CHAP. 2.| PHYSICAL STRUCTURE. 31 
at the western end of the mountain passage. The opposite village of 
Bolaswarum is annually deserted, the people resorting to the low coun- 
try beyond or behind the mountain to the north. 
The Penn-air presents much more variety in its course, for it tra- 
i verses a country which is characterized by a varied 
Ds rt physical aspect. It first enters by a wide and 
open pass through the western hills some miles west of Taudapurtee, 
and traverses the parallel valleys and ridges beyond, after which 
it has a plain course to the Gundycottah range of hills, traversing it 
by a very grand cliffy gorge.* Having passed this barrier, there 
* Captain Newbold, in one of his papers in the Jour., As. Soc., vol. XIV, p. 408, gives 
the following data regarding the Gundycottah gorge:—“The direct breadth of the range 
where intersected by the fissure is about five miles, and extreme height apparently not more 
than 600 feet; the extreme height of the precipices on either side, ascertained trigonometri- 
cally, is not more than 250 feet, and often not more than 80 feet. The general direction is 
east by north, though, in its course through the hills, it describes two salient and two re- 
entering angles. The bottom of the fissure is flattish, and occupied completely by the sandy 
bed of the Penn-air. The breadth is usually from 100 to 300 paces.” (I am inclined to think 
Captain Newbold has under-stated the heights of the range and cliffs, and I do not think 
the river is ever so narrow as 100 paces.—W. K.). Concerning this fortress of Gundycottah 
Newbold says :—“ The cliffs on the south of the pass and near its middle are ascended 
at the tombs of Allahabad by a steep zigzag path to the once celebrated fortress begun by 
the Hindu sovereigns of Bijanugger, greatly enlarged by Aurungzebe’s and Kutub Shah’s 
famous general, Mir Jumlah, and added to by Hyder and Tippoo.” 
* After the fall of Bijanugger in 1564, the fort was still retained by Nursing Raj, 
nephew of the slain Hindu monarch, Ram Raj, from whom it was taken after a severe 
siege by Mahommed Kuli Kutub Shah, king of Golcondah, or rather by his general, 
Mir Jumlah. It was subsequently annexed to the Patan Government of Cuddapah by 
Neknam Khan, and afterwards given up to Hyder, when he reduced this part of the Bala Ghat. 
It was ceded to the British by the treaty with the Nizam in 1800. The fortifications are 
extensive, and contain a handsome chahar minar, military magazine, and mosque, a small 
town, and the ruins of a temple to Mahadeo, to whose shrine, Ferishta tells us, 100,000 
Hindus of Bijanugger used to make an annual pilgrimage and offer gifts of great value. 
Besides, the two paths by Allahabad are the other approaches to the fort, viz., one by an 
easy ascent from Jummulmudgoo on the east, and the other from Chittiwanripully by a 
steep and rugged ascent just practicable for horses.” 
(3h) 
