1848.] The Turaee and Outer Mountains of Kumaoon. 615 



the Gagur ; the name hereabouts is Jhungra or Jugger : with them, and 

 amongst the Pindrow firs and yew trees, one is surprised to meet the 

 Dioscorea deltoides, " Goon," which, in shaded and wet localities, 

 descends to about 6000 feet ; its tubers, of a bright yellow inside, are 

 employed to poison fish. 



1 1th May. — To Dwarahat, about 10 miles west, a cloudy day with 

 smart showers, which, as well as yesterday's storm, a knowing moun- 

 taineer told me, were caused by a number of marriages going on in the 

 plains ; but how the two facts were connected, he could not explain. 

 Some confused idea of the figurative tempests said occasionally to brew 

 in the matrimonial atmosphere may have been present to his mind, as 

 well as the storms which are here also popularly believed to accompany 

 the conjunction of sun and moon, or the " Lugn," or entrance of the 

 sun into a sign. The people of Kumaoon compute falls of rain by 

 various measures of weight and capacity ; from a mana (half ser,) up to 

 a nalee and puseree, the last being that which soaks the ground tho- 

 roughly, and such as we experienced to-day. Beyond this they keep no 

 reckoning : it is " be-thikana." 



They also measure time by weight (the chitak) : no doubt from the 

 use of the ghuree (clepsydra.) 



The path follows the left or south bank of the Dhoulee to its junc- 

 tion with the Gugas, and is stony, and bad from the frequent water- 

 cuts for irrigation. The Cinnamomum albiflorum, now in flower, is 

 abundant, and conspicuous by its young leaves of a delicate pink color. 

 At the meeting of the waters, the vale is beautifully cultivated, by the 

 inhabitants of two pretty large villages, Bint on the right, Bhutor on 

 the left bank. The climate is sufficiently warm for the Bauhinia varie- 

 gata, Dalbergia Ougeinensis, and several large Bombax malabaricum. 

 Hence in a W. S. W. direction, there is a rather steep ascent of a thou- 

 sand feet to the Ookhul Lekh pass, over the southern shoulder of 

 Doonagiri ; then a descent for about four miles down a narrow and 

 pretty glen, and finally over extensive cultivated levels on which are 

 scattered the villages of Dwara, " the Sublime Porte," of the Kutyoors : 

 this is the name of the Pergunnah, Hath being that of the chief village : 

 5082 feet above Calcutta. In days of yore it was the residence of the 

 Kuhtora or Kutyoor chiefs of Kumaoon, to whom popular tradition 

 assigns the possession of the mountains from Joomla to the Ganges, 



