162 PENINSULAR INDIA. 



■whole of that continent, Arabia, part of Persia, to the west 

 side of the Indus. 



3. Peninsular India. — The peninsula of India, which is 

 totally unconnected with the Himmaleh range, is bounded 

 by the waters of the ocean and the plains of Central or 

 Middle India, and forms, as it were, a world for itself. It 

 is bounded on the north by a mountainous, hilly, and table- 

 shaped country, which includes the mountains extending 

 from the Gulf of CutcU on the west to the Bay of Bengal 

 on the east, viz. — those of Guzerat, Malwah, Candeish, 

 and Gundwana. We also, in a geological view, include in 

 this region the mountainous and hilTy ranges stretching 

 around the great western desert as far as the neighbourhood 

 of Oodipoor, Ajmere, Jyepore, to Delhi. On the south- 

 west and south-east it is bounded by the Indian Ocean and 

 the Bay of Bengal. 



The Ghauts enclose the main body of the peninsula, 

 which consists of table-lands and mountains and hills, ele- 

 vated from 2000 to 4000 feet above the sea. The ranges 

 of the Ghauts join on the north side of the great pass or 

 gap of Coimbetoor, first made known during the military 

 excursion of Colonel Fullcrton. Tins striking pass is 

 about sixteen miles wide. It is well known that ships 

 navigating the Malabar coast during the north-east mon- 

 soon°commonly experience a stronger gale in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Paniani than elsewhere ; and this opening in 

 the Ghauts appears to be the cause of this effect. It is 

 also said that the lower part of the Coimbetoor country 

 partakes of the rainy or south-west monsoon of the Malabar 

 coast, which may be referred to the same cause. We re- 

 gret we have not been able to find any statements in regard 

 to the height of this pass above the Coromandel and Mala- 

 bar countries. 



From the- south side of the sap the Ghaut range con- 

 tinues onward in a southerly mrection to Cape Comorin, 

 where it terminates. The land at its extremity is low and 

 flat, covered with trees, and not visible from the deck more 

 than four or five leagues ; but about half a mile inland is 

 the mountain of Komari, the termination of the Ghauts, 

 rising to a height of nearly 4000 feet. From this moun- 

 tain the southern extremity of India takes its name ; its po- 

 sition is lat. 8° 4' north, long. 77° 45' east. Daniel says it is 



