502 SPHINGIDJE. 



running westwards towards the coast, and in some places 

 reaching the sea. 



The average rainfall on the coast varies from about 200 inches 

 in the south to 120 inches at Karwar. On the crest of the 

 Ghats it may reach 360 inches, and has, in extremely wet 

 years, been known to approach 500 inches, and it then 

 diminishes rapidly eastwards. Even ten miles may show 

 a decline to 50 inches in a year, and in the extreme east it may 

 fall to 20 or 30 inches. The months of monsoon, or heavy 

 rain, are from June to October. 



Thunderstorms come in April and May, and small falls 

 may occur in any month during what is called the " fair 

 season." The average temperature on the coast is about 

 78° Fahrenheit, the highest rarely exceeds 90° and the lowest 

 is in the vicinity of 60°, though it occasionally sinks to 55°. 

 Above the Ghats on the eastern confines the average would 

 be about 70°, the maximum rarely reaching over 100°, the 

 minimum in the cold weather (December-January) being 

 about 50° at nights. We once, during a residence of forty 

 years, experienced as low a temperature as 46° in the jungles 

 on the Ghats, but this is very rare ; further inland, in the 

 open country, it has been known to go down to 40° with hoar- 

 frost. 



The main rocks in the District are granite and laterite, the 

 latter covering the flat parts and tops of plateaux. Granite 

 appears along the hill -tops in large masses, sometimes taking 

 the form of great piled boulders, and occurs as outcrops and 

 isolated blocks upon many hill-sides. Large granite boulders 

 also occur along the sea-shore on the tops and round the 

 bases of the spurs, but the flat parts here are also formed of 

 laterite, which may end in low cliffs round coves and inlets. 

 The beds of the rivers are of basalt, black and polished often 

 by the action of the water until its surface resembles glass 

 for smoothness. On the slopes of the river- valleys there are 

 occasionally found great dyke-like masses of sandstone 

 and talc-schists, flint and other rocks. In only one place 

 do we find limestone ; it forms a peculiarly weathered mass 

 of turrets and spires, resembling a giant cathedral, in the middle 

 of the jungles, quite isolated from any related formation. 



More than 75 per cent, of the District is forest, and the chief 

 timber -tree is teak (Tectona grandis Linn.). The cultivated 

 fields are under rice, and hardly any other grain is grown. 

 In favoured spots there is some sugar-cane. The areca-nut 

 palm (betel-nut) is extensively grown in the damp valleys 

 of the evergreen forests, chiefly in the south, and these 

 plantations (called " garden-lands ") are one of the main 

 characteristics of the country. Spices are cultivated under 

 the shade of the palms, the commonest being Cardamum. 



