INDIA'S GREAT FAMINE MIL 

 LIONS STARVING. 



THE BOER WAR OCCUPYING ENGLAND'S AT- 

 TENTION AND TREASURE IS A DISAD- 

 VANTAGE TO INDIA. 



[From the National Irrigation Association.] 



India is again confronted with the misery of a great famine and 

 England, even with a disastrous war in South Africa upon her hands, 

 will have to stretch forth a strong arm to help the suffering millions 

 of her far eastern peninsula. Over 50, 000, 000 souls are now reported 

 to be affected by the famine, and with the famine area rapidly expand- 

 ing. A London dispatch states that the sum of $8,700,000 will be 

 expended on "relief works,'' and that already over 8,000,000 persons 

 are receiving relief. Water, or rather its lack, is the cause of the 

 affliction. This year both the monsoons and the winter rains failed 

 and left the earth parched and dry for months. 



Yet the English, by their public works in India and their great 

 irrigation projects, have vastly added to the producing capacity of 

 the country and have greatly ameliorated the natural condition of the 

 natives. The products from irrigation for last year, according to the 

 Indian official figures, amounted to 450,000,000 rupees. 

 NATURE'S MIGHTIEST WORKS. 



India includes within her borders the highest mountains in the 

 world and some of the mightiest rivers and greatest plains. The 

 great Himalaya range, 1,500 miles long, lying across the northern 

 border, shuts out the rest of Asia. Mount Everest, the highest peak 

 in the world, pierces the sky 29,002 feet above the tides, while peaks 

 over 20,000 feet elevation abound in all parts of the range. There are 

 numerous well worn trails leading from India across the Himalayas 

 through Kashmeer and Nepal into Thibet and China, and the passes 

 on these are from 16,000 to 19,000 feet high. In making such a jour- 

 ney the traveler for several days remains above 16.000 feet altitude. 

 Only one pass is as low as 16,400 feet. 



The historic Ganges, the Indus and the Brahmaputra are the three 

 great rivers of India. These with their affluents drain an area of 



