INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 156 



close to the crest of the range, have an elevation of about 

 2000 feet, and are surrounded by hills, the highest of which 

 are about 1000 feet higher. Abu, on a spur to the east of the 

 watershed, is said to attain 4500 feet. 



Another range of hills, connected with the Arawali to the 

 south of Udepur, passes by TSfimach, and runs parallel with and 

 west of the Chambal, as far as its junction with the Banas. 

 The elevation of Nimach is 1476 feet, and as the surrounding 

 hills are very low, they are perhaps not much higher than 

 2000 feet. The level of the country gradually sinks towards 

 the north-east. The elevation of Agra above the sea is 670 

 feet, and the junction of the Jumna and Chambal is a few feet 

 lower. 



Rajwara is on the whole a barren province, a great part of 

 it being hilly and unimprovable, but the valleys are occasion- 

 ally rich and very fertile. The climate is drier than that of 

 Malwah, and becomes very arid in the northern parts. On 

 the western slopes of the Arawali hills there is a considerable 

 rain-fall dui'ing the south-west monsoon, but the whole coun- 

 try to the eastward is sheltered by that range from the effects 

 of the monsoon, so that the average rain-fall at Agra is only 

 19 or 20 inches. The plain of Marwar is even more arid, and 

 the desert which stretches towards the Indus is as dry and 

 sterile as the worst parts of Sindh. The mean temperature of 

 Rajwara is higher than might have been anticipated from its 

 elevation and latitude. At Ajmir and Nasirabad it is 76°. 



The vegetation of Rajwara is not known in detail, but it 

 probably differs little from that of the Dekhan and upper 

 Gangetic valley. The forest-clad slopes of the Arawali range 

 are so dry for nine months of the year, that only those trees 

 which are tolerant of great dryness can grow there. They 

 may therefore be expected to present a vegetation similar to 

 that of the hills of Gujerat, or the western and drier Hima- 

 laya, where the climate is similar. The summit of Abu, 

 like that of Parasnath, produces some epiphytical Orchidea 

 and other humid types, but their number is no doubt incon- 



