INTRODUCTORY. II 



into much more destructive fish-eaters. This is very likely true, 

 and may possibly be one reason why I saw many fewer crocodiles in 

 the Tungabhadra than in the upper part of the Kistna and its other 

 tributaries. 



In the gorge of the Tungabhadra at Hampi I came upon a pair of 

 fresh-water turtle of very large size. They were probably examples 

 of Kachuga (Emys llincatd). 



The course of nearly all the tributary streams (a very few un- 

 important ones at the extreme western end of the district ex- 

 cepted) is northward. Of these various tributaries only two really 

 deserve the name of rivers : these are the Haggari (or Vedavatti) 

 and the Chikka (or Little) Haggari, the former of which flows 



through the centre of the district, while the 

 The Haggari river. 



latter, nearly 60 miles further west, bisects 



the western half of the same. Both rise in the Mysore territory. 



The Haggari, despite its great size and moderate fall (which, ac- 

 cording to General Fisher, R.E., averages six feet per mile), is in its 

 character very torrential ; it is nearly dry for a great part of the year, 

 but after heavy rains comes down in violent floods, which do much 

 harm to the wet cultivation on its banks. Such was the case in 1851 

 when, in consequence of a great rain-storm, it rose so high as to 

 destroy the town of Guliam (Gooleum) on its right bank and to do 

 great damage to sundry other villages and cause great loss of human 

 life. During the dry months the westerly winds carry much sand 

 out of the broad bed of the river, which generally dries up entirely, 



D1 , ., and pile it on the rirrht bank into dunes of some 



Blown sands on the " o 



right bank. s j ze> muc h to the detriment of the villages adjoin- 



ing. More than one village has been overwhelmed by the easterly 

 advance of these blown sands. Jiraganur, two miles north of the 

 Haggari station, South Mahratta Railway, is an example of the 

 destroying energy of the moving sands. 



Where the South Mahratta Railway croses the Haggari, a little 

 north of Peruma devanhalli, the river flows at an elevation of about 



( n ) 



