116 FLORA INDICA. 



whole Western (Madras) Peninsula, and the Gangetic plain 

 to the base of the Himalaya. 2. The Himalaya, a moun- 

 tain chain which rises abruptly from the Gangetic plain, and 

 is connected with a still loftier mountain mass (of Tibet) to 

 the north, and beyond India. 3. Eastern India (India ultra 

 Gangem), including the kingdom of Ava and the Eastern or 

 Malayan Peninsula. 4. Afghanistan. 



The direction of the great mountain barrier of India on the 

 north is not parallel to the Equator, the western extremity 

 being the most northern. Its height is immense, being no- 

 where below 15,000 feet, usually exceeding 17,000-18,000, 

 and rising in isolated peaks, or groups of peaks, to from 

 20,000-28,000. The Afghan mountains form a meridional 

 chain from the western extremity of the above, descending 

 parallel to the Indus, with a gradually decreasing elevation, 

 from above 15,000 feet, to the level of the sea, at the Arabian 

 Gulf. The Ava and Malayan mountains form a chain parallel 

 to these, which is given off from the snow-clad mountains of 

 East Tibet, and, though rapidly diminishing in elevation, is 

 continued uninterruptedly almost to the Equator. 



In Europe, Hindostan is generally understood to comprise 

 the whole continent of India, fr'om the base of the Himalaya 

 to Cape Comorin; but in India the term is frequently re- 

 stricted to the provinces north of the Nerbada, whilst all 

 those to the southward of that river are called the Dekhan, or 

 southern provinces. In this work, however, we shall give to 

 the term Hindostan its most extended sense, and restrict that 

 of Dekhan to the elevated country north of Mysore. 



A complicated system of mountain- chains gives to Hindo- 

 stan its peculiar configuration ; these, which may be traced by 

 following on a map the coui-ses of the rivers of which they 

 form the watersheds, are three in number, and bear no ob- 

 vious relation to one another. They are, — 1. The Peninsu- 

 lar chain (also called Ghats and Western Ghats) extending 

 from Cape Comorin to the Tapti river. 2. The Vindhia 

 chain, which crosses the centre of Hindostan from the Gulf 



