REID, A. Scott. Chin-Lushai Land. Including a Description of the various Expeditions into the Chin-Lushai Hills and the final Annexation of the Country. Calcutta: Thacker, Spink and Co. 1893.
8vo. Original illustrated cloth, the superior binding variant with the cover illustration in gold and not black; pp. x, [2], 235, 48 (publisher's catalogue), three folding maps (one large and in rear pocket, 8 photogravure plates; minimal marking to binding, initially very light spotting; a very attractive copy.
Scarce first edition, presentation copy, inscribed by the author on half-title. The author, Surg.-Lieut-Col. A. Scott Reid, was the Medical Officer in charge of the 2nd Battalion of the 4th Gurkha Rifles. 'The Lushai Hills and the surrounding areas inhabited by the Chin or Kuki peoples are now split between modern India (Lushai), Bangladesh and Myanmar but in the late nineteenth century were not part of any state. British interests in these zones however led to punitive expeditions being sent against the Chin and the Lushai peoples at the end of 1889' (Fitzwilliam Museum, online). This mountain and jungle warfare took place in a vast region, totally unexplored by Westerners.
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