Captain Blank's Memoir on Sirmor. 59 



said to give rise to the Tans, and to furnish tributary streams to the Jumna, 

 and the BhagiratM, one of the main branches of the Ganges. The other, 

 about ten miles to the eastward, is 18,77-^ feet in Iieight. 



Climale, Productions, and Commerce. 



A line drawn transversely along the range, separating the Bajehu and 

 Mashini Nalld, to Chiir peak, and thence S. E. by Chandpur, to the Tans, 

 and continued through Ldkandi, Debun, Bogru, and Bartdni, to the Jumna, 

 divides the mountainous region into two climates, distinguished by their 

 productions, and a sensible difference of temperature. In the division 

 contiguous to the plain, the harvest occurs towards the latter end of April, 

 and beginning of May ; whereas, in the more distant highlands, the barley 

 was still unripe on the 26th of May, and the wheat frequently does not 

 ripen at all. 



The low land, on the banks of the rivers, is the most fertile and pro- 

 ductive ; and in parts of Jounsdr, affords a revenue to the proprietor, 

 amounting to one-half the produce. Other lands do not afford more than 

 one-fifth, and the back districts probably even less. It is evident, that an 

 invading force should not place much reliance on the resources of such a 

 country. 



The cultivation, in general, is carried on upon the surfaces of the se- 

 condary ranges, and upon their slopes, which are formed into terraces, for 

 the convenience of the plough. The small breed of black cattle, peculiar 

 to the mountains, is well adapted for this species of labour. The crops are 

 scanty and poor, from the quantity of stone which is mingled with the soil. 

 The stubble of the corn, in reaping, is left very long. The grain is sepa- 

 rated from the ear by the trampling of oxen, in circular enclosures, paved 

 with slate. 



Besides wheat and barley, a small black grain, called Marwa (Ekusine 

 Coracana), is reared, and constitutes the chief food of the people ; and ge- 

 nerally, all the frumentaceous and leguminous herbs, common to the plains, 

 are grown. Rice is more attended to, and earlier sown, in the colder 

 climate. It is generally cultivated along the banks of the torrents, for the 

 convenience of irrigation. The water, for this purpose, is conducted with 

 much ingenuity, and often carried across a deep glen, by a rustic aqueduct, 

 consisting of the hollow trunk of a fir tree. Other varieties of rice are 

 produced on the highlands, which do not require this labour. 



I 2 



