530 Dr. C. B. Ticoharst on [Ibis, 



temporatiu-e often reaclios in Upper Sind 115-120"' or more 

 (lii<j,liest 13*2°) ; in the south-west corner, however, the hot 

 weather is not so bad, the shade temperature being about 

 90° with strong sea breezes ; in the cold weather this part is 

 plfMsantly cool at 80°, whereas in Upper Sind it is quite 

 cold, and ground frosts at night are known. 



Vegetation. — In the Indus valley and canal areas vegeta- 

 tion abounds, and in [)laces is luxuriant. The trees consist 

 chieflvof the acacias " babul " { Acacia arahica) and " kandi " 

 (^Prosopis sfncujera), tamarisk "' lai " ( T. gallica), interspersed 

 with "siras'^ (Albizzia lahhelc), '"'' nim" (Melia azadaracta), 

 " pipal " {Ficus relif/iosa), etc., while in Upper Sind the white 

 poplar '' bahn '' [P. euphratica) flourishes. The 87 forest areas 

 (much of it hardly what we should call forest in Europe) 

 comprise six million acres, and vary from one-quarter to 

 two miles in width and up to 10,000 acres in size ; some 

 are really dense, others mere jungle; interspersed and in 

 places making a forest of its own are the giant grasses 

 " sar " and " khan " (Saccharum), which determine the distri- 

 bution of not a few birds. Cultivation consists of cotton, 

 wbeat, barley, maize, millet, etc., in places rice, and many 

 kinds of garden vegetables, while groves of guava, mango, 

 and papeira are commonly seen. 



The rest of Sind is in great contrast — the most dreary 

 waterless desert and vegetation scanty. The euphorbia 

 (" cactus '' of the English) is the prevailing bush ; on sand- 

 dunes the " uk " [Calotropis.) alone is seen, on rocky ground 

 the " ber " (Zizgphiis jiijuba), and in many places the leafless 

 caper "kirar'^ (^Caparis aphylla) or the jhao {Tamar'hv dioica) 

 alone relieve the monotony, save on the banks of some dry 

 water-course, where a desert scrub-jungle of these bushes with 

 the two acacias affords more or less thin cover. However, 

 after the monsoon rain even the desert is transformed in 

 places, and for a few short weeks many plants and grasses, 

 the existence of which would never be suspected, spring up 

 luxuriantly, and the bushes, nibbled down by goats and 

 camels to a few bare stalks, shoot forth again to a respectable 

 size. 



