366 Notes on the Birds of the Samhhur Lake Sf its vicinity, 



an apparently wonderful verification when the British Govern- 

 ment assumed charge of the lake. Our chemical analyst wish- 

 ing" to obtain some pure silver, converted some rupees into 

 chloride of silver. This was mixed witli some pounded borax 

 to act as a flux, and I made the white mass over to a village 

 goldsmith with instructions to heat it as much as ever he could. 

 When the fire had reached a sufficient heat, the goldsmith 

 and the onlookers were dumbfounded at seeing a mass of molten 

 silver in the crucible, and from the nature of the legend the 

 news spread like wild-fire that the British had discovered a method 

 of reconverting the salt into the original gift of the goddess. 



As regards the physical features of the surrounding neighbour- 

 hood, little requires to be said. Cultivation is everywhere sparse, 

 and the extensive sand plains contain few trees, but here and there 

 they are covered with low scrub jungle. The trees generally met 

 with are Acacia arahica, A . leuco'phlaea, A . speciosa, Azadirachta 

 indica, Tamarix orientalis, Cordia myxa and Ha7niUo7iia suaveo- 

 lens, while close to villages which are few and far between, a few 

 Ficus religiosa and indica with some straggling specimens of 

 Phcenix sylvestris occur. On the sand dunes a small species of 

 acacia, A. Jacquemonti, is very common, and on the plains the 

 following are a few of the commonest plants, viz., Saccharum sara 

 Calotropis Hamiltoni and gigantea, Alhagi mauronim, Capparis 

 spinosa, Galligonum polizonoides , Grotolaria burhia, Zizi/phus num- 

 mularia, and FJdwardsia mollis. Everywhere the jerboa-rat, Ger- 

 hillus indicus,^ is so abundant that the Kajputs call it the Zamin- 

 ka-raja, or king of th<; soil. Ponds or jheels are of very rare 

 occurrence, and these are generally dried up completely by the 

 end of April or middle of May. Some of the low hill ranges are 

 all but destitute of vegetation, whilst others are densely covered 

 with EupJiorbia Royleana, Cactus indicus, Lagerstramia parvi- 

 flora (dhan),. and a small tree with re-curved thorns called khiri, 

 which considerably impedes rapid progress. In this cover the 

 Indian wild boar is very common, while small herds of the 

 Sambhur {Rusa Aristotelis) and the Nilghau [Fortax pictus) 

 are sparingly met with. Wolves, hysenas, and very rarely a 

 tiger or leopard are found, but as these are all enemies to cattle, 

 they are soon shot or trapped by the thakoors. 



On the eastern side of some of these hills are vast deposits 

 of sand thrown over by the prevailing west winds, but these are 

 all but destitute of vegetation, as the surface soil is scattered 

 about by every storm. In one of those hill ranges, about thirty 

 miles west from Sambhur, are situated the marble quarries of 

 Mokrana, which supplied most of the white marble for the 



* ? O. eriitkrourus ? Ed., Steat Feathers. 



