THE HIMALAYAN MOUNTAINS. oo 
ducing teak, ebony, and many others; the interior, saul, sissoo, bamboos, and rattans, 
while a great variety of plants, though but little known, yield excellent material for 
cordage. : 
The northern provinces and the hills forming the more immediate object of this work, 
will be more fully considered in the sequel ; it is sufficient at present to observe, that 
at one season they grow European grains and at another those which are peculiar to the 
tropics: and that many perennials of both these two climates seem to succeed equally 
well in the northern provinces of India; here, therefore, many of the useful pncen 
of Persia, Arabia, and Barbary, might be grown. | 
The hill provinces enjoy nearly similar advantages; the forests are formed of oaks and 
pines, and the hill-men make their strongest ropes for crossing rivers with hemp, which 
every where abounds and is of the finest quality; opium, rhubarb, and turpentine, form 
articles of commerce, as well as musk, Thibet wool, and borax from the other kingdoms 
of Nature. : 
Somewhere in the valleys at the foot of these hills, or at moderate elevations, the 
more generally useful productions of European countries might be successfully intro- 
duced, as the olive and the hop; the latter would be particularly beneficial, as a 
brewery has been established in the hills, where the climate is excellent. 
Here also, as I have recommended in a report to Government, there is considerable 
prospect of success in the cultivation of the tea plant, for the different elevations allow 
of every variety of climate being selected, and ‘ the geographical distribution of this 
plant is sufficiently extended to warrant its being beneficially cultivated.” 
The above few examples will be sufficient to show that in the climates where these 
varied productions grow, others from different countries may be successfully introduced. 
It is not to be expected that equal success will attend every attempt, but where so many 
circumstances are favourable there is little probability of failure in many, if the proper 
means are adopted for ensuring success; and these consist chiefly in applying to one 
country our knowledge of the climate and productions of another, where any similarity 
of circumstances occur; and I entertain sanguine expectations that, with moderate 
attention and proper encouragement, the products of India may be still more varied, 
almost indefinitely increased in quantity, and very much improved in quality. ‘Hitherto, 
instead of endeavouring to call forth the resources of the country, it seems rather to 
have been wished to repress its energies, by charging upon articles of well-known inferior 
quality a higher estes if imported from the East-Indies than from other parts of the 
world. 
Having mentioned that considerable uniformity of temperature and of vegetable pro- 
ductions occurs over a very great expanse of Indian territory, we proceed to adduce 
specimens from some of the most northern parts as an indication of the truth of the 
observation. Delhi, the capital of Northern India, situated on the western bank of the 
Jumna, nearly at the upper part of the inclined slope which forms the plains of India, 
is elevated about eight hundred feet above the level of the sea. The soil is barren and 
« remarkable 
