296 Mr Christie on the Meteorology, Geology, ^c. 



tween 200 and 300 feet from the bottom. It is not improbable, 

 therefore, that the height of the fall is not much short of 1000 

 feet. 



We shall now return to the description of the Darwar district. 

 It has been stated above, that it may be divided into three parts, 

 viz. the western or hilly part ; the great plains in the central and 

 eastern parts of the district ; and the sandstone hills which inter- 

 sect these plains. 



The boundary between the plains and hilly tract is very irre- 

 gular. Proceeding from the east, a few insulated low ranges 

 are first met with, having a general direction of north-west and 

 south-east. The hills continue in parallel ranges with the same 

 direction, for many miles to the westward. But when within 

 six or eight miles of the summit of the Gauts, the scenery as- 

 sumes a more irregular character, the hills being heaped more 

 together, with steeper sides, and more irregular forms. The 

 rugged and wild features of mountainous scenery are nowhere 

 met with ; for the hills are generally somewhat rounded, are 

 softened with a rich vegetation, and resemble, in their general 

 character, the hills of Cumberland, or those between Geneva 

 and Lyons. 



The second divivsion, or the plains in the central and eastern 

 parts of the district, are precisely similar to the extensive plains 

 of cotton ground met with in every part of India. They are al- 

 most entirely in a state of cultivation. During the rainy and 

 cold seasons they are covered with luxuriant crops. The regu- 

 larity in which these are planted ; the great variety of colours 

 produced by the numerous kinds of grains, pulses, oil and cot- 

 ton plants, and the great extent over which they are spread, af- 

 ford an appearance of riches and prosperity. In the hot months 

 the scene is entirely changed ; you then look around on an arid 

 plain, whose deep black soil is every where intersected by wide 

 fissures. Not a patch of verdure, not a tree or shrub, is to be 

 seen. Clouds of dust are swept along by the parching wind, or 

 huge pillars of it, raised up by whirlwinds to the height of a hun- 

 dred feet, are seen stalking across the plain ; or (if the atmo- 

 sphere be calm) fixed for a length of time to one spot. This 

 cheerless view is only terminated at a distance by a line of sand- 

 stone hills, whose even summits give them the appearance of a 



