1st. Of trees that have been introduced we have

Cordia Myxa, "Budda-lessoora." The large-fruited Lessoora. This yields the large kind of Sebesten. It is a handsome showy evergreen tree, with good-sized timber, but is only found in gardens.

Cordia latifolia, "Lessoora." This tree yields the small Sebesten, which is scarcely used. It is found in most of the gardens in the district. It has small timber, which is not put to any use in particular.

Syzigium Jambolanum, “Goulab Jaman." Of this there are a few fine trees, generally near the dwellings of Fakirs. There is one tree on the summit of Mt. Tilla, fifteen feet in circumference.

Parkinsonia aculeata, "Velaiti Kekur."

Sesbania Egyptiaca, Pers.

These two latter exist as tree-shrubs: both are true garden plants and are extending their range; both being now occasionally met with near villages.

Bauhinia variegata, "Kochnar." A garden tree, the flower buds of which are used largely in curries and pickles.

Morus alba and Morus laevigata, Wall. " "Toot," are in this tract dwarfed from want of soil and moisture, and do not yield timber.

Melia Azedarach, L. "Buchyan," Persian Lilac is attached to all villages. The timber is of no use: the foliage gives a good shade and the ripe fruit is greedily seized upon by goats and sheep.

Moringa pterygosperma, "Sohounja," or horse-radish tree, in this tract is a garden product; its fruit is not used for oil making, nor is its timber applied to any purpose. It affords, however, a good shade.

Populus Euphratica and P. dilatata, Don. "Safaida" are both the products of the gardens of Europeans.

Acacia Serissa, Roxb. "Seriss," grows to a very handsome tree, generally near European dwellings.

Cedrela Toona, "Toon," has been introduced but lately. It both flowers and fruits.

Bombax heptaphyllum, L., "Sembul."

Cassia fistula, L. "Amultas," the Indian Laburnum grows near dwellings, not common; produces good fruit and flowers generally twice during the year.

Salix Babylonica, frequently met with near bunees, tanks, and damp localities.

Ficus religiosa," Pipul," and F. Indica, "Bore, Burgot," Banyan tree. Fine specimens of these are found throughout the district. It is a matter of opinion as to whether their origin here be due to natural causes or to their having been introduced. If the former, they must be upon the confines of their northern limits.

2nd. Trees native to the district.

Cratera religiosa, "Burna." This seems to have been at one time a common tree in this tract, more especially upon the alluvial soil near the river, where there are still a number of very large trees which give a splendid shade and form large timber. The fruit is used to mix with mortar for making a strong cement.

Tamarix Indica, Gallica, L. " Furas." In this tract the only trees we have of this, have been planted, but in some other tracts we find it is prolific. It produces a miserably poor brittle wood, used chiefly for the fire. This tree resembles a fir and indeed by most people it is generally mistaken for such.

Acacia Arabica, "Kekur, Babool." Of this we have two varieties, viz.: A. A. var. spina, albida, and A. A. var. cypress. This latter is the most elegant but the least common in this tract. They are both large handsome trees yielding good shade, give excellent, useful timber, and grow rapidly and well, over the whole district. Their wood is used largely for ploughs, well wheels and tent pegs; their branches for feeding sheep, goats, camels and cattle in general, as also for making hedges. The bark is used for tanning and making country spirits, besides yielding not unfrequently a large supply of gum, "Gondh."

Acacia modesta, Wall" Phulai." In good alluvial soil and where there is drainage this becomes a fine timber tree. Otherwise, as where it grows on the hills and ravines of the district, it is but a poor twisted, stunted shrub, fit only for firewood, but for this purpose it is excellent; camels, goats, &c. feed in Spring on its young leaves and flowers. Its timber is very hard and used greatly for wheels, especially when these are to be exposed to wetting. The heart wood becomes quite black and is as hard as iron.

Dalbergia Sissoo, "Sheshum." Of this, which produces the most valuable timber, we have but little, and what trees there are, have apparently been planted during the rule of the English Governinent in

the Punjaub. A few trees, however, of Seikh times still exist near wells, and shew splendid timber. The natives of the district would induce one to believe that this had formerly been a common tree and that during the Punjaub campaign it had been cut down. I believe it has been introduced since our conquest of the country, with the exception of the specimens near Tullagung.

Zizyphus jujuba, "Baer," is a good, rapid growing tree, produces excellent wood, highly valued by the zemindars, and requires no care or trouble to rear; its fruit and leaves yield good fodder to goats, sheep, &c. and its branches make excellent hedges.

The "Baer" and the "Kekur" are the staple woods of the whole district, from which all the woodwork required by the agricultural population is made. They spring up naturally from their seeds, whether distributed by winds, men or animals. They require no care in their youth, and both grow freely without water, (or at least under very straitened cirrcumstances for it,) so long as they have some soil to grow in. On stony, sandy land they do not grow, but on clay they spring up readily. At present there are few or no old trees in the Jhelum tract and decidedly not many in any of the other tracts; that is to say, trees fit for timber, This is due solely to carelessness and negligence on the part of the zemindars to substitute young trees for those cut down; hence there is at present a scarcity of timber, which in a few years, if the present state of things goes on, will end in a nullity of local produce. It appears to me that Government should take up this subject in earnest, and only permit trees of above a certain age to be cut down, making it an established rule, that for every tree cut down, a proportionate number of young trees be planted. The greater the age of the tree cut down, the larger should be the number of young trees required to be substituted for that one removed and thus, instead of a scarcity of timber, in a few years, a cheap supply of wood grown on the locality would be the result, besides the benefit that would otherwise accrue to a country at present all but destitute of trees. In replacing trees cut down, it is strongly to be recommended that the Baer and Kekur be preferred to any others: not even excepting the Sissoo, which, although a valuable timber tree, takes too long a time to become useful and is too tender, requiring too much nursing in its youth, to be of real paying benefit. The rapid growth of the Baer and Kekur and their non-liability to injury

:

from want of care, besides their great durability, more especially during exposure to heat and moisture, are characters which render them of immense value to the zemindar, who uses their wood for ploughs and well-wheels where it is continuously exposed to the extremes of moisture and dry heat; besides which, he gets a quick return for the labour and trouble expended in rearing the trees, which are grown on the spot where their wood is required for consumption. Thus he is put to no expense for carriage, while the branches of both trees are of great value to him for fences for his fields, and the leaves, blossom and fruit as fodder for his cattle.

CHARACTERISTIC PLANTS.

The characteristic plants of the Jhelum tract may be classed as those met with

1st. On the Islands and banks of the river,

2nd. On the moist marshy soil left by the receding of the river, 3rd. In wells,

4th. As weeds in gardens,

5th. As weeds in fields.

6th. The remainder are met with on roads, waysides, fields aud gardens, in short are not confined to any particular locality.

1st. The characteristic plants met with on the islands and banks of the river Jhelum are:

Tamarix dioica, Roxb. Called in the vernacular generally" Pilchee," Jhao," and frequently "Furas" (the latter name, however, is more generally applied to the tree T. Indica). This with Saccharum spontaneum covers the 'slands (balaa's) during the hot weather, with a dense low jungle. Both are considered of some value for thatching; the former is also used largely for all kinds of rough basket work. From the great abundance of both, and their cheapness, they are used to consolidate the soil laid upon the Grand Trunk Road. By the end of October, the islands are cleared completely of this jungle, and nothing but the roots and stumps of the plants are left, which begin again to send up fresh shoots in March and April. The fresh shoots of the latter are at this time fed on by cattle. Cattle will not, however, feed on the full grown grass, which is too coarse and rough for them. On some of the Balaa's, but chiefly on the banks of the river on the Goojerat side, the Saccharum Munja" Moonj," is to be met with in large quantities, forming a much higher and thicker

jungle than that of the S. spontaneum. Its value is much greater, being used for rope-making. The cause of its high price is, that ropes made from it are able to withstand the effects of moisture combined with strain, much longer than any other rope made from materials as readily obtained. It is largely used by boatmen on the river, as well as for the anchorage of the boats that form the bridges on most of the Punjaub rivers. In 1861, the Moonj harvest was a failure, and in its place large quantities of the leaves of the Chamaerops Ritchiana, "Puttha" from the Attock district, were imported to the rest of the Punjaub to supply the bridges with moorage rope. The ropes are made by steeping the leaves in water for a certain number of days, then tearing them into ribbon-like strips, which are plaited together upon the principle of the watchguard plait, and then two or three of the plaits are twisted into one rope of the required thickness. The Moonj is said to bear a heavier strain and last longer than the other, when both are exposed to moisture.

The Anatherum muricatum "Khus Khus," is met with in some quantity, chiefly on the river's bank, both cultivated and in a wild state, near Russool; also a few miles above Jelallpore. It is of value to the

zemindars who sell it for being made into tatties, &c.

2nd. The characteristic plants met with in moist marshy ground left by the receding of the river, &c., are :—

Machlys hemisphærica, D. C.

Mazus rugosus, Lour.

Mimulus gracilis, R. Br.

Veronica anagallis, L.

Polygonum Persicaria, L.

Rumex acutus, Roxb.

Potentilla supina.

Zeuxine sulcata. The only orchid obtained in the whole district and this only on the banks of the remains of an old canal below the Government garden at Jhelum.

Alisma Plantago, L. This flowers early in April, and its presence in this part of the Jhelum district, seems to be due to the river bringing down the seeds from a higher elevation; these vegetate in the pools of water left by the receding of the river. The seeds of the Singhara, Trapa bispinosa are also brought down by the river floods in large quantities, but I have never seen them vegetate.