544 
VEGETATION ON THE BANKS OE THE INDUS. 
that large tracts are bare, bleak, and unpro- 
ductive ; but, at the same time, nowhere do 
we meet with valleys more rich and well 
watered. The Koli-i-damun, with the fertile 
vales of Ghorbuad, Punschir, Nig row, and 
Tagoa, with the smiling plains of Begram to 
the north ; the hilly but green district of 
Lughman, the beautiful valley of Jellalabad, 
and the fertile, highly cultivated, and pictu- 
resque province of Nungtiehar to the south ; 
with valleys to the east and to the west, 
which we cannot pause to enumerate ; plains, 
that of Kandahar among them, equal in rich- 
ness to the level tracts of northern Hin- 
dustan, and undulating hilly regions, covered 
with plenty, and verdant as Kashmir itself. 
Many tracts, almost wholly unexplored, exist 
in Afghanistan ; but all that is known of 
them goes to prove that they are " rich and 
abundant in some of the most valuable pro- 
ducts of the earth," and " amazingly productive 
in grain, particularly wheat." 
There are two harvests every year in most 
parts of Afghanistan : the first is sown in the 
autumn, or at the commencement of winter, and 
reaped late in spring, or in the early months of 
summer. It consists chit-fly of wheat, barley, 
beans and peas, rye and oats, the last two of 
which are cultivated principally for the straw 
to feed cattle. The second crop, of rice and 
maize, is sown at the end of spring, and 
reaped in the autumn. Wheat is the staple 
article of food among the natives of Afghan- 
istan ; but rice, which can be cultivated at 
an elevation of from six to seven thousand 
feet above the level of the sea, is of course 
very useful to the inhabitants of the loftier 
mountain slopes. Maize is eaten in several 
ways, either made into bread, or ground 
_into meal, or, when unripe, is roasted, and 
thus used as food. Cotton of good quality, 
superior sugar, excellent tobacco, with saf- 
flower and madder, are cultivated in the 
warmer valleys, and might be raited, under 
an improved ,-ystem and with more assiduous 
industry, in infinitely larger quantities. 
Melons, cucumbers, gourds, and pumpkins 
are produced in abundance, and considerable 
importance is attached to them. Much inge- 
nuity and judicious care are displayed in this 
species of cultivation, which employs a large 
class oi' the native husbandmen. Natural 
grasses are scarce, and the pasture is conse- 
quently not good. Hay is seldom made ; 
sometimes, however, the leaves and stems of 
thistles, docks, rhubarb, and other wild plants 
of a similar kind, are cut and dried for this 
purpose. 
Esculent vegetables grow in abundance, 
but, owing to a careless and inferior method 
of cultivation, cannot be praised for their 
good qualities. However, plenty of \cry 
tolerable cabbages, cauliflowers, spinach, let- 
tuces, onions, garlic, beet-root, and egg-plants, 
are produced and consumed. The potato 
was planted in Afghanistan by Sir Alexander 
Burnes, and would doubtless have thriven 
well but for the apathy of the natives, who 
neglected it, and left it to become extinct, 
taking no pains with its cultivation, and not 
even troubling themselves to plant new crops. 
The fruits of this " naked waste" are equal 
in abundance, variety, and excellence, to those 
of almost all other parts of the Indian con- 
tinent. Those of Kabul surpass the rest. 
The principal are soft and large peaches, 
apricots, and nectarines, with full-flavoured 
grapes ; pomegranates, as luscious as can be 
conceived ; with fine figs, pears of superior 
quality, apples, plums in great varieties, 
quinces, sweet cherries, mulberries in vast 
abundance, and magnilicent walnuts. In the 
lovely and fertile valley of Jellalabad the 
citron and the date flourish plentifully. 
" For there the brightest sunsets glow, 
And there the warmest breezes blow. 
This lovely land, this Indian clime, 
Was beauteous from the birth of Time ; 
And here the Peri has her bower, 
"Where sings the bird, where blooms the flower; 
The fairest land the Peri knew, 
The earth most green, the sky most blue ; 
And here the Peri came to dwell. 
And though I hear no shepherd's bell, 
And though I see no sacred spire, 
To wake the gladness of my lyre, — 
No sight to tell me of my home ; 
Still let the weary pilgrim roam : 
And though his heart be far away, 
Let not his lips refuse to say 
That Beauty lingers round the spot, 
The rippling rill, the rocky grot, 
The mountains vast, the valleys wide, 
The forest, and the sparkling tide ; 
The fruit, that loads the bending bough, 
That blossom'd once, that ripens now, 
The vine that mantles on the hill ; 
Beauteous they are, but lovelier still 
The land that I may never see 
Again, but still my heart shall be, 
England, my native isle, with thee !" * 
The description quoted from the verses of 
Peter Penne may be taken as a picture of 
some of these Afghan valleys, although it 
was probably intended to apply to some other 
portions of India. There is, indeed, great 
beauty in many districts of this region, not- 
withstanding all that has been said by pre- 
judiced individuals, who seem in many cases 
to have been blinded with gold dust, thrown 
into their eyes by pitiful native chiefs. 
In one branch of information connected 
with this subject the public is still singularly 
deficient ; we mean, the floral productions 
of Sindh and Afghanistan. At present, how- 
ever, we shall not touch on that topic, as it 
* " Pilgrim in the East." By Peter Penne. 
