178 On the Aptitude of the Himalayan [April, 



an, where he amused himself in making excavations, and has succeeded 

 in finding several idols. At Cabul, he has been engaged in the same 

 kind of pursuit, and has been rewarded here also by his discovery of 

 several idols quite entire. Among his discoveries is an inscription on a 

 piece of paper made of the leaf of a tree, but which unhappily is so 

 worm eaten and injured by the lapse of time as not to be legible. 



The recommendatory letter which you wrote to Syed Keramet Ali, 

 respecting me, has been delivered to him ; he frequently visits me, and 

 shews me every attention in his power. A kdfila from Bokhara is ex- 

 pected here either to-day or to-morrow. Nawab Jabbar Khan is very 

 anxious to procure some platina, for making experiments in alchemy ; 

 the mysteries of which, the credulous natives of this country labour in 

 vain to discover. 



I send you herewith a rough map of the country lying between Cabul 

 and Hera Ghdzi-Khdn, which we traversed, and hope that it will be 

 acceptable, notwithstanding its imperfect execution from my want of 

 skill as a draughtsman. (See the accompanying Plate.) 



HI. — On the Aptitude of the Himalayan Range for the Culture of the Tea 

 Plant. By Dr. H. Falconer, Supt. of the H. C. Bot. Garden, Seha- 

 runpur. 

 [Extracted from a Letter to G. J. Gordon, Esq. Secretary to Committee of Tea 



Culture.] 

 The most productive tea districts in China, according to all accounts, 

 lie in the maritime provinces of Fokien, Kyanti, and Kyang-nau, chiefly 

 between 27° 30' and 31°N. lat. and long. 112° to 117°. One kind, Lu- 

 ngau-cha (a superior sort of Hyson) is said by the Jesuit missionaries to 

 be produced so high north as 38° andE. long 100°, and another, PaeuU 

 cha, brought from the province of Yunnan, is said to be procured from 

 mountains in the lat. of 25° on the frontiers of Ava and Pegu. The 

 tea plant is grown on the sloping sides of mountains or in valleys, but 

 chiefly at the foot of mountains. It is also produced in level tracts, but 

 less advantageously. Besides the explicit information given by Dr. 

 Abel, from actual examination of one district, it is sufficiently certain 

 that the rock formations in most of the tea districts, are chiefly primary, 

 from their being productive of metals which are only found in such 

 formations. The best tea soils are said to be light, gravelly, sandy, 

 and whitish (blanchatre in Duhalde, probably calcareous), with little 

 accumulation of vegetable mould. Le Comte says, the best Tea is pro- 

 duced in a gravelly soil, the next best in a light or sandy soil, and the 

 inferior in a yellow (jaune, probably clayey) soil. It is admitted on all 

 hands that the teaplant thrives best with an open exposure to the south. 



