172 



NATURAL HISTORY OF 



west ; the horse, ass, and camel, in directions original! 

 commencing from the west side; so again, 

 sheep, and goat, still existing wild in the form of more 

 than one species on the same borders ; whilst even the 

 elephant walked once through the more southern woods ; 

 and the wild cat, similar to the European*, now haunts 

 the same, and prowls far onwards in the north. Of 

 birds, Gallinacea, all originating in the south-east of 

 Asia ; several kinds of poultry are wild in the woods ; 

 and one domesticated species, at least, was carried, in 

 Man's earliest migrations, onward to Egypt and the 

 west of Europe, as well as to the furthest islands in 

 the South Seas ; perhaps even to Chili, before the 

 arrival of the Spaniards. 



On the western side, at least, are found the parent 

 plants of many fruit-bearing trees and shrubs, now 

 naturalized in Europe ; the walnut, chestnut, filbert ; 

 the apple, medlar, cherry, and almost all the wild and 

 cultivated berries, and the vine at no great distance. * 

 Wheat and barley, of more than one variety or species, 

 occur on the skirts of the same central region, some 

 thriving at more than 10,000 feet of elevation in the 

 Himalayas and in China, with buck wheat and oats, on 

 the plains of the north-west, and onions, turnips, &c.> 

 growing wild in many places ; wild flax and hemp on 

 the northern plains ; and, in Cashmere, the valleys even 

 possess edible gourds, pumpkins, and melons, whereof 

 one or two species flourish in the arid deserts ; even the 



* The vine is now cultivated about Llassa, in Thibet, 

 29 40" north latitude, and may also be indigenous. 



