deal of cultivation. Then for 3 miles along the hillside passing several small villages, and at m 5 a deep gorge, a mile before reaching Kap, beyond which is Kap, a small village, with cultivation. I went up the gorge to about 14000 ft. where I found rhododendrons and juniper in masses. The valley was dry, but obviously

SUMMARY:
Notes intermixing among primulas near camp below a cliff, with white P. umbratilis out of reach. On 14th July the party traveled to Maruthang via ridges west of the Nam Chu, collecting P. umbratilis (No. 3444) near Chora and observing extensive blue petiolarid primula above 16,000 ft amid intermittent heavy rain.

CONTENT:
been the most awful intermarriage going on. There was P. Roylei, quite true and apart. Then there were all shades of colours from mixtures of 3366, 3367, and 3383. I counted seven variations in colour, and all were mixed together. We came on to camp under a huge sheer cliff, which has many flowers at the bottom, and halfway up a fair amount of the beautiful white umbratilis No. 3384. I tried to reach it from both top and bottom, but could not get near. It is a pity: I should like some more of it. However, we have a fair number of new flowers today, and it has all been great fun.

14th July. To Maruthang. 6 miles. 12,200'. Heavy rain from 3:00 pm and all through last night. Fine in the morning, no rain till 1:30. Rain rest of day. Coolies came more or less direct down to the Nam Chu, while we kept along the ridge west of the valley, crossing it once and recrossing shortly after, at about 16,000 ft. Just this side of Chora there are some very fine cliffs and in these were many fine clumps of the white P. umbratilis, taken before under No. 3384. I took another collection (No. 3444) and left a fine lot for seed collection. Just beyond this we came across the petiolarid primula, blue var., collected as No. 3367. For the next mile—on the west side of the ridge, above 16,000 ft—this primula was covering the ground. Snow lies late up

SUMMARY:
The writers received provisions and friendly letters sent by H.H., note Dorji’s recovery and Tobgye’s imminent departure for Kalimpong, and an invitation to return to collect seeds. They describe a short, easy march up the Kuru Chu via Lalung to Munda, with bridges, ample water but scarce fuel, observed crops, and fine valley views.

CONTENT:
here today, we found that H.H. had sent a man to meet us with apples, vegetables & scarves, besides letters from everyone at Bumthang. Dorji is nearly well again & Tobgye goes off soon for Kalimpong, so we won't see him again soon. H.H. asks us both to return another year - anytime we like, & hopes we will manage then to collect seeds. All the letters were very friendly. We will send messages back from here by his man. Today's march was very short, & tomorrow is even shorter, but the weather has cleared up & is beautiful - positively hot in the sun. The sky is a most lovely colour of bright clear blue.

9th September. MUNDA. 13650' 6 1/2 miles. To easy march up the Kuru Chu past a good deal of cultivation. Cross the river at Lalung to R. bank again. Path is good & easy up a broad open valley the whole way to Munda. Pass a village & cultivation at m 3 1/2 and at m 4. Then path crosses a stony waste to m 5, where cultivation is again met on both sides of the river. Munda is on the L bank at m 6 1/2 where the river is crossed by a bridge. There are also bridges at m 3 1/2 & 4. Water ample, wood fuel now becoming scarce. Crops are barley wheat & peas.

A grand day, but with too many clouds about. It rained a little in the night. The view up & down the valley is lovely - a big open valley with clouds & snow hills.

B. 27. finished. View down the Kuru (Khobrak) Chu from 3 1/2 m above Lalung.
B. 28. Ditto from further up the river to Munda.

SUMMARY:
A 16-mile march to Ralung crosses the Karo La in fresh snow with persistent storms, allowing only brief glimpses of Nodzinkangsa. The writer notes sore faces from the elements, adopts Thudhow’s suggestion to serve cold cream with soup, and records an unusual sighting of snow cock near a house.

CONTENT:
our tents up before a storm of hail and snow broke. We do have the most infernal weather on our passes. Tomorrow we cross the Karo La, and there is the bad weather on us already. We have crossed some twenty major passes, and the only two on which the sky has been clear are the Natu La and the Mela.

15th September. To RALUNG. 16 miles. 14700'. Snowed nearly all last night, but cleared up to let us off at 7.0. In at 2.0 pm. No view the whole way, owing to low clouds. We just caught a glimpse once of the top of Nodzinkangsa 23000 ft odd. It was fine until we got in, when heavy rain and hail again fell. Our faces are very sore today from wind, rain and sun. I forgot last night to put on any cold cream, and suffer accordingly. It is hard to remember to do that, Thudhow suggests that our pot of cold cream should be brought on with the soup, and it has been ordered so now. Crossed today the Karo La (16200') where a battle was fought in '04. What a foul place to fight. All was covered in fresh snow today. Late in the evening got a clear glimpse of Nodzinkangsa for about five minutes before clouds again came down. Today we passed a bunch of 15 or 16 snow cock, quite low - about 15000' - and very close to a house - an unusual place to find snow cock.

SUMMARY:
The diarist notes magpies and quail, sends mail to H.H., Kalimpong, and Betty, and dispatches a box of dried flowers to Byakar Dz. On 20th May they march about five miles to Takhung via the Tang chu and Takhung chu, note altitude observations, collect Primula geraniifolia, and describe a well-made camp near Bumthang. The entry opens the next day's move toward Shabejetang.

CONTENT:
There are still a number of magpies about here, so they certainly breed. Also since we were here in April, there are many quail in the standing crops. One can hear them all day. I send off a mail from here to H.H., Kalimpong and Betty via H.H.. Also tomorrow morning Lundrup will take in a box of dried flowers to go to Byakar Dz. into our other boxes.

20th May Takhung About 5 miles. Heavy rain last night, fine this morning till 11.0. This was a nice march, up the Tang chu for a mile or so then cross to the R bank and up a side valley, called the Takhung chu. The path is half over open grassland and half through easy forest. The whole country here is very open and pleasant looking. Crops look very good this year. Here they are barley and wheat almost entirely. We have come up quite a lot, so I was surprised to see the alt. is only just over 10000'. I have always called Tang the same height as Bumthang which it obviously is not. It cannot be above 9000 at the outside. Today we found one more primula to add to the total, now 13. This is P. geraniifolia 18913, common in the forest beside streams. This seems rather low for it. I have always found it mostly above 12000'. This is a grand camp, but could do with being 1000 ft. higher. The forest is mostly tsuga and picea. Near Bumthang as we are, the locals make very good camps for us. I allowed Ngudup to persuade me to say we still wanted them. Here, in a lovely open place, the servants have a fine hut, while I have a very fine latrine - as if one could want such a thing here. However, if I don't use it, I see that a cow at any rate, has gone in and used it much more fully than I ever could have.

21st May Shabejetang Very wet last night, rain until we were

SUMMARY:
The writer describes an evening clearing with views of surrounding hills, noting Primula whitei as common and blackbirds singing. The following march goes about 7 miles toward Wangchelakh on a bearing of 115°M, crossing Gogum La and later Laptsakap La at around 13,500 ft, with dwarf rhododendrons near the latter.

CONTENT:
this way for 3 or 4 months. Snow falls in the Bhutanese 8th month. Primula whitei is as usual very common up here & in the forest on the way up.

6.0 pm. Just before sunset, it suddenly cleared up into a perfect evening, and gave a lovely view of the hills we are going to. They look perfect for flowers, even if there won't be much now. The bearing to the pass we cross tomorrow is 115° M from here & from the pass we crossed today. Dungshijon lies more to the South than 115, but we cannot see it. This place in July on a good day must be perfectly lovely. All the valleys round about are cloud filled, while we are open to the blue sky, & the atmosphere is perfect. It misted up till after 5.0 pm. The blackbirds (albocinctus) are very numerous, & are singing away, just as the real blackbird does at home now.

18th May. To Wangchelakh. 7 miles. B.P. 187.8° Temp. 46° Time 2.0 pm. Ht. 13500 ft.

Path goes along an approximate bearing of 115° M. It keeps South of the ridge for the first three miles, getting closer & closer till the Gogum La is crossed. Then it winds about on the north side, up & down, climbing up gradually to mile 6, where the Laptsakap La is crossed. Here there are only dwarf rhododendrons.