EDGEWORTH’s ACCOUNT OF THE SIKH STATES. 271 
the leaves is always covered with a saline efflorescence invi- 
sible to the eye but very perceptible to the taste, but this is 
not observable in the leaf itself, which is tasteless. Probably 
in consequence of the quantity of salt in the wood, it cannot 
be used as fuel in a room, from the intolerable fumes it 
gives out. 
“ A great portion of this tract is very low, especially that 
part between the numerous branches of the Ghagar, and is 
cultivated with rice in the &Aarif and gram in the rabi. Joar 
is even less cultivated than in the first tract, and bajra scarcely 
ever seen, both being sown principally for the sake of the 
er. 
* The rest of the &Aarif crops are the samé as those in the 
first tract, except that mandiya, and til are not so much culti- 
vated, and I have not observed odon in it at all. In the 
rabi, wheat and barley are the principal crops, but gram 
and masur are abundant in the lower lands of stiffer soil. 
Sárson is very abundant either alone or mixed with grain, as 
is flax, like it cultivated for the sake of itsoil. "The Raphanus 
Raphanistrum, called tárámíra, is also cultivated generally 
among the stubble of the cotton for a coarse oil yielded by it: 
it is exceedingly hardy and never suffers from the frost which 
frequently destroys the sárson crop. 
** Mehndi ( Lawsonia inermis), is cultivated in a few villages 
by a peculiar caste called *maghs, in the following manner: 
“ The seed is soaked in water for three days, then strained 
\ * ** This is the only caste who cultivate this crop, and they ney the fol. 
Owing stra account of their origin: Once upon a time there wasa - 
Sarsut brahmin, king of Mecca (who was maternal grandfather of Munas- — 
MaD!) his name was Rája Muxutasur. From him sprung SamaniYa, | 
who with his son Sar was turned out of Arabia by Hossan and Hossyn. 
Thence they migrated to Pundri, an island, and thence to Mahmádsur in 
the Barara mulk, W. of Bhatiana, where they colonized 17 villages. 
Thence they were driven forth, and after sundry migrations are now settled 
in the following places :—1. Chaurira ; 2. Irágarb, near Patidla ; 3. Yára, 
near Shahábád; 4. Indri; 5. Thánesar; ,6. Deorána, near Ambéla ; 7. 
. Mustafábád; 8. Sádhoura, in the Sikh states; and Lakbnauti in the 
