608 The Turaee and Outer Mountains of Kumaoon. [June, 



leaf, with a copious brushwood of Elsholtzia polystachya, Berberis 

 aristata, Deutzia Brunoniana, Spiraea, Symplocos, Clematis montana, 

 and a new species of Xanthoxylon, (tomentosum, Edgeworth,) called 

 " Seemoor," which grows here and on Boodha Jagesur, in profusion : 

 the whole in autumn closely matted with the odoriferous cuscuta gran- 

 diflora, and the ground covered with wild Thyme, Chirayuta, &c. 

 About a village called Rurown, north of the road, occurs the yellow- 

 flowering Artemisia vestita, called " Deopatee," from its superior fra- 

 grance ; it is a common plant in Joobul, towards the Choor mountain. 



The road passes from 200—300 feet below the Bandunee summit } 

 which, seen as a peak from some points, consists really of a level oblong 

 area, 150 to 200 yards by 20 to 30 ; it is 6800 feet above Calcutta, 

 and with its oaks, is consecrated by a temple of Devee, in front of 

 which is one of those tabular stone altars on four low pillars, called 

 Choukootiya in Kumaoon ; they closely resemble the Druidical crom- 

 lechs, and are used for the sacrifice of goats, the deposit of flowers, &c. : 

 nor will any Shikaree pass a shrine of this sort without some small 

 propitiation to the Indian Diana to send him game and good luck.* 



The view over Kumaoon from the Gagur to the snows is exceedingly 

 fine from Bandunee Devee, and Almorah town is hence seen to the 

 greatest advantage. During the rainy season, the phenomena of diverg- 

 ing rays opposite to the place of the sun may commonly be witnessed 

 of an afternoon towards this mountain. According to Professor 

 Forbes, writing of the shadows of clouds, mountains, &c, projected to 

 a great distance in the air, and rendered visible by its imperfect trans- 

 parency, " the diverging rays so often seen proceeding from the sun, 

 when near setting, are of this kind : and the corresponding fact of rays 

 (or clear intervals between the shadows of clouds), which appear to 



* The coppice and ravines of Bandunee, and onwards, are favorite haunts of bears: 

 the people report that as many as nine have been shot hereabouts in one day by a party 

 of officers. A doubt seems still to be entertained whether the bear be carnivorous : but 

 unless I am mistaken, Captain Henry Ramsay of Gurwul has seen them feeding on a 

 Jurao. As long ago as the second century B. C, we find the same affirmative fact fami- 

 liar to the Syrians : " And behold another beast, second, like to a bear, * * * and it had 

 three ribs in the mouth of it, between the teeth of it, and they said thus unto it, Arise, 

 devour much flesh." Daniel vii. 5. 



Eight hundred years earlier David tells King Saul : " There came a lion and a bear, 

 and took a lamb out of the flock, 1 Sam. xvii. 34, 



