CHAPTER XX 



THE NERBUDDA 



In the great central plain of India there is a point which 

 is the highest between the eastern and western ocean. 

 Its name is Amarkantak, and its elevation is 3,494 feet 

 above the sea. It lies in the Central Provinces, in the 

 range dividing those districts from Bengal. Compared 

 to the mighty Himalayas on the north these are poor little 

 molehills, yet they are the great divide or watershed 

 whence flow four fine rivers, draining a vast area of well- 

 watered country. To the east flows the Mahanadi to 

 the Bay of Bengal, where the sacred temples of Jagamath 

 and the Black Pagoda rear their sacred pinnacles. To 

 the south flows the Godavari, bordering the Nizam's 

 dominions. To the north flows the Sone to join the 

 mighty Ganges ; and to the west, winding through 

 jungle-clad ranges through Jabalpur, forcing its way 

 westward between the two mountain chains of the 

 Satpuras and Vindhyas, ever increasing in volume as it 

 bursts its rocky barriers and emerges beneath the western 

 Ghats — second only to the Ganges — flows the sacred 

 Nerbudda, falling into the Gulf of Cambay, near Baroda. 



Let us follow it through its rocky channel carved out . 



between high walls of marble rocks, near Jabalpur; past Jj^L^ 



the Gond fortress of Garha, where is the Madan Mahal, 

 palace of a powerful Gond king, whose dynasty gave place 



