3/4 Observations made on a Botanical Excursion. [Oct. 



Boswellia, and came upon a magnificent tope of Mango, Banyan and 

 Peepul, so far superior to any thing hitherto met with, that we were 

 glad to have hit on so pleasant a halting-place for a bivouac. There are 

 a few lofty Borassi here too, great rarities in this soil and elevation ; 

 one about 80 feet high towered above some wretched hovels ; displaying 

 the curious proportions of the trunk in this tribe of Palm : first a short 

 cone, tapering to one-third the height of the tree, the trunk then swells 

 to two-third height, and again contracts upwards to the crown. 



Beyond this, to Burree, the country ascends again, is tolerably 

 wooded, but otherwise sterile and very dry. Burree (1275 feet) is a 

 barren place, which we left at daylight on the morning of February 9th. 

 So little to be observed that I had recourse to examining footsteps, the 

 precision of which in the sandy soil was curious : looking down from 

 the elephant I was amused to see them all in relief, instead of depress- 

 ed, the slanting rays of the eastern sun producing this mirage : the 

 effect was curious. Crossed another shoulder of a hill on this undula- 

 ting road, at an elevation of 1524 feet, and descended to the broad stony 

 bed of the Barrucker river, an affluent of the Dummoodah, and hence 

 of the Hooghly. Except in some cotton cultivation, there was little 

 to be seen, and before us no more of the wooded hills that had been 

 our companions for the last 120 miles, and whose absence is a sign of 

 the near approaching termination of the great hilly plateau we had 

 traversed for that distance. Chorparun,* the next halt, is situated on 

 an extended barren flat, 1311 feet above the sea, and from it the 

 descent from the table-land to the plains below is very sudden. 



February \0th. — At daylight left Chorparun, and descended the 

 ghat or Dunwah pass, as it is called, to the great valley of the Soane, 

 and to the level of that of the Ganges at Patna. The road, though 

 very steep, is admirably carried zigzag down a broken hill of gneiss, 

 with a descent of nearly 1000 feet in 6 miles, of which 600 is exceed- 

 ingly rugged and steep. The pass is well wooded, with small trees, 

 among which the Boswellia is conspicuous, now pushing its flowers 

 from the leafless apices of the branches. Quartz and Felspar are the 

 prevalent minerals, and barren enough in every respect, except support- 

 ing this low rugged wood and abundance of Bamboo ; Bombax, Cassia, 

 Acacia, and Butea are likewise frequent, as is a Calotrojpis, the purple 

 * Hill above Chuparun, 1322 ft. 





