and two _Polypodia._ I gathered ten at the same elevation, in the
damper Zemu valley (see chapter xix, note). I gathered in this valley
a new species of the remarkable European genus _Struthiopteris,_
which has not been found elsewhere in the Himalaya.] sedges were in
great profusion, amongst them three of British kinds: seven or eight
were _Orchideae,_ including a fine _Cypripedium._

The entomology of Tallum, like its botany, was Siberian, Arctic types
occurring at lower elevations than in the wetter parts of Sikkim.
Of beetles the honey-feeding ones prevailed, with European forms of
others that inhabit yak-droppings.* [As _Aphodius_ and _Geotrupes._
Predaceous genera were very rare, as _Carabus_ and _Staphylinus,_ so
typical of boreal regions. _Coccinella_ (lady-bird), which swarms at
Dorjiling, does not ascend so high, and a _Clytus_ was the only
longicorn. _Bupretis, Elater,_ and _Blaps_ were found but rarely.
Of butterflies, the _Machaon_ seldom reaches this elevation, but the
painted-lady, _Pontia, Colias, Hipparchia, Argynnis,_ and
_Polyommatus,_ are all found.] Bees were common, both _Bombus_ and
_Andraena,_ but there were no wasps, and but few ants. Grasshoppers
and other _Orthoptera_ were rare, as were _Hemiptera_; _Tipula_ was
the common dipterous insect, with a small sand-fly: there were
neither leeches, mosquitos, ticks, nor midges. Pigeons, red-legged
crows, and hawks were the common birds; with a few waders in
the marshes.

Being now fairly behind most of the great snow and rain-collecting
mountains, I experienced a considerable change in the climate, which
characterises all these rearward lofty valleys, where very little
rain falls, and that chiefly drizzle; but this is so constant that
the weather feels chilly, raw, and comfortless, and I never returned