caused by the
superincumbent soil not being more than from one to three feet
thick, in some places more, but varying exceedingly. Beneath this
there is a bed of shingle of vast thickness, through which the water
percolates; it is this that renders the sinking of wells so
difficult in the Deyrah Dhoon, and which has tended so much to
retard individuals from becoming permanent residents; at present
there are many tracts of several thousand acres in that valley
unoccupied from want of drinking water, as for instance, at
Innesphaeel.

Where the ground is very uneven, as is the case generally in the
hills, the _khaul_ system, already recommended, ought to be adopted.

_On the tea-plant; season of flowering, its characters and species,
and on the advantages to be derived from importing seeds from
China_.--From the importance of tea, as an article of commerce, the
plant has attracted much attention; and from few qualified Europeans
having travelled in the tea districts of China, there is much
difference of opinion as to the number of species belonging to the
genus Thea.

In the government plantations in Kumaon and Gurwahl, the plants
begin to flower about the end of August and beginning of September,
or, as the seeds of the former year begin to ripen. They do not all
come into flower at once, but some are in full blossom in September,
others in October, November, December and January. Some throw out a
second set of blossoms in March, April, and May, and during the
rains; so that from the same plant unripe or ripe seeds and flowers
may be collected at one and the same time.

To the genus Thea, which belongs to the order Ternstraemiaceae, the
following characters have been ascribed: calyx persistent, without
bracts, five-leaved, leaflets imbricated and generally of the same
size. Petals of the corolla vary in number from five to nine,
imbricated, the inner ones much the largest. Stamens numerous, in
several rows adhering to the bottom of the petals. Filaments
filiform. Anthers incumbent, two-celled, oblong, with a thickish
connectivum. Cells opening longitudinally. Ovary free, three-celled;
ovules four in each cell, inserted internally into the central
angle, the upper ones ascending, the lower pendulous. Style trifid,
stigmas three, acute. Capsule spheroidal, 1-7-lobed with locu