of some districts in India. 317 



plains, but at the base and on the tops of the mountains, the 

 soil of which last is considered to be the most fertile. The soil 

 of Ramghur, in the declivities, is principally loam; in the 

 high grounds loam, clay, and gravel, with mica. That of 

 Chota Nagpore is in many parts a peculiar kind of red earth, 

 extremely fertile. The soil of Sirgoojah is similar to that of 

 Ramghur, but, in addition to the different kinds of pulse and 

 cotton raised in the other provinces, possesses one peculiarity 

 in producing in its vallies vast quantities of Tikhoor, (Curcuma 

 angustifblia^) from the roots of which the natives prepare a 

 -farinaceous powder, not distinguishable from the West India 

 arrow-root. Mr Breton in 1821 sent a specimen of this fari- 

 naceous powder to Dr Wallich of Calcutta, who found the re- 

 semblance so complete, that he requested to be furnished with 

 a large supply for the purpose of sending it to Europe, which 

 was accordingly transmitted in 18J22. In Sirgoojah is a re- 

 markable hot spring, the temperature of which, when examin- 

 ed by Mr Breton in 1819, was 186° Fahr. The valley of Sum- 

 bhulphore is of an alluvial nature, and produces crops of rice, 

 wheat, and the sugar-cane. The soil is peculiarly adapted to 

 the growth of the poppy, and wild indigo abounds on the 

 banks of the Maha Nuddee. The bed of this river furnishes 

 the finest diamonds in the world, and a class of diamond find- 

 ers, or Jharas, annually search its channel from the termina- 

 tion to the commencement of the rains. 



The range of Fahrenheit's thermometer in the plains of 

 Ramghur, Chota Nagpore, and Sirgoojah, is from 72° to 88" 

 in the twenty-four hours during the rainy season ; from 78° to 

 98° in the hot season ; and from Q&^ to 32° in the cold season. 

 The cold season commences about the end of October, and ter- 

 minates about the middle of March, when the hot season com- 

 mences and lasts till the middle of June. The rains then set 

 in and usually continue till the middle of October. But ev^ry 

 year there is a little variation in the commencement and ter- 

 mination of these seasons. 



The mountains are wholly covered with forests and under- 

 wood, and the jungles that extend from them contain a great 

 variety of the trees common to the woods of Hindostan. The 

 Saul tree (Shorea robusta) seems to predominate, and between 



