148 WANDERINGS OF A 



grow on the Himalayas at altitudes of 4000 or 5000 feet. 

 When tolling up the steep side of the mountain I was struck, 

 on nearing the top, to notice the sudden transition from a 

 desert to a region of verdure, and so abruptly defined that in 

 the course of a few minutes, from clambering among decayed 

 and burnt-up vegetation, we were wandering among long 

 tangled grass ; in fact, a flora peculiar to the temperate altitudes 

 of the great chains northward. This little fragment, tipping 

 as it were the summit of the mountain, might be called a 

 "botanical outlyer," with reference to the Himalayan and 

 Suliman chains north and west, as the nearest hOl-top capable 

 of producing a similar flora is at least from 60 to 80 miles 

 distant. 



The wild pig is plentifully distributed over all the range ; 

 wherever low dense jungle exists there it secretes itself during 

 the day to issue forth at night and feed in the fields. In many 

 situations whole crops of grain have been destroyed by them. 

 When passing through a wheat-field I observed the groimd 

 covered with masticated pellets, wholly composed of the tops of 

 wheat and barley, which they chew merely to obtain the juicy 

 portion. Although the natives attempt to frighten them away 

 by making loud noises, hke the Himalayan black bear they 

 soon get accustomed to the sounds, and care little for any dis- 

 turbance unless in their immediate vicinity. The houriar 

 feeds also mostly at night, repairing at daybreak to the hill- 

 sides and inaccessible places under rocks ; indeed, such ap- 

 pears to be the case with many wild quadrupeds whose feed- 

 ing-groimds are subject to be invaded by man. 



The ravine or Bennett's* deer, better known to Indian 

 sportsman as the " chinckara* (Antilope hennettii), is somewhat 

 common on the salt range, and most parts of the Punjaub, 

 * Sykes' Dukhun Mammalia, Proe. Zool. Society, 1831, p. 104. 



