SINDH FORESTS. 267 



forests poplar is rare, babul being the staple 

 tree, covering about one-lialf of their area, one- 

 quarter being tamarisk and kundee, and the 

 remaining consisting partly of the same tall 

 grasses, or of waste lands out of reach of the 

 floods, and covered with a scrub of salvadora or 

 khubber, kirror or leafless caper, and the cala- 

 tropis or ak plant. The babul, in favourable 

 circumstances, grows to eight or nine feet in 

 circumference, which may be called the maxi- 

 mum of its development ; but, when left to na- 

 ture, it seems to be a gregarious kind of tree, 

 generally growing in long, narrow belts, and 

 huddled close together in a manner most un- 

 favourable to rapid and continuous growth, and 

 forming such a dense shade underneath as to 

 preclude the growth of any herbage. The 

 poplar trees, on the contrary, are never to be 

 seen crowded together in this manner ; they are 

 well scattered throughout the forests, and do 

 not require from art any assistance to their full 

 development. 



"I need scarcely say that the babul pro- 

 duces excellent timber ; it is procurable of large 

 dimensions, and is adapted for all kinds of 

 work requiring strength and solidity, is now 



