306 DR. STOCKS' JOURNEY INTO BELOOCHISTAN. 
Sophora, Passerina, Callipeltis, Salvia Palestina, and the common weeds 
of the corn-fields, such as Ranunculus arvensis and muricatus, Achillea, 
Santolina, Scandix pinnatifida, Notoceras Canariense, Hyoscyamus mi- 
cranthus, Anchusa hispida, &c. There is a Convolvulus very common 
in both regions, a spiny bush; but it is the Conv. spinosus below 
5,000 feet, and, above that, a distinct species. In like manner the 
Eremostachys laciniata of the lower region is replaced by the Zremosta- 
chys superba and thyrsoidea. 
The upper region is remarkable for the fragrance of its plants, as 
Artemisia, Perowskia, Salvia, Teucrium, and other Labiate, from which 
cause the flesh of the sheep and goats acquires a fine and almost aro- 
matic flavour. Bulbous plants appear in great variety during March 
and April. There is no nakedness of the soil, for hill and plain are 
alike covered with depressed shrubs, although their scorched aspect, 
after the sun acquires power in June, is anything but agreeable 
to the eye. The prevailing tint of the vegetation and of the landscape 
is olive-green, I mean in the uncultivated plains, for the well-cultivated 
valleys (as Quetta) are charmingly green in the spring-time, and Moos- 
tung has its orchards extending three miles in length—a noble sight. 
Far different is the lower region and the aspect of its plants, few, 
and scattered over the bare, brown, and stony soil. Even in spring no 
annuals appear to diversify the scenery, and the undershrubs are re- 
inarkably similar in external appearance. Woody, stunted, thorny, not 
above a foot high, with round, cushion-like outlines, bleached stems, 
and a few leaves, they look like skeletons of plants, the grey ghosts of 
a vegetation which has perished of thirst. "The glaucous aspect of all, 
and the universality of spines, are remarkable. Petioles, leaves, midrib, 
stipule, branches, bracts and calyx, are (some in one case and some 
in another) stiff and prickly. The Euphorbia neriifolia, Caragana polya- 
cantha, Convolvulus spinosus, Fagonia Arabica, Acanthodium spicatum, 
Otostegia Aucheri, Pyenotheca spinosa, Lycium Europaum, Prosopis sp 
cigera, Acacia Farnesiana, Acacia rupestris, Asparagi sp., and many 
— Tragacanthine or thorny Astragali, present every variety of sharp and 
-repulsive spines; while Capparis aphylla, Periploca aphylla, and a bushy 
-~ Salsola, with their stiff rod-like leafless stems, fill up the measure of as 
-desolate and offensive a vegetation as can be imagined. Even in the 
. watercourses the stiff-leaved Fan-Palm and the rigid Tamarisk (a đe- 
 eandrous species with foliage rough to the touch, and not feathery aS 
