1865.] The Vegetation of the Islands of the Indus River. 57 
(Sugee-muttee) with which the material could be cheaply bleached, 
then to be forwarded to England, to be converted there into finer pulp 
and paper. 
The great outcry at home since the commencement of the cotton 
famine has been for material, capable of being converted at a cheap 
rate, into paper of a fine quality. Coloured materials require much 
bleaching, and this in England is the expensive part of the process. 
Now if such a material as Moonj, which costs at the place of 
growth little more than the labour of cutting, could be bleached 
thoroughly with the alkali produced on the banks of the river, this 
would supply the great desideratum of the paper-makers. 
Esparto (Stipa tenacissima) has been very largely used in England 
within the last three years, but its great drawback is the expense 
of bleaching it. 
The Moonj is largely employed by the native boatmen in making 
ropes for their boats, which they manufucture for themselves. 
Saccharum spontaneum, ‘ Khaus’ (Scindee.) This grass grows in 
great luxuriance. It is chiefly used for thatching purposes, and 
makes tolerably good grazing for cattle, although as it ages it 
becomes a very rough coarse grass, when the cattle seem to leave it 
alone. It begins to flower early in September, and its flowering has 
just ceased, when the S. Moonja commences to flower, which is about 
the beginning of October. 
Typha (angustifolia?) ‘Pun’ (Scindee,) is very common in the 
back waters, but more especially above Sukker. I cannot say it is 
even common below Sukker. The leaves are largely used for making 
matting (chuttie) and the soft down attached to the ripe fruit is used 
for stuffing pillows. The pollen is said by Lindley to be converted 
into bread in Scind. Although I made many enquiries relative to it, 
I could get no information about it. 
On examining the wood brought on board the steamer, (about which 
Capt. Davis gave me every information and assistance in his power,) 
IT found that nearly the whole of it consisted of the wood of the 
Tamarix Indica, and the wood was called Jhao. We occasionally 
took on board that of the Acacia Arabica called ‘Bubber.’ But I had 
to procure specimens of that of the Prosopis Spicigera called ‘ Kunda,’ 
and of the Populus Euphratica called ‘ Bahn,’ 
