VI INTRODUCTION. 



E. The North-East comprising the Himalaya from the Nepal frontier eastwards, 

 the Khasia Hills, Assam, Oachar, Chittagong and the Sundarbans. 



D. The Dekkan, comprising the country to the south of the Godavery, and chiefly 

 included in Madras and Mysore. 



W. The west coast of the peninsula, comprising the Western Ghats and the coun- 

 try lying between them and the sea. 



B. British Burma, including the Andaman Islands. 



Exception might, perhaps, be taken to some points in this classifica- 

 tion. The flora of Chittagong is, in reality, quite as closely allied to that of 

 Burma as to that of Northern Bengal and Assam ; while that of Orissa 

 and Gaujam (Northern Circars) might, perhaps, have more correctly been 

 classed with the flora of the Caroatic than with that of Central India, 

 But the classification adopted is a convenient one, and was established by 

 Dr. Brandis after very careful consideration and discussion. And it will 

 be seen by a reference to the accompanying map, kindly furnished by 

 Mr. H. F. Stanford, F.R.S., Meteorological Reporter to the Government 

 of India, that the regions which we have designated by the eight letters, 

 whose meaning we have just described, are really the regions which re- 

 present the different zones of comparative rainfall. The map, it will be 

 seen, is coloured in four shades from white to dark blue, represent- 

 ing : 



1. The Arid Zone with a rainfall less than 15 inches. 



2. Dry Zone of between 15 and 30 inches. 



3. Intermediate Zone 30 and 70 inches. 



4. Moist Zone of over 70 inches. 



The first or Arid Zone covers only the north-western plains of the 

 Punjab, Sind, and Rajputana ; this, with a portion of the Dry Zone, to 

 the north and east of it, constitute the region marked by the letter ' P '. 



The Dry Zone has also two further areas in South India, that is in 

 India south of the latitude of 21; these areas, together with the portion 

 of the Intermediate Zone on the east coast of the Peninsula south of the 

 River Godavery and a narrow strip along the east of the range of the 

 Western Ghats, form the region which we have designated by the letter 

 1 D \ It may, however, be remarked that Berar, from the similarity of 

 its flora to that of the Central Provinces, is classed, though strictly 

 speaking within the Dry Zone, under region ' C '. 



The rest of the Intermediate Zone, forming quite half of the whole 

 country, occupies a band stretching right across the liead of the Penin- 

 sula, as well as a strip along the foot of the Great Himalayan Range. 

 Though, comparatively speaking, this large area possesses a flora showing 

 a general common likeness and similarity, yet wo can easily divide 

 it into two by considering the great sl belt between the foot of the Hima- 



