72 
NOTES FROM A JOURNEY TO NEPAL. 
road of which we have been speaking. It is open and tilled where level. 
Its sides are covered with sal forests, whence the Nepil valley draws its 
supply of leaf-platters. The ground if low, such as is called a biasi, 
carries rice crops : if high, such as is called a t4r, was chiefly fallow in 
December after a crop of Sesamum. I imagine that the cultivation 
formerly existing in the vales of Chitaun and Makwanpur was similar. 
An interesting account of the crops of Nidkot may be read in 
Hodgson^s Essays, ii, pp. 56-57. 
Striking features of the Niikot valley are its patches of sugarcane, 
and its orchards of plantains, mangoes, guavas, pears, oranges, caram- 
bol, etc., and its gardens of pineapples, yams {Dioscorea alata Linn.), 
wax gourds {Bemncasa cerifera Savi), Tapioca (Manzhot utilissima 
Pohl) and various forms of Cucumis. Oranges grow remarkably well. 
Vzcoa auriculatay Evolvulus alsinoides and Vernonia cinerea were 
plentiful as weeds. Agave Vera- Crus occurred. Glossogyne, Rub us 
ellipticus, Euphorbia neriifolia^ Zizyphus nummulariai Colebrookia^ 
Wendlandia pendula^ Holmskioldia sanguinea, Bryophyllum calyci- 
num^ Cassia Eistula, Clerodendron serratuniy Calotropis procera^ and 
Callicarpa macrophylla were abundant on the conglomerate cliffs 
over the Trisuli. On its bank was Ficus pyriformis nestling among 
boulders ; and just above the flood-level Gentiana decemjida^ Zeuxine 
sulcata^ Oldenlandia corymbosa, Cyperus tuberosus^ Scutellaria 
rivularisy Fragaria indicazxiA Ophioglossum vulgatum were together. 
The Gentiana which I examined wdth considerable care, exactly 
agrees with the type collected by Wallich, and is distinct enough 
from the var. aprica of the Punjab Siwaliks. I made a careful search 
for Podostemaceae without any success. 
In the rice stubble along the Tdrdi Valley Oplismenus compositus^ 
Herpestis Monnieria, Ceesulia axillaris^ Eragrostis amabilis, 
Mariscus microcephalus^ and Setaria glauca were common. Arabis 
hirsuta was once seen. 
Ficus leevis was seen near Gurkhdh, * perhaps planted. Wallich^s 
type of F. Emodij which is this species, is labelled towards Gossain 
Than and therefore probably came from one of the valleys near 
Nidkot, and if so from not far from Gurkhdh. Limnophila conjerta 
was found at Thansing which is the extreme of its distribution towards 
the north-west. 
Plants of the forests under IViakot. 
In the sdl forest, Phoenix humilis. Phyllanthm Emblica^ and 
Laggera Jiava were common. 
* This Gurkh^h is a village about seven miles from Ni4kot 
