BUTTERFLIES FROM THE CHIN HILLS. 635 



After reaching Fort White, the road ascends slightly to the top of 

 the ridge and then runs northward to the highest point of the range 

 named Kennedy Peak, somewhere about 8,500 feet in height, the 

 road passing chiefly over grassy downs and through two or three 

 copses ; from Kennedy Peak the road descends rapidly through dense 

 woods to the post of Dimlo ; here the forest is much thinner, the trees 

 being for the most part small and the undergrowth replaced by grass 

 which grows to a considerable height in the rains ; this description 

 of forest continues until within a few miles of Tiddim, where it is 

 replaced by fir-woods by which that post is surrounded ; the road from 

 Dimlo to Tiddim is almost level, running along a ridge about 5,500 feet 

 in height. Immediately to the west of this ridge and between 3,000 

 and 4,000 feet below it lies the Manipur or Nankathe river, which, 

 after running some forty miles in a northerly direction, turns sharply 

 to the east and falls into the Myittha river about twenty miles above 

 Kalemyo. 



The rainy-season lasts from about the beginning of June to the end 

 of November, but I have no information about the exact rainfall in 

 the hills : it however appears to be well over 100 inches ; in the 

 Upper Chindwin District the average is about 80 inches. 



At Kalewa the best month for butterflies is March, but on the ridge 

 there is not much to be done before May, the nights being extremely 

 cold, very commonly going below freezing point ; while on one 

 occasion, in honour of the arrival of certain high military authorities 

 who were paying a visit to the hills on a tour of inspection, there was 

 a snow-storm on Kennedy Peak ; this, however, I believe, is very 

 exceptional and must be put down to the auspicious occasion. 



The country explored comprises only a very small portion of the 

 North Chin Hills, and, owing to the hostility of the Chins, there were 

 no opportunities of collecting except on the line of march and in the 

 immediate neighbourhood of the posts, so there is no doubt that many 

 species remain to be discovered, especially in the valleys in the 

 interior. 



In addition to the specimens obtained by myself, Lieutenant Firth, of 

 the 1st Burma Regiment, and Surgeon- Cap tain Graves, who were 

 stationed at No. 3 Stockade in the rains, made a collection of some 100 

 species, all of which were kindly handed, over to me ; this collection 



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