s a dingy green, save when a deeper
shade here and there shows where the mighty bhur uprears its towering
height, or where the crimson flowers of the _seemul_ or cotton tree,
and the bronze-coloured foliage of the _sunpul_ (a tree very like the
ornamental beech in shrubberies at home) imparts a more varied colour
to the generally pervading dark green of the universal sal.

The varieties of trees are of course almost innumerable, but the sal is
so out of all proportion more numerous than any other kind, that the
forests well deserve their recognised name. The sal is a fine, hard
wood of very slow growth. The leaves are broad and glistening, and in
spring are beautifully tipped with a reddish bronze, which gradually
tones down into the dingy green which is the prevailing tint. The
_sheshum_ or _sissod_, a tree with bright green leaves much resembling
the birch, the wood of which is invaluable for cart wheels and
such-like work, is occasionally met with. There is the _kormbhe_, a
very tough wood with a red stringy bark, of which the jungle men make
a kind of touchwood for their matchlocks, and the _parass_, whose
peculiarity is that at times it bursts into a wondrous wealth of bright
crimson blossom without a leaf being on the tree. The _parass_ tree in
full bloom is gorgeous. After the blossom falls the dark-green leaves
come out, and are not much different in colour from the sal. Then there
is the _mhowa_, with its lovely white blossoms, from which a strong
spirit is distilled, and on which the deer, pigs, and wild bear love to
feast. The peculiar sickly smell of the _mhowa_ when in flower pervades
the atmosphere for a great distance round, and reminds one forcibly of
the peculiar sweet, sickly smell of a brewery. The hill _sirres_ is a
tall feathery-looking tree of most elegant shape, towering above the
other forest trees, and the natives strip it of its bark, which they
use to poison streams. It seems to have some narcotic or poisonous
principle, easily soluble in water, for when put in any quantity in a
stream or piece of water, it causes all the fish to become apparently
paralyzed and rise to the surface, where they float about quite
stupified and helpless, and become an easy prey to the poaching
'Banturs' and 'Moosahurs' who adopt this wretched mode of fishing.

Along the banks of the streams vegetation gets very luxurious, and
among the thick undergrowth are found some lovely ferns, broad-leaved
plants, and flower