their treatment of me. Whilst my men were pitching my tent, I
gathered forty plants new to me, all of Tartarian types.* [More
Siberian plants appeared, as _Astragali, Chenopodium, Artemisia,_
some grasses, new kinds of _Pedicularis, Delphinium,_ and some small
Orchids. Three species of _Parnassia_ and six primroses made the turf
gay, mixed with saxifrages, _Androsace_ and _Campanula._ By the
cottages was abundance of shepherd's-purse, _Lepidium,_ and balsams,
with dock, _Galeopsis,_ and _Cuscuta._ Several low dwarf species of
honeysuckle formed stunted bushes like heather; and _Anisodus,_ a
curious plant allied to _Hyoscyamus,_ whose leaves are greedily eaten
by yaks, was very common.] Wheat or barley I was assured had been
cultivated at Tungu when it was possessed by Tibetans, and inhabited
by a frontier guard, but I saw no appearance of any cultivation.
The fact is an important one, as barley requires a mean summer
temperature of 48 degrees to come to maturity. According to my
observations, the mean temperature of Tungu in July is upwards of 50
degrees, and, by calculation, that of the three summer months, June,
July, and August, should be about 46.5 degrees. As, however, I do not
know whether these cerealia were grown as productive crops, much
stress cannot be laid upon the fact of their having been cultivated,
for in a great many parts of Tibet the barley is annually cut green
for fodder.

In the evening the sick came to me: their complaints, as usual, being
rheumatism, ophthalmia, goitres, cuts, bruises, and poisoning by Tong
(_Arum_), fungi, and other deleterious vegetables. At Tallum I
attended an old woman who dressed her ulcers with _Plantago_
(plantain) leaves, a very common Scotch remedy; the ribs being drawn
out from the leaf, which is applied fresh: it is rather a
strong application.