INTRODUCTOKY ESSAY. 149 



50 inches. The cold season is delightful, and the hot season 

 much more temperate than in the Dekhan, from the more 

 northerly position and the greater humidity, as well as from 

 the elevation of the table-land. Hot winds seldom blow, as 

 the south-westerly wind sets in long before the commencement 

 of the rainy season. 



The valley of the Nerbada, being much below the average 

 elevation of the table-land, is hotter and more humid than the 

 latter. In many places it is well cultivated, but a great part 

 is hilly, the spurs of the bounding ranges approaching close 

 to the river, which is so much interrupted by rapids as to 

 be scarcely navigable. The low hills are usually covered with 

 bush-jungle, and the slopes of the more elevated ranges are 

 clothed with much dense forest. 



The flora of Malwah is scarcely known. The forests of the 

 valley of the Nerbada may be expected to present a consider- 

 able amount of variety, but the climate and physical features 

 do not differ suificiently from those of Khandesh on the one 

 band and of Bahar on the other, to lead us to expect much 

 novelty. Grifl&th has described a few remarkable new forms 

 in a paper in the Joui-nal of the Asiatic Society. 



13. GUJEKAT. 



The province of Gujerat separates readily into three divi- 

 sions, which are very distinct in physical features. These 

 are — 1. The peninsula of Katiwar ; 2. The alluvial plain along 

 the Gulf of Cambay, from the Tapti to the Gulf of Kach ; 

 3. The lower slopes of the Vindhia, where they dip into the 

 plains. 



Katiwar is a mountainous district traversed by two parallel 

 ranges of hills, running east and west, which seem to be con- 

 nected by a north and south axis corresponding in direction, 

 as has been already observed, with the Arawali range. These 

 hills, which rise into peaks about 3000 or 3500 feet in height, 

 make the southern part of the peninsula much more humid 

 than the northern, which participates in the climate of Sindh. 



