1840.] Memoir of Sylhet, Kachar, ^ adjacent Districts, 823 



description, consisting of cotton, rice, and sundry vetches, grown 

 indiscriminately together in one large clearing. The ground for the 

 crop is first prepared by the dao (or bill), the jungle when dried is 

 burnt, and the ashes worked into the soil, which is then broken up by 

 the hoe, and the seed planted or sown in March or April for a crop in 

 September. The hills on the Sylhet and Tippera frontier are culti- 

 vated in a similar manner by the natives of the plains, who form them- 

 selves into associations periodically for the purpose of a trip into the 

 hills, on a joint account, to cultivate cotton and cut wood and bamboos. 

 The cotton thus obtained is not exported, indeed the quantity raised is 

 barely sufficient for local consumption. It is short in the staple, but 

 the cloths made from it being found to combine warmth with lightness, 

 are in great esteem among the people. 



I proceed briefly to notice whatever appears peculiar among plants, 

 vegetables, and fruits. 



Indigo is not cultivated in Sylhet, but though one or two trials have 

 been unsuccessful, I think (with men of some experience) that with 

 greater attention it would succeed. The climate cannot, as it has 

 been supposed, be wholly unfavourable, seeing that the plant grows 

 wild on the hills, and that a very excellent dye is obtained from it by 

 the simple processes there in use. The certainty of having rain 

 for the spring sowings, and the possibility of choosing the ground above 

 the chance of inundation, are among the advantages which I anticipate 

 for the cultivation of indigo in these tracts. 



Poppy, sugarcane, safflower, sursoo, and other plants yielding oil, 

 flax and hemp, call for no particular notice, they are all cultivated with 

 success in Kachar, Jynta, and (except the poppy) in the Eastern 

 division of Sylhet. 



Oranges, together with the arica and pan vines, for which this coun- 

 try is famous, are all the produce of the lower parts of the Kasia hills, 

 growing only on the limestone strata. Arica of an inferior quality 

 is indeed found all over Sylhet, but deteriorates in quality to the 

 eastward, until in Kachar it wholly disappears. Among other fruits, 

 the plaintain is peculiarly fine, but the mangoe is inferior, and is not 

 found to improve to the eastward ; the lemon is found wild in the 

 Kasia hills, and the apricot and lichi in those of Kachar; and in 

 general the vegetation exhibits so much variety, and there are so many 



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