later, June is still the most glorious month for show.

Rhododendrons occupy the most prominent place, clothing the mountain
slopes with a deep green mantle glowing with bells of brilliant
colours; of the eight or ten species growing here, every bush was
loaded with as great a profusion of blossoms as are their northern
congeners in our English gardens. Primroses are next, both in beauty
and abundance; and they are accompanied by yellow cowslips, three
feet high, purple polyanthus, and pink large-flowered dwarf kinds
nestling in the rocks, and an exquisitely beautiful blue miniature
species, whose blossoms sparkle like sapphires on the turf. Gentians
begin to unfold their deep azure bells, aconites to rear their tall
blue spikes, and fritillaries and _Meconopsis_ burst into flower.
On the black rocks the gigantic rhubarb forms pale pyramidal towers a
yard high, of inflated reflexed bracts, that conceal the flowers, and
over-lapping one another like tiles, protect them from the wind and
rain: a whorl of broad green leaves edged with red spreads on the
ground at the base of the plant, contrasting in colour with the
transparent bracts, which are yellow, margined with pink. This is the
handsomest herbaceous plant in Sikkim: it is called "Tchuka," and the
acid stems are eaten both raw and boiled; they are hollow and full of
pure water: the root resembles that of the medicinal rhubarb, but it
is spongy and inert; it attains a length of four feet, and grows as
thick as the arm. The dried leaves afford a substitute for tobacco; a
smaller kind of rhubarb is however more commonly used in Tibet for
this purpose; it is called "Chula."

The elevation being 12,080 feet, I was above the limit of trees, and
the ground was covered with many kinds of small-flowered
honeysuckles, berberry, and white rose.* [Besides these I found a