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



Approaching Bheemtal, we first meetthe Bassia butyracca, " Chioora," 

 or Butter-tree, at Tooshiara Panee, at about 3500 feet elevation ; it 

 grows considerably lower down in the dell of the Buliya : its flowering 

 time is Nov. -Dec. The vegetation above Tooshiara Panee begins to 

 change rapidly, and at length a slight descent from an easy Pass, opens 

 the Bheemtal, a pretty blue Lake, 3000 feet long by 2400 broad (Her- 

 bert) and 4445 feet above Calcutta. The road follows its eastern brink, 

 and near the northern end, crosses the clear, rapid burn which carries 

 off the superabundant waters into the Burokhuree and Goula. At this 

 point stands an old temple of Mahadev, shaded by a very fine Toon tree 

 and a little beyond is the bungalow. This, the N. E. side of the lake, 

 is bounded by a range of low trap hills, on one of which, south of the 

 bungalow, the Gorkhalees had a small stone fort, Chhukhata Gurhee, 

 now dismantled. The name, which is that of the pergunna, is said to 

 refer to its six Lakes. To the N. E. and N. W. the mountains rise 

 1000 — 1500 feet by easy slopes, and though deficient in the crags and 

 forests of Nynee Tal, present scenery of a very pleasing, open descrip- 

 tion. To the north, Bheemtal communicates by a tract of flat, marshy, 

 and partially cultivated land, with the Kooa or Surria Tal, which at 

 present is merely a large pond : an exceedingly tortuous, but perfectly 

 clear stream flows down from the Kooa Tal, and only wants a few 

 willows to resemble the fens of Lincolnshire. A small bund at the 

 temple would inundate all this tract to the envy of Nynee Tal : while on 

 the contrary, a corresponding cutting of the actual barrier would fit it 

 for excellent cultivation, after the heart of such utilitarians as Baillie 

 Nicol Jarvie, who would have drained Loch Lomond itself. The mea- 

 sure might indeed be here expedient to gain land for the Tea Planta- 

 tions ; several of these, the Kooasar, the Bhurutpoor, the Russian, 

 already cover the fields and slopes hereabouts, as well as two miles east- 

 ward on the Noukoochia Tal : and however their flourishing condition, 

 and sanguine prospects be admired, it is impossible to shut one's eyes 

 and ears to the fact that the owners, or at least, the holders of the 

 land, are most reluctant to surrender the inheritance of their fathers, 

 though the Government compensation be on a liberal scale. There was 

 even " a sough" that they intended to stone the superintendent and 

 uproot the shrubs : but these were, at the worst angry words : and 

 when the farms are made over to them, and a handsome price paid them 



