392 TERAI. Chap. XVII. 



throughout the day, but clear on the horizon. From this 

 time such storms became frequent, ushering in the equinox ; 

 and the less hazy sky and rising hygrometer predicted an 

 accession of moisture in the atmosphere. 



We left for Rangamally, a village eight miles distant 

 in a northerly direction, our course lying along the west 

 bank of the Teesta. 



The river is here navigated by canoes, thirty to forty feet 

 long, some being rudely cut out of a solid log of Sal, 

 while others are built, the planks, of which there are but 

 few, being sewed together, or clamped with iron, and the 

 seams caulked with the fibres of the root of Dhak {Butea 

 frondosa), and afterwards smeared with the gluten of Dios- 

 pyros embryopteris. The bed of the river is here three- 

 quarters of a mile across, of which the stream does not 

 occupy one-third ; its banks are sand-clifTs, fourteen feet in 

 height. A few small fish and water-snakes swarm in the 

 pools. 



The whole country improved in fertility as we advanced 

 towards the mountains : the grass became greener, and 

 more trees, shrubs, herbs, and birds appeared. In front, 

 the dark boundary-line of the Sal forest loomed on the 

 horizon, and to the east rose the low hills of Bhotan, both 

 backed by the outer ranges of the Himalaya. 



Flocks of cranes were abundant over-head, flying in 

 wedges, or breaking up into " open order," preparing for 

 their migration northwards, which takes place in April, 

 their return occurring in October ; a small quail was also 

 common on the ground. Tamarisk (" Jhow ") grew in 

 the sandy bed of the river ; its flexible young branches 

 are used in various parts of India for wattling and basket- 

 making. 



In the evening we walked to the skirts of the Sal forest. 



