PARAS-NATH. AT 
rupted by rocky eminences; while to the north the grand trunk- 
road shoots across the plains, like a white thread, straight as an 
arrow, spanning here and there the beds of the mountain torrents, with 
the pretty bridges erected by my friend Lieut. Beadle. 
n the south side the vegetation was more luxuriant than on 
the north, though from the heat of the sun, the opposite might be 
expected. This is owing partly to the curve taken by the ridge being 
open to the south, and partly that the south winds are the damp ones. 
Accordingly, plants which 1 had left 3,000 feet below on the north 
side, never ascended to near the summit, such as Fici, Bananas, and 
various weeds. A small short-stemmed Phenix was tolerably abun- 
dant (probably P. Ouseleyana, Griff.), and a small tree of Péerosper- 
mum, on which a species of grass grew epiphytally, but too withered 
for me to determine: it formed a curious feature. 
The situation of the principal temple is superb, below the saddle 
in a hollow facing the south, surrounded by forests and the Banana and 
Banyan. It is small, but handsome, and contains little inside to re- 
mark but the sculptured feet of Paras-Nath, and some slabs of marble 
with Boodh idols, cross-legged figures with crisp hair, and the Brah- 
minical cord. These, and a leper covered with ashes in the vestibule, 
and an officiating priest, were all we saw within. 
The number of pilgrims on various parts of the mountain was very 
considerable, passing from one temple to another, and leaving generally 
ew grains of dry rice at each: the rich and lame were carried in 
— the poorer people walked. 
culminant rocks are very dry, but during the rains they may 
exhibit many curious things; a fine Kalanchoe was common, with the 
Barberry, a beautiful Indigofera, and various other shrubs; a Bolbo~ 
phylium Y saw, but out of reach, and the withered remains of a Begonia, 
Selaginella, and some other Ferns. Oncophorus (?) was the prevailing 
moss. There were no birds, and very few insects, a pretty Pontia 
being the only butterfly. The striped squirrel was busy among the 
rocks, and I saw a few mice and the traces of bears. 
At 3 P.M., the temperature was 55°, and the climate deliciously 
cool and pleasant. I tried to reach the western peak perhaps three 
hundred feet above the saddle, by keeping along the ridge, but 
was cut off by precipices, and ere I could return, it was time to descend. 
This I was glad to do in a doolie, and borne on four coolies’ backs, I 
