1847.] Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. 241 



perchance deduct little from the otherwise small hope of recovery. The 

 rank cultivation of hemp close to the doors of the houses, may very 

 likely be connected with the origin of this pestilence, which should 

 be investigated. As to goitre (gega) the people of Kumaoon appear less 

 afflicted by it than those of Bissahur, and amongst the Bhoteeahs it 

 appears to be unknown ; a fact, if it be one, strongly corroborative of 

 the opinion now received in Switzerland, that it has nothing to do with 

 snow or other water, but is induced by the infected air of close valleys 

 liable to abrupt transitions from heat to cold, a removal from which 

 is often followed by cure. The people of Kumaoon employ a remedy, 

 sold in the Almorah bazar, and called Gelur-ka-puta ; on procuring 

 a bit of this, and steeping it in warm water, it speedily developed into 

 an unmistakeable fucus or sea weed ; a fact on which Dr. Royle 

 (Illustrations, p. 442,) expresses some doubt, and desires information. 

 All that the druggists of Almorah know is that it comes from the 

 west, and is taken internally. It may be assumed as an illustration of 

 the small intercourse between England and Switzerland (at all events, 

 its interior), in the age of Shakspeare, that the poet makes Gonzalo 

 ask in the Tempest — " When we were boys, who would believe that 

 there were mountaineers, dewlapp'd like bulls, whose throats had 

 hanging at them wallets of flesh V and then proceed to adduce as equally 

 authentic, the "men whose heads do grow beneath their shoulders ;" 

 not yet discovered. 



The vegetation between Kupkot and the base of the Sooring Hill, 

 though less luxuriant than yesterday's route, exhibited most of the 

 same forms, but as we rose, the Anemone vitifolia, Berberis lycium, 

 " Kilmora," Erythrina arborescens, (coral-bush,) "Roongura," and 

 latterly the Parochetus communis and Quercus incana, become the 

 substance of things hoped for in the way of a better climate. In Don's 

 Prodromus we find this last tree, the "Banj," (Ban of Simlah,) con- 

 founded with the Reeanj, or Quercus lanuginosa, which is very dis- 

 tinct, the latter, common on the Ghagur range, is unnoticed by Dr. 

 Royle, as well as the Quercus annulata, common everywhere. Another 

 plant common along the Surjoo to-day was the iEchmanthesa gossy- 

 pina, abundant also on the hills between Bheemtal and Mulooa Tal, 

 and very remarkable for the dense, thick, and pure white coat of 

 tomentum which invests the branches and stem ; it is called " Jounde- 



