Chap. II.] general description of country. 19 



by narrow gorges or passes, the level of which is but little above that of 

 the surrounding plains. The principal of these is the pass of Ahtoor, 

 running East and West between that place and Salem, and separating 

 the Shevaroys and the Chitairy and Kalry Hills on the North, from the 

 Collamiillays and PuchamuUays on the South. 



The three principal rivers of our district are the Cauvery, with its 



principal arm the Coleroon, to the South and South- 



The chief rivers. ,. i i -ii i -rr n • ii 



east 01 the mil country : the V ellaur m the centre : 



and the Puniar to the North. The smaller streams draining the hills 



and the low country at their Eastern foot are : the Ariancoopum, West of 



Pondicherry, entering the Bay immediately to the South of that place ; 



the Guddalum and the Cuddalore Hiver which enter the sea at Fort 



St. David : the Munny Mookta, Ellayaur and Chinnaur draining the 



Eastern flank of the hills, and uniting lower down with the main stream 



of the Yellaur : and the Murdayaur, Koolayaur, and Dyaur which drain 



the country to the South of the Yellaur water-shed, and fall into the 



Cauvery and Coleroon. 



No deltas are now forming at the mouth of any of these rivers. The 



large quantities of sediment carried down in their 

 No deltas now forming. . 



waters dunng freshets are swept away by the 



strong current which sets up the Coast, and the long even line of sandy 



Coast which stretches along the sea-board of the Peninsula, is unbroken 



by the encroachment of any modern deposit on the surf-bounded waters 



of the Bay. The alluvial deposits of a by-gone epoch extending inland 



to the Westward, are now upraised from 20 to 30 

 Old alluvial deposits. 



feet above the reach of the highest floods, and 



the great rivers flow for several miles through plains of an old alluvium 



now in course of destruction ; and in obedience to the same law of 



gravitation which determined its formation, being denuded by the streams 



that partly formed it,, and carried down to be deposited anew in the 



great reservoirs of the Ocean. Along the Coast this formation continues 



