THE ISLANDS OF THE BAY OF BENGAL. 33 



dity was somewhat higher. But the rainfall amounted to only 

 70 iuches against 99 at the Andamans. The register for so short 

 a period is of course a very imperfect criterion of the average 

 climate, more especially in respect of rainfall." 



As regards their flora and its relation to that of circumjacent 

 sub-provinces, Mr. S. Kurz, the only eminent botanist who has 

 made it, as well as the floras of Burmah, Tenasserim, Malay ana, 

 and Hindostan a special study, furnishes me with the following 

 remarks : — 



" Andamans. — The geographical position of the Andamans, 

 and more especially the tertiary sandstone, of which a large area 

 of these islands consists, point to a former connection with Ara- 

 kan on the one side, and on the other with the Nias Archipelago 

 on the west coast of Sumatra. 



" In accordance with these indications we find the bulk of 

 the Andamanese flora to be Burmese, while not a few purely 

 Malayan species find their northern limits in the Andamans. 

 Among these Malayan forms may be mentioned Dracontnmelum, 

 Trina, Peltopliorum, Ternstrcemia Penangiana, Cycas Rhumphii, 

 Lindscea davalloides, Ptychosperma Kuhlii, Eyparia, 8fc. 



" Several of these extend also to Tenasserim, a province which 

 mu st be considered as having a similar extension of the Malay flora. 



" The flora of the Andamans is not related to that of Hindos- 

 tan and India Proper — a circumstance which can partly be ex- 

 plained by the insular climate and difference in soil. Dalbergia 

 emarginata, Roxb. which has been identified with D. latifolia ^the 

 blackwood of the west coast) occurs in the Andamans according 

 to Roxburgh, and if so, it is the only example of a purely Indian 

 tree found in the island. 



tl Some stray and most unexpected Ceylon plants are found in 

 the Andamans, such as Mimusops elengi, Freycinetia radicans, 

 Pandanopliyllum zeylanicum, and a few others, while the preva- 

 lence in the forests of the Cingalese Dipterocarpus insigjiis is 

 still more remarkable, because the fruits of this tree, although 

 winged, are not at all adapted for transport to remote localities, 

 being of a very perishable nature and of low vitality. 



" However it remains to be discovered whether these 

 Ceylonese species may not also occur in Sumatra, and if they do 

 occur there, it is possible that they may have spread from 

 thence to Ceylon itself, for the flora of the south-east part of 

 the latter island indicates an affinity with that of Sumatra, so 

 far as that of this latter island is known. 



" The sea coast flora of all India and of the Archipelago 

 is so uniform that a description of the vegetation of the Gange- 



