KINGDON-WARD, Frank.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

"The Assam Himalaya: Travels in Balipara - II". First publication of part two of the famous botanist-explorer's account of his 1935 journey through northern Assam into southern Tibet, featuring many typically trenchant observations on the topography, geological history, and flora of the region. The first part was published in the same journal the preceding October.Frank Kingdon-Ward's (1885-1958) account begins with his journey from Charduar to Tiger Flat, a distance of 25 miles, and then onwards to the Pankim Pass which his party crossed at 10,000 feet: "for half a mile we walked along a ridge, and then began to descend suddenly. Jack of beanstalk fame, when he reached the top of his creeper, and found himself in an unfamiliar world, could hardly have been more surprised than I was at what I saw on the other side of the Pankim Pass.... The sun was shining in a beautifully blue sky. Gone was the white wet mist which curled dismally amongst the trees on the south side, gone too the dense jungle with its wrappings of moss. Blue pines towered up amongst vivid green oaks, spring flowers carpeted the earth, and below were cultivated fields. The whole scene reminded one irresistibly of England in the spring" (p. 310).Heading towards the Himalayas, he encounters the Sherchokpa tribe and Ishi Dorje, a Tibetan monk who "speaks slowly in a thick soupy voice, pitched low - he would be worth a fortune to the B.B.C. as announcer... Ishi Dorje proved himself a true friend and helpful, for

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.