JUNGLES OF BENGAL DUARS AND ASSAM 129 



part of the area I am discussing. Some years later I was 

 able to extend my observations during a tour through 

 Goalpara to the east of the Bengal Duars, and still further 

 east into the Tezpur jungles. 



They are magnificent jungles in this western tract, alike 

 in many characteristics to the great Terai jungles of North- 

 West India, which we shall consider later, but so unlike in 

 others. The sal tree, which reaches the eastern boundary 

 of its range near Tezpur, forms the principal species com- 

 mercially in these great forests as it does in the Terai, but 

 how different is their character ! Here in the east the 





climate is very hot and very damp, with the consequence 

 that the vegetation is exceedingly dense, abounding in 

 creepers, undergrowth, and tall grass, almost impervious, 

 save to the elephant, rhinoceros and buffalo, whilst the 

 luxuriant growth of canes, bamboos, giant creepers, a 

 variety of brilliant flowering shrubs, and gorgeous-coloured 

 orchids point to the tropical nature of the area. The grass 

 both in and outside the forests is dense and high, and 

 shooting save from the back of an elephant is almost an 

 impossibility, if results are to be secured. Practically the 

 only other method is to sit in a machan. In the foothills 

 to the north the rhinoceros is sometimes pursued on foot, 



