^34 
FLORA OF THE SUNDRIBUNS. 
account of the Sundribun flora possesses a double advantage over that 
of Heinig. In the first place it deals not only with the western and 
central Sundribuns which are under swarh poorest, but with the 
savannah-swamps of the eastern Sundribuns, a region regarding which 
we owe to Clarke practically all the knowledge that we possess^ 
Moreover, Clarke’s account of the region is readily accessible ; that 
of Heinig forms part of an unprocurable official document. Clarke’s 
paper, however, shares with Heinig’s the disadvantage of presenting 
a list that, though with a different object and in a different manner, is 
also a selective list. Its purpose cannot be better put than it has 
been by Clarke himself, who writes This list, containing 69 species, 
is of course only a portion, perhaps not one-sixth, of the plants which 
may be collected wild in the Soondrebun. I draw up this list to include 
those species which I can collect in the Soondrebun, but cannot collect 
in the Bengal Plain for 100 miles outside the Soondrebun.” Clarke’s 
selective list serves the purpose for which it is intended as admirably 
as does that of Heinig. Both, however, — indeed the two taken 
together, — fall to provide a complete census of Sundribun plants. 
The present paper is the immediate outcome of a visit that the 
writer, thanks to the kindness of Mr. Lace, Conservator of Forests, 
Bengal, was able to pay to the Sundribuns during August igo2. An 
endeavour is here made to convey some idea of the topography of the 
region, of the nature of the vegetation, and of the origin of the charac- 
teristic flora. At the same time the opportunity is taken to provide a 
census, as complete as the material hitherto available will permit, of 
Sundribun species. Having regard to the special needs of Forest 
Officers, to whose efforts, as has been explained, our knowledge of 
the botany of the region is so largely due, points of economic 
importance are noted in connection with particular species ; a guide 
to the genera, which it is hoped may be an aid in the identification 
of these Sundribun plants, precedes this census. 
The map accompanying this sketch, which may be usefully con« 
suited in connection with the chapter that follows, and in study- 
ing the census of Sundribun species with which the paper concludes, 
is a reduction from that of Ellison, published in 1873. 
II.— TOPOGRAPHY OF THE SUYDRIBUAS. 
The region known as the Sundribuns forms the southern part of the 
Gangetic delta between the Hughli on the west and the Megna on 
the east. The included area consists of a number of low-lying 
swampy islands formed by the principal distributaries of the Ganges 
