252 
Some Account of the Cdsiah Hills. 
[Sept 
The above particulars, how tedious soever, are yet worthy of record in regard to 
a new and a very rare species of bird. The old bird has recently died ; and the 
young one will probably not long survive him. Should it do so, we shall perhaps 
be thus enabled to settle the question of male and female, and at all events, may 
note the changes which the species undergoes in the progress to maturity. 
It is proper for me to conclude with remarking, that having no extensive or 
scientific knowledge of ornithology, I have been obliged to rely for the materials 
of the above description upon untutored eyes and ears, sedulously employed and 
assisted by careful reference to Shaw’s Zoology. 
II . — Some Account of the Cdsiah Hills. 
The country to which the following observations apply, and which has now 
passed under the sway of the British Government, is comprized under a long 
irregular figure about 50 miles in length, between the parallels of 25° 8' and 25’ 52' 
north lat. and the meridians 0° 0' and 0° 20’ west from Sylhet. About 15 miles on 
the northern, and seven miles on the southern side, of this tract are occupied by 
wooded hills, forming the descent from an open table land, which fills all the central 
parts; which though traversed occasionally by ravines, and broken into steep knolls 
of considerable altitude, may yet be described as remarkable for the ease with which 
it may be traversed by pedestrians and laden cattle in almost any direction. Tire 
difficulty of access to this pleasant region (which is marked by the coolness and sa- 
lubrity oi its climate) exists (on the side of Sylhet) in the ascent from Pondua, 
which, notwithstanding the improvement made in the road,will ever appear consider- 
able, though only so by comparison with the facilities of the central parts, as even 
this part of the road as is not in fact at all so steep or impracticable as mountain 
paths in India usually are. 
This portion of the route commences about three miles north of Pondua and ter- 
minates in seven more miles at Mfismai, from which village there is agradual as- 
cent to the summit of the ridge above Cliera, a distance of about five miles, at which 
the table land may be said fairly to commence, as there is afterwards no considera- 
ble and abrupt inequality throughout the road to Nanklafi, except the valley of the 
Boga-pani, which however may be avoided, as will be hereafter shown. The vege- 
table pi eductions ot the country between Pondua and Cliera are comprized in the 
jS^- U v Ua ^ found at the toot of a mountain range in tropical countries, and 
which diminishes in proportion as the altitude increases, until about Cliera andSa- 
ranm, the country becomes remarkable for its bareness and the great scarcity of 
trees. The principal among those near the foot of the hills areoran|es, limes, bam- 
boos, jack mangoe, cotton supan, and chumul trees, and nearer the summit (at 
Cnera) wild raspberries and strawberries present themselves 
secUon. r ° CkS "“*•* ° f limeStone and “ndstone found in the order of the annexed 
>5 
v 
•b 
* 
(life ^ 
J 
1. Limestone ; 2. and 4. Sandstone; 3. Limestone. 
cimce S S rrt"cmm,,o S cT nfT t ' 1 “’‘f "l’°»by the atmosphere : all the pre- 
cite mingkd sens^iom’m- rW Pe " T objects, calculated to ex- 
tains numerous fossiis, and’ is exported in ’large quattftie? {J mJku^cbunZ 
