372 The Turaee and Outer Mountains of Kumaoon. [May, 



The Magnolia, which was supposed to grow at Nynee Tal, does not 

 exist : the dioecious tree that was mistaken for it, is probably, Mr. 

 Edgeworth informs me, what Dr. Lindley has described under the 

 name Gyrandra laurina ; it is not uncommon in damp vallies in outer 

 Kumaoon at from 6000 to 7000 feet, and is known to the natives as 

 the " Rukt-Chundun" — the red-heart wood, being used like the San- 

 dal, to mark the teeka on their foreheads. 



December 12. From Nynee Tal to Kaleedhoongee, 12 miles, with 

 5700 feet descent. On quitting the basin of the lake by " the Abelia 

 Pass," the road descends rapidly by the " Glengariff 0611," choked, 

 as before mentioned, by a labyrinth of limestone masses from Deoputa : 

 at 2 miles, pass the Surria Tal, a swampy basin, 5625 feet above the 

 sea (R. S.) and at 3 miles, the Koorpaka or Koorpa Tal, a pretty cir- 

 cular tarn in the region of Pinus longifolia, 4931 feet (R. S.) the Ghi- 

 walee cliffs are seen to great advantage from this point. Still'lower 

 3771 feet, (R. S.) we pass Sirmouria, the " Swing" village, so called 

 from one of the gallows-like frames on which the hill men amuse them- 

 selves during their festivals ; the vegetation here begins to assume a 

 decidedly tropical aspect. Near the 6th milestone is Kala-putthur, a 

 halting-place which has its name from a boulder of dark limestone, 

 2571 feet above the sea (R. S.) The road now becomes comparatively 

 level, along the broad shingly bed of the Nihal, at present carrying but 

 a small stream, which a little lower down, is entirely absorbed by the 

 gravel and sand. The water is charged with lime, which is described 

 as so cementing, at particular seasons, the floor of its channel, as to 

 form for itself an impermeable trough, which carries it on much far- 

 ther, than when a larger and more violent volume of water descends 

 and breaks up the crust. An attempt was made to carry a causeway 

 along this bed of shingle down to Kaleedhoongee : but " Leviathan is 

 not so tamed :" the torrent breached, and finally annihilated the work 

 during the rainy season of 1847, as every one predicted it would, ex- 

 cept the public-spirited, but too sanguine projector. The mountains, 

 richly wooded, and composed of marls and sandstone, may be said to 

 be left at Kala-putthur, though their ultimate branches hug the right 

 bank of the Nihal to within 2 or 3 miles of Kaleedhoongee, when the 

 road enters the forest. This, excepting the Kaleedhoongee clearing of 

 about two miles in length, is continuous 8 or 9 miles on to Boorhenee 



