DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY. 5 



soon after you enter it from Calcutta, you have 

 to ascend the Chittro Ghaut , a wild terrific pass 

 into the mountains, which extend their range on 

 each side at right angles, from the new road, from 

 Monghier on the bank of the Ganges on the right 

 of the road, to small Nagpore on the left ; a dis- 

 tance greater than the jungle part of the new road. 

 By my saying that the country is made up of hill 

 and dale, it must not be understood that they are 

 in continual succession without any plains ; on the 

 summits of many of the hills are plains of many 

 miles in extent, intercepted now and then with 

 small ravines, and hollow ground. 



The villages throughout the greater part of the 

 country are from six to twelve miles distant from 

 each other ; the land around them being cultivated 

 only for a small space in proportion to the number 

 of inhabitants : in the line of the road the villages 

 are inhabited chiefly by persons w r ho supply pro- 

 visions to travellers, and the cultivation there does 

 not extend above a quarter, or half a mile. All 

 the intermediate parts are covered with forest- 

 trees and underwood, in some places quite imper- 

 vious, and into which the eye cannot penetrate 

 even for a few yards. In other parts the trees are 

 smaller and more scattered, and the underwood 



