INDIA. 



69 



letting at the caUBMncHnent of this season, artificial 

 mtmn are employed to impede the growth. The .him- 

 boo, a species of race-apple, is esteemed not only for its 

 fruit, but also for its crimson flowers, which hang down 

 with much elegance from every part of the stem. Be- 

 sides the grape, mulberry, fig, and a few other fruits, 

 there are not many European fruits that grow in Hin- 

 dostan There are some apple-trees ; the largest and 

 best grow in the province of Lahore, near Battalah. 

 Two specie* of the papan fig, " remarkable for the 

 sweetness and rose-flavour of their fruit ; the tjioadiut 

 Juki*, whose sweetness, pleasantly tempered with acid, 

 tenders it peculiarly agreeable in this hot climate ; the 

 pilltm. from the trunk and larger branches of which are 

 produced fibrous bag*, sometimes of the weight of 25 

 pounds, which are filled with nuti like the chesnut, 

 and resembling the almond in flavour ; the di/lenia lit' 

 remarkable for its beauty, and valuable for its 



large pomaceou* fruit of a pure acid, and equal to the 

 white lily in fragrance ; the avtrrkoa earambola, which 

 produce* three crop* of fruit in the year ; and another 

 of the same genus, which is in a manner covered with 

 large juicy berries of the size of a ben's egg, and re- 

 semble the grape ; and the elephant apple, almost 

 equally a favourite with the animal whose name it 

 bears, and with the native Hindoos," are mentioned by 

 \.kin as some of the most celebrated fruit- bearing 

 tree* of India. 



After premising that the red lotus, the most beauti- 

 ful of the uympkmmi, is coaomon on the bank* in the 

 south of India, and that the sensitive plant grows spon- 

 taneoualy in the Amran district of Guzerat, we shall con- 

 clude our fHT"ffi*itf of Indian botany, (with the excep- 

 tion of a short notice or two regarding some of the 

 grapes.) with another extract from the author whom 

 we have just quoted, in which be is dttcribing some of 

 the tree*, shrubs, and herbacaoua plant* that arc re 

 for their size or beauty. " The 



Jic*lmeuM\ remarkable by it* magnitude and the pro- 

 fusion of it* ti*ant blomomi ; and is of peculiar value 

 in a tropic*! climate, a* hardly any insects are found 

 under ha shade. The cotton tree riae* with a thorny 

 trunk eighteen feet in circumference, to the height of 

 SO feat without a branch ; it then throw* off numerous 

 bough*, which an adorned in the rainy season with 

 a* a* large a* the open hand, and the** 

 by capsula filled with a fine kind of 

 The shrub* and herbaceous plants are innu- 

 merable, and multitude* would be well worth re- 

 cording for their beauty or use, if the nature of 

 work allowed an opportunity ; we cannot 

 omit the indigo and Indian madder, whence the 



oiours of the Indian chintzes are procured. The 



former perfuming the night, the Utter scenting the 

 day. The gloriota nprrba, and Indian vine, form, by 

 their union, bowers worthy of Paradise ; and tlie btuea 

 tmptrla, a small tree, by the striking contrast of it* 

 men leaves, it* black flowery stalks, and its large scar- 

 kt papilionaceous Moseonw, attracts, with its oitrnU- 

 , the notice and admiration of the most in- 



to* Foot, the Aw cymonroidft, the koasa gras* 

 of the natives, deserve* particular notice. It U regard- 

 ed a* a sacred grass, and is held almost constantly in 

 the hand* of such a* are anriou* to be regarded as par- 

 ticularly devout : ; it is used at sacrifice*. It is also of 

 >uajidnaliU use in this climate, since from the roots 



of it a kind of mat called tails is made, which are placet! Starttic 

 against the doors or windows, and constantly watered, '"^Y^ 

 in order to keep the rooms cool; as its fragrance is plea- 

 sant, it thus spreads an agreeable scent as well as fresh- 

 ness through the apartments. On the eastern frontiers 

 or' Bengal, there is an immense extent of land covered 

 by a peculiar kind of grass, called by the natives the 

 augeah grass. The soil on which it grows is sandy ; it Augeak 

 grows to the height of SO feet, nnd is as thick as a man's B 1 * 8 *- 

 wrist. The jungle grass is very common in many parts Jungle 

 of Hindostan. In the Ragemal district of Bengal, it grass. 

 attains the h ight of eight or ten feet, and on the top 

 of it there is a beautiful and elegant down, resembling 

 the feathers of a swan. 



But we roust conclude this desultory account of In- 

 dian botany, merely remarking, that when we come to 

 treat of the agriculture of India, we shall have occaMnn 

 to notice some plants, which more properly fall under 

 that head. 



The native breed of horses in India is a small ill- Hctse*. 

 shaped vicious pony, in some parts not exceeding 30 

 in height, particularly on the confines of the 

 Xepaulese territories. Wild horses, of a hardy and 

 useful breed, spotted in a singular manner, and with 

 great variety of colour, are regularly brought from the 

 bank* of the Bontsu, in Nepaul, for sale, into Hindos- 

 tan ; they are called tanyans. There are also a great 

 many horse* brought from Candehar and Tibet, and 

 sold at the annual fairs of Hindostan. In some parts 

 of the country itself, however, the breed of hones is 

 good ; and a* most of the Hindoo princes, a* well as 

 the British, are obliged to have numerous cavalry, con- 

 siderable attention, as may be supposed, has been paid 

 to the improvement of this useful animal. In the Cho- 

 iiayir district of the province of Gundwana, brood 

 mare* of the tattoo specie* are kept in considerable 

 number*. This is the same species that is common in 

 Bengal; it is a thin ill-.haped animal. The hone 

 commonly used by the Mahrattas in war, is also a poor 

 looking animal, about 14 or 14} hands high, with large 

 bone* ; but in the Poonah Mahrattas, particularly near 

 the Beemah river, there are excellent and beautiful 

 hums, of a middle size, generally of a dark bay co- 

 lour, with black legs, which are highly esteemed by 

 the Mahrattas ; they are called Becroarteddy horses, 

 from the district where they are bred. In the province 

 of Auningabad, also, great numbers are reared for the 

 Mahratta cavalry. These, however, are neither strong 

 nor handsome, though they are of a hardy breed. The 

 Mahratta cavalry almpu entirely consist of mare*. In 

 that part of the province of Hah.tr which lies near the 

 Nepanlese territories, a great munlx r of horse* are 

 bred for the British cavalry. It has been satisfactorily 

 ascertained, that this animal degenerate* in size, and 

 in most of his useful qualities, in low and moist situa- 

 tion* ; hence it it *upponed, that the horse* of Bengal 

 are of such an inferior dr*cnptiun and small size, some 

 of them being no larger than mastiff*. In dry and 

 moderately elevated situations, on the contrary, they not 

 only thrive well, and attain a good size, and are strong, 

 active, but handsome. Since the British began to pay 

 attention to the breeding of them in the northern part* 

 of the province of H.ilmr, many of the very firt quality 

 hare been reared there, particularly in the districts of 

 Tyrpoot and Hajy|xx>r ; and they arc in such request, 

 that horse dealers from L'p|>er Hindostan frequent the 

 fairs at Hunlwar and ottier places to purchase them. 

 Farther to the north, however, where tiie country be- 

 very mounuinous, the horses fall off in point of 



