Some change is to be observed in the vegetation, see Catalogue, two or three Labiata, an Ononis, an Aconite, Tussilago? etc. among the most striking, Ammannia and Bergioides, remarkable as tropical forms, but it is now hot enough for any plant:  rice fields crowded with Cyperaceae and Alisma.

Crataegus oxycantha, or one very like it.  The poplar here grows like the Lombardy one, either from cropping or crowding; its leaves (when young) are much smaller! and at this stage it might easily be taken for another species.

Heliotropium canus common.  The large poplar when young, or even when matured, has its younger branches with terminal leaves like the sycamore.  The pomaceae-foliis palmatis subtus niveis of Quettah and Candahar are nothing but this poplar in its young state!!  Nothing can exceed the difference between the two, both in shape and tomentum.

12th.—­Halted since 10th at Baber’s tomb, situated at some fine gardens, or rather groves very near the summer-house of Shah Zumaun, and to the right of the entrance into the town.  It is a delightful residence, and for Afghanistan, a paradise.  There are some tanks of small size, around one of which our tents are pitched under the shade of sycamores and fine poplars; the tank is fed by a fall from a cut above its level, and which skirts the range of hills at an elevation of fifty feet in some places from its base.  The tomb of Baber is poor, as also is the so-called splendid mosque of Shah Jehan, a small ordinary open edifice of coarse white marble.  In the gardens, one finds beautiful sycamores, and several fine poplars both round the tank and in avenues.  Below them a Bauhinioid fruit was found, together with abundance of hawthorn, roses, and jasmines.

The view from this spot is beautiful, as fine as most woodland scenery.  The view from Shah Zumaun’s summer-house is also extensive, and not to be exceeded as a cultivated woodland scene; it is variegated with green swardy commons, presenting all sorts of cultivation; with water, villages, abundance of trees, willows, poplars, hedgerows, and by the grand but barren mountains surrounding it, the Pughman hills, which must be at least 13,000 feet above the sea.

The entrance to Cabul on this side, is through a gorge flanked by hills; these to the left are low, those to the right reaching 1,000 feet, through which the Maidan river, here called the Cabul river, runs; it may be 100 yards wide.  The river is subdivided, and crossed by a ruined stone bridge of many arches, one parapet of which (the outer) is continuous with the wall before mentioned.  The gorge is occupied by cultivation of several kinds, having the city wall at its termination, running irregularly across the valley.  A village is situated between the entrance of the gorge and the wall.  There are no defences to the city worth mentioning:  one enters immediately into narrow dirty streets, with here and there a fever-breeding