118 NERBUDDA DISTRICT. 



Similar groups of hills or broken ranges occupy the greater part of the 

 country- commonly marked " Gondwara Hills" on the maps. The elevat- 

 ed area of this hilly country, considered as a whole, culminates in the 

 mass of the Puchmurri group of peaks, whose grotesquely shaped sum- 

 mits, and bold perpendicular faces are visible from great distances in 

 most directions, and form a very conspicuous feature in many fine 

 landscapes. 



These lofty hills stand at some distance back (to the south) from the 

 Nerbudda valley, and are well within the Gondwarra hill district. The 

 hills between them and the Nerbudda seldom reach any considerable 

 elevation, and never, at any point along the whole range, equal the 

 Puchmurri peaks in height. Of these hills of the outer range, Chatur 

 Doria is one of the highest, and is nearer to the Puchmurri group 

 than any other peak of considerable altitude; but it stands rather 

 within than on the outer range. Nimbnaghur, however, a few miles to 

 the east, stands immediately over the valley and rises nearly 1,300 

 feet above it. 



The valley proper, as defined by the two ranges of high ground to 



which we have just referred, is of very variable 

 The valley itself. 



width, and consists (throughout that portion with 



which we are concerned) of a slightly undulating plain, broken here and 

 there by an occasional low hill. It is covered with an extremely rich 

 soil, and is mostly under cultivation. Throughout the length included in 

 our map the fall of the rivers is trifling when compared to that which 

 occurs in the part of its course east of (that is above) Jubbulpur, or in 

 that portion below Hindia on the west.* 



It of course follows,from the fact of the summits of the Vindhyan escarp- 

 ment forming, as we have stated, a drainage boun- 

 Great variety of rocks. 



dary, that the Nerbudda is itself principally fed from 



* Further details concerning the flat ground of the valley, its Physical Geography, and 

 its Geology, will be given hereafter. 



