The mountains slope off from Sofaid-Koh in distinct groups, and are seen to advantage, broken in some places into undulations: about the centre of the slope an irregular strip of village forts and cultivation is extended. The course of the Cabul river in many places is curious; flowing between singularly round ranges. Snipe common; quail rare. Erythræa common on moist sward.
30th.—Proceeded to Lalpore, the country undulating, the road skirting the stony portions of the plain is bad to Hizarnow, three miles from thence it is very stony, thence continuing on the skirts of the hills, which are principally slate, and passing through a small ravine, it then extends over sandy or stony ground, until the Chota Khyber is reached: this is a narrow, but short, and not very steep pass; slate rocks compose the upper parts, and are entirely disintegrated, thence they descend at once into the plain opposite Lalpore; the distance of the march is eleven miles, the road generally decent.
Much rice cultivation occurs, and much land, it must be confessed, also occupied by marshy ground, Typha, etc. The same plants continue; Butomus trigonifolius not uncommon.
On the slate rocks of Buttencote Kochia recurs, Heliotropium luteum, Nerioides, and Lycioides of Shikarpore are found.
Near Hizarnow, Serissa, Acaciæ sp., which is the black wood of Madras; Sissoo, and Bheirs. Hizarnow is a large place, curiously occupying receding slopes of the base of a low range of hills, but it must be dreadfully hot. We passed several Kaburistans with pollarded, stunted, excavated Furas trees. One mile before Hizarnow, a curious hill of slate occurred, covered with boulders.
The road is very winding in consequence of its following the bases of the hills forming the southern boundary of the valley. The Cabul river is visible almost throughout the whole march.
All houses in the villages are now roofed in this part of the country with straw. Starlings observed in swarms.
31st.—Halted at Lalpore, this is a very busy large place: the houses are one-storied, and flat-roofed. The only peculiarity being occasional square towers. The river is here quite open for commerce downwards, and is well adapted to small canoes: the stream is rapid and crossed by a ferry.
On rocks under which the river flows near this, a species of Fissidens occurs, where the rocky surface has passed into sand. Glycyrrhiza, Rubus, Artemisia, Asparagus, Pommereulla, Andropogon albus, Arundo, Cyrthandracea, an Hyoscyamus of the Bolan Pass, Beebee Nanee, Heliotropium flavum.
It would be curious to enquire why the powers of variation change so completely in the different families? Thus for instance in Orchideæ, no character can be taken from the vegetation with some limitations, and none from the fruit or seeds; two products in most orders very fruitful in discriminating marks. This leads one to the idea that in monocotyledonous plants, the fruit is very generally of limited powers of variation; witness Orchideæ, Gramineæ, Smilacineæ, etc. this idea deserves to be followed out as much as possible. The river at the ferry is 100 yards wide, and twelve feet in the deepest part, the current five miles an hour, but confined to one and a half towards its centre.