ABSTRACT
Snow fell steadily all night. ‘So this is Assam!’ I said coldly to myself as I got up. The whole valley was under snow, a wet blanket of cloud hung low over the mountains, and it was snowing when, feeling rather miserable, we started down the valley. The Delei river was a brook lined with bushes. It was difficult to recognize any plants even in the open meadow, but I noticed the bleached fruits of an Onion (Allium), St. John's Wort, Omphalogramma (probably O. Souliei), and Nomocharis. A low growing Rhododendron with silver-plated leaves like R. sanguineum showed here and there through a fleece of snow, and in the Fir forest were scattered plants of Primula geranioides. But it was a poor day for the collector; the collector himself was feeling poorly. Towards midday the hard granular snow which had been falling all night gave place to large soft flakes which began to melt as they fell. After marching a few miles and descending scarcely at all we came to some rocks in the forest. Everyone was exhausted. It had stopped snowing and only a film of melting snow covered the ground. But the sky looked threatening, and if more snow fell in the night, the coolies would be in a bad way. There was good shelter here under the rocks, and plenty of daylight to light fires and cook hot food. So we camped. Towards evening the sky began to clear. Three shivering ill-clad Mishmis who had intended to cross the pass into Tibet, but had been driven back by the snow, joined us. They were returning to their village to await a more favourable opportunity. They told us it was impossible to forecast a storm. The bad weather might last a day or two or it might last a week. As it turned out, the next day, December 14th, was fine, and we met many Mishmis coming up.
