144 FLORA INDICA. 



which the mountain Parasnath (an isolated peak) rises sud- 

 denly to an elevation of 4500 feet, is 1200 feet high. Paras- 

 nath is the highest known elevation in the province, though 

 perhaps in the unknown districts to the westward the hills 

 may rise as high or higher. 



The flat-topped spurs of the Vindhia sink abruptly into the 

 valley of the Son, which is bounded on the west by a line of 

 cliffs rising 1000 feet or more above the bed of the river. 

 Further east, the elevation is less considerable, and the table- 

 land is broken up into a rugged hilly country, the last spurs 

 of which approach close to the Ganges at Monghir, Bhogilpur, 

 and Rajmahal. 



The climate of Bahar resembles that of the interior of 

 Orissa. During the south-west monsoon, from June to Oc- 

 tober, there is a moderate rain-fall, the amount of which has 

 nowhere been determined with accuracy. Throughout the 

 remainder of the year the province is very arid, and subject 

 to hot winds, which blow over it from the dry plains of Raj- 

 wara and the upper Gangetic valley. At the same time, per- 

 haps from the gentle slope, and consequent imperfect drain- 

 age in a densely wooded country, the forests (like those of 

 Orissa) are extremely unhealthy, even in the dry season, so 

 that Europeans cannot penetrate into their recesses, except at 

 the height of the cold season, without great risk to life. 



In all parts of the mountain districts of Bahar the open 

 valleys are more or less cultivated, but, with rare exceptions, 

 the soil is poor and the population scanty, and the crops very 

 indifferent. The surface of the platforms between the valleys, 

 when level, is often rocky and bare, but, when undulating, is 

 covered with bush jungle, in which bamboo is very abun- 

 dant. The steep slopes of the hills are covered with dense 

 forest. The flora is very similar to that of the hills which 

 form the eastern Ghats between the Carnatic and Mysore, or 

 to that of the drier slopes of the central Himalaya. 



Cedrela Toona, Vatica robusta, Buchaiiuiiia, Semecarpus 

 Anacardium, Cassia Fistula, Butea frondosa and parviflora, 



