Dr. Griffith on the Vegetation of Afghanistan. 195 



Afghanistan, invested with a good deal of importance. Ge- 

 nerally such are not deficient ; but one of the difficulties of the 

 Bolan Pass is occasioned by their absence, and to a similar 

 cause T attribute the great loss of camels on the return to 

 India between Bookhak and Bala Bagh. Of these the most 

 esteemed is the Ka-ri-Shootur, or Jaursa of the N.W., one of 

 the most widely distributed plants occurring all over the N.W. 

 of India, and all over Afghanistan, up to an elevation of 9500 

 feet. This plant is also known as affording the Turunjubeen, 

 a sort of manna-like substance ; the production of this appears 

 to be local, and the only place I was told it was procured in 

 Afghanistan was the Candahar district. 



Perhaps the best other kinds of camel fodder are furnish- 

 ed by the Chenopodea, or Goose-foot tribe ; these abound 

 throughout the country, and are succulent and saline. 



There is every probability of the true Tragacanth plants 

 being found in the country, the section being one of the most 

 common forms of Leguminosa. 



A species of Daphne not unlike D. Cannabina, the paper- 

 plant of Nepal and Bootan, is not uncommon at elevations of 

 5000 to 6500 feet. The Afghans only make use of it in the 

 construction of the matches for their match-locks. 



Of the timber-trees of Eastern Afghanistan an extensive use 

 is not made ; the Baloot suffers most from being most acces- 

 sible. The Zaitoon wood is remarkably heavy, sinking in 

 water : it has a very close grain, and may be found to possess 

 valuable properties. On the subject of forest-trees I have en- 

 tered elsewhere. 



Since the above has been in type, we have received from our 

 friend the Rev. M. J. Berkeley the following interesting ex- 

 tract from a letter of Dr. W. Griffith to Nees v. Esenbeck. 



" Serampore, Oct. 11, 1841. 



" I returned some months since from the country west of 

 the Indus, whither I had accompanied the army during its 

 campaign, and where I have been employed as naturalist a 

 year after its departure. I have brought with me from 1 700 

 to 1800 species of plants, besides a considerable collection of 

 mammalia, birds, and fishes, of which the latter are now in 

 course of being prepared for the Directors of the East India 

 Company. 



" The natural productions of Afghanistan are very different 

 from those of British India, and approach much more nearly 

 to those of the Levant, or more especially of those countries 



02 



