The present rhinoceros area comprising the valleys of the rivers Naranyi, its tributary the Rapti, and the Rapti's tributary the Reu, is often loosely spoken of as part of the Nepal terai. Terai in northern India and Nepal is, strictly speaking, moist country a few miles from the base of the Himalayas, below the bhabar, which is dry country with a subsoil of boulders right at the foot of the Himalayas. Chitawan, or the Rapti Valley, is a dun—a plateau or flat valley inside the foothills of the Himalayas ; its altitude is between 900 and 1,000 feet above sea level, and it has most of the typical vegetation of the terai which is usually at 350 to 600 feet.