INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 211 



and Banahal ranges separate Kashmir from the provinces of 

 Rajaori and Jamu : and the Ward wan range separates it from 

 Kishtwar to the east. The average elevation of the main 

 Himalayan chain north of Kashmir is about 14,000 feet ; and 

 of the Pir-Panjal, to the south of it, 12,000; its loftiest sum- 

 mit being 15,000. The Banahal Pass between Kashmir and 

 Jamu is only 10,000 feet* The course of the Jelam is first 

 from south-east to north-west, through the valley of Kashmir, 

 when it turns south-west after leaving the Walur Lake and 

 enters Marri. The elevation of its bed is 5300 feet at Srinagar 

 the capital, and continues so from Islamabad to the Walur 

 Lake, a distance of 50 miles. 



Kashmir is not strictly analogous in situation or climate to 

 Kunawar or Kishtwar, but the summer rains are so much 

 interrupted that they can hardly be regarded as the effect of 

 a monsoon. Kashmir contains no Rhododendron arboreum 

 and no oaks, nor does it produce Pinus Gerardiana. Its flora 

 is a curious mixture of the hot and dry vegetation of Afghani- 

 stan, with a few ordinary Himalayan forms on the one hand, 

 and many Persian and Caucasian ones on the other. From 

 its moderate elevation, and the great dryness of the atmo- 

 sphere throughout the year, the summers arc very hot. Rice 

 is the staple crop, and the vine is extensively cultivated. Many 



II 



some 



even to Persia; hut their 

 number is small when compared with those of western origin. 

 Kashmir indeed contains many common European species, 



which there find their eastern limit. 



Of the many western forms that inhabit the valley, the fol- 

 lowing have not been collected further east in the Himalaya, 

 though a few probably occur in Kishtwar : 



Anemone bijlora. Delphinium pen icillatum 



„ narcissijlora. Nymph tea alba. 



Ranunculus Lingua. Scutellaria galericulata. 



clmropTtyllos. Lythrum Saliearia. 



Isopyrum tlialictroides. Cerasus prostrata. 



