VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS OF THE PUNJAB AND KASHMIR. 
439 
riant. As we have said, wheat and barley 
crops stretch over a vast portion of the sur- 
face ; at intervals a village, constructed of 
reeds, and situated in the shade of a ber, 
tamarisk or date grove, enlivens the landscape, 
and large patches of ground covered with the 
indigo plant vary the cultivation. Of this 
valuable product, seven hundred and fifty tons 
add annually to the wealth of the lower Pun- 
jab, whilst the contiguous territory of Baha- 
walpure yields another hundred and fifty tons. 
Bahawalpure lies on the left bank of the Ghara, 
for a considerable distance above its conflu- 
ence with the Indus, and, separated as it is 
from Mooltan only by the river, necessarily 
enters into our subject. It offers much va- 
riety of features, and corresponding varieties 
in the character of its soil and produce. 
Steering clear of native names, which the 
general reader will not be able to individualise, 
we may observe, that in one portion a plen- 
tiful irrigation covers the land with abun- 
dance; in another, a tract of country half 
desert half jungle, produces little save the 
prickly and saline plants on which the camel 
thrives, and herds of horned cattle fatten well. 
This portion of the region was once, doubt- 
less, as rich as any other, for the beds of dried- 
up rivers may still be traced across its extent, 
and numerous vestiges of ancient towns long 
since abandoned to solitude and ruin, afford 
evidence that a population must have existed 
and been supported where now only herds of 
cattle, and their wild nomade proprietors, find 
either home or subsistence. In other portions, 
again, large and productive plantations of the 
sugar-cane, denoting a rich and prolific soil, 
meet the eye. Altogether the province of 
Bahawalpure is valuable and fertile. Its 
agricultural capabilities no doubt receive little 
impulse from the nature of the tillage em- 
' ployed. The husbandmen here know how to 
draw forth the richness of the earth, but not 
how to renovate it. Consequently, unless an 
improved system of culture be introduced, 
we may look for the relapse of wide tracts, 
now verdant, into expanses of sandy desert. 
It must be remembered, however, that through- 
out the present sketch we shall speak of the 
country as it existed previously to the annex- 
ation of the Punjab. English rule may ge- 
nerate a certain degree of English science in 
the country; and where the skill of Europe is 
devoted to the cultivation of the magnificent 
soil of Asia, results the most noble follow. 
Crossing the Indus, we transport ourselves 
to the once flourishing country, Dera Ghazee 
Khan, where, amid date groves and fields and 
gardens of unsurpassed luxuriance, a large 
and populous commercial town consumes the 
vegetable productions of the province. The 
inhabitants are fond of fruit, and not satisfied 
with the indigenous produce of their own soil, 
exchange the fabrics of their industry for 
fresh grapes, pears, and apples, brought from 
the abundant orchards of Kabul. Continuing 
our way northward, we skirt the western hills, 
where a purer atmosphere, a change in the 
nature of the soil, and distinct features in the 
people, mark the district bordering on Aff- 
ghanistan. Turnips of large size, with many 
other vegetables, are grown here, and broad 
pasture lands afford food to thousands of buf- 
faloes, which fatten on the tall rank grass of 
this region. 
Along the river's bank, when the wheat is 
just appearing above the surface, the custom 
prevails of allowing the cattle to graze on the 
rising crops, and this, instead of causing them 
detriment, is said greatly to increase the 
strength and productiveness of the plants. 
Northward, in the vicinity of Dera Ismael 
Khan,* man has done little to improve the 
aspect of nature. Tillage is neglected, but 
the plain is not, as usual, covered with dark, 
dull, jungle. On the contrary, it is sprinkled 
with Karita bushes, whose bright red blossoms 
have a delightful appearance during the spring 
months. Ber trees, of which the fruit is eaten, 
and groups of the palma ricinus, with its 
tufts of brilliant scarlet flowers, diversify the 
scene, while the indigenous tuberoses, else- 
where cultivated as the chief ornament of the 
parterre, spring up here in thousands, and 
convert the untended waste into a garden of 
rare and varied beauty. 
Proceeding a short distance to Tah, how- 
ever, we again find ourselves among people 
to whom the culture of the soil affords a wel- 
come employment. The district is famous for 
its fruits, which are cheap and plentiful. 
Grapes, oranges, pomegranates, citrons, plums, 
and apples thrive in abundance, while groves 
of mulberries, of superior size and quality, 
have formed the subject of observation to 
numerous travellers. The ber, too, is plen- 
tiful, and is never absent from the neighbour- 
hood of a village. Nor are the people of Tah 
indifferent to the beauty as well as the value 
of their gardens. In some of these, a rich 
variety of objects, both of nature and art, 
contribute to the loveliness of the spot, which 
chiefly, however, derives its fascinations from 
the glories of the vegetable world. Flowers 
of a thousand hues, lakes along whose clear 
margins may be seen reflected the graceful 
foliage of the pomegranate and orange tree, 
loaded with their superb fruit, and over whose 
* The reader, on consulting the map, will find that 
we are now progressing up the strip of land lying at 
the western extremity of the region, from south to 
north, and thence sweeping to the right, we may 
continue our observations over the surface of the 
Punjab. 
