Mel COhMrints wal TONS TO. THEA UNA. OF 
NA hehe: N-abeee yD ON COLLLECELONS 
MAD EeB vel COGEIN. BR OWN; BiSer 
I909—IQ1I0. 
INTRODUCTION. 
By J. Coccin Brown, B.Sc., F.G.S., Geological Survey of 
India. 
The collections which form the subjects of these reports were 
made for the most part in the western districts of the province of 
Yunnan, in the years Ig0g-IgIo. 
Yunnan is the most westerly province of the Chinese Empire, 
and comprises an area of about 150,000 square miles lying roughly 
between the 21st and 29th degrees of latitude north of the 
equator, and between the 98th and the 1o6th degrees of longitude 
east of Greenwich. It is bounded on the west by Burma, on the 
south by Tongking, on the east by the provinces of Kuang-si and 
Kwei-chou and on the north by the province of Ssu-chuan and by 
Tibet. The whole province is exceedingly mountainous, and its 
western part is sculptured by a series of great rivers, the Shweli, 
Salween, Mekong, and upper waters of the Black and Red rivers 
of Tongking. ‘The basins of these rivers are separated by high 
mountain ranges, which towards the north-west often attain a 
height of 15,000 to 20,000 feet whilst the lowest river valleys 
have an elevation of about 7,000 or 8,000 feet. Orographically 
this region is connected with Western Ssu-chuan and Tibet, and it 
is not surprising to find a Tibetan mammalian fauna extending 
into it.1 The climate is colder here than in other parts and snow 
is liable to fall at any time. Many of the mountain ranges are 
bare, but large forests of fir, cedar and other trees exist in places. 
Towards the south the heights decrease, until in the extreme 
south the tops of the hills run down to as low as 5,000 feet, and 
the bottom of the river valleys are sometimes below 2,000 feet. 
At the same time there are many exceptions to this rule and peaks 
of over 11,000 feet are known in the south-west. Further to the 
east the country opens out, and becomes more plateau-like, there 
are larger stretches of level ground and the ascents to the hill tops 
are not so steep or extended. At the same time it must not be 
supposed that this part of the province is not mountainous, 
though it is less so than the more western parts. Large plains of 
1 See ‘* On the collection of mammals brought from Yunnan by Prince Henry 
of Orleans,’’ by E. de Pousargues. Appendix B in ‘‘ From Tonkin to India,’’ 
by Prince Henrid’Orleans. English translation by Hamley Bent, London, 1808. 
