Valley ofOodipoor. 05 



by a strong and well built bund, to the westward of which the 

 waters of the river have been accumulated so as to form a pic- 

 turesque lake of considerable depth and extent. The bund rises 

 about thirty or forty feet above the level of the lake, the waters 

 of which are allowed a partial vent through a narrow chasm 

 which traverses the range immediately to the south of the bund. 



Both the bund and chasm have been described by Captain 

 Dangerfield * with his usual correctness ; and I shall therefore 

 only remark on this head, that while Captain Dangerfield attri- 

 butes the formation of the latter to a violent convulsion of na- 

 ture, the natives themselves maintain that it is artificial, and that 

 it was effected by order of Ranah Oodising, who, disliking to 

 cut the bund itself for fear of weakening it, took this method of 

 lowering the level of the lake, which encroached too much on 

 the cultivated land of the valley. I confess I see no reason to 

 doubt the truth of the native account, the chasm having every ap- 

 pearance of being artificial. 



The chasm in question traverses the range at right angles to 

 the direction of the strata. Its breadth is about fifty feet ; its 

 length is nearly 200 yards, and, during the rains, the water 

 rushes through it with great rapidity, boihngand foaming in its 

 course, and terminating in a cascade, which, though only a few 

 feet in height, has still a very imposing eflPect. The Bedus then 

 flows slowly onward through the plains of Mewar till it joins the 

 Bunas at Chitor. The sides of the chasm are rocky and nearly 

 perpendicular. The range traversed bears N.N. W. and S.S.E. 

 The hills composing it are generally ridge-shaped, the slopes on 

 either side terminating iit)- a sharp spine either denticulated or 

 forming an even continuous line ; the -strata are parallel with the 

 range, and are nearly vertical or slightly inclined to the E. N.E. 

 Towards the centre of the chasm the cliffs are about 160 feet in 

 height, and, from this point, which corresponds with the spine 

 of the range, they slope on either side. The preponderating 

 rock in this position is quartz, with a texture more or less schistose, 

 and frequently including scales of mica. It is very generally 

 ferruginous, the colour of the different strata varying consider- 

 ably, and imparting to the sides of the chasm a vertically zoned 

 aspect. The strata vary in breadth, from a few inches to a 



• See Malcolm's Central India, Appendix, vol. ii. 

 VOL. XVI. NO. XXXI. JANUARY 1834. K 



