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go is found, in the wild state, in the western jungles, and is cultivated in various parts of the Darwar district. It flowers in January and February; fruit ripe in May and June. The mangoes of this part of India are seldom so good as those of Goa and Bombay; but a variety, cultivated in the garden of the nuwab of Savanoor, exceeds in size and in beauty any mango I have ever seen. Some of these Savanoor mangos that were sent to me, measured two feet in circumference.

4. Artocarpus integrifolia, Lin.; Fannus, Duk. Jack.This fruit is not abundant in the Darwar district.

5. Anacardium occidentale, Lin.; Kajoo, Duk. Cushoo-nut Tree.-I have only seen this at Kittoor; but it probably occurs in gardens in other parts of the district.

6. Spondias mangifera, Linn.; Junglee awm, Duk. Wild Mango.

7. Eugenia jambos, Linn.; Jamb and Ghoolabee-jamb, Duk. -Rose Apple.

8. Psidium pyriferum, Lin.; Jam, Duk. Guava.-This fruit is to be met with in almost every village in the district. 9. Citrus medica, Lin., two varieties; Turanj and Neemboo, Duk. Citron and Lime.

10. Citrus aurantium, Lin.; Naringhe, Duk. Orange.A small, sweet, pleasant-tasted orange grows in the gardens at Misrecottah. It is not common in other parts of the district. 11. Citrus decumana, Lin.; Chukotta, Duk.-Pumplemose or Shaddock.

12. Vitis vinifera, Lin.; Ungoor, Duk. Grape Vine.—Excellent grapes are cultivated at Belgaum, Darwar, Dummul, Gokauk, and some other places. There are two varieties, one large, red, and fleshy; the other small and green.

13. Annona reticulata, Lin.; Ram phul, Duk. Bullock's Heart. This is cultivated in some native gardens.

14. Annona tripetala, Lin.; Seeto-phul, Duk. Custard Apple. This delicious fruit thrives well in most parts of the district. It flowers at Darwar, in March and April. I am not aware whether it occurs in the wild state in the western jungles; but it grows in such great abundance in the granitic soil of the Hydrabad country, as to have sometimes afforded food to the inhabitants, in times of scarcity, in very dry seasons.

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15. Ficus carica, Lin.; Unjoor, Duk. figs grow in various parts of this district.

Fig.-Excellent

16. Ziziphus jujuba, Lin.; Bair, Duk.-This is found in great abundance in the Darwar jungles, and the fruit is sold in the bazaars. The Dukhuny name of the fruit has been adopted by the English in India.

(To be continued.)

On Thirst in Snow-covered Countries. By Mr J. F. SLOANE. Communicated by the Author.

BEFORE opening any book of travels, an intelligent reader has a general idea of those scenes which his author has undertaken to describe, and he can almost fortel what was the nature of the toils, and the risks, and the dangers, the traveller had to encounter. It is by anticipations of this kind that we are disposed to draw our chair a little nearer to the fire, the moment we prepare to peruse Parry's Voyages to the Pole, or Franklin's and Richardson's most interesting Travels to the Shores of the Artic Sea; and it is thus, too, owing to previously formed associations, that the very mention of Africa sets our imagination to work among scorching sands and pathless forests, and venomous reptiles, and vindictive savages. Travellers have not deemed the fact worth mentioning, and, therefore, no one who has not been there can imagine or believe that, during winter, man is exposed, on the cold and snow-covered plains of North America, to the most painful of the many privations connected with African discovery ;-that, even while walking on frozen-water, he is agonized by parched and burning lips,-and that by snow, eaten. under such circumstances, the thirst of the traveller, or hunter,: is proportionally increased.

In the higher latitudes of North America, all the snow falls: at the commencement of winter. Clear skies, and an intensely cold atmosphere, characterize the climate, until warmer airs, and fogs, and flights of birds, intimate the approach of spring. The sun, however, during winter, and even on the shores of Hudson's Bay, has power sufficient to melt a small portion of the surface of the last fallen snow. This is frozen by the cold of the succeeding night, and then presents a glassy surface, on APRIL-JUNE 1829.

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which the sledge is drawn rapidly along, and enables the hunter, on his broad snow-shoes, to travel with an ease very different from that which he experiences on entering the woods, where the snow is always soft, and altogether inconceivable by persons who cannot separate from the idea of snow those qualities of moisture, softness, and tenacity, which it exhibits in countries nearer to the equator. Owing to such causes, the winters on the shores of the Winipeg are far from disagreeable; and as it is then that the chief objects of their pursuit are in best condition, the hunter and the fur-trader make them the seasons of their wanderings.

When out in either of these capacities, the agony sustained by them from thirst is often very great. It does not by any means go to that extreme length endured by travellers in the torrid zone, because a speedy and certain remedy is almost always at hand. But it is truly painful while it lasts, and, contrary to his expectation, the sufferer finds that, by eating snow, his mouth is more and more inflamed-his desire for drink fearfully augmented-while a lassitude comes over him which water only can dissipate. More than once, when traversing wide plains, where the snow, resting on the long rank-grass, stretched out in all directions a smooth, white, unbroken surface, till it terminated in the horizon, I have seen a party of men tearing up the houses built by musk rats, in swamps formed during the summer rains, in hopes to get at the water which sometimes lies below them, and then drinking that foul and stinking water with the utmost avidity.

It is to be observed, however, that it is only on the plains, and during winter, that the experienced hunter or traveller is exposed to such hardships. Every one going to any distance at that season, carries, as an essential article in his equipment, a small pot or kettle, in which he melts snow, and boils that water. To allow the water to boil is a necessary part of the process; for, if the snow is merely melted, the water has a smoked and bitter taste, and a drink of it is far from refreshing. On the contrary, when the water is allowed to boil, and then cooled by throwing into it plenty of the purest snow, no spring-water is more delightful to the taste, or more satisfying to the wants of the thirsty traveller.

But it is in the woods and sheltered places only that those who inhabit the wilds of the northern parts of America, during winter, have the means and opportunity to boil a kettle. On the plains, in many places, during that season, no fuel can be procured; the cold, too, is so exceedingly intense as to render a delay to look for, firewood often most hazardous, and at all times very inconvenient; for, should the wind become violent, as not unfrequently happens, it tears up the surface of the snow, and bears it along in such clouds as to obscure the sun, and to hinder even the Indian for days from proceeding on his journey. //

During these snow-storms, and in such situations, the value the Canadian generally attaches to his dogs, can be most correctly appreciated. The stranger who sees the voyageur paying L.50 for three small animals, is disposed to laugh at the simplicity of the purchaser. Larger animals of the same kind would unquestionably appear more deserving of the price; but even the largest, most men would be disposed to think, were, at that sum, far too dearly purchased. But suppose this Canadian overtaken by such a storm, in the middle of an extensive plain; ignorant of the direction of his home; the path leading to it covered, in many parts, with ten or twelve feet deep of snow; and the atmosphere so filled with drift as to render it impossible for him to see the foremost of his three little dogs,-this man, apparently so helpless, so certain of being lost, who prides himself in watching and directing, on other occasions, even the slightest movements of his canine companions, throws himself on his sledge, calls to the animals to advance, leaves it to them entirely to determine whether they shall go to the north or south, east or west. His anxiety about his safety, if at all excited, lasts only while they are dragging him, in all directions, to recover that path which the wisdom of man compelled them to abandon : for, by the barking of the leader, he quickly learns that the tract has been regained; and then sweeping, like the wind, over the slender crust of snow, through which larger dogs sink, and flounder, and perish with fatigue, he is carried to his own fort, or to the nearer tents of some friendly Indians. I have seen all this; I have experienced it.

Sometimes the traveller finds it safest to remain until the

storm has passed or subsided a little. It seldom continues long. Good weather invariably succeeds; and, as there may be many tracks, in opposite directions, and as the sagacity of the dogs cannot then determine the one which conducts to the post their master would arrive at or avoid, he takes off their traces, and gives them a little food. He changes his mocassins, and puts dry socks about his feet. He rolls himself in his blanket or buffalo-skin; and, with his gun by his side, lies down deep among the snow. His dogs come and stretch themselves upon him. The whole party are soon asleep; and, in such a restingplace, many besides myself have spent a solitary yet comfortable night, in the neighbourhood of wolves, with many miles between us and any other human being, and risen next morning, in health and strength, to proceed on our journey, and to offer thanks to a watchful Providence who had not only protected us during the night, but who had led us back, in our dreams, to our distant country and homes, and who had surrounded us, while thus sleeping on our snowy couch, with the forms of the friends and companions most deserving of our love.

Thus, contrary to opinions which might be previously entertained, man may be tormented with thirst even while travelling among snow; and, although a covering of it, even to many feet deep, allows a free passage for those minute particles of matter by which alone the sense of smell can be excited, a human being, after taking the necessary precautions, may make it a safe, a warm, a comfortable bed, when the thermometer is many degrees below zero, and when to sleep, even wrapped in leather, on its surface, would be followed by immediate and certain death, from the effects of the intensely cold and penetrating wind.

On Clinkstone or Phonolite *. By C. G. GMELIN. CMELIN has published in the Naturwissenschaftliche Abhandlungen von einer Gesellschaft in Wurtemberg, ii. 107, &c. the first memoir of his classical work on volcanic rocks. It contains an account of a series of very interesting chemical experi

* Vide Jameson's Manual of Mineralogy, p. 159.

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