302 An Account of Gurhwal, [Sess. 



Kew. It had only been once discovered before, probably at 

 the very place where I found it, on the banks of the Alak- 

 nanda river, near its source. It is a species quite distinct 

 from the well-known Phagnalon denticulatum, a common plant 

 in Afghanistan. I found, at similar elevations, quantities of 

 various species of Saussurea plants, which have a musky smell. 

 They are presented, as offerings to the gods, by pilgrims when 

 they visit the temples of Budrienath and Kidarnath : the gods 

 are supposed to like the smell of miisk. The two most com- 

 mon species are S. obvallata, with a large coloured bract, and 

 S. gossypina, covered with wool. Of the birch family, the 

 only one common in Lower Gurhwal is the Alnus nepalensis ; 

 but in Upper Gurhwal, true birches are very common, and 

 from their bark Thibet paper is made, on which are written 

 Thibetan books. Maples are common in Central Gurhwal, 

 and from maple-wood dishes are made, and used instead of 

 crockery. When travelling in Gurhwal, I often ate my dinner 

 off maple-wood dishes. Elm-trees are also common, and still 

 more so the allied tree, Celtis tetrandra, which is often planted 

 round villages. Another village favourite is the Olea fragrans, 

 — a tree probably not indigenous, and possibly an importation 

 all the way from Japan. Hooker and Bentham call it an 

 Olea, though it has an imbricate corolla and ex-albuminous 

 seeds, which made me take it for a jasmine. The scent of 

 the flowers is delicious, and it is often planted in the centre 

 of a village, and stone seats arranged all round it under its 

 shade. It is what in old Scotland was called a " covin tree." 

 Such stone circles of seats are mentioned in Homer — 



" o\ 8e ytpovres 

 star' tTTt ^ecTTOicrt \LBoi% Upio ivl kvkX(jo " ^ — 



but Homer does not mention the tree in the centre. In 

 Gurhwal, the greybeards of the village assemble in the sum- 

 mer evenings, and smoke their pipes, and discuss the price of 

 rice and mandua, or the mischief recently done by the ravages 

 of bears, or perhaps the hardship of the custom, handed down 

 from ancient times, which forces every peasant - proprietor, 

 when he kills a goat, to send, as a present, a fore-quarter to 

 the tJwMar, or lord of the manor. This, in most places, is still 



1 The Iliad, Book XVIII., 11. 503, 504. 



