1848.] The Turaee and Outer Mountains of Kumaoon. 571 



Ficus Kuthburee : a large tree. Poonagiri. 



Rondeletia exserta ? a tree, common also at Gungolee Bridge. 



Chonemorpha (Echites) macrophylla : " Gur-budero." 



Sabia paniculata : " Bukul-puta :" an extensive rambling, scandent 

 shrub, with yellow flowers, at Poonagiri : on the Buliya : and at Gun- 

 golee Bridge. 



Bassia butyracea : "Chyoora :" from about 1500 or 1800 feet up to 

 4500 : abundant in the shady glen below Poonagiri. 



Wallichia (Harina) oblongifolia. " Gor-ounsa." " Kala-ounsa." 

 ("Black Reed") : shady glens about Poonagiri temples. The fronds 

 of this palm are said to form an imperishable thatch, and are also used 

 for combs. 



\3tk March. — To Poonagiri temples, about 8 miles E. N. E. and 

 back to Burmdeo in the afternoon. The route is by Burmdeo Goth, 

 of which the houses are permanent and firmly built on posts : this is 

 the residence of the ferrymen. Hence we followed the Chumpawut 

 road for 1^ or 2 miles, undulating on high ground covered with forest, 

 the Kalee following beneath on the right hand in a magnificent gorge. 

 The path then quits the main road, turning off to the right near Ranee- 

 hath Goth, and for the rest of the way is rugged and difficult, the 

 Ladagar torrent following in a woody ravine on the left. The total 

 ascent cannot be under 2000 feet, which would make the elevation of 

 the shrine nearly 3000 above the sea : at this level, though greatly 

 cooler than Burmdeo, the malaria of the Bhabar still prevails, with Sal 

 woods and fine clumps of bamboo, which last, being sacred to Devee 

 are never cut, the popular belief being, that if converted to use, scor- 

 pions and centipedes innumerable would issue forth to punish the sacri- 

 lege ; so amongst the Greeks, the cultivation by the Phocians, of the 

 Crissaean Plain, dedicated to Apollo and to perpetual sterility, induce 

 the sacred war. It is not generally known that the vernacular " Bans," 

 Bamboo, comes from vuns, a family, either from the habit of the plant 

 to produce its numerous stems in clumps, or from the fact that under 

 the patriarchal Government, as still under the Chinese, the Bamboo is 

 a chief means of maintaining social order. The Sal in Kumaoon is 

 found, mixed with Cheer Pine, fully up to 3500 feet, a much higher 

 level than it attains to the N. \V. On the sunny slopes about the 



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