X 



NOTICE OF WILLIAM GRIFFITH. 



Loodianah : Wth December, 1838. 



" I arrived here in 14^- days, notwithstanding some delays on the 

 road, and have put up with Cornet Robinson, Acting Political Agent. 

 I am not pleased with the up-country, and would .rather live in Ben- 

 gal, for I cannot abide sandy plains and a deficiency of vegetation. 

 Loodianah is a curious place, very striking to a stranger, the town is 

 large, built under official direction, and consequently well arranged 

 in comparison with native towns : there is much trade carried on 

 in it, and it has the usual bustle of a large town. 



" Capt. Wade's house is well situated on a rising ground, and the 

 demesne is a pretty one. Otherwise the country is ugly enough, and 

 very bare, yet it is here well wooded, in comparison with what I hear of 

 Ferozepore. Along the face of the hill near the town, a nullah flows, 

 abounding in fish, of which more anon. The rock pigeons, or grouse, 

 are very abundant, and there are two species, one remarkable for 

 the elongated side-feathers of the tail. Both are beautiful birds, but 

 very difficult of access. Crows, kites, vultures, adjutants, herons, 

 Drongoles, sparrows, parrots, etc. remain as before, but most of the less 

 common birds are different from those to the south ; the most 

 European are genuine starlings ; and, to my memory of eight years 

 back, identical with those of Europe. I have already got thirty to 

 forty species of fish. Cyprinidee, are by far the most common ; one 

 loach, and one of Macrognathus. 



" But as they are all from one water, viz. the neighbouring nullah, 

 and the Sutledge being five miles off, I shall put them all into 

 bottles, and send them off before I leave this. The most edible 

 fish, and one of the most common is the Roh, but it is not the Roh 

 of Bengal, and might well be called Cyprinus ruber. Burnes has 

 given I think a drawing of it, which is faithful as to colour. All the 

 forms will be familiar to you, but I hope there will be some new 

 species. 



" I have made further arrangements, and such as will give you a 

 good insight into the fish of the Sutledge, as to the number of dupli- 

 cates ! — it is the safest plan for an ignoramus not to discrimi- 

 nate too nicely, I am to-day to get large specimens of the Kalabans, 

 Rohi, etc. what a splendid fish the Rohi is, both to look at and to 

 eat. There are two or three species of the transparent Chandas, 

 and three or four Perilamps, six or eight Siluridse, besides the Gwali, 

 which is too large ; of Ophiocephalus two or three, exclusive of the 

 Sowli, but all ought to be examined, as there is no relying on native 



