KALADGI SERIES. 77 



Badami with its cliffs crowued by two hill forts and the valley between 

 them. The upper part of the Malprabha valley above the gorge is quite 

 tame till close to Khanapore^ where the Ghat region may be said to begin. 

 The scarp of the quartzites forming the basset edge of the Kaladgi basin 

 shows fine bold mural cliffs in various places as at Sogalj Murgod, Sidapur, 

 Wannur, and. Hoskatti. The curious Katharigarh (Kuttargui'h) valley 

 would be very picturesque if well wooded. At Sogal there are some 

 very pretty waterfalls^ the largest of which is over a fine cliff of quartz- 

 ite conglomerate. The place is held sacred, and some good trees have 

 been allowed to remain round the pagoda on the top of the cliff. The 

 Gatprabha valley has even less to show below Gokak; there is hardly 

 anything to arrest the eye till between Bagalkot and Yerkal, where the 

 river twice breaks through the upturned edge of the quartzite series, 

 backed up at the latter place by a fine outcrop of haematite schists of 

 gneissic age, and leaves and re-enters the Kaladgi basin. The valley of 

 the Krishna is rather pretty at Galgali (Gulgullee), and again at Sita- 

 mani (Seetamuua), where it breaks through a barrier of quartzites and 

 conglomerates forming the north-eastern extremity of the Kaladgi 

 basin. Outside the limits of the basin, the hill forts of Parasgarh, 

 Nargund, and Gadjendragarh are worth seeing, and north-west of the last- 

 named place some fine bold rock scenery is to be seen in the valley run- 

 ning from Murudi down to Gudur, and thence to the Malprabha, and 

 also the valley running north from Niluwagal till it joins the formei-. 

 The old ruined hill fort of Wokund, two miles west of Niluwagal, which 

 stands perched upon a blufi' mass of sandstones, is also a picturesque spot. 

 These places are enumerated because the South Mahratta country, ^nd 

 the Kaladgi district more especially, has the reputation of being more 

 ugly and uninteresting than it really is. The scenery presented by the 

 rocks belonging to this section within the Ghat region is less varied and 

 less picturesque than might be expected, certainly less so than that of 



rs , .. . ,.. the trap hills which surround them. The barren 



Quartzites support lit- -r 



tie vegetation. sandy soil they weather into bears but a scanty 



growth of forest trees, even where it has not been artificially spoilt by 



( 77 ) 



