The Himalayan Ant-eater is the species which occnrs in the high Talleys of
Sanda and M omien; whereas, at Bham6, the Indo-Malayan species Mams javmica.
is found.
When the Avine fauna is examined, it may also he observed th a t the comparatively
low region about Bhamö, the area of the Kakhyen hills, and the elevated
region beyond them to the east, is each characterized by distinct features. The
fauna of Bhamö and its immediate neighbourhood is essentially Burmese; hut a
consideration of the species reveals the existence in it of a slight intermixture of
species, more or less distinctive of the high country to the east, associated with
others which partake more of the Malayan fauna. In the same way, in the Kakhyen
hills the fauna is markedly Burmese, hut it, a t the same time, has distinct Himalayan
and Khasia-hill affinities, with a m uch larger intermixture of Chinese species than is
to he found in the area about Bhamo. To the east of the Kakhyen hills, it becomes
more Chinese, and species are met with which are only sparsely represented in the
Bham6 area, while many occur which do not extend into the valley of the Irawady.
Some of these, however, have a considerable distribution to the western side of the
Irawady valley, into the mountainous region of Assam, Munipur, and the Khasia
hills. In this elevated region, it is found th a t this section of the fauna as well has
a strongly pronounced Palaeartic aspect, e.g., one of the most characteristic birds of
the around Momien is a true pheasant, P . sladeni, with another allied form
Thaumalea, whereas this group of birds is represented in the Kakhyen hills and
around Bhamö by Puplocamus.
The Chelonian fauna, both terrestrial and fluviatile, around Bhamö, would appear
to be perfectly distinct from th a t of India. So far as the species are concerned, none
of those th a t are Indian extend into the valley of the Upper Irawady, while certain
Indo-Chinese and Indo-Maiayan forms, such as Pyxidea and Geoemyda, range as far
westwards as the Garo hills and Assam. That remarkable Indo-Chinese genus
Platysternvm is found at some considerable distance to the south of Bhamö, viz., at
Tonghoo, where it is, associated with Oyclemys and with the Indo-'Chinese type
Geoemyda, which finds the western limit of its distribution in Arracan. I t is therefore
probable th a t further research about Bhamö, and in the neighbouring mountains
to the east, will reveal the existence of kindred forms in these regions. In the
Sittang valley to the south, Sylomys, which, as has been seen, occurs also in the
Kakhyen hills, is associated in the former locality with Tropidophorous, an Indo-
Malayan type of lizard which ranges northwards into the Hotha valley, to an elevation
of 4,500 fe e t; and such a fact as this goes to strengthen the anticipation which
has been ju st expressed. Not only, however, do none of the Indian species of Cheloma
find their way into Upper Burma, so far as is a t present known, but the land-tortoise
is specifically distinct from that which is so prevalent in Pegu, viz., T. elongata.
The affinity, however, manifested by the northern species, T.platynota, is more towards
T. actinodes than to T. elongata; and it is a remarkable circumstance that, whilst
T. platynota does not extend either into Assam or into Bengal, T. elongata is found
on the outskirts of the eastern border of the plateau of Central India, and would also
appear to exist in the Terai region of the Sikkim-Himalaya.
But certain reptiles, which are highly characteristic of the Indian fauna, are
also found a t Bham6, viz., Calotes versicolor, Tropidonotus stolatus, and Passerita
mycterizans, associated with such Indo-Malayan forms as Calotes mystaceus, the first
and the last occurring together also a t Mandalay. In the Kakhyen hills, and
in the country beyond, T. stolatus is supplanted by T. dipsos, a Himalo-Chinese
species.
In the Kakhyen hills, th a t Malayan type Draco is found, but rarely; while in
the valleys to the east, the fauna is characterized by such forms as Pseudopus, which
also occurs in Lower Pegu, the Khasia hills and the Sikkim-Himalaya, and others,
e. g., Japalura, Oriocalotes, Ablabes, Coluber, JSlaphis, which are essentially Himalayan
forms; and with these is associated the Malayan type Ophites.' Even the individual
species of these genera are either identical with, or are very closely allied to, the
species occurring in the Eastern Himalayas, while the Trimeresurus of the high
valleys of Western Yunnan is identical with T. mmticola.
Occurring along with these Ophidian forms in the area to the east of the
Kakhyen hills, and chiefly to the east of Muangla, are found the Palaeartic types
Tylototriton, and Carassius as represented by the gold carp; and it is especially
worthy of note that all of these forms, with the exception of Carassius, are also distinctive
of the fauna of the Sikkim -Him fl.laya,
The sudden transition from the valley of the Irawady to the high country of
Yunnan is very striking, because the traveller, after three marches over the Kakhyen
mountains, is suddenly introduced from a Burmese-speaking population, clad in the
light, many-coloured flimsy garments of a tropical people, into a Chinese-speaking
race, clothed in the thick, dull-blue habiliments of a mountain people. This change
of scene, however, is not more marked than th a t which distinguishes the faunae and
florae. After the dense vegetation and Burmese fauna of the valley of the Irawady
are left behind, and the Burmo-Himalayan flora and mixed Burmese Indo-Malayan
and Himalayan fauna of the Kakhyen hills have been passed, the elevated country
becomes bare and grassy, and Burmese and Malayo-Himalayan species give way
before others which are essentially Chinese and Palseartic. The physical features,
however, of these regions have, as I have already said, been described in detail in my
previous works on the scientific results of the two Expeditions to Western Yunnan,