BOTANY OF BALUCH-AFGHAN BOUNDARY COMMISSION, l8g6. 127 
For the last two years there had been no rain ; this year in Febru- 
ary and March rain fell, and it was owing to this fact that the Com- 
mission was able to stay so long as it did, the rain having delayed 
the advent of the hottest weather. Usually the fierce hot winds com- 
mence blowing from the west early in April, but this year they were 
only beginning when the Commission started back, in the middle of 
May, from the Robat Vk^here its main camp had been stationed for the 
two previous months. The inhabitants, where there were any, spoke 
of the heat with awe and said these hot winds shrivelled everything up 
and kept the people imprisoned in their tamarisk huts from morning 
till evening. The slight experience the Commission had was quite 
enough to make its members believe all the inhabitants said. 
In consequence of the excessive heat the Mission had to march^ 
for the greater part of the period it was away, during the night. 
But for this the collection obtained might have been considerably 
increased. While, however, it is admittedly far from complete, there 
is no reason to doubt that it is fairly representative of the flora of 
the country traversed. All the specimens come from a region lying 
between latitude 29° and 30° north ; the longitudes of the different 
localities with their altitudes are given in the systematic list. The 
specimens obtained on a hill, 600 feet high, lying eight miles west of 
Gazechah, were brought in by Lieutenant Webb-Ware ; the others 
were, with one or two exceptions, collected by Surgeon-Captain 
Maynard. 
The collection, small as it is, has proved one of very great in- 
terest : with hardly an exception. Dr. Maynard^s specimens belong 
to species previously most inadequately represented in the Calcutta 
Herbarium. In preparing the list the primary references given for 
the species are those in M. Boissier's Flora Onentatts, the oiily work 
which deals systematically with the vegetation of the area ; those 
in the Flora of British India^ where the species happens to be in- 
cluded in that work, have been added for purposes of comparison. 
The flora of the region is purely that of the ‘ Oriental ' region, 
for, of the 43 flowering plants recorded in the list, it will be seen that 
seventeen or nearly 40 "per cent, are not accounted for in the Flora 
of British India at all and are therefore plants that presumably 
do not occur within British territory ; of the remainder, only seven, 
or a little over 16 per cent., extend to the east of Scinde, Rajputana, 
and the Western Pan] ab— districts that, from a phytogeographical 
point of view, form but a province of the - Oriental * region. 
Perhaps the most striking feature of the list is that it includes 
no fewer than twelve species of flowering plants which are not to be 
