THE KURAM VALLEY, ETC., AFGHANISTAN. 145 
the precipitous cliffs, at an altitude of from 7000 to 8000 feet, a grass 
occurs which has extremely tough, elastic, hair-like leaves; and, 
owing to these properties, it is valued as bedding, being collected 
and brought as presents to the priests, who spread it on the floors 
of the rest-houses for the comfort of travellers. It is not found 
to the west of Malána. I regret that I could not get it in flower 
or fruit, and therefore am unable to say what it is; but from its 
general appearance I take it to be a species of Stipa. Besides 
being used as bedding, pieces of the turf bearing the long 
pendent leaves are hung up as tokens in the shrines, showing 
that the natives have also some religious superstition connected 
with the plant. East of Shálizán I saw no Crategus or deodar; 
and in neither Malána nor Zérán gorges did I see any yew. It 
is noteworthy that large deodar forests exist on the northern face 
of the Saféd-koh range, notwithstanding the total absence of 
this tree in these valleys on the southern exposure. The indi- 
genous walnut and Quercus semecarpifolia form the main feature 
of the forests in the Malána and Zérán valleys, from 7000 to 9000 
feet, and occasionally as far up as 10,000 feet. That the walnut is 
wild here is proved both by the position it occupies in the forests 
and the formation of its fruit, which is quite different in shape from 
that of the cultivated tree, besides possessing an extremely thick 
shell with little or no kernel. Itis also a significant fact that the 
natives designate the wild tree and fruit by a Páshtu term, whereas 
to the cultivated fruit and tree the usual Persian name is applied. 
The birch, Betula Bhojpattra, is much commoner here than it is 
further west, and forms thin forests on the northern exposures of 
the valleys in the interior ranges of these hills—not maintaining 
its position solely on the ridges, as it does further west in the 
Shend-toí gorge, a circumstance which gives it its native name in 
those parts. Although the birch descends as low as 9000 feet, I 
have never seen it associated with the walnut, as the former is 
limited to the colder exposures, whereas the walnut prefers the 
warm nooks and outer valleys. Extending as far west as the 
Shend-toi at 7000 feet, I this year collected Corydalis ramosa, a 
plant employed medicinally by the natives for the treatment of 
eye-diseases, simply, I believe, because it has a yellow watery 
juice, as every plant with a yellow juice seems to be by them con- 
sidered a sovereign medicine, and all are called indiscriminately 
