PLANTS OF STNDH. 273 



The balm is a light tough wood, but inferior 

 in strength to teak ; it is much used in building, 

 but liable to the ravages of the white ants until 

 seasoned. 



The tali is a very superior wood ; white ants 

 do not meddle with it even when green. It is 

 a very straight-growing timber tree, but of little 

 use under 30 years' growth. Large plantations 

 of this tree are being made in the forests of 

 Lower Sindh. 



The kundi is much used for household furni- 

 ture, and sheep and goats feed upon the leaves. 



The leafless caper-bush is much used for the 

 knees of the Sindh flat-bottomed boats. 



The acacia and tamarind abound in northern 

 Sindh ; there are also the peepul, the bii', and the 

 date-palm, of which the fruit is greatly esteemed, 

 and much of it is dried and stored for con- 

 sumption, but is very inferior to the dates of 

 Egypt and Arabia. 



The Meer's family have some extensive gar- 

 dens about Khyrpoor, but, like everything per- 

 taining to His Highness, they are ill cared for. 

 Mangoes are very plentiful, but generally of an 

 inferior kind, as the art of grafting seems un- 

 known tliere. Pomegranates are plentiful, but 



VOL. I. 18 



