ABSTRACT
It was a gorgeous day. Looking due south down the steep rock-lined ravine, I saw a high snow-capped peak framed between cliffs; it was one of the sentinel peaks of the Mishmi Hills. There was the usual inertia of starting from rest; we got off late. The coolies were in two detachments. The main body, bound for Rongyul, carried my collections and excess baggage; a picked detachment accompanied me to Putsang. As we descended the gorge it grew noticeably warmer. We crossed the Ata river, now forty yards wide, at the mouth of the gorge, by the new rope bridge; the footbridge had been carried away. That evening we camped on the bank of the Rong Tö river, under a cliff on which were many flowering shrubs. There was a charming Clematis (C. acuminata) with cream-coloured thimble-shaped flowers; and both Rhododendron manipurense and R. bullatum,deceived by the fine weather, were opening their buds for the second time this year. Sprays of Cymbidium trailed over the cliff edge.
