years of age was able to walk through the longest and hottest marches and to climb over the most difficult ground from morning till night without apparently feeling hunger, thirst or fatigue. And this he did in the most unhealthy climates and in the same clothes as he would wear in Europe; even scorning to wear a solar topee or to use an umbrella for protection against the sun. A really fever-proof constitution like his is a blessing given to few, and it enabled him to get through an amount of work that would have killed many other people.*
From Syeng to Myrung was a short march of about nine miles over an undulating country of grass or rocky hills and winding shallow valleys with very little cultivation and few inhabitants. I saw but little in the way of birds, insects or plants, which I had not seen before, and a wood which I explored on the way, though it seemed likely ground, was equally barren of novelty. The character of the streams in these hills is peculiar. They generally flow in a deep narrow stony bed overgrown on both sides by a dense bush of shrubs and coarse herbaceous plants, with occasional peaty marshes full of a peculiar vegetation in which Eriocaulon, Parnassias and many curious grasses are found. The water is rather peaty in places, but clear and sweet; but I observed hardly any fish, frogs or newts in it. Mammalia also seemed extremely scarce in these hills at this elevation, and, excepting squirrels, I hardly saw an animal during the whole of my stay; though in the low valleys and along the foot of the hills wild elephants, tigers and monkeys are found, they do not seem to ascend the plateau.
Myrung is prettily situated on a ridge overlooking a broad flat valley, and has a good bungalow above the village and close to the edge of the wood, which is of larger extent than usual, though steep and difficult to penetrate. We found in it some good terrestrial orchids, a large white- flowered Habenaria and a curious white leafless parasite with the habit of Monotropa. The birds that I observed were more numerous and varied, but all of them common Sikkim species, excepting the Sibia gracilis, which is peculiar to this range and extends to Cachar. On the road a little way from Myrung we came on a group of Khasias with bows and arrows, who had assembled to shoot at a mark, which appears to be a regular custom on certain days. Their bows were short and stiff and do not carry very far, but they are good shots up to thirty or forty yards. The arrows are four-feathered and iron-pointed, but without barbs. In the tribal wars which were of constant occurrence before we occupied the hills, bows and arrows were the principal weapon, but, now that peace has become universal and the people are becoming more civilised, they will no doubt go out of use. At Myrung there is a little church built by the native Christians, who reside there as in many other Khasia and Jaintra villages. These converts had been made by a Welsh Mission, which had been established in the hills for many years and seems to have been remarkably successful. This was partly owing to the character and habits of the people, who are superstitious, like all hill-men, but have no religion of their own, and partly owing to the material as well as moral advantages which the converts derived from giving up first the excessive
Twenty years afterwards he died at Kew, regretted by all who knew him, from
the effect of a long bicycle ride on a very hot day.
