The Imperial Gazetteer of India
Meyer, William Stevenson, Sir, 1860-1922.
Burn, Richard, Sir, 1871-1947.
Cotton, James Sutherland, 1847-1918.
Risley, Sir Herbert Hope, 1851-1911.
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New edition, published under the authority of His Majesty's secretary of state for India in council.
Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1908-1931 [v. 1, 1909]

233 NORTHERN SHAN STATES
Shan would do without plenty of bamboos. Bracken and other ferns
abound in certain localities; and these, with the wild violets and wild'
strawberries that are found on some of the higher ridges, recall the
flora, of. the temperate zone, and afford a marked contrast to the
vegetation of the valleys.
The fauna of the. States includes the elephant, rhinoceros, tiger,
leopard,. bear, gaur, trine or hsaing (Bos sondaicus), sdmbar, thamin (or
brow-antlered deer), hog deer, barking-deer, the serow, the hare, several
species of monkeys, the Hylobates hoalock or white-browed gibbon;
hog, and porcupine, with jungle cats, civet cats, foxes, and squirrels.
The game-birds include peafowl, jungle fowl, Chinese pheasant, two
or three kinds of partridges, quail, duck, snipe, geese, teal, and green
and imperial pigeons.
The climate of the States as a whole is temperate and salubrious.
With the exception, perhaps, of the valley of the Salween, the Hsypaw
valley is the hottest part. The average maximum 'temperature there
at the :beginning of April is about 96�, and the minimum at the :same
period about 6f. The rainfall at HsTpaw is less heavy than at Lashio,
but in the cold season a dense wet mist hangs over the valley for some
hours after sunrise. The health of the police stationed at H$ paw_
has always been very bad, owing to the wide range of daily-tem-pera-
ture in the hot season, and to the drenching fogs of the cold season.
The climate of North and South Hsenwi is, on the whole, temperate.
In the uplands frost occurs in January, February, and March, and-
as much as ten degrees of frost has been recorded in Mbngyin in
March. Round Hsenwi town and in the Lashio valley the thermo-
meter rarely falls to freezing-point, but in the hot season the tem,
perature never exceeds go' for any length of time. The, annual
rainfall, except on the higher ranges; seems to average, about
6.o, inches. In Tawngpeng it is heavier than, elsewhere in,the States.,
Throughout the whole of West Manglan the climate is unhealthy, as
the country alternates between storm,swept,hills. and steamy valleys.
The soil, moreover, except in the narrow basins,-is distinctly unpro,
ductive, so that it seems improbable that this State will ever increase
greatly in. prosperity or population.: The highest maximum tempera--
ture.recorded in the shade at Lashio is g9�,; thelowest being 6z�, while
the highest minimum is 7o� and.thelowest 41�. The rainfall recorded,
at Lashio.for the years rgoo-4 was as follows: 19,,00,.,60 inches;; 1gor,
62 inches, 1902, 31 inches; 1903, 61: inches; and 1904, 76 iq~ches..
The Shans are the -representatives,-within the limits of. the Province,
of a very considerable. Tai migration wave, which swept over Indo�; .
China,, from the regions ;about South-western China, History.
dumg the sixth century -of the Christian era. The
Siamese of the south, the, Laos of the country east of Lower Burma,.

Graphics file for this page >> Sourthern Shan State