TOPOGRAPHY. 



Chota Nagpur. On the south the tract passes into the 

 highlands of Orissa, and on the north it extends at one 

 point to the banks of the Ganges. It belongs therefore to 

 the Deccan Province of the Flora Indica, to Mr. Clarke's 

 province of Coromandelia, and to Colonel Prain's province 

 of Chota Xagpur. 



TOPOGRAPHY. 



The essential feature in the physical aspect of the country 

 is the prevalence of plateaux and hills, often rising into 

 mountains which rarely exceed 3,000 feet in elevation. A 

 very small portion of the area can be said to lie in the plains. 

 This is the narrow strip about 170 miles long in the east 

 and north of the Santal Parganahs along the loop line of the 

 "Rast Indian Railway, which belongs both topographically and 

 botanically to the Gangetic plain. On the other hand the 

 plateaux are frequently very low and may not exceed 400 

 feet. This is the case in the open country near the Subar- 

 nekha in the east of Singbhum, and over much of easterr 

 Manbhum. A subsidiary, but characteristic, feature of manj 

 of the plateaux are huge isolated rounded or conical bosset 

 of rock rising abruptly from the general level and visible for 

 many miles. Good examples may be seen near Chinpina (on 

 the railway), near Jhalda, etc. 



The edges of the higher plateaux, such as those of Ranchi 

 *nd Hazaribagh* are usually broken into steep scarps which 

 appear a3 ranges of hills seen from below, and eometimes are 

 actually hills rising considerably above the general level of 

 the plateaux. While the larger plateaux of Ranchi and 

 Hazaribagh attain respectively an average elevation of 2,000 

 feet, and that of Palamau 1,200 feet, smaller ones or flat- 

 topped mountains may rrse as a third step to 3,000 feet or 

 more. These are the so-called pats, • They are best re- 

 presented in Sirgnja where the Main Pat * has an 



1 The Jffainpst, or more correctly the Manipat, is 16 miles long and 

 12 miles hrpad. IuSummer it becomes a ast grazing ground for cattle 

 from Mirzapur^and Behar. Vide Imperial Gazetteer of India. 



