INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 355 



the low valleys heavy rain falls at this season. Spring sets in 

 in March in the temperate zone, and with the change of the 

 monsoon (about the equinox or a little later) heavy rains oc- 

 cur, caused perhaps by the southerly direction of the mon- 

 soon wind, before the Indo-Gangetic plain becomes intensely 

 heated, and deflects that wind into a westerly current. 



The general aspect of the whole of Afghanistan is that of a 

 desert. As the mountains rarely rise to the region of per- 

 petual snow, water is very scarce after the termination of the 

 spring rains ; but when the country was the seat of a great 

 empire, an energetic race of inhabitants conducted every avail- 

 able streamlet into artificial channels, by the help of which 

 an extensive cultivation is still carried on in many of the 

 valleys. Around the chief towns and many of the villages, 

 therefore, the country is beautifully verdant. The crops are 

 chiefly wheat and barley, even up to 10,000 feet elevation. 

 Rice is cultivated in great quantity at Jellalabad (2000 feet), 

 at Kabul (6400 feet), and to a considerable extent at Grhazni 

 (7730 feet) . Poplars, willows, and date-palm trees are ex- 

 tensively planted, as well as mulberry, walnut, apricot, apple, 

 pear, and peach-trees, and the Elaagnus orientalis, which also 

 bears an eatable fruit. The vine abounds, as in aU warm and 

 dry temperate climates. 



The flora of Afghanistan is an extension of the Arabian 

 and Persian, with a few Himalayan types. From the great 

 solar power, and the absence of rain during summer, the 

 heat is excessive, so that the vegetation is that of a hot, dry 

 country. On the southern slopes of the Hindu Kiish the 

 great elevation of the chain produces more humidity than 

 elsewhere in Afghanistan ; and there is therefore a forest belt, 

 which extends from 5000 to 10,000 feet. These forests are 

 entirely confined to the mountains which rise out of the 

 valley of JeUalabad, and do not extend further west than the 

 69th degree of longitude : elsewhere the country is extremely 

 barren, and almost destitute of tree vegetation. The trees are 

 chiefly oaks and pines. There is also a pine forest on the 



