30 Dr. Govan an the Natural History and Physical 



The Mimosae Catechu. 



iEschynomene grandiflora. 



Nauclea. Clerodendron Phlomoides. 



Melia?. Mimusops. 



Butea frondosa. Cassia fistula. 



The district, however, possesses few natural trees of great 

 luxuriance, these being chiefly reared round the well-endow- 

 ed residences of Hindoo mendicants, or the tombs of Maho- 

 medar saints. 



The most common bushes are the Caparis aphylla and a 

 Gardenia, I think, Dumetorum; several species of Zyzyphus, 

 and an lndigqfera. The only species of Spartium I ever 

 found in India was here. The voluble and delightfully 

 fragrant Asclepias, or Pergularia odoratissima, spreads its 

 rich and heavy perfume all around in the rainy months. 



In no part of India are the hot winds more violent than 

 here, they sometimes continue blowing during most part of 

 the night — from the west, or a little to the north or south of 

 that point, during April and May and part of June — every 

 thing is in a state so parched and dry at this season, that 

 conflagrations, where they occur among the thatched cot- 

 tages of the natives, spread most extensively. The high 

 state of positive electricity in which the bodies of all animals 

 are at this season, cannot fail to produce, one would imagine, 

 remarkable effects upon the state of their health. This place 

 seems also subject, in a remarkable degree, to violent north- 

 westers, darkening the air to a lurid red at noonday, and 

 raising whirlwinds of sand from the deserts to the west- 

 ward. 



The rapidity with which verdure spreads itself over this 

 dry, parched, and sandy region, as soon as the rains begin to 

 fall, is astonishing. 



The internal structure of the hills of the outward barrier of 

 the Himalayah, is very distinctly seen, particularly in some of 

 the passes into the Doon or valley of Deyrah. The Reet or 

 Timley pass, (through which the heavy guns were taken dur- 

 ing the campaign,) is one of the most remarkable in this re- 

 spect. The pass, like most of the others, which however are 

 generally on a smaller scale, is formed by the broad and 

 winding bed of a water course, presenting, according to the 



