A BOTANICAL TOUR IN THE SOUTH LUSHAI 
HILLS. 
By A, T, Gage^ M.A.f B,Sc.^ LMS. 
The following is an account of a short botanical excursion made 
by the writer in the spring of 1899 to a portion of the South Lushai 
Hills in accordance with instructions from the Director of the 
Botanical Survey of India. 
The writer left Calcutta on the evening of the 15th March 1899 
and arrived at Chittagong on the morning of the 17th, the journey 
being accomplished partly by rail and partly by river steamer down 
the combined Ganges and Bramhaputra river. The route then lay 
in a north-easterly direction up the KarnaphuH river, which flows 
into the Bay of Bengal at Chittagong, as far as Demagiri ; thence 
directly eastwards across the Lushai ranges to Fort Lungleh. At 
Chittagong a dug-out manned by three men was engaged to proceed 
up stream as far as Rangamatti, and a week's provisions were laid 
in. Late on the evening of the 18th March, the writer accompanied 
by two servants started on the journey up the river. The boatmen 
kept to their work the greater part of the night and the next day, 
halting for m(^ls dnd a mid-day rest. The night of the 19th was 
spent camped on the river bank. An early start was made next 
morning, and Rangamatti, the first * station ' after Chittagong, was 
reached that afternoon. Rangamatti is sixty-five miles by river from 
Chittagong, and is situated at an elevation of about 100 feet in a 
narrow loop of the river, where it first bends to the south-east and 
then abruptly to the north-west. The station is in the Bengal 
Presidency, and is a small clean-looking village with a good dkk bun- 
galow. A detachment of Ghurka police are stationed here. An 
assistant commissioner and a deputy magistrate are the only Euro- 
pean residents. 
The river here runs between rather steep banks and meanders 
through a wide, flat, somewhat sparsely wooded vale. Coming up 
towards Rangamatti, cultivated patches line the river banks here 
and there, bearing plantains, melons papayas, etc. 
The night of the 20th was spent in the Rangamatti dAk bunga- 
low. Through the good omces of the assistant commissioner two 
B 
