Journals of Travels in Assam, Burma, Bhootan, Afghanistan and the Neighbouring Countries Part 62

Total length, 3 feet 8 inches.

Length of tail, 1 feet 7 inches.

There is also a nocturnal beast here which has a voice something like a jackal, but more of a bark. Shot one of the small grey, white-rumped water robins, which was examining a wall for insects, and fluttering about the holes in it. I saw two Carbos (cormorants), distinct from any I had hitherto seen, very black, with some white marks. The common black one also occurs.

_17th_.--Proceeded to Chugur Pair; the time occupied by the journey, excluding stoppages, was two hours and four minutes, at the rate of three and a quarter miles an hour.

Tulipa in abundance in fields, a beautiful species, external sepals rosy outside, odour faint but sweet.

On a ridge near Chugur Pair is a curious ruin, viz. a long wall.

The mountain is too high to enable me to say what it is like. The tulip has a tendency to produce double flowers: one specimen seen with a regular three-leaved perianth, eight stamina, and four carpellary ovary, angles opposite the outer perianth leaves; the upper leaf or bract has a tendency to become petaloid. If the anthers are pulled, the filaments are separated from them and remain as subulate white pointed processes.

_19th_.--l.a.b.i.ata, Ocymoidea, Salvia! erect, ramose, foliis rugosis, verticillatis; spicatis racemosis. _Cal_. bil.a.b.i.ata supra planisculis, medio carinatus, _Cor_. pallida, caerulea, bil.a.b.i.ata, labio superiora subfornicata: lateralibus subrevolutis. See Catalogue No. 52, in fields Chugur Pair, common on gra.s.sy banks.

A curious tendency is observed in Pomaceae, Ceraseae to have the stamina of the same colour as the petals, thereby _showing their origin_? How is it explained that in some transformations of this, the anthers alone are petaliformed, while in others both filament and anther are equally and primarily affected.

The female Lophophorus has been living on nothing for at least a week; its voice is various, sometimes not unlike that of a large hawk, at others a cackle, or low chuckle; occasionally it runs forward, erecting its crest, and spreading out its tail like a fan, the _tail being_ _depressed_. I fancy it roosts in trees not unlike certain pigeons, Haematornis one species come in, this genus I think represents Parus: it has the same fluttering clinging habits, it often sallies forth like Merops after insects, the genus is remarkable for the yellow or red colour of the under tail-covers, it is a noisy bird, and not wary until so taught by experience. I doubt its power of singing. The so called Bulbul, _hazari dastar_, the famous songster, is not a real _bulbul_, but either Alaudina or a stonechat.

With Haematornis has appeared a fine Merops, of which I have not yet got a specimen; its habits were quite those of Merops, and it made the same noise: it occurred with Haematornis.

Chugur is a large extent of ruins, traces of paths are visible leading to the houses, mere huts built of slabs of slate. There is one square part remaining much like the base of one of the topes to which it a.s.similates; the building, is of slabs of wood and stone, intervening. What could have induced the Mussulmans to build on such horridly hard barren and hot places, with no water near? or did they occupy places taken from the _Kafirs_. The latter I should think most likely from the names, which are evidently _Kafir_.

_20th_.--The bird alluded to yesterday, was again seen to-day. I remember shooting the same species at elevations of 8,000 feet in Bootan, in oak forests. It has the habits of Merops, with its voice or chirp, and is very gregarious, so that one part of the flock will not separate from the rest. It perches in a very erect manner making swoops and sallies after insects precisely as Merops. Plumage sombre, general colour slaty, quills and crest blackish, bill and feet orange, tail forked.

Is this bird of the sub-family Brachypodinae, or is it a Fissirostral bird; the wings, although graduated as to the two first quills (the first being half spurious) are still long, and may be called pointed. It obviously has much a.n.a.logy? with the Drongo shrikes in habits, and in forked tail: as well as in lengthened body? Both it and Haematornes are very local, none being found here but just around a village called Pillipote, a favourite station--Zaitoon trees, or naked Bakkeins.

Haematornis I have seen feeding on the ground, this species has the same voice as that of the genus generally.

The yellowish _Bunting-like_ water-wagtail, is very common just now: it occurs in wheat fields; flight, chirp, and mode of getting up when disturbed just as in the Buntings.

Weather very unsettled, heavy rain and thunder last night, and now threatening a gale.

_21st_.--Returned towards Pushut: a Lanius, but not the one shot, was seen near the road in bushes.

_22nd_.--Of the four red-billed Shrikes, two are male and female, s.e.xes alike, stomach fleshy like that of Haematornis, but food entirely vegetable: the two female stomachs contained each a seed of the _Bukkein_ (Melia): the two males contained fragments of buds, perhaps of a willow, but not a vestige of an insect, so their swooping and sallying is a mere a.n.a.logical representation of Merops. In Haematornis contents of stomach chiefly vegetable, partly of insects.

_26th_.--Very rainy and unsettled weather, thunder and lightning.

_27th_.---Clearing up: heavy rain in some parts of the night, otherwise fine.

_28th_.--A beautiful morning. Went to Kooner, distance twelve to thirteen miles: for three miles the road was dangerous but tolerably decent, no defiles being pa.s.sed, in which murderers were likely to lurk, very little difference in seasons between this and Pushut.

_29th_.--Returned again to Pushut. The country about Pushut is one sheet of cultivation, studded with trees; so thick are these that few villages are discernible in consequence. Nothing particularly notable occurred, except that a tulip is common in the fields about Kooner, but not found in those about Pushut: it occurs also with Amaryllideae, which is likewise a stranger to Pushut. What is the reason of the ruined forts so common in this country? One would think that it were useless to pull down or destroy a good fort, when it is the intention of building another, so that they are scarcely to be accounted for from a succession of conquerors.

The country has, and always will be, a distracted one. I observe that in all parts approaching mountains, in which the chief danger of robbery exists, that there are generally people and especially boys tending cattle, so that they must probably be familiar with robberies and murders, and seeing these done so openly, so easily, and so securely, they may well be imagined to become ready scholars. So even if the stock already existing in the robbers' sons, etc., were deficient, others would be found ready to take up the profession. The Kooner Dhurrah, or valley, is a very fine one, it is a good instance of the peculiar kind of slope or _talus_, so common in this country. The soil in such places being so stony as to be useless for cultivation. Low parts entering into the valley become useful for wheat, that is, if rain falls early, these Dhurrahs are formed or filled by debris from the surrounding hills, carried down by torrents, which are constantly changing their beds, the outline of the edge is circular, such as that of a sand bank at the mouth of a river, the finer particles being of course carried furthest down.

The Kooner valley may be considered as the second; the Shaiwa distinct forming the first; it continues as far as the bend to Chugur Pair; its beginning is close to Kooner village, near the ferry where the valley is much contracted.

_31st_.--The beautiful Smyrna kingfisher of India, with metallic plumage, chocolate-brown underneath, occurs at Kooner.

The common kite is very expert in seizing objects with its claws while flying: as is the Pondicherry falcon. They are often seen about standing water, fis.h.i.+ng I fancy with their claws for sh.e.l.ls, etc. on the surface.

The late rain has caused a torrent down Dhurrah Bader, and the fields and low grounds about Choke have been inundated; about these spots, birds have collected in numbers, the common crow taking advantage of the circ.u.mstance had turned as it were, kingfisher, swooping about like the kite. There were two species of Laridae, neither of which I had seen before, several small Tringae, the very long red shanked bird, Hematopus?

the metallic Tantalus, common, jack-snipe, and hosts of Budytes, which were busily employed flying and flitting about after insects. Edolius occurs at Kooner as well as here. The number of birds is small certainly, although the trees, etc. are now in full leaf: no new birds seem to have come in, except the dove, and Edolius; neither Haematornis nor Brachypus yet observed, one or two fresh species of Alaudina, and stonechats have made their appearance. It is curious that the larks do not remain above a few days, none are to be seen now, that the crops are barely a foot high.

The female Monaul is going on well, though obliged to be crammed, for though it takes water voluntarily it will not take food. It is a very domestic bird, and fond of notice, its voice on such occasions is pleasing, on some others very harsh and hawk or eagle-like. Its manners are curious, depressing its tail, and arching its neck, and pecking at imaginary objects in a curious way. From the expressive manner in which it looks up at sunset on surrounding objects, especially trees, it is obviously accustomed to roost.

_April 1st_.--Pushut Fort.

_4th_.--Weather unsettled: a slight rumbling sound of an earthquake was felt yesterday evening, the atmosphere at the time being very close: this was succeeded by a squall. Strong winds are prevalent, generally easterly: clear suns.h.i.+ne is evidently of rare continuance at Pushut: little snow remains except towards Bharawul.

I was much struck this morning with the entire disappearance of a green mantle of Confervoid sc.u.m from the surface of a foul pool close to my quarters. Yesterday the pool was quite green, now there is no green, nor any traces of the sc.u.m except such portion as was not in the water but round the margins.

_6th_.--Proceeded to Chugur-Serai, which place was reached after marching 3 h. 10 m. at three miles an hour. Ocharrye one of the peaks near this is deep in snow; it is much higher than Speencas. The season here is now nearly as forward as it is at Kooner, although on my last visit sixteen days ago, it was fifteen days behind, but the narrowness of the valley must increase the heat much.

Great delay occurred in crossing the Pushut river, which is much swollen from the heavy rain on the 4th. Thunder and hailstone common, clear days decidedly rare in the spring of these parts.

Edolius occurs here, another stonechat has come in.

_7th_.--Proceeded to Otipore, which took 8 h. 9 m. to perform the journey; very unsettled weather. Yesterday several thunderstorms, and heavy rain.

_10th_.--Clearing up, went to Bharawul; and returned on the 12th. I was much disappointed at the paucity of forms, for I did not get ten species, not met with before. The flora of the fir woods amounts to almost nothing, Colchic.u.m straggles up now and then, this and a gra.s.s or Carex, a Caprifoliaceous shrub, and Cotoneaster of Tazeen, and Fragaria are the only forms. The oak as it gets to higher alt.i.tudes a.s.sumes a different form, probably it is a different species, for the leaves are much less coriaceous, and are not glaucous underneath, otherwise there is little difference between it and the common Baloot, the chief plants found occurred in the clearings, which surround Bharawul to some extent.

Alliaria is very common; also Tulipa. In this variety the dehiscence of the anthers continues until, from a single simple pore, a line reaching nearly the whole length of the anther is formed: a very pretty and sweet smelling Anemone common, Viola, Rumex, Thalictrum a rather fine species, Hedera, Rubia cordifolia, Valeriana, Corydalis, Fragaria, Thlaspidea, Sambucus, Ebulus adonis, Berberis, Equisetum, Clematis, Urtica urens, were noticed, either in cultivation or on the edge of the clearings. Poor as the flora is, I see no chance of its promising much variety, for I observe few other plants showing themselves: several ferns were met with in moist places, and under rocks, two Asplenia, one undetermined; Aspidioides very common in some places, but of last year.

The soil is deepish and good, when wet it is subtenacious. The _Nukhtur_ is a large tree, seventy to eighty feet high; one of an average size measured fourteen feet in girth, four feet from the base. The slopes of the mountain are steep, and the ravines very rocky: on the ridges between these, the ground is covered with soil. Colchic.u.m observed as high as 7,500 feet. I returned another way, keeping along the large ravine that drains the mountain to the north, and which falls into the Otipore river, below s.h.i.+negam.

Buddlea was noticed at 5,800 feet, Hyacinthus throughout from this to Bharawul; _Nurgiss_ 5,800 feet, Impatiens the same as the species below 5,000, Myrsinea ditto, Fraxinus is very common about 4,000 feet, it is very easily mistaken for the Xanthoxylon, which appears common over most parts of Khora.s.san. The range of the Cytisus, which is a beautiful sweet smelling shrub, is extensive, it may be included here between 3,000 and 7,000 feet: a.s.sociated with it between 4,000 to 4,500 feet is a Caragana, and about this occurs a fine Salveoideo-Dracocephalum.

The limit of the Baloot may be taken at 4,000 feet, but in sheltered ravines it descends lower.

Euonymus _Moamunna_, Periplocea, scarcely extend above 4,000 feet, neither do the spirescent Astragali, these are succeeded by two or three espinous species, one the same as the Astragalus stipulis magnis of the river towards Pironi. Amygdalus ranges between 3,500 and 7,000 feet, the pretty Cerasus does not extend above 4,000 feet. There appears to be another Amygdalus above.

The chief vegetation of the mountain below 6,000 feet appears to be a tufted coa.r.s.e Andropogoneous gra.s.s, and in such situations as this occupies, little soil is to be found; the Baloot, and Zaitoon, are confined to sheltered places. Above they occur indiscriminately on all faces, but Zaitoon is rare at such elevations; few birds were observed, the most common about Bharawul are an Emberizoid and a Certhia? Muscicapa flammea was seen at 7,000 feet in pine forests with several Sittae: in these forests and about Bharawul, only one Garrulus was heard, and few woodpigeons were seen. The Picus is still common, Myophorus now extends up to Bharawul. Parus caeruleus still continues. Another female Nemorrhaedus is brought in with young: the breeding time probably takes place two months later. The Merula before found below, now occurs in flocks about Bharawul.

According to the natives there is only about twenty days difference in the seasons of cutting wheat and barley; this is probably not true, yet it is borne out by the Tulip, Cytisus and Hyacinth.

The village has been founded five years since, and contains 180 souls.

The burial ground contains sixteen graves, which will give the annual percentage of mortality. At Otipore the mortality is said to be great.

Whence do these people get their curious grey eyes, and light hair?

Daphne extends to Bharawul.

_14th_.--The kingcrow is now in here, also Columba, and Lanius; this last has an unceasing jarring chirp, it has however considerable powers of voice.

Sitta feeds on seeds as well as on insects, but the structure of its stomach is insectivorous.

The female Monaul died yesterday. I heard some of these birds in the pine forests of Bharawul, their voice being very loud and grating; the female was a good tempered bird, capable of attachment, when caressed its notes were pleasing.

_15th_.--The Hoopoe seen; another fish brought in to-day, the usual mountainous form, but with a very rough nose.