of Western Afghanistan and North-Eastern Persia. 33 



cut over close to the roots, and hung up in a room with the 

 root end of the stems upwards ; under the hanging shrubs on 

 the floor of the room was laid a sheet. The plants on drying 

 were shaken over the sheet, on shaking them a dust, gard, fell 

 upon the sheet ; this is collected and sold as chars. The dried 

 leaves crushed into a powder is hhdng. The oil of the seeds 

 is employed in burning as a lighting oil. The resinous exu- 

 dation and the crushed dried leaves are employed as intoxi- 

 cants, scarcely ever as medicines ; the prepared oil majun is a 

 very violent intoxicant, and most unsafe to employ. The 

 stems are subsequently placed in water and then left to steep 

 for several days, when by beating is obtained a fibre, from 

 which are made excellent ropes. 



Capparis spinosa, Linn. CAPPARmE^. 



The Caper, kaunr, Jcawarz, hawarza, k-av:ark, kdwarg, 

 kdwargid, kdhwarg, kdhivan, kowivarg. A common shrub 

 from Quetta to Bala-morghab and Meshad. It is here a 

 very much larger shrub than I ever saw it in the Punjab, 

 and its habit is very different ; it grows forming great bushes 

 in the open country, fully five feet in height, and spreading 

 from the centre with great trailing branches, like a huge 

 overgrown bramble. In the Punjab I only collected it as a 

 pendant shrub, growing from the crevices of rocks, in conglo- 

 merate formations. The flower buds all through Persia are 

 collected for household use to be made into pickles. Its 

 leaves give excellent fodder, and are collected in quantity for 

 this purpose. Kawar is the Caper plant, or it means a 

 place deserted by its inhabitants, desolation, exactly like the 

 old ruins on the Helmand where we saw this shrub growing 

 in the greatest luxuriance and profusion ; the other terms 

 mean the fodder plant, the fodder leaf. The fruit, which is 

 large, is eaten and relished by the natives. 



Capsicum, f<pecies. SOLANACE^K. 



The Capsicum, or Eed pepper plant, in all probabilities 

 Capsicum annuum, Zt?m., and Capsicum frutescens, . Zm?i. 

 Much cultivated in gardens for the fruit, march-i-sicrkh, 

 pilpll,filfll ; by the Turkomans called karan-pul, kala7n-p7ir. 

 kalanfur, which is largely employed as a condiment; at 



TRANS. BOX. see. VOL. XVIII. K 



