J 843.] in Kumaon and Ghurwal. 455 



The climate is excellent, admirably adapted to the European consti- 

 Altitude, Climate, &c. tution ; water good, and oak,* fir and other timber 

 of Pokree. trees a bundant. The soil of the neighboring villages 



is good, and the crops are of the usual kind. The roads also from the 

 mines to Almorah, the capital of Kumaon Proper, and to Sreenuggur, 

 the capital of British Ghurwal, are perfectly safe for foot and horse 

 travellers and loaded porters, and though rudely and unskilfully con- 

 structed, are kept in good repair by the civil authorities. 



In going to Pokree from Almorah or Sreenuggur, the traveller has 

 to cross the Aluknunda river by a jhoola, or swinging bridge of rope, 

 constructed of the grass or sedge, termed bhabur by the natives, and 

 the botanical name of which is Criophorum canabinum.t There are 

 now on that route two of these jhoolas erected over the Aluknunda, 

 one of which is situated at Kumpryag,J where the Pindur and Aluk- 

 nunda rivers unite, (thus forming one of the Pryags, or holy unions,) 

 and the other at Buniote,§ about five miles lower down. The ascent 

 from the hot valley of the Aluknunda to Pokree is steep and rugged, 

 but the road is safe, and the traveller is amply compensated for the 

 fatigue and labor of the ascent, by the beauty and picturesqueness of 

 the scenery, and by his transit from the hot stifling atmosphere of the 

 valley to the pure and salubrious temperature of the surrounding 

 mountains. Nor could he fail, if interested in such studies, to admire 

 the vast and instructive series of vegetable forms that meet the eye 

 in the ride up from the river ; for, leaving the mangoe, peepul, date, 

 and other well known tropical trees at the base, he passes by degrees 

 into the vegetation and climate of European or temperate countries. 



The Pokree mines had for many years been known and worked 

 during the rule of the Hindoo Rajas of Ghurwal, and when the latter 

 were driven out by the Ghoorkhas, the Nepal dynasty did not over- 

 look the resources of wealth which these mines were supposed to con- 



* Oak and fir were the only woods made use of in the mine by Mr. Wilkin, the 

 oak for frames and the fir for planking. There are three kinds of oaks, the (bauj,) 1, 

 (phuliart) 2, and (tilouj) 3 at or near Pokree, and one fir. The oaks are the (quercus) 1 

 incana, (camlossa) 2, and (semicarpifolia) 3 of botanists. The fir is the pinus longifolia, 

 and as the wood is highly resinous, matches of it are used in lieu of candles in the 

 mines, also as torches in travelling. 



f Royle's Illustrations, page 415, 



X Elevation of the Kumpryag rope bridge, 2136 feet above the sea, (Capt. Webb.) 



§ Elevation according to Capt. Webb, 2294 feet. 



