xii 



NOTICE OF WILLIAM GRIFFITH. 



Candahar : May the 2nd, 1839. 

 ** We have seen three changes -in the geological structure of the 

 country. 



" The Khojah Omrah was chiefly clay slate, and we are now in 

 another formation, which no one seems to know ; but it must be 

 different as the outlines of the hills are completely changed. We 

 are now 3,500 feet above the sea. The climate is good, and would 

 be delightful in a good house, but in tents the thermometer varies 

 from 60° to 98° and even 105°. 



" I have got a decent collection of plants, only amounting however 

 to 650 species. The flora continues quite European. I have some of 

 singular interest. Composite, Cruciferse, and Graminese form the 

 bulk of the vegetation. All iish are very different from those below 

 the Ghats. I have five or six species of Cyprinidae. One very inimita- 

 ble fuscous loach. There are few birds, and fewer quadrupeds ; in fact 

 the country is at a minimum in both these respects." 



Ghuzni: July 25th, 1839. 

 " We have been gradually ascending since leaving Candahar, and 

 are here at an elevation of 7,600 feet. The same features continue. I 

 have as yet not more than 850 species. The mountains on every side, 

 and indeed the whole face of the country, is still bare. Mookloor, a 

 district through which we passed, about seventy miles from this, is 

 well cultivated and inhabited. There are few birds to be seen, and 

 scarcely any insects, but there are numerous lizards. The ther- 

 mometer varies in tents from 60° to 90°." 



Cabul: August Uth, 1839. 

 " I am encamped close to Baber's tomb, lulled by the sound of 

 falling water, and cooled with the shade of poplar and sycamore trees, 

 with abundance of delicious fruit, and altogether quite happy for the 

 nonce. I have not yet seen the town which is a strange place, 

 buried in gardens : but nothing can exceed the rich cultivation of the 

 valley in which we are encamped. Beautiful fields on every side, with 

 streamlets, rich verdure, poplars, willows, and bold mountain scenery, 

 which contrasts most favourably with the dreary barren tracts to 

 which we have been accustomed. I go with the Engineers to Bamean 

 in the course of a few days, when we shall cross ridges of 1 2,000 to 

 13,000 feet high. 



