AVIFAUNA OF THE DECCAN. 69 



the sea, and 129 inches at Egutpoora, which has an elevation of 

 1,921 feet. 



The scenery is grand. The hills are bold, castellated masses 

 of Basaltic trap, numerously scarfed in wonderfully horizontal 

 lines, the slopes between the escarpments, the tops and the bases, 

 being densely clad with trees and undergrowth. The valleys and 

 gorges are rugged, deep and gloomily silent, except for the sweet 

 voices of the birds and the occasional music of some mimic 

 waterfall or the rippling of some stream — perfect paradises for 

 birds — (this from a "summer" point of view of course !) 



Two miles up from Khandalla stands Lanoli, the head of the 

 Bhore Grhat incline. Thence the line passes through a tolerably 

 level valley, and the hills on either side gradually diminishing 

 become more and more bare until Poona is reached, and the 

 characteristic type of Deccan scenery commences. 



Poona, 1,819 feetabove the sea, has a rainfall averaging about 

 27 inches in the year, and taking the register of 5 years, the 

 maximum temperature has not exceeded 96°, whilst the mini- 

 mum is 60.° 



Just about the city and the cantonment, there are fine groves 

 of trees and verdant patches of garden land, which the fine 

 canal from Kurrukwasla Reservoir, 1 2 miles from the town, bids 

 fair to increase. 



From Poona onwards, along the line of rail to Goolburga 

 1,492 feet above the sea, the country is parched and barren, 

 with scarcely a trace of vegetation, excepting near villages 

 where good wells exist, or on the banks of rivers. It is a succes- 

 sion of undulations — dreary, low, stony hills or ridges capped 

 with boulders of trap, hidden in yellow spear-grass, and here and 

 there a hollow or slope of rich black soil in which the sturdy, 

 stolid, Mahratta ryots carry on a scanty cultivation. 



In the neighbourhood of villages, mangoe topes and gardens 

 are to be found, Avhich afford shelter to our feathered friends, 

 and Peepuls and Banyans, which form the invariable accompani- 

 ment to Hindoo temples, with an occasional Neem, are not 

 absent, while in favoured parts the banks of nullas are fringed 

 with thick groves of Babul and date palms ; but, with these 

 exceptions, the region is treeless, whether we look to the low- 

 lying fields, the gravelly sea above, or the rough, barren ridges 

 which crown all. 



It is written in one of the Revenue Commissioner's reports 

 that it was "proposed to grant remission of rent, &c, according 

 to the number of healthy trees reared by a cultivator on the 

 boundaries of his fields, but the ryots would not do it on account 

 of the shade being injurious to the crops and the trees attract- 

 in 2 birds \" 



