of Western Afghanistan and North- Eastern Persia. 209 



Timber — • 



In Baluchistan, over the district I traversed, there are no 

 trees to yield timber; the largest that could be obtained 

 would be from the few scattered specimens of Pistacia 

 Terebinthus, var. mutica, or from a few cultivated trees of 



POPULUS EUPHRATICA, TaMARIX ARTICULATA, and TA3IARIX 



MACROCARPA. The Helmand Valley is not quite so devoid of 

 trees ; a little timber is procurable from a natural forest of 

 Tamarix ARTICULATA and from the forests of Populus 

 EuPHRATiCA on the banks and islands of the river. 



In the Badghis, Hari-rud Valley, and Khorasan, a very 

 little good timber could be derived from a few cultivated 

 trees of the Elm, Ukmus species ; the Ash, Fraxinus species ; 

 the Oriental plane, Platanus Orientalis ; the Walnut, 

 JuGLANS REGIA ; some Willows, Salix species : and the Lom- 

 bardy Poplar, Populus nigra. The indigenous trees which 

 might be depended upon for a very limited supply would be 

 the Juniper, Juniperus excelsa; some Willows; Populus 

 EUPHRATICA ; and the Honeysuckle, Lonicera xummularifolia. 



The Tir-band range was by the natives said to contain 

 timber of sorts. To my regret I was not permitted to visit 

 the locality, which could easily have been done, whilst the 

 mission was encamped at Balamorghab. The moment I saw 

 the superb lofty trees of PiNUS halepensis, at Turbat-i-shaik- 

 jami, at Eui-khauf, and Sangan, I grieved in my heart 

 as in my mind's eye I saw them being ruthlessly hacked 

 down for material for bridges and rafts for crossing the 

 Hari-rud, for certainly that is their fate, if not now, in a 

 very short time. 



Tin — the metal, halal, imported by coppersmiths with 



which to tin pots and pans. 

 Tinder — -fandak, purze, sokhta — 



Is prepared from cotton-wool ; also from a PiU^iEX called 

 turush-aJc, in exactly the same way as is done in Ladak, by 

 charring the stems and scraping off" the browned surface, 

 the scrapings forming the tinder; and from the leaves of a 

 CousiNiA, to which a good deal of woolly tomentum is 

 attached. 



Tinder-box — dtish -barg. 



TRA>fS. BOT. SOC. VOL. XVIII. . 2 D 



