INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 147 



laya. The forests on the slopes of the higher hills are less 

 luxuriant than in Bahar, and consist of fewer species; but 

 Mimusops Indica, Bassia latifolia, Cochlospermum Gossypium, 

 Ailanthus excelsa, and the Teak, have here their northern limit, 

 as well as Oxalis sensitiva, Sutera glandulosa, and Trichodesma 

 Zeylanicum, among herbaceous plants. The limited extent of 

 the flora shows the dryness of the climate, which is also indi- 

 cated by the occurrence of a few shrubby species typical of the 

 dry flora: these are, Capparis aphylla {Sodada of Forskal), 

 Niebuhria oblongifolia, Althaea Ludwigii, Balanites JEgypti- 

 aca, Alhagi Maurorum, Salvia pwmila, and Tecoma undulata. 

 Several of these however occur equally in the Dekhan, so that 

 the Sindhian and Arabian types are very few. No palms are 

 indigenous, and Mr. Edgeworth's list includes very few ferns, 

 and only one epiphytical orchid. 



12. Malwah. 



Under this name we propose to include the whole of Cen- 

 tral India, from Mandlah and Saugor to the borders of Guje- 

 rat. It thus comprises the whole of the basin of the Nerbada 

 east of Gujerat, as well as the higher parts of the Vindhia 

 hills to the north of that river, and is bounded on the south 

 by Khandesh and Berar, on the north by Rajwara and Ban- 

 delkhand, on the west by Gujerat, and on the east by Bahar. 



The Nerbada rises on the table-land of Umerkantak, the 

 elevation of which is variously estimated at 3500-4500, or 

 even more, feet. In the upper part of its course the river 

 flows among low ranges of hills on the surface of the platform. 

 Below Jabalpur its valley forms a deep excavation in the ge- 

 neral level of the table-land of Central India, and is bounded 

 on both sides by rugged hills, which often hem in the river 

 pretty closely. The Satpura range on the south has a mean 

 elevation of about 1800 feet, and the Vindhia, on the north, 

 is only a very little more elevated ; at Jabalpur the elevation of 

 the bed of the river is 1450 feet, and at Mandlesir it is 700. 



To the north of the lower Nerbada is situated the basin of 



