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NOTES. 
the East. There is a pretty little botanic garden in the town, and the 
Government Botanist of Madras also has his headquarters here, with 
herbarium and laboratory. 
After leaving the Nilgiris I visited the not less interesting range of 
the Anamalais, on the other side of the great Palghat gap. This 
great mountain range is only now being opened up, and it is still 
necessary to take all camping materials in order to visit it. Leaving 
Podanur station, it is about 33 miles to the foot of the hills at Vanan- 
thorai, whence a cart road goes up to the planting district, which 
occupies a portion of the lower central plateau from 3,000 to 5,000 feet 
in elevation. The ascent is through forests of the type seen about 
Nalanda and other parts of the north-eastern sides of the Ceylon hills. 
At the summit level one passes into an evidently wetter region, and 
the central parts of the range have a very rich and interesting flora. 
They resemble the Ceylon hills in contour and vegetation, and are 
very little interfered with by any cultivation. Range after range of 
rolling hills can be seen, covered with high forest, intersected by clear 
streams, and broken by stretches of patana on the higher ridges, some 
of which reach to a height of close on 9,000 feet. The trees in the wet 
jungles up to 4,000 feet are remarkable for their great size, larger than 
those of corresponding elevations in Ceylon. There is an ample field 
for work in the study of the formations into which this flora groups 
itself ; preliminary observations might well be made in Ceylon, where 
travelling and other facilities are greater, but the Anamalai flora is 
finer for actual work of this nature, being so much less interfered with 
by man. By working eastwards across the range the sister group of 
the Palnis, with a drier climate and greater patana area, may easily be 
studied, and accommodation can be obtained at the little sanitarium of 
Kodaikanal. 
The journey from the foot of the hills to Tuticorin is through well- 
cultivated country of the general type of the Jaffna District of Ceylon. 
My second tour was commenced from Calcutta, an interesting centre 
for the botanist from its magnificent botanic gardens and economic 
museum. It possesses, however, no laboratory accommodation. I first 
visited the Khasia Hills of Assam, described by Sir Joseph Hooker, 
much of whose track I followed. The hills can be reached in two ways 
by steamer from Goalundo, either up the Brahmaputra Yalley to 
Gauhati or up the Surma Valley to Companygunj. The boats are 
comfortable and the journey easy. I myself followed the northern 
route, reaching the hills by tonga from Gauhati to Shillong, the 
capital of the Assam Province, and the residence of the Deputy Com- 
missioner of the Khasia Hills, whose permission has to be obtained before 
travelling in the outlying districts. There is a good road to Shillong, 
but beyond that it is necessary to walk or ride, or to be carried by a 
cooly in a thapa or chair. Coolies are obtained by applying to the 
Superintendent of Police ; they are very strong, and carry loads of 
70 lb. with ease over the roughest mountain country. There are good 
