An Account of The Kingdom of Nepal Part 4

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, a.n.a.logous 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 lat.i.tude 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 pa.s.sed 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 59; 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 lat.i.tude 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 pa.s.sed 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 cla.s.ses of the people, who are indeed very dissolute. During my stay I had application for medical a.s.sistance 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 quant.i.ty 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.

The copper mines seem to be quite superficial, and the ore is dug from trenches entirely open above, so that the workmen cannot act in the rainy season, as they have not even sense to make a drain. Each mine has attached to it certain families, who seem to be a kind of proprietors, as no one else is allowed to dig. These miners are called Agari. Each man in the month digs, on an average, from two to four _mans_ of the ore, that is, about 30 _mans_ in the year. The _man_ is 40 _sers_ of 64 _sicca_ weight, so that the total ore dug by each man may be about 1970 lb. This is delivered to another set of workmen, named Kami, who smelt, and work in metals. These procure charcoal, the Raja furnishing trees, and smelt the ore. This is first roasted, then put in water for two or three days, then powdered, and finally put in small furnaces, each containing from two to three _sers_, or from three to five pounds of the powdered ore. Two _sers_ of ore give from one to one and a half _ser_ of metal, or, on an average, 62 per cent. The total copper, therefore, procured by one miner's labour is 1232 lb. Of this, the man takes ? = 410? lb., the Raja takes as much, the smelter takes 1/5 = 246? lb. The remainder, 164-3/11 lb. is divided equally between the Raja, the miner, and a person called Izaradar, who keeps the accounts, usually advances a subsistence to the whole party, and often gives loans even to the Raja, the system of antic.i.p.ation being universally prevalent. The miner, therefore, makes about 465 lb. of copper in the year, and the Raja, for each miner, has as much. The smelter gets about 300 lb. but one smelter suffices for about two miners, so that he makes better wages. It must be observed, that copper bears in India a much greater value in proportion to silver than it does in Europe, so that the profits of the miner are high.

The iron ore is also found near the surface, and the mines of it are nearly on the same footing as those of copper, only the same persons (Kami) dig and smelt, and are allowed one third of the whole produce, while the Raja and superintendent (Izaradar) receive each as much. I have received no estimate of the amount of each man's labour. The iron of different mines is of very different qualities, some being so excellent, that, even without being converted into steel, it makes knives and swords.

Only two mines of lead are at present wrought, because all the metal is reserved for the Raja's magazines; but, so far as I can learn, lead is found in a great many places quite on the surface. These, however, are concealed with care by those who observe them, and who are thus able to work in private.

Colonel Kirkpatrick {78a} was informed, that the people, owing to want of skill, could not smelt their lead ore, and procured the metal from Patna; but it would be extraordinary, if a people who could smelt iron and copper, should be unable to smelt lead. He, in the same place, observes, that the lead of Nepal, as usual, contains silver.

Colonel Kirkpatrick had received information of mines of antimony and mercury, but considered the information vague. I am well a.s.sured of the existence of the latter in the form of a native cinnabar, which is called _Sabita_ by the natives, and is exported to the low country for sale.

The position of such of the mines as have come to my knowledge, will be seen in the maps.

Mines of sulphur are said to be numerous in these regions. Colonel Kirkpatrick {78b} says, that the government of Gorkha was obliged to desist from working them, on account of their deleterious qualities.

This was probably owing to an admixture of a.r.s.enic, which he says is also found.

Corundum of the compact kind, such as is found in the western provinces under the presidency of Bengal, is called Kurran by the Hindus of the mountains, and is found in great quant.i.ties on the hills of Isma and Musikot; and at Kathmandu, I was shown some of a coa.r.s.e nature, said to be brought from the surrounding mountains; but what is most esteemed in that capital is said to come from Thibet. In both the Company's territory and in Nepal, it is always found in detached rounded ma.s.ses lying on the surface, but often of considerable size. In Nepal, these ma.s.ses seldom exceed four or five pounds, but in the Company's provinces they are much larger.

I saw ma.s.ses of the Agalmatolite, used in China to make images, and in Ava for pencils. They were said to be brought from the mountains in the vicinity of Kathmandu.

I have seen very fine specimens of Talc brought from Nepal as a medicine; but I have no information concerning the place where it is found.

On the banks of the Gandaki, at Muktanath, is a precipice, from which the river is supposed to wash the Salagrams or black stones, which are considered by the Hindus as representatives of several of their deities, and which are the most common objects of worship in Bengal, where images are scarce. They are of various kinds, and accordingly represent different deities. Pilgrims, who have been at the place, say, that the stones are found partly in the precipice, and partly in the bed of the river, where it has washed down the earth. On account of its containing these stones, this branch of the river is usually called the Salagrami, and the channel every where below Muktinath, until it reaches the plain of India at Sivapur, abounds in these stones. All the Salagrams consist of carbonate of lime, and are in general quite black, but a few have white veins. Their colour is probably owing to some metallic impregnation, which also occasions their great specific weight. They rarely exceed the size of an orange, and they are rounded, I suppose, by the action of water. Most of them are what naturalists call petrifactions, and by far the most common are Ammonites, half imbedded in a ball of stone, exactly of the same nature with the petrified animal.

Others, which are reckoned the most valuable, are b.a.l.l.s containing a cavity formed by an Ammonite, that has afterwards decayed, and left only its impression, or they are what Wallerius calls _Typolithi Ammonitarum_.

The Ammonites or their impressions are called the Chakras or wheels of the Salagrams, but are sometimes wanting. The stone is then a mere ball without any mark of animal exuviae. Some b.a.l.l.s have no external opening, and yet by rubbing away a portion of one of their sides, the hollow wheel (_chakra_) is discovered. Such Salagrams are reckoned very valuable.

In many parts of these mountains, the substance called _Silajit_ exudes from rocks. I have not yet satisfied myself concerning its nature; but intend hereafter to treat the subject fully, when I describe the natural productions of Behar, where I had an opportunity of collecting it, as it came from the rock.

The valley of Nepal Proper, which contains Kathmandu, or, as many call it, Kathmaro, Lalita Patan, and Bhatgang, is the largest in the dominions of Gorkha, and in this plain there is not naturally a single stone of any considerable size. The whole, so far as man has penetrated, consists of what is called alluvial matter, covered by soil. In some places the alluvial matter consists of thick beds of fine gravel and sand, much of which is micaceous. Among these beds are found concretions of the same materials, united into b.a.l.l.s, about the size and shape of a turkey's egg.

At one end these are generally perforated with a small hole, and some, but not all of them, are hollow. The Newars call them DunG.o.da; but can give no account of their formation, nor did I observe any thing that could lead to an explanation.

A large proportion of the alluvial matter consists of a blackish substance resembling clay. It seems to approach nearer to the nature of turf than any thing with which I am acquainted, and I have no doubt is of vegetable origin. It is called Koncha by the Newars, who dig out large quant.i.ties, and apply it to their fields as a manure. The beds, in which it is disposed, are often very thick and extensive; and it is always much intermixed with leaves, bits of stick, fruits, and other vegetable exuviae, the produce of plants, similar to those now growing on the neighbouring hills.

The various rivers that pa.s.s through the above-mentioned Koncha, have washed from its strata another harder and blacker substance, but still having so strong a resemblance, that it is called _Ha Koncha_. This is most commonly found in the channels of the rivers, and by the natives is supposed to be decayed charcoal; but the great size of some of the ma.s.ses seems to me incompatible with the truth of this opinion.

A kind of blue martial earth, the earthy blue iron ore of mineralogists, by the Newars called Ong Shigulay, is also found commonly intermixed with the Koncha. It is never in large ma.s.ses, and, in my opinion, has derived its origin from some vegetable substance that has been gradually impregnated with iron. Cones of the pine may be traced in all stages, from those retaining a half of their vegetable nature, to those entirely converted into martial earth, and only distinguishable by their shape as having once been vegetable productions. The half-formed specimen that I procured is a cone of the _Pinus strobus_; but the more common ones are exuviae of the _Pinus longifolia_.

In the alluvial matter of the plain of Nepal are also found large strata of clay, fit for the potter and brickmaker.

The greater part of the mountains which enclose the valley of Nepal consists of grey granite, of which the surface is very much decayed wherever it has been exposed to the air. On the south side of Chandangiri, about four miles west from Pharphing, is a very large stratum of fine white sand, which the Parbatiyas call _Seta mati_, or white earth. It seems to me to be nothing more than decayed granite; and I think it probable, that the sandstone found on Sambhu, and the neighbouring hill towards Hilchuck, is composed of this granitic sand reunited into rock. This sandstone is used in a few buildings, but I have seen no large blocks, and the difficulty, or impracticability, of procuring such, has probably occasioned this stone to be in general neglected.

The stone usually employed in Nepal for building is a rock containing much lime, which is so impregnated with other matters, that, though it effervesces strongly with acids, and falls to pieces in a sufficient quant.i.ty of these liquids, yet, by calcination, it cannot be reduced to quicklime fit for use. It is disposed in vertical strata, is very fine grained, has a silky l.u.s.tre, cuts well, can be procured in large ma.s.ses, and powerfully resists the action of the weather, so that it is an excellent material for building.