376 



PLANTS AND CULTIVATION. 



There is a good deal of cultivation all round the town, which is 

 situated on a sloping mound, separated by the ditch from the ridge 

 forming the northern boundary of the valley, up which the Cabul 

 road runs ; there is a small mosque on this ridge, and below it, 

 within 400 yards of the ramparts, a small village, from which the 

 attack was best seen. The gardens are as usual walled, and are all 

 capable of irrigation, the plots being covered with fine grass or clover. 

 Apples, apricots, pears, and plums much like the Orlean's plum, a 

 sort of half greengage, bullace, Elseagnus, and mulberries, are the 

 principal fruit trees ; of these the pear is the best, it is small but well 

 flavoured ; the others are indifferent. There are many vineyards dug 

 into shallow trenches : the plum is allied to the egg-plum, but altoge- 

 ther there are four kinds. 



The chief vegetation of the uncultivated ground is a small Salsola, 

 Salsola luteola, this is mixed with Peganum, Santalacese, Seneci- 

 onoides glaucescens, Umbelliferoid bicornigera, Composita, having the 

 decurrent part of the leaves dislocated and hanging down. Centaurea 

 spinescens, Linaria, Joussa, and one or two Astragali. 



The vegetation, with the exception of an Artemisia indicae similis, 

 a Malvacea, and an Orobanche growing on Cucumis sp., is precisely 

 the same as that met with from Mookhloor hither, Cichorium, Poly- 

 gonum graminifolium natans, and two others, Rumex, Mentha, Epilo- 

 bium micranthum, Dandelion, Plantago major, Panicum. 



There are two kinds of willow trees ; Thermopsis is not uncom- 

 mon, Centaurea magnispina and Zygophyllum of Candahar are very 

 common, Sisymbrium, Lophia, Hyoscyamus, Centaurea cyanea, Taus- 

 chia. Magpies, Hooppoes, Pastor roseus. Corvus corax, etc., along 

 the water- cuts. 



Some fine Poplars occur at a village, or rather a Fuqeer's residence ; 

 about one and a half mile to the south-west of the town on the road 

 to Candahar, and about it, one or two Carduaceae, one a fine one, to 

 be called C. zamufolia, Pomacea acerifolia, also in gardens : among 

 the cultivated plants are maize, fennel, aniseed ? Solanum, Bangun ! 

 Madder, the beautiful clover of Mookhloor, lucerne, melons, water- 

 melons, cresses, L. sativum, radishes, onions, beet root. 



There are no ruins indicating a very extensive old city. About our 

 camp are the remains of bunds and old mud walls ; near us, and be- 

 tween us and the city, are two minars, with square tall pedestals, of 

 burnt brick, about 100 feet high, and 600 paces apart : there is 

 nothing striking about them, although they bear evidences of greater 



