The common radishes are by the Parbatiyas called Mulu, and by the Newars Kipo, and are very much cultivated. They grow in vast abundance all the year, except from the 15th of November to the 10th of February. In order to procure a supply of this useful article, for three months of winter, a large quantity is sown about the 1st of September, and pulled about the 1st of November. The roots are then buried in a pit for six or seven days, during which they seem to undergo a kind of half putrid fermentation; as when they are taken out of the pit, and dried in the sun, they exhale a most powerful stench. These dried roots are called Sinky, keep all winter, and, although offensive to the smell, enter largely into the diet of the poorer Newars. These, owing partly to the great quantity of sinky and of garlic which they eat, and partly to the dirtiness of their linen, exhale a worse smell than any people I have ever been among. Methi, or Fenugreek, grows at all seasons, except from the 15th of November to the 12th of January. It is used only as a pot-herb, and is the one most commonly consumed in Nepal. Khira, or cucumbers, grow to great perfection, and with another cucurbitaceous plant called Kangkari, are ripe from the 13th of June to the 15th of August. The garlic is planted about the 1st of January, and is taken up from the 12th of April to the 12th of June. Bera, or the Solanum Melongena, is sown about the 1st of May, and is ripe about the 1st of October. In the hilly parts of the country, the common potatoe (Solanum tuberosum) has been introduced, and grows tolerably: but it does not thrive so well as at Patna, owing probably to a want of care. The Sakarkandh (Convolvulus batatas) succeeds better. It is planted about the 1st of April, and is taken up from the middle of October to the middle of December. Most of the European kitchen vegetables have been introduced: but they are only to be found in the gardens of men of distinction, and in very small quantities. When Colonel Kirkpatrick visited the country, {230} the only kitchen vegetables (meaning, I presume, European) were cabbages and peas, both of which were of the worst kind. They had, he says, the Thibet turnip, but cannot raise it any more than the potatoe, without receiving the seed annually. This, compared with what I observed, indicates some degree of progressive improvement. None of their fruits are good, except the oranges and pine apples; but both of these are in great perfection. The peach is every where wild, and is also reared in gardens: but it does not ripen till long after the rainy season has commenced, and is generally half rotten before it becomes soft. At Kathmandu the Plantain tree (Musa) dies to the ground in winter, but the roots are not killed, and in the spring send up fresh stems. Some good plantains come from Nayakot, and other valleys, that are situated lower than the capital is.