68 



river rises, it swells to a great height, fills the channel, and rushes 

 impetuously to the Cambay gulf. When wc crossed it, towards 

 the end of the fair season, the ford was so shallow that loaded carts 

 passed over without danger. 



Captain Wilford justly remarks, that the geography of Ptole- 

 my, in this part of India, is distorted to an astonishing degree ; for, 

 besides other mistakes, he supposes the river Mahi to form an el- 

 bow, and to run close to the Narmada, or Nerbudda, with which it 

 is made to communicate through a short canal, and then after- 

 wards to fall into the gulf of Cantha. The Mahi is a celebrated 

 river, and the daughter of the earth (Mahi), and of the sweat 

 (ushna), that ran copiously from the body of Indradyumna, king of 

 Ujjayini ; and famous in the legends relating to the white island in 

 the west. Ptolemy's sardonyx mountains are doubtless the Cop- 

 perwange, or Cubburpunj hills, still famous for cornelians, agates, 

 and the sprig-stones generally called mocha stones. The best cor- 

 nelians are brought from Rajpipla ; the art of cutting and polish- 

 ing these stones seems to be exclusively confined to Cambay. 



It occupied two hours to cross the bed of the Mahi. We 

 reached the northern bank at the well-known pass of Dewan, a 

 narrow defile between steep banks thirty feet high, through which 

 only one cart can proceed at a time. On leaving this defile Ave 

 were met in a friendly manner by Jeejabhy, a famous chieftain 

 among the coolies. The principal rajah of these refractory tribes 

 resides at Ometah, the chief fortress of the Mahi coolies, a few 

 miles to the east of Dewan. These people maintaining in their 

 fastnesses an armed independence, deem it no-disgrace to be rob- 

 bers and plunderers of all whom they can master, that venture to 



