from the Kingdom of Nepal. 407 



cuna, everywhere cultivated in the British Himalaya as Man- 

 tlua or INIarua. E. stricta is also grown in Garhwal. 



Holcus Sorghum. Kaunguni^ ]\Iuccai, or Muruli, — the first 

 being the Newar name {i. e. of the aboriginal Mongolian popula- 

 tion), the last two those of their Parbatiya or Hindoo eonquerors, 

 also a mountain race. Generally, however, Kangani is Pani- 

 cum italiaim, and jMuccai (Makkai) Zea Mays : it is probably 

 a term of Indian origin, but the Mohammedans suppose it to 

 be so termed because Maize came to them from Mecca; of this 

 fact it is but a very slender corroboration that the French call 

 the same corn ' Ble dc Turquie/ Sorghum vulgare is little 

 cultivated in the mountains, but Sorghum saccharatum is occa- 

 sionally seen about Almorah. 



Panicum colonum. Tangni, Tangri, or Kakun, p. 231. 



Sabe_, referred to Ischcemum, a grass of the Nepal Tarai, 

 growing in great quantities, and exported to the British terri- 

 tories for the manufacture of ropes (p. 64). 



No. 2324. Ischremum Sahe. Sabe, Hindice. Habitat in 

 Mithilre campis ubi legitur ad ligamina foliis nectanda. (Speci- 

 men from Nathpur.) 



No. 2325. Ischcemum sparteum. Sabe, Hindice. Habitat in 

 Magadhae montosis. Ad usum eundum cum prsecedente inservit. 

 (Specimen from Ghoramara.) These two plants are identical; 

 Spodiopogon laniger, No. 8845 B. of Wallich's Catalogue, Nepal, 

 1821, being there referred to a new genus, " Eriantho affine.^' 

 In 1850 I found it stacked in large quantities on the bank of 

 the Ganges at Bhojpur and Monger in Behar, where the owners 

 called it Saba, Saraa, and Sabar, and informed me that it was 

 brought down from the llajmahal Hills, south, and from those 

 of Tirhut, north — the localities specified by Dr. Hamilton. 

 Dr. Boyle (Illustrations, p. 416) states that Spodiopogon laniger 

 is "one of the grasses found in the northern as in the southern 

 parts of India. ^^ In Kuniaon it occurs as far in the mountains 

 as Almorah, and up to an elevation of 5000 feet, flowering in 

 April. Mr. Edgeworth informs me that it is abundant in the 

 rdos or hot-water courses of the Sewalik and lower ranges of the 

 Himalaya in the Binjor Dun, below Simla, up to 3000 feet; 

 there, as throughout Northern India, it is termed Ban (a word 

 which in Shakespeare's Hindustani Dictionary is erroneously 

 identified with Munj), and is well known as a common material 

 for making rope, which is much used, especially for the bottoms 

 of beds and similar purposes. Dr. Royle adds that Eragrostis 

 {Poa) cynosuroides is employed for rope-making : under the 

 names Darbh (Dabh) and Kusa, it plays an important ])art in 

 the religious ceremonies of the Brfihmans, and, when young, it is 

 a favourite food of cattle; but any other destination has not 



