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Joseph dalton hooker's trip to Sikkim

After returning from the Antarctic circle, Hooke is going to compare the plants in the Antarctic cold zone with those in the tropics. At this time, Hugh Falconer, who is about to become the director of Kolkata Botanical Garden, and Auckland, the first Lord of the British Admiralty, suggested that he go to Sikkim. They believe that this remote country in the northeast of the Himalayas is a place where tourists and naturalists have not yet set foot. Hook accepted the proposal and applied to the British government. Soon, he was allowed to represent Yuan Qiu in Sikkim for two years.

On June1847165438+1October 1 1 day, Hook set out on the steamboat Sidon and met the first Indian Governor, Count Dalhousie. They hit it off, and this friendship ensured Hook's future collection activities in Sikkim. Out of gratitude, Hook took the name of Dalhousie.

On April 1848 and 16, Hook arrived in Darjeeling, where he met Brian Hodgson, an outstanding Indian zoologist, and archibald Campbell, the representative of the British government in Sikkim. If Dalhousie cleared the official obstacles for his exploration, Hodgson gave him more practical support in the next two years.

In Darjeeling, Hook used to stand on the balcony of the house provided by Hodgson and look out every day. He wants to go to Sikkim Gaoshankou, but he must get the approval of King Sikkim to enter this kingdom. As Britain has no official relationship with Sikkim, Hooke's request for Sikkim was ignored by the other side. This naturally depressed Hooke, but fortunately, he immediately devoted himself to the writing of Antarctic plants. After writing this book, he went to Darjeeling several times and found a new species of rhododendron-Rhododendron argenteum with ivory flowers. He used passionate sentences to describe his ecstasy when he saw this plant: "12 meter high tree." The beautiful dark green leaves spread out, 0.3-0.4 meters long, with wrinkles on the leaves and silver on the back ... That group of flowers is dazzling, and I have never seen anything more beautiful than the branches of the silver cuckoo. " He also discovered the long medicine Rhododendron and Rhododendron grandiflora. Hooke not only has the fine mind of a botanist, but also the ingenious pen of a writer. For example, he described the Yunnan-Tibet Mulan discovered in this way: "The tree is very big ... the branches are sparse, and there are no leaves in winter and flowering season. The flowers are cup-shaped and rose-purple. "

In August, Hook turned to Dalhousie for help, and Dalhousie threatened to force King Sikkim to agree to the British request for plant inspection on his territory.

1848 65438+On February 27th, Hook officially set off for Sikkim. The hardships on the road are hard for outsiders to talk about, and they often have to open the road step by step where there is no road. The thorns on the roadside make them scarred. The rapids in the canyon area are turbulent, sometimes crossing rickety bridges, sometimes wading through them, and facing the danger of collapse of the valley wall at 1500 meters. Before you know it, winter is coming, and the situation is even worse. The higher you climb the mountain, the more the temperature drops, and the more surprising the weather changes. However, in less than an hour, the originally sunny valley will be shrouded in clouds, and there will be a storm, sleet and even heavy snow. In the humid forest, the fog is dripping, and it is almost impossible to find dry wood to make a fire. Waves of altitude sickness hit them with a splitting headache, which brought great difficulties to Hook's recording work. The strong light reflected from the snow stung people's eyes, which was unbearable. Nevertheless, Hook kept a diary to record and classify the plants collected during the day. Whenever he writes a diary or draws a map in his tent at night by the faint candle light, mosquitoes, moths and many other beetles will come to "close contact", Tibetan mastiffs will sneak into the tent to look for food, yaks will put their curious heads in, which makes people bored. Hook always puts a triangular stool beside him to crack down on these "visitors" when he sleeps.

Of course, the thrill of adventure is always there. The towering peaks, dense forests, wide canyons and magnificent sunrise filled Hooke's heart with awe and emotion. During the journey, the vegetation on the mountain is constantly changing, from lush tropical scenery covered with pine, oak, bamboo and fern forests to forests with thick colors and roaring rivers, and then to the snowy and rugged peaks, which makes people dizzying.

165438+1On October 23rd, Hook and his party came to Wolunchun at an altitude of 3 165km. They saw the red wooden houses of Tibetans. There is always a fire in the biggest house in every room. The house is surrounded by azaleas and high flagpoles are flying. 165438+1On October 26th, they reached the west of Warren Spring Pass, walked along the east side of the Pass to Mayang Pass, and climbed to an altitude of 4,623 kilometers, where the snow prevented them from advancing.

There is a narrow path at Mayang Pass, which is blocked by pine trees from time to time. Below the road is a fast-flowing river. Mayang Valley has beautiful scenery and abundant plant resources. From Hooke's description, we can see that we are interested in different kinds of azaleas, but we don't appreciate the larch in Sikkim.

Because the Sikkim government was full of vigilance against the British, the negotiations between the two sides broke down, and Hook's plan to go deep into Sikkim had to be suspended. He began to walk back to Darjeeling. So far, Hook's work is satisfactory. He will need 80 plant specimens carried by coolies for sorting, sorting, packaging and transportation back to his father's Yuan Qiu.

On May 3rd 1849, Hook left Darjeeling for the second plant collection activity. The trip was stopped by Prime Minister Sikkim, either destroying the road ahead of them or prohibiting local villagers from selling food to them. However, the local kind people ignored the ban and took great risks to send them food.

It is very dangerous and difficult to travel in this area every spring. Melting snow and ice means landslides and sultry weather. Groups of insects and mosquitoes that can only be seen with a microscope harass them, and leeches make them covered in blood clots, which affects their investigation mood to some extent.

During the trip, Hooke and his team collected 65,438+00 species of rhododendron, among which Rhododendron Bhutan and Rhododendron papyrifera are new species. The former is the most important hybrid species of Rhododendron later, and the latter may surpass the general rhododendron in flower fineness.

After arriving at Chongta Village, they crossed the Lachen River again. On the other side of Lachen River, they stayed for three days and found many new plants, including lovely Tibetan rhododendron and exotic cinnabar rhododendron. The latter is very toxic, and goats and children who accidentally eat its leaves will foam at the mouth and die on the spot. In addition, the two herbs they found: Sikkim, which grows by the stream and dyes the swamp red with yellow flowers, and a big flower head with purple flowers, are also very attractive.

On July 24th, Hook arrived at the Pass of Kangla Lama at an altitude of 4,800 kilometers on the Sikkim-Tibet border. Despite the cold weather, they managed to get 40 kinds of plants. On August 5, they returned to Chongta Village, and continued their journey after a rest. When they saw Campbell again in Chongta village, they were very excited. Hook and Campbell climbed Mount Boca together and returned to Sikkim via the Dongkia Pass. Later, Hook and Campbell decided to go to Chaola and Yakla Pass in the southwest of Sikkim. On his way to Chaola Pass at an altitude of 4,550 kilometers, Hook collected 20 kinds of rhododendron seeds. At the mountain pass at an altitude of 3048 kilometers, he also found Meconopsis, a plant with yellow flowers that looks like a poppy.

At Chaola Pass, Tibetan border inspectors drove them back to Sikkim. Campbell was kidnapped on his way to Chumonakou village, hoping that foreigners would stop interfering in Sikkim affairs. They didn't touch Hook, but Hook decided to go through it with his friends. Along the way, Hook kept close contact with his friends as much as possible, and at the same time, he didn't forget to collect cuckoo seeds. Later, he persuaded the kidnappers to allow him to move into Campbell's crowded house in prison. It was not until Dalhousie threatened the border with a British regiment and three gunmen that the kidnapping case came to an end. 1849 Christmas, they returned safely.

Hook, who experienced the kidnapping crisis, did not stop working as a plant hunter. He has been busy drawing maps and arranging plants. In the middle, he also went to Kasia in northeast India for the last time, and collected a very fashionable orchid-Vanbandana.