22 SUE G. -MA J. J. E. T. AITCHISON ON THE ELOBA OE 



Primula purpurea was very profuse, and with it Gypsophila sedi- 

 folia, with several Drabts, and occasionally in tufts Brachypodium 

 tartaricum. At the highest altitudes the following plants occurred 

 — Potentilla monanthes and P. sericea, with a Draba. Another 

 proof of the extreme dryness of the climate is the total absence of 

 Anemones, which at these altitudes in Kashmir occur in abundance. 



The only ferns obtained were Asplenium Puta-muraria, up to an 

 elevation of 11,000 feet, and C y stopfer is fragilis, up to an elevation 

 of 13,000 feet. 



13. Plants cultivated for Food. 



Cereals. — Up to the time of the British occupation cultivation 

 was limited to the actual wants of the people as food, with perhaps 

 a slight surplus for barter ; at least, such was the opinion I formed 

 after numerous conversations with the natives, as well as from 

 my own personal observation. The chief causes of this were, no 

 doubt, insecurity of property, due to the constant occurrence 

 of blood-feuds, the inhabitants being afraid to cultivate except 

 in the immediate vicinity of their villages, and to the inadequate 

 supply of water, an increase of which could not be obtained with- 

 out incurring extra labour upon works which might never prove 

 profitable. In the whole Kuram and Hariab districts there is not 

 a single water-course to be compared with the works commonly 

 found in Ladak. No sooner, however, had the British occupation 

 of the Kuram Valley taken place than every bit of land which the 

 villagers were capable of placing under immediate cultivation was 

 at once begun to be worked upon, and persons who had left trie 

 country were recalled by their friends to return and till their fields. 



The land is rich and good, and, as a rule, those very arid plains 

 already spoken of only require water and labour to convert them 

 into green fields. "With a very little trouble and care taken to 

 avoid waste, twice the amount of land could be cultivated with the 

 water already available. For instance, the hills to the north or 

 Shalizan consist of slate, which has been lately worked by Euro- 

 peans, and found to be of good quality "and unlimited in quantity ; 

 and if this slate were employed in the construction of the water- 

 channels, it would assist in economizing the water which is at 

 present wasted, owing to its running over a gravelly soil. As an 

 example of how a good supply of water is allowed to go to waste, 

 at an elevation of 8000 feet, in the Shendtoi ravine, the stream 

 of that name, where 4 feet broad and 2 feet deep, is allowed to 

 lose itself in a mass of boulders and shingle, whilst the villagers 



