36 ASIA 



The strong rhythm of the two seasons is thus felt 

 throughout the whole of India ; but on the outskirts of 

 the area, along the Malabar coast, in the north-eastern 

 Himalayas, Assam, and western Burma, the period of 

 drought is so short as to be practically without in- 

 fluence. Consequently these regions are the seat of 

 evergreen wet forests. Throughout the rest of India, 

 the ground is sharply contested between tree-growth and 

 scrub ; but where tree-growth is possible, it bears the 

 stamp of the seasonal contrast and foliage is shed during 

 the dry period. The winter colds are unimportant as 

 a factor in vegetation, except among the mountains. 

 Central India is not, therefore, a region of continuous 

 and dense forests, but offers a varied landscape whose 

 type oscillates between tropical deciduous woodlands and 

 the poor acacia scrub. 



The Ganges valley has been cultivated so long and so 

 intensively that its original state can only be guessed at ; 

 at present it is well-nigh treeless. Its fertility comes 

 from its alluvial soil and from the abundant water-supply 

 afforded by its rivers, the Ganges and its tributaries, which 

 are utilized for irrigation. Rice, wheat, opium, indigo, 

 and, in some parts, cotton, are the staple crops which 

 now support a large population ; but it is not unlikely 

 that it was formerly a savana interspersed with various 

 kinds of rain-green woodlands. 



The combined delta of the Ganges and Brahmaputra 

 presents an aspect similar to that of the Burmese and 

 Indo-Chinese deltas. The lower swampy alluvium, covered 

 by an impenetrable mixture of evergreen jungle and 

 mangrove, have hitherto proved too strong for human 

 powers, and have challenged human enterprise much as 

 the corresponding swamps of the Mekong. 



The vast table-land of the Deccan, difficult of access 



