53 



greatest breadth, is about 1,900 miles, leaving out of consideration the newly- 

 acquired territory of tipper Burma. The area and population stand as fol- 

 lows : 



The physical configuration is very peculiar. The country consists of three 

 great sections : 



(1) The Himalayas. 



(2) The Indo-Gangetic Plain. 



(3) The Peninsula. 



The Himalayan ranges stand out like a high wall on the north, separating 

 India from the Thibetan high plateau. The great Indo-Gangetic plain runs 

 along the southern edge of the Himalayas from Sind in the west to the Bay of 

 Bengal in the east. To the south of this plain, and partly surrounded by it, lies 

 the Indian peninsula, forming another plateau of moderate elevation. The con- 

 trasts of elevation which occur in these territories are greater than those in any 

 other part of the globe. While the Himalayas reach a height of 29,000 feet, the 

 plain of Hindustan, at the foot of the hills, rises only a few hundred feet above 

 sea level ; further south elevation increases again, since the peninsula shows a 

 height ranging between two thousand and eight thousand feet. 



Another peculiar fact is that India receives the drainage of both slopes of 

 the Himalayas, which ultimately collects into the three great rivers, the Indus, 

 Bramaputra, and Ganges. The first two rise in close proximity to each other at 

 the back of the Himalayas ; one runs towards the west and the other towards 

 the east, until both break through the Himalayas the former running through 

 the Punjab and Sind to the Arabian Sea, and the latter through Assam and 

 Lower Bengal to the Bay of Bengal. The Ganges drains the greater part of the 

 south face of the Himalayas, finding its way, after uniting with the Bramaputra, 

 into the Bay of Bengal. The highest part of the peninsula is situated along its 

 western edge, in consequence of which the greater part of the drainage from this 

 part of the country goes in an eastern direction into the Bay of Bengal. 



It will be easily understood that in a country like India many different 

 climates are found. As a matter of fact, they range from the driest in Sind to 

 the wettest along the west coast of the peninsula, in Assam, Eastern Bengal, and 

 Burma ; and again from the hottest to an arctic climate in the highest regions 

 of the Himalayas. Of these various climates the following four types may here 

 be mentioned as most characteristic : 



(1) The climate of tropical India : Showing the highest average temperature ; 

 the early arrival of the monsoon raius mitigates the summer temperature ; there 

 is little or no cool season. 



(2) The climate of North-western India: Showing the highest summer 

 temperature, though the average temperature of the year is lower than in the 



