262 



OBSERVATIONS ON HIMALAYAN CONIFERS. 



pany's rupee, which is everywhere the most sacred and all- 

 sufficient. 



The nearest truly indigenous habitat of the Deodar to Ku- 

 maoon is that noted by Moorcroft (p. 75), in the vicinity of 

 Josheemuth, where it is not uncommon on the mountains imme- 

 diately north and east, and up the course of the Dhoulee and 

 Vishnoo-gunga rivers. From Messrs. Batten and R. Strachey 

 I learn, that it descends to the level of the former above Mularee, 

 and is in abundance from Jooma to Phurkia, and Bumpa, 10,600 

 feet. On the Vishnoo-gunga, I found it commence on the floor 

 of the valley at 7,000 feet nearly, a few miles above Pundkesur, 

 evidently wild, but not abundant. Hence it extends upward to 

 about 500 feet above the Rooringa Sanga (considerably under 

 10,000 feet), beyond which, birch excepted, there are no trees.* 

 The glen of the Kaleegunga (to Kedarnath) has no cedar : nor 

 does it occur on any of the huge ranges K.W. to the Ganges ; 

 at least on the line traversed by Dr. Hoffmeister. But (p. 498), 

 he writes in terms of admiration and in capital letters of the 

 almost continuous CEDAR FOREST of the Bhagiruthee 

 Ganges, and its affluents, especially between Duralee and 

 Bhyrooghatee, which can be no other than that celebrated in 

 the " birth of Uma" as the Deodara of young Gunga : cypress 

 or juniper being apparently too rare and remote to constitute a 

 prominent feature in the scenery : nor is either mentioned by 

 Dr. H. He states (1. c. and MS. penes me) that the cedar first 

 appears in the bed of the river at Jhalla, extending thence even 

 a stage above Gungotree, and up the Jahnuvee to Neelung ; 

 places, however, which he did not visit. Mr. Wilson supplies 

 the deficiency in the India Sporting Review, December, 1847, 

 and June, 1849, and from him Dr. Hoffmeister must have had 

 his information. Describing the tree as growing in dense and 

 noble forests from Jhalla, via Duralee (9,000), Bhyrooghatee 

 (9,500), Gungotree 10,319 feet, he tells us that thence up to 

 the glacier the phenomena are these : "on the slope on the right 

 bank the forest continues quite up to the glacier, broken only by 

 landslips. At first cedar and pine are predominant, but these 

 gradually disappear and give place to stunted birch trees, white 

 Rhododendron, juniper, and other bushes. On the left, for the 

 last three or four miles, the forest entirely ceases, and the slope 

 is clothed with a rich and luxuriant vegetation of grass." This 



* It is strange how universal the impression is amongst European writers 

 and travellers, that Gungotree is the most sacred shrine of the Himalaya : 

 yet the truth is, that in comparison with Budureenath, it is in little estima- 

 tion. The demands of the latter, and of Mana, for timber, not to mention 

 the vast annual concourse of pilgrims, must have had a sensible effect in 

 diminishing the forests. 



