220 SEVENTH REPORT—1837. 
Ghats.—The Dukhun rises, by a succession of terraces or | 
steps, very abruptly from the Konkun: its valleys and table- ~ 
lands have a mean elevation above the sea of about 1800 feet. 
The Konkun is a long strip of land, from thirty to fifty miles 
in breadth, lying between the Ghats and the sea: the mean | 
elevation of this strip is less than 100 feet; but it is bristled | 
with isolated hills or short ranges, some of which attain an 
elevation equaling that of the Ghats. Numerous shoulders or 
salient angles are thrown out from the Ghats, from the western 
or Konkun side, and by means of these the ascent to Dukhun 
is affected; with what difficulty, will be understood when I 
state that the military road of communication between Bombay 
and Poona, up the Bore Ghat, rises nearly 600 feet ina mile. | 
The western portion of my tract along the crest of the Ghats — 
is exceedingly strong: spurs of different lengths extend from 
the main range to the eastward and south-east, leaving many 
narrow tortuous valleys between them, some of which have 
the character of gigantic cracks or fissures; other valleys, 
although occurring less frequently, when looked at from the 
neighbouring ranges appear as flat and smooth as a billiard-_ 
table, even to the Ghats; but when traversed, are found to 
be cut up by numerous narrow and deep ravines. Stupendous 
scarps, fearful chasms, numerous waterfalls, dense forests, and 
perennial verdure, complete the majesty and romantic interest 
of the vicinity of the Ghats. As the spurs extend to the 
east and south-east they diminish in height, until they dis 
appear on approaching the open plains in my eastern limits, 
between the Beema and Seena rivers. The area of the table 
land on their summit often exceeds that of the valley between | 
them ; such is the case with the spur bordering the left bank 
of the Beema river for forty miles from its source, occupying, | 
in fact, the whole country between the sources of the Beema 
and Goreh rivers. 
The spurs are rarely tabular for their whole length, but 
narrow occasionally into ridges capped with compact basalt, — 
and subsequently expand into extensive table lands. The 
spur originating in the hill-fort of Hurreechundurghur af 
fords a good example. The fort is about eighteen miles in~ 
circumference. On the east, it presents a salient angle to the 
Dr. Voysey, in a paper on the Geological and Mineralogical Structure of 
the vicinity of Nagpoor, says, ‘‘ From the summit of the hill of Sitabuldee the 
difference in the outline of the rocks eastward is very perceptible. ‘The flat- 
tened summits and long flat outline, with the numerous gaps of the trap hills, | 
are exchanged for the ridgy, peaked, sharp outline of the primary rocks.” | 
—Physical Class of the Asiatic Researches, p. 127. ao | 
