[864.1 



On the Vegetation oftlie Jhelum District. 



305 



Many other grasses are met with, but the above are the only kinds 

 found generally in the tract. The others in damp and shaded 

 localities, exist rather as botanic specimens than as herbage for cattle. 



7th. Of Parasitical plants, the only one met with as yet, has been 

 Omenta reflexa, " Akas-bel," which is in this tract supported by the 

 4i Baer, ? * on Mt. Tilla by the " Bakoor," and at Choya-siden-sha by 

 the " Angeer." (Meus caricoides, Box,) 



The Teaot oe the low Hill ea^g-es. 



Under this head are included the Bukrala, Batian, Surafur and 

 Kharian ranges of hills. Their geology, physical characteristics and 

 vegetation are similar, and their average height may be considered 

 to be from 1,000 to 1,200 feet above the sea level. Mori Peak, the 

 highest of the Kharian range, is 1,400 feet, and is situated in the 

 centre of that range. Mt. Tilla the most westerly of the Batian range, 

 is 3,200 feet. The botany of the latter, will, however, be considered 

 by itself hereafter. 



These hills are more or less covered with a jungle of lo# trees and 

 shrubs, besides a few grasses and other herbs. On the whole, how- 

 ever, they present a barren aspect, being covered with a dried- 

 up clay and stony soil, lying chiefly upon sandstone, but here and 

 there upon boulders, and broken up extensively by deep ravines with 

 sandy bottoms. However, in some little solitary shaded nooks, where 

 loamy soil has accumulated, and where there is moisture from some 

 springs we come upon a herbage of a luxuriance only to be met with 

 in a tropical climate. 



The vegetation upon these hills affords pasturage for immense 

 flocks of goats and sheep chiefly, but also of many camels and 

 cattle, which feed upon the blossoms and tender shoots of the shrubs 

 rather than upon the grass, the latter being very scarce in proportion 

 to the former. 



This jungle, besides yielding fodder for the cattle, supplies the main 

 part of the firewood for the surrounding population. 



The chief sources of firewood in the Jhelum tract, are— 



1st. Wood obtained from the river Jhelum by women wading 

 into its shallows, and picking up the wood that has been brought 

 down from the hills, but which is so dense with the amount of 

 water that it contains, that it sinks to the bottom. The women 



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