12 DESCRIPTION OF COUNTRY. 



service by exhibiting a lot of worthless certificates, and then devote all their energies to 

 plundering and cheating their employer. 



The valleys of the various great rivers which cut their way through the hills are, as a 

 rule, more contracted as we go further east. The Jumna and Ganges have their sources 

 in eternal snow, and their upper waters flow between huge rocky mountains, the grassy 

 slopes of which are the home of the Burrell and the Snow Bear. 



Lower down, the sides of their valleys become more or less dotted with cedars and 

 pines, which gradually become more frequent, until at length the vegetation completely 

 changes, and the slopes on either side instead of being merely sprinkled with forest trees are 

 clothed with the densest jungle, consisting principally of oaks and ringal cane. In addition 

 to this, a thick undergrowth of balsams and other fast growing herbaceous plants springs up 

 after the first rains, and frequently attains a height of six or seven feet. These rocky forests 

 are the favorite resort of the Tahr and the Serow. Where more open slopes occur, covered 

 with short grass and sparsely sprinkled with pine trees, Gooral are nearly sure to be found. 

 On some of the hills where the ground is not quite so precipitous and the forest more park- 

 like, the Jarao or Sambur may be met with. 



Descending to the foot of the hills from Mussourie, we find forests of sal, send, and 

 bamboo ; then comes the wide flat valley of the Doon, watered by several rivers, and bound- 

 ed on the southern side by the curious Sewalik hills, which seem as if they had slipped away 

 from the Himalayas. 



The valley of the Dehra Doon, where not under cultivation, is covered with heavy 

 grass jungle and beautiful forests intersected by many streams, and is the resort of the 

 Elephant, the Tiger, the Panther, and of herds of deer and antelope of various species, 

 including Sambur, Spotted Deer, Hog Deer, Barking Deer, Nilgai, and Four-horned 

 Antelope. 



The Sewalik hills are a perfect paradise for the sportsman who is fond of stalking, 

 and prefers a mixed bag on foot to the larger numerical bag that may be made off 

 Elephants in a less broken country. The Sewaliks are composed of a series of abrupt rocky 

 ridges intersected by deep, narrow, and tortuous ravines with stony watercourses. These 

 ravines are called ' sotes ' ; the rocky watercourses are called ' rdos.' The hills between the 

 ' rdos' are more or less densely covered with jungle, consisting chiefly of sal, send, bamboo, 

 and maljan creeper, with, of course, an undergrowth of rank grass. Here and there are 

 flats and hollows among the hills ; and on following up some narrow branch of a ' sote ' 

 one may find it debouch into a shady amphitheatre with pools of water, probably the 

 favorite standing place of some old solitary Tusker. In addition to the beasts met with in 

 the Doon itself, the Black Bear ( Ursus labiatus) and the Gooral are also to be found. 



The ' Terai,' or belt of forest extending for some distance from the foot of the hills, 

 from the Doon on the west to our very eastern frontiers, is the home of countless " Large 

 Game," including all those species that have already been mentioned as occurring in the 

 Doon, with the addition of the Swamp Deer, the Buffalo, the Gaur, and two kinds of 

 Rhinoceros. 



