Part 6

Before the conquest by the Nepalese, the petty Rajas, who governed its different portions, were so much afraid of their neighbours, that they did not promote the cultivation of this low land. They rather encouraged extensive woods, and contented themselves, in a great measure, with the produce of the forests in timber, elephants, and pasture; even then, however, many rich spots were occupied, and very productive; but they were so buried in the forests as to be little observable. The Gorkhalese, being more confident, have cleared much of the country, although still a great deal remains to be done. Even now they export a considerable quantity of grain; and, were property somewhat more secure, this territory is capable of yielding considerable resources. Its tobacco is said to be uncommonly good, and the reddish cotton wool is said to be very thriving.

In the annexed register of the weather, the state of the atmosphere, during the two months stay which I made in the country, will be seen. The climate is considerably cooler and moister than that in the vicinity of Patna; and the hot winds, according to report, are almost a month later in commencing, than they are at that city. Our residence in the Tariyani was at the most favourable season; but about the time (1st April) at which we advanced towards Nepal, the country becomes very unhealthy, good water for drinking becomes very scarce, and, till the cold season, the people are very subject to fevers and disorders in the bowels, which by the natives of Nepal are attributed to the Ayul, or a poisonous air, which many of them imagine proceeds from the breath of large serpents, supposed to inhabit the forests of the northern mountains. The existence of such serpents in any considerable number, is very doubtful, and rational men assign a more natural origin to the Ayul or bad air. They say, that the ground in the forests, during spring, is covered with fallen leaves, which are rotted by the first rains of the hot season, and, by their putrefaction, corrupt the air. They accordingly allege, that the climate continues healthy, until the first rain after the commencement of the hot season, after which the unhealthy season begins, and continues until the cold weather, although it abates considerably of its virulence with the heavy rains which happen after the solstice.

The Tariyani is intersected by numerous small rivers, which not only serve for watering the crops in the latter end of the dry season; but, when they are swollen by rain, become navigable, and enable the farmer to send the produce of his fields to a good market. These rivers also serve to float down the valuable timber that abounds in the forests, by which the hills are skirted. The term Tariyani, indeed implies the country’s being navigable.

Fish are found in abundance in the rivers of the Tariyani; and the mullet, which I call Mugil Corsula, and the carp, which I call Cyprinus Rohita, are of an excellent quality.

Bounding the above mentioned plain on the north, is a region of nearly the same width. It consists of small hills, rising, however, gradually towards the north, and watered by many small rivers, which spring from the southern faces of the first lofty mountains, to which these hills gradually unite.

The channels of these rivers or torrents, even when they have no communication with the high mountains, are filled with fragments of granite and shistose mica; but the hills themselves are in general composed of clay, intermixed with various proportions of sand, mica, and gravel. This mixture contains many masses of rock, and is disposed in strata, that are either horizontal, or dip towards the north with an angle less than 25 degrees. In many places, these heterogeneous materials have been indurated into stone of considerable hardness. But besides those, I observed many rocks in these hills, especially in deep vallies, where they were disposed in vertical strata, running easterly and westerly, and consisting of limestone, hornstone, and aggregates, usually called primitive. These parts abound in incrustations, formed by the deposition of calcareous matter; but I have not been able to hear of the exuviæ of marine animals, except such as are washed down by the Gandaki, and are loose in its channel. The calcareous matter has either formed itself in crusts, covering the surface of rocks, or has assumed the form of the mosses, lichens, and other such plants, that it has covered.

On the bank of the Kosi, near Varaha Chhatra, is found a singular black ferruginous earth, of which the elephant is said to eat greedily, when indisposed; and the natives use it, rubbed with a little water, to supply the place of ink.

The lower part of these hills, and some of the adjacent plains, are the grand seat of the Sal {67a} forests, among which are many trees of the species of _Dalbergia_, called _Sisau_, {67b} and of the _Cedrella_, which at Calcutta, is called _Tungd_, (_toon_ of the English,) but which in the forests adjacent to Puraniya, is called _Chilli kath_. Higher up, the hills are covered with a vast variety of trees, nearly resembling those of _Goyalpara_, of which I intend hereafter to give an account; but in the hills of the North, there are many pines (_Pinus longifolia_,) which the mountain Hindus call _Salla_, {67c} and an abundance of the _Mimosa_ (_Khaira_,) of which catechu is made. A great many people are employed in preparing this drug. A few of them belong to the company’s territory, but by far the greater part are the subjects of Gorkha. Each man pays a duty to the Raja, of from three to five rupees, and during the fair season makes from eight to ten _mans_ of the Calcutta weight, which is nearly 82 lbs. The merchants, who advance money for subsistence, usually give the workman four rupees a man, that is, from 32 to 40 rupees for six months work; but from this the tax must be deducted. The greater part is sent to Patna and Banaras.

In these woods, a vast number of these kinds of birds which are tamed by the natives on account of their singing or imitating the human voice, form their nests, which are considered as the property of the Raja. These birds are,

Mayna, Gracula religiosa, Latham.

Amrita chela.

Madna, Kajla, Two parakeets nearly allied to the Psittacus gingianus of Latham.

Tetiya, Psittaca torquata, Brisson.

Chandana, a parakeet not described by Latham.

Sugi, Psittacus gingianus, Latham.

Latkan, a small short-tailed parakeet, nearly allied to the Psittacus galgulus.

The right of taking the young birds from the nest is farmed to men, who again employ people to climb the trees, when the birds are first fledged. These people keep the birds for two months, and then deliver one half to the renter, and take the remainder to themselves. Petty dealers come from the low country, purchase the birds, and disperse them through Bengal.

In several places, these low hills are separated from the high mountains by fine vallies of a considerable length, but a good deal elevated above the plain of Hindustan. In the country west from the Ganges, these vallies are called by the generic name Dun, analogous to the Scottish word Strath; but towards the east, the word Dun is unknown, nor did I hear of any generic term used there for such vallies, although there are very fine ones in that part of the country.

These Duns or Straths are tolerably cultivated by the same tribes that dwell in the great plain of Hindustan. But among the spurs and ridges of these hills, there are many narrow vallies, or what in Scotland would be called Glens, and both these, although their soil is rich, and the surrounding hills, are almost totally neglected. A few straggling villages are however scattered through the woods, especially in the higher parts, and their inhabitants cultivate cotton, rice, and other articles, with the hoe, after having cleared away parts of the forest, as practised by the Garos of Ranggapur. The chief reason of the desert state of this part of the country, seems to be its extreme unhealthiness, and this again, in a great measure, in all probability, depends on the want of cultivation; for Vijaypur Chatra and some other places, that must be included in this division, are abundantly healthy, having been well cleared.

Some estimate of the temperature of this region may be formed from the heat of a spring at Bichhakor, having, in the end of March, been found 74° of Fahrenheit’s scale, the latitude being 27° 16′ N.

On arriving at what may be called the mountains, though they are not separated from the low hills by any distinct boundary, we have a very elevated region, consisting of one mountain heaped on another, and rising to a great height, so that, when any fall happens in winter, their tops are for a short time covered with snow. The inhabited vallies between these are in general very narrow, and are of very various degrees of elevation, probably from 3000 to 6000 feet of perpendicular height above the plains of Puraniya. Of course, they differ very much in their temperature; so that some of them abound in the ratan and bamboo, both of enormous dimension, while others produce only oaks and pines. Some ripen the pine-apple and sugar-cane, while others produce only barley, millet, and other grains.

Some estimate of the climate of this region may be formed by means of the accompanying register of the weather kept near Kathmandu, although it is very imperfect, from that want of convenience which must attend travellers in so remote a country. The winter we passed in Nepal, was reckoned uncommonly mild; and in place of the rain, which we had at that season, in most years snow falls at Kathmandu. A more accurate estimate of the average heat of the valley may be obtained from that of its springs, which by repeated trials at a fine spring nearly on a level with Kathmandu, I found to be 64° of Fahrenheit’s thermometer; but in a spring near Thankot, the heat in April was 59½°; in one at Chitlong it was a degree lower; and at Bhimphedi, on the skirts of the lower hills, it was 63°. This cold, so uncommon in the latitude of between 27° 30′, and 26° 41′, must be attributed to the great elevation of the country, for the neighbourhood of the snowy peaks of Emodus could produce little effect, as the winds were very seldom from that quarter. We have no data upon which we can calculate the height of the valley of Nepal with any considerable accuracy. The nearest approach I can make to it, is by the difference of the average height of the barometer observed during the month of February 1802, in the Tariyani, and during the February following at Kathmandu. The average height at the former place was 29,60 inches, while at the latter it was 25,25 inches. The difference of the logarithms of these numbers, rejecting the index, and taking only the four next figures, will give 690 fathoms, 4140 feet, for the height of Kathmandu above the Tariyani. The observations with the thermometer, for the proper correction of those made with the barometer, are not complete; but they are not of great consequence, considering that the fundamental observations were not simultaneous, and were therefore liable to great error.

The periodical rains extend to Nepal, and are nearly of the same violence and duration with those in Behar. Colonel Kirkpatrick {70} thinks, and perhaps justly, that they commence a little earlier. Water spouts are common, which shows that their cause is quite unconnected with the sea.

On the whole I am inclined to believe, that the climate of the valley is healthful, although, immediately before our arrival, the inhabitants had been much troubled with fevers, and, for the first three months after our arrival, the whole of our native attendants were exceedingly sickly. The complaints to which they were chiefly subject, were fevers of the intermittent kind, and fluxes, attended with a very copious secretion of slimy matter, which, by the natives, is attributed to Bayu or wind; and which was brought on by very slight indulgences in eating. In the fevers emetics seemed much more efficacious than the cathartics which are usually employed at Calcutta; and, indeed, a dose of emetic tartar very frequently cut the fever short, as usual in temperate climates. The fluxes were not attended with much pain, and both these and the tendency in the bowels to the slimy secretions, seemed to require the frequent exhibition of spirituous bitters and small doses of opium. In such cases, I found the chirata tolerably efficacious, but I thought other bitters more powerful, especially the infusion of chamomile flowers, and the compound tinctures of Gentian and Peruvian bark. Our people probably suffered from having passed through the forest too late in the season; but the natives of Hindustan do not support a change of air, and on our first arrival they were not well provided with means to resist the weather, which to them was uncommonly cold.

I have seen no country where the venereal disease is so common as in Nepal, nor so generally diffused among all classes of the people, who are indeed very dissolute. During my stay I had application for medical assistance from all ranks labouring under the venereal disease; and I observed that the men did not consider it as extraordinary or shameful, when they found their wives afflicted with this malady. The dissolute manners of the inhabitants are carried to such a length, that a great many of the young men of rank, by the age of twenty-five, are debilitated, and have recourse to stimulants. The preparation of these forms a chief source of emolument to the medical men, and they are sometimes taken to a quantity that proves fatal.

Cutaneous disorders, and especially the itch, are also very common, and almost as prevalent as in Hindustan. The leprosy, in which the joints drop off, is as common as in Bengal; but in Nepal it cannot be attributed to the lowness of the country, nor to a fish diet, to which the people of Kathmandu have little or no inclination. Some of the persons afflicted with this horrid disorder, I found to be of considerable rank, and quite removed from the want of a nourishing diet. I am almost certain that this disease is not infectious, as I know an instance of a woman, who has lost all her toes and fingers, and who, in that state, has had a child, which she nursed. The child is two years old, and is very healthy. The natives consider the disease as hereditary, and allege that the child will become its victim.

The same kind of swelling in the throat that is common among the inhabitants of the Alps, prevails in Nepal, and, indeed, is frequently seen every where north from Patna. It might at first sight be supposed, that this disease does not derive its origin from the people drinking the water which came from mountains covered with perpetual snow, the cause to which in Europe it has been usually attributed. No water of this kind, however, flows through Nepal; for, although some of the inhabitants of the northern part of Bahar, who live near the Ganduki and Kausiki, drink the water springing from perpetual snow; yet by far the greater part of them drink the water of the various branches of the Vagmati, all of which arise in sub-alpine regions. It must, however, be observed, that the springs by which these rivers are fed may be supplied by the melted snow, which may sink into the earth of the Himalaya mountains, and not come to light till it reaches the lower hills.

As the seasons resemble those of Bengal, and the periodical rains occupy the greater part of summer, the country is not favourable for many kinds of fruit: the heats of spring are not sufficient to bring them to maturity before the rainy season begins, as is the case in Bengal. Peaches grow wild by every rill; but the one side of the fruit is rotted by the rain, while the other is still green. There are vines, but without shelter from the rain the fruit will always be bad. Two kinds of fruit, however, come to the utmost perfection; the pine apple, in the warmer vallies, is uncommonly fine; and the orange, as it ripens in winter, is nowhere better.

From the abundance of rain in the warm season, the country, considering the inequality of its surface, is uncommonly productive of grain. Wherever the land can be levelled into terraces, however narrow, it is exceedingly favourable for transplanted rice, which ripens after the rains have ceased, so that the harvest is never injured; and, as most of these terraces can be supplied at pleasure with water from springs, the crops are uncommonly certain. This is by far the most valuable land, and is that in which all the officers and servants of the Crown are paid, and from whence all endowments are made. In some parts the same land gives a winter crop of wheat and barley; but in most places this is most judiciously omitted.

Where the land is too steep to be conveniently formed into terraces, or where this operation has been neglected, the fields are called Kuriya, {74} and are generally cultivated after fallows, by any person that chooses to occupy them, on paying a certain sum by the head, and not according to the extent of land. The hoe is chiefly used, and the produce is rice, sown broadcast, maize, cotton, _kurthi_, _bhot mash_, and _mash kalai_, three kinds of pulse, that, without seeing, I cannot pretend to specify; _ture_, a kind of mustard, which I cannot specify; _manjit_, or Indian madder, wheat, barley, and sugar cane.

The manjit, or Indian madder, seems to be of two kinds; the _Rubia cordata_ of Wildenow, and a species of Rubia, not described in the common systems of botany. Both seem to be equally fit for the purpose, and grow in the same manner. It is cultivated exactly as cotton is among the hills. The ground is cleared and laboured in spring, and, when the first rains commence, the field is sown broadcast with rice, having intermixed the seed of manjit or of cotton. When the rice ripens, it is cut. The manjit is allowed to grew four or five years; and, after the second year, the stems are annually cut down to the root. They are four or five cubits long, and lie flat on the ground. When cut, they are stript of the leaves, and rolled up for sale.

Besides these, a most valuable article of cultivation, in these mountainous parts, is a large species of cardamom, of which I have as yet seen no description. The fruit is larger than that of the _Cardamomum minus_ of Rumph, and has membraneous angles; but, in other respects, the two plants have a strong resemblance. In Hindustan, the cardamom of Nepal is called the Desi Elachi, while the small cardamom of Malabar (_Amomum repens_, W.) is called the Gujjarati Elachi, as having usually come by the way of Surat. The plant in question is a species of amomum, as that genus is defined by Dr Roxburgh, and differs very much from the cardamom of Malabar. The natives call it merely Elachi. It is raised in beds, that are levelled, and surrounded by a small bank, like a field of rice; for it requires to be constantly in water. In spring, cuttings of the roots are planted in these beds, at about a cubit’s distance from each other, and must be carefully weeded and supplied with water, so that the soil is always covered two or three inches. In about three years the plants begin to produce, and ever afterwards, in the month Bhadra, give an annual crop. The heads, which spring up among the leaves, are plucked, and, at the same time, old withered stems and leaves and weeds are carefully removed. The capsules are then separated, dried, and packed for sale.

In the country between Nepal Proper, and the Kali river, ginger is also a valuable article of cultivation.

On the whole, one-half of the cultivation among the mountains may be said to consist in transplanted rice. The remainder is composed of the various articles above mentioned, sown on the Kuriya, or steep land. For a more particular account of the agriculture, I must refer to the third section of the first chapter of the second part, where I have detailed all that I know on this subject, so far as relates to Nepal Proper.

The pasture on these mountains, although not so harsh and watery as that of the low country, is by no means good, and seems greatly inferior to that even on the heaths of Scotland.

The Gurung and Limbu tribes, already described, are, however, shepherds provided with numerous flocks. In winter they retire to the lower mountains and vallies; but in summer they ascend to the Alpine regions, which bound the country on the north, and feed their herds on some extensive tracts in the vicinity of the regions perpetually frozen, but which in winter are deeply covered with snow. The sheep which these people possess are said to be very large, and are called Barwal, and their wool is said to be fine. It is woven into a cloth, which is finer than that of Bhotan. The sheep of this breed give also much milk, with which, if I understand the account of the natives right, they make a kind of cheese. Whether or not the Barwal is of the same breed with the sheep employed to carry loads, and afterwards to be mentioned, I do not exactly know.

There is another kind of sheep called San-Bhera, which are never sent to the Alpine pastures.

The cattle of the ox kind resemble those of the low country, and are not numerous.

Buffaloes are brought from the low country and fattened for slaughter, but are not bred. The same is the case with hogs and goats, although the country seems admirably adapted for the latter kind of cattle.

Horses are imported from Thibet, for they do not breed on the south side of the Alps. The same is the case with the Chaungri cattle, (_Bos grunniens_,) and the goat which produces the wool from whence shawls are made.

This part of the country consists in many places of granite, and contains much iron, lead, and copper, with some zinc (_Dasta_) and a little gold found in the channels of some rivers. The specimens which I procured of the ores were so small, that I can say little concerning their nature. The copper ore which I saw adhered to whitish hornstone, or earthy quartz. The iron ore is a dark red stony substance, with a fine grain. I have not seen any of the lead or zinc ores. The following details respecting the management of these mines, will enable the reader to judge concerning their value.