and on the Sanscrtia Names oftho&e Regions. S45 



from the Indus to the Eastern Ocean, and from the Vindhiyau 

 to the Himaliya mountains. 



This plain, extending in length about fourteen degrees of 

 longitude, in the middle latitude of 25°, and in breadth from 

 two to four degrees of latitude, seems to derive a large pro- 

 portion of its vegetation from the neighbouring hills; but 

 grasses, especially Bambusa, Sacckatmn, Andropogon^ Aphida^ 

 and Panicum, together with the allied tribes of Cyperoide/x^ 

 form a larger and more marked feature than trees or shrubs. 

 On the whole, the rigid and thorny vegetation of the Vindhiyau 

 mountains seems more suited for the plain than the more or- 

 namental vegetation of either the Eastern or Himaliya moun- 

 tains. Near both these, however, their plants have made con- 

 siderable encroachments, and communicate a change of ap- 

 pearance to the adjacent plains, especially towards the east, 

 where the air is vastly cooler and moister than further west. 



• I have already mentioned the appearance of the Gangetic 

 Delta, which on the whole has a sti'ange and exotic appear- 

 ance to the European traveller. As we advance, however, to 

 the north, and still more as we proceed wett, notwithstanding 

 the intense heats of the summer, the vegetation appears more 

 of an accustomed form. Wheat, barley, pease and rape-seed 

 form by far the largest proportion of the crops, and we ob- 

 serve fields of potatoes and carrots, while the Palmce and Bam- 

 busce disappear from the plantations; and the gardens pro- 

 duce the vine, the fig, the apple, and the plum, with many 

 flowers common in Europe, and the thickets contain much of 

 the wild rose. Still, however, even in Kuru, i\\Q Mangifera, \k\e 

 Eugenia, the Calyptranthes, the Fki [religiosa and bengalensis\ 

 the R/iamni, and the exotic crops produced in the lainy seastm 

 {Oi-yza, Holcus, Panicum, Paspalum, Dolickos), with the want of 

 the Coni/ene and Amentacece in the plantations, remiinl us suffi- 

 ciently that we are not in Europe. 



I now was exhausted by a long continued exertion, the ol)- 

 servation of plants making but a small part of my duty, and I 

 require<l to pass the remainder of my days at peace in my na- 

 tive clin)ate. I accordingly returned to Calcutta to prepare 

 for niy journey ; and in the mean time, on the deatli of Dr. . 

 Roxburgh, took charge of the botanical garden, having been 

 appointed his successor by the Court ot Directors. While 

 preparing for the journey, I was deprived by the Mar<jnis of 

 Hastings of all the botanical drawings which had been made 

 under my inspection (luring niv last stay in India, otherwise 

 they would have been deposited, with my other collections, in 

 the library at the India House. By this ill-judged act of ati- 

 thoritv, unworthy of this nobleman's character, the drawings 



• . ' ' wiU 



