800 



On the Vegetation of the Jhelum District. [No. 3 



jungle than that of the S. spontaneum. Its value is much greater, 

 being used for rope-making. The cause of its high price is, that 

 ropes made from it are able to withstand the effects of moisture 

 combined with strain, much longer than any other rope made from 

 materials as readily obtained. It is largely used by boatmen on the 

 river, as well as for the anchorage of the boats that form the bridges 

 on most of the Punjaub rivers. In 1861, the Moonj harvest was a 

 failure, and in its place large quantities of the leaves of the Chamcerops 

 Mitchiana, " Puttha" from the Attock district, were imported to the 

 rest of the Punjaub to supply the bridges with moorage rope. The 

 ropes are made by steeping the leaves in water for a certain number 

 of days, then tearing them into ribbon-like strips, which are plaited 

 together upon the principle of the watchguard plait, and then two or 

 three of the plaits are twisted into one rope of the required thickness. 

 The Moonj is said to bear a heavier strain and last longer than the 

 other, when both are exposed to moisture. 



The Anatherum muricatum " Khus Khus," is met with in some 

 quantity, chiefly on the river's bank, both cultivated and in a wild state, 

 near Eussool ; also a few miles above Jelallpore. It is of value to the 

 zemindars who sell it for being made into tatties, &c. 



2nd. The characteristic plants met with in moist marshy grouncl 

 left by the receding of the river, &c, are :— 



Machlys Jiemisphcerica, D. C. 



Mazus rugosus, Lour. 



Mvmulus gracilis, E. Br. 



Veronica anagallis, L. 



Polygonum JPersicaria, L, 



Mwnex acutus, Eoxb. 



Potentilla supina. 



Zeuxine sulcata. The only orchid obtained in the whole district 

 and this only on the banks of the remains of an old canal below the 

 Government garden at Jhelum. 



Alisma Plantago, L. This flowers early in April, and its presence 

 in this part of the Jhelum district, seems to be due to the river bring- 

 ing down the seeds from a higher elevation ; these vegetate in the 

 pools of water left by the receding of the river. The seeds of the 

 Singhara, Trapa bispinosa are also brought down by the river floods 

 in large quantities, but I have never seen them vegetate. 



