60 Captain Blane's Memoir on Sirmor. 



The surplus produce of the country is conveyed to Ndhen and Kalsi, 

 whence it is exported to the plains. Turmeric, ginger, and capsicum, form 

 articles of export from the lower to the upper highlands, and also to the 

 plains. Excellent honey and walnuts, are conveyed from tlie lulls to the low 

 country. Tobacco of an inferior kind, and poppies, are partially cultivated, 

 and require much care and attention. Cotton is grown, equal to the con- 

 sumption of the country, which is not great, especially in the farther high- 

 lands, where woollen clothing is in use, for the greater part of the year. 

 Salt is the chief import. 



The climate of such a country, as may well be conceived, is very various. 

 In the depths of the glens, and on the banks of the rivers, the sultriness is 

 extreme ; and a current of hot wind may be experienced, in the month of 

 May, on the borders of the Tans river, offering a strong contrast to the de- 

 licious coolness of the highlands. The traveller, in the summer months, 

 would do well to avoid the low ground, and direct his course, as much as 

 possible, along the crests of the ranges. The thermometer, on the 2Gth 

 of May, at noon, at Pingoci, in Kandu, stood at 62" ; on the 27th, near 

 Sangu/c Ghat, on the Tans, at 102". Snow falls in Jdbal, and lies two to 

 three feet deep, on the elevated ranges, projecting from Clair, and on the 

 central land, between the Tans and Jumna, as late as the middle of March. 

 That lofty peak is enveloped in snow, till the month of June. It is said 

 that rain never falls there. The musk deer, the denizen of eternal snow, 

 is sometimes found on the side of this mountain. It is strangled by the 

 snare laid for it, and is seldom caught alive. 



The productions of the woods and forests are as various, as the climate. 

 The farther side of the boundary line, above described, and of the conti- 

 guous mountains, is covered with several species of the finest fir trees ; 

 whereas the oak, and a beautiful tree called the J5tt;a5 (Rhododendron pmii- 

 ceum) prevail on the warmer face of this elevated region. The sources of the 

 Rakniir, and the neighbourhood of Kardm peak, produce a vast variety of 

 valuable forest trees, of immense growth, among which is observed the horse- 

 chesnut. Strawberries, and raspberries, grow on the mountain sides ; and 

 barberries, cranberries, cherry trees, the dog-rose, the weeping willow, and 

 other plants and trees, familiar to Europeans, frequently occur on the road 

 side, and in the woods and glens. Apples, pears, peaches, and apricots are 

 seen near the villages. The pears and peaches never arrive at perfection. 



Seven distinct species of fir are observed in Sirmor. 1. The Diip, or 



