138 FLORA INDICA 



Punah it is 1800 feet, and the peaks of the chain attain an 

 elevation of 4-5000 feet, but they are separated by great de- 

 pressions. The table-land of the Dekhan forms the watershed 

 between the basins of the Kistna and the Godavery, and has 

 an average elevation of from 1800 to 2000 feet, with an un- 

 dulating surface, but no mountains rising much above the 

 mean level. Hyderabad is 1672 feet, the Cantonment of Se- 

 canderabad, close by, 1837 feet, and a hill near, 2017 feet 

 above the level of the sea. The valley of the Godavery is of 

 course considerably lower. The surface of the table-land, 

 which is generally open, with little forest, but much low 

 jungle, is at one season richly cultivated, but during the re- 

 mainder of the year extremely arid and burnt up. 



The abrupt escarpment of the western Ghats condenses so 

 much of the moisture of the south-west monsoon, that the 

 summer rains in the Dekhan are very moderate in amount, 

 and the north-east monsoon is so much a land-wind, that but 

 little rain falls during the cold season. The rain-fall at Hy- 

 derabad and Jaulnah averages about 43 inches ; at Satara 

 (2300 feet) it is 36 inches. The mean temperature of Punah 

 is 77°, and the rain-fall 24 inches. This is the average rain- 

 fall throughout the north-western part of the district, close to 

 the crest of the Ghats, but the amount is greater to the east- 

 ward. 



Along the crest of the Ghats, the hilly tract known as the 

 Mawal possesses a very different climate and aspect from the 

 remainder of the Dekhan, bearing more resemblance to the 

 Conean. This is due to its greater humidity; the depres- 

 sions of the watershed, here as elsewhere, allowing the moi 

 ture-laden wind to pass to the eastern part of the chain for a 

 considerable distance. In this district the surface is peren- 

 nially green, and the vegetation much more luxuriant than 

 further east. In the western parts of the district of Belgaum 

 this tract is especially marked, as the depression of the moun- 

 tains is there greater than elsewhere. At Belgaum the rain- 

 fall is 50 inches, and at Dharwar 39 inches. These number* 



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