Nov. 1850. SCENERY ON SOORMAH RIVER. 327 



radishes, with betel-pepper in thatched enclosures as in 

 Sikkim : maize and sugar are rarer, bamboos abound, and 

 four palms (Borassus, Areca, cocoa-nut, and Caryotd) are 

 planted, but there are no date-palms. 



The Teelas (or hillocks) are the haunts of wild boars, 

 tigers, and elephants, but not of the rhinoceros ; they are 

 80 to 200 feet high, of horizontally stratified gravel and 

 sand, slates, and clay conglomerates, with a slag-like 

 honey -combed sandstone ; they are covered with oaks, figs, 

 Heretiera, and bamboos, and besides a multitude of common 

 Bengal plants, there are some which, though generally 

 considered mountain or cold country genera, here descend 

 to the level of the sea ; such are Kadsura, Rubus, 

 Camellia, and Sabia ; Aerides and Saccolabia are the 

 common orchids, and rattan-canes and Pandani render the 

 jungles impenetrable. 



A very long sedge (Scleria) grows by the water, and is 

 used for thatching : boatloads of it are collected for the 

 Calcutta market, for which also were destined many 

 immense rafts of bamboo, 100 feet long. The people fish 

 much, using square and triangular drop-nets stretched upon 

 bamboos, and rude basket-work weirs, that retain the 

 fish as the river falls. Near the villages we saw fragments 

 of pottery three feet below the surface of the ground, 

 shewing that the bank, which is higher than the surrounding 

 country, increases from the annual overflow. 



About seventy miles up the river, the mountains on the 

 north, which are east of Jyntea, rise 4000 feet high in forest- 

 clad ranges like those of Sikkim. Swamps extend from 

 the river to their base, and penetrate their valleys, which are 

 extremely malarious : these forests are frequented by timber- 

 cutters, who fell jarool {Lagerstrcemia Regince), a magnificent 

 tree with red wood, which, though soft, is durable under 



