Capt. R. C. Tytler on the Fauna of Dacca. 169 



some further remarks, confining myself solely to the few notes 

 made during a most tedious march of twenty days from Barrack- 

 ])ore to Dacca, in company with my regiment. The entire di- 

 stance between the two stations is about 180 miles, through a 

 country intersected by numerous streams and rivers ; these we 

 had to cross almost daily, besides encountering various other 

 difficulties; I had therefore to work under every kind of disad- 

 vantage, and was perfectly unable to make any minute observa- 

 tions on the journey ; however, as opportunities offered, I lost 

 no time in making the following notes, which although brief 

 and scanty, may not altogether prove uninteresting. 



The road from Barrackpore to Dacca is seldom employed for 

 troops, for it frequently occurs that portions of the countiy be- 

 come entirely inundated for months together, consequently quite 

 impassable to land carriage ; Europeans are therefore not very 

 familiar with this part of Bengal, notwithstanding its proximity 

 to the capital of India. 



To as far as the civil station of Jessore, or even as far as Fur- 

 reedpore, there is no very remarkable difference in the country, 

 although the aspect decidedly gradually assumes a change ; but 

 after crossing the magnificent broad river Puddur, the difference 

 IS most observable : jungles become more wide and dense, and 

 the whole country bears a different feature, which continues to 

 the city of Dacca ; this latter is both a civil and military station. 

 European travellers now feel for the first time since leaving Cal- 

 cutta, that they are fairly in the wilds of Hindostan, surrounded 

 by swamps and unhealthy jungles, infested by tigers and nume- 

 rous other ferocious as well as venomous animals. The un- 

 healthiness of this portion of Bengal is proverbial, owing to the 

 numerous swamps, the quantity of rank vegetation, coupled with 

 the natural damp and heat that prevail during several months 

 of the year. " See Dacca and die " is not an uncommon native 

 saying. The reader may now imagine the style of country in 

 which the few following notes were made during a stay of about 

 five months, when sickness made a change of climate absolutely 

 necessary. 



To as far as Jessore the fauna is similar to that already men- 

 tioned of Barrackpore, with very slight exceptions; the larger spe- 

 cies of Raptores observed at the last station become more com- 

 mon, and frequently very abundant, and after leaving Jessore I 

 obtained two specimens of Pomatorhiims leucogasteVy Timalia 

 pilcata and Aquila nrevia. I was astonished at getting specimens 

 of Pomatorhinus leucogaster, their known habitats being Deyrad- 

 hoon, Nepaul, Assam, and Tenasserim. The Cuculus striatus has 

 become a most connnon species ; their note is heard constantly 

 during the day^ and not unfrequently at night : i\\t Cuculus varius 



