NOTES FROM A JOURNEY 70 NEPAL. 
^0 
Agri-Hort. Soc. iv. 1837, p. 59) and L^vi (Le Nep^l, i, pp, 297- 
306) have described these fields with their narrow grassy banks which 
permit but few plants to grow. The trees most common in the culti- 
vation belt are Schima Walltchh) Alnus nepalensis and Acer ohlongum^ 
the bushes Rubus ellipticus^ Myrsine capitellata^ M, semiserrata) 
Eurya acuminata^ Viburnum coriaceum^ Rosa moschata^ Maesa indi- 
ca^ Prinsepia utilis. and Melastoma malabathricum ; the herbs 
Pteris aquilina^ Nephrolepis tuberosa^ Gleichenia dichotoma, Kalan- 
choe spqthulata^ Drymaria cordata^ Boenninghausenia alhiflora, 
Parochetus communis^ and various grasses. 
The hamlets dotted all over the hill-faces take a large toll of fire- 
wood out of whatever forest or scrub is left, and the tendency is to 
clear the ground more and more. The result is a rarity of well grown 
trees ; and in Lohdri Nepal the timber has wholly disappeared as a 
result of the old smelting works. Some groves of trees near Khdt- 
m^ndu preserved from the axe, are well grown : the steep slopes, for 
instance, near Pashupati carry large trees of Alnus nepalensis^ Acer 
oblonguMi Schima Wallichiif and Fraxinus florihunda. The trees 
named are all leafy in December : the Alnus flowers then. Where 
the trees are well grown there is little under them but here and there 
a bush of Daphne cannabina with fragrant white flowers. 
Where the trees have been cut from off the steep slopes, shrubs 
generally remain with an abundant herbaceous vegetation between 
them. If, for instance, one goes to the edge of the valley of Nepdl and 
begins to climb the lower slopes of the hills that bound it, one finds 
oneself among Pyrus Pashia^ Symplocos theaefolia^ Myrsine capitel* 
lata^ Luculia gratissima and Maesa indica ; none of these growing 
higher than fifteen feet and generally only six feet high. In many 
places among them is Camellia Thea — the Tea bush, healthy and 
vigorous. 
Phyllanthus parvifolius is not uncommon. 
The herbs among the bushes are such as : — Drymaria cprdata, 
Bcenninghausenia albiflora^ Artemisia vulgaris^ Anaphalis cinna- 
momeay Anaphalis contort a^ Swertia angustifolia^ Lindenbergia 
grandiflora^ ^chmanthera Wallichiif Anisomeles ovata, Pteris 
aquilinaf and Gleichenia linearis. 
The Downs in the cultivation belt. 
The downs above M^rkhu and near Pherphing carry short grass at 
the beginning of December, with the little blue bells of Campanula 
sylvatica dotting them. The grasses of the downs are Pollinia 
and Anthistiria imberbis: flowerless in December on them 
