1862.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 93 



sities for making raids into British territories. On the first occasion, 

 the country of the Durwesh Khels was entered, and on the second 

 that of the Mashoods. These are the two principal branches of the 

 powerful Wuzeeri tribe, and are bounded, the former by Koorum 

 Khost Zadran and the British frontier from Thull via Bunnoo to 

 Noorum ; the latter by the Gromul river and our frontier from 

 Noorur to Gromul via the Bihin Durra and the town of Tak. 



During the course of the operations against these tribes, much 

 valuable information was acquired, more particularly of the geography 

 of the country as shown in the maps exhibited to the Society. 



A glance at the map is sufficient to explain the plundering pro- 

 pensities of the Wuzeeries. The irrigated lands on which they 

 chiefly depend for their cereals are merely narrow fillets on the edges, 

 and often in the beds of the principal water-courses. Their united 

 area probably does not amount to more than two or three per cent, 

 of the whole district. There is no wonder, therefore, that the fanatic 

 Mussulman mountaineers should readily bring themselves to believe, 

 that there is a wild justice in their favourite pastime of plundering the 

 inhabitants of the rich plains at their feet, and a duty they owe their 

 families in obtaining forcible restitution of the rights which Heaven 

 must have intended for Mussulmans rather than Hindoos, and for 

 stalwart highlanders rather than the puny inhabitants of the plains. 

 The rivers even when of considerable length, are usually dry for the 

 greater portion of the year. There is little moisture to feed them 

 in their parent mountains which are insignificant in mass and altitude 

 compared with the Himalayas, are nearer the tropics and dessicated 

 by heat radiated from the extensive plains east and west. Vegeta- 

 tion is scarce, the soil is dry and arid, pine trees are not to be met 

 with at a lower elevation than 9000 feet, and the climate of any 

 given altitude would find its equivalent in the Himalaya as 2 or 3000 

 feet nearer the sea level. 



The thanks of the meeting were voted to Major Walker for his 

 interesting communication. 



The Curator submitted his report, in which were recorded numerous 

 presentations to the Society's Museum, and exhibited a large series of 

 the skulls of the Asiatic species of Bhinoceros. His remarks on this 

 genus of pachyderms have since been embodied in a Memoir for publica- 

 tion in the Society's Journal. The true Rhinoceros indicus, it was 



