ON THE STATISTICS OF DUKHUN. 221 
neighbouring mountain; absolute contact, however, only com- 
mences at about 400 feet from the top of the scarp, leaving a 
gap and an extremely narrow ridge, over which lies a difficult 
footpath of communication between the valley of the Malsej 
Ghat and that of the Mool river. The spur then widens; 
some lateral ramifications shoot out, on one of which is 
situated the fort of Koonjurghur. At the Brahmun Wareh 
pass it narrows considerably, but not into a ridge ; it subse- 
quently expands into the extensive and well-peopled table 
land of Kanoor and Parneir, twenty-four miles long by twenty 
broad, having diminished in height by a succession of steps 
from 3894 feet in Hurreechundurghur, to 2866 at Brahmun 
Wareh, 24'74 at Parneir, and 2133 on the terrace of Ahmed- 
nuggur. From Ahmednuggur the spur bends southwards 
until it is finally lost in the neighbourhood of Sholapoor. It 
is, in fact, the margin of a great plateau, which has a mean 
elevation of about 300 feet above the valley of the Godavery 
river, and over which the rivers Goreh, Beema, Seena, &c. 
take their course. The basaltic caps of the ridges appear 
more or less columnar from numerous vertical fissures; the 
weathering of these exposed rocks produces pillars, spires, 
towers, houses, and other forms of works of art. Another 
feature of these spurs is the occasional occurrence on their 
table lands of small hummocks or conical hills with a trun- 
eated apex. Dr. Voysey mentions ‘ groups of flattened 
summits and- isolated conoidal frusta” in the Gawelghur Trap 
Mountains. One of the longest of the spurs originates in 
the Ghats north-west of Sattarah, and runs nearly east-south- 
east about 100 miles towards Punderpoor. 
_ The spur immediately south of Poona, on the ramifications 
of which are situated the formidable fortresses of Singhur 
(4162 feet) and Poorundhur, (at nearly the same elevation) 
has an extent of ninety-five miles. 
_ Valleys. — Much having been said respecting valleys of 
excavation, I think it may be acceptable to offer a few obser- 
yations on the valleys between the spurs. I shall describe 
only those that present the greatest contrasts to each other. 
_ Valley of the Mota River.—The valley of the Mota river, 
| south of Poona, originating in a mass of hills on the edge 
of the Ghats, is so exceedingly narrow that for some miles 
the bases of the opposite hills frequently touch each other, 
leaving at intervals little horizontal plots of a pistol-shot in 
width ; these plots occur in terraces, on lower levels, as they 
| extend eastward. 
Vale of the Under.—The valley of the Under river, north- 
