412 Lieut. -Colonel Sykes on a portion of Dukhun. 



angle to the neighbouring mountain ; absolute contact^ however^ only com- 

 mences at about 400 feet from the top of the scarp, leaving a gap and an ex- 

 tremely narrow ridge, over which lies a difficult footpath of communication 

 between the valley of the Malsej Ghat and that of the Mool river. The spur 

 then widens ; some lateral ramifications shoot out, on one of which is situated 

 the fort of Koonjurghur ; at the Brahmun Wareh pass it narrows considera- 

 bly, but not into a ridge ; it subsequently expands into the extensive and 

 well-peopled table-land of Kanoor and Parneir, twenty-four miles long by 

 twenty broad, having diminished in height, by a succession of steps, from 

 3894 feet in Hurreechundurghur to 2866 at Brahmun Wareh, 2474 at Par- 

 neir, and 2133 on the terrace of Ahmeduuggur. From Ahmednuggur the 

 spur bends southward until it is finally lost in the neighbourhood of Sholapoor. 

 It is, in fact, the margin of a great plateau, which has a mean elevation of 

 about 300 feet above the valley of the Godavery river, and over which the 

 rivers Goreh, Beema, Seena, &c., take their course. The basaltic caps of 

 the ridges appear more or less columnar, from numerous vertical fissures ; 

 the weathering of these exposed rocks produces pillars, spires, towers, houses, 

 and other forms of works of art*. Another feature of these spurs is the occa- 

 sional occurrence on their table-lands of small hummocks or conical hills with 

 a truncated apex. Dr. Voyseyf mentions "groups of flattened summits and 

 " isolated conoidal frustra" in the Gawelghur trap mountains. 



One of the longest of the spurs originates in the Ghats north-west of Sata- 

 rah, and runs nearly east-south-east, about 110 miles, towards Punderpoor. 



The spur immediately south of Poona, on the ramifications of which are 

 situated the formidable fortresses of Singhur (4162 feet), Poorundhur (4472 

 feet), and Wuzeerghur, adjoining Poorhundhur (at nearly the same ele- 

 vation), has an extent of ninety-five miles. The accompanying section, 

 Plate XXVIII. fig. 2. represents this spur. 



Vallej/s. 



Much having been said respecting valleys of excavation, I think it may be 

 acceptable to offer a few observations on the valleys between the spurs. I 

 shall describe only those that present the greatest contrasts to each other. 



Valley of the Mota River. — The valley of the Mota river, south of Poona, originating in a mass 

 of hills on the edge of the Ghats, is so exceedingly narrow, that for some miles the bases of the 

 opposite hills frequently touch each other, leaving, at intervals, little horizontal plots, of a pistol- 

 shot in width. These plots occur in terraces, on lower levels as they extend eastward. 



* See Plate XXVIII. fig. 1. and 2. on the Konkun; and Plate XXVII. fig. 1. 

 •}• Physical Class, Asiatic Researches, p. 189. 



