180 ON ORTSSA PROPER 



The only limestones of the province, are the calcareous nodnles which oc- 

 cur abundantly in beds and nests, both within the hills and in the open 

 country adjoining them, consisting of a ball of tolerably pure limestone 

 enveloped in a yellowish coating of indurated marL 



The hill estates vary much in the proportion of arable land which they 

 contain, but, in most, a considerable quantity of rice is grown, and a few of 

 the rubbee grains. In patches of jungle which have been recently cleared, 

 and on the slopes of some of the minor hills, the Jo war and Bajera and the 

 Mandia or Raggee (Eleusine Corocana) thrive with great luxuriance. Mo- 

 herbenj, Beramba, Dhenkanal, and Keonjher, grow a small quantity of In- 

 digo, and on the latter estate the Poppy even is cultivated. Keonjher dur- 

 ing the late expedition against the Coles, was found to be for nearly one 

 hundred miles, an open cultivated country only occasionally interrupted 

 by ridges of hills and patches of jungle. Generally speaking, however, the 

 land fit for tillage bears a very trifling proportion to the vast extent of 

 rocks, hills, beds of torrents, and forests which occupy this region. 



The woods of the interior produce abundance of fine timber, as the Sal, 

 Piyasal (Buchanania Latifolia), Gamhar (Gmelina Arborea), &c. and, more 

 rarely, the Sisu (Dalbergia Sissoo). A few teak trees are found in Des- 

 palla, but that valuable timber does not form forests nearer than the banks 

 of the Tel Nadi which flows into the Mahanadi at Sonepur. The Sal 

 trees of Angol, Dhenkanal, and Moherbenj, are particularly sought af- 

 ter from their size. They are said to form forests of great depth and grandeur, 

 throughout a large proportion of the latter estate. Good Oranges and Man- 

 gos are produced in many of the hill estates.* The Mango tree occurs 

 frequently both solitary and in groves, in situations where it is obviously 

 growing wild, and the natives- are fond of ascribing the existence of this 



* I am not aware upon what authority Mr. Hamilton has stated that the Orange dove is found 

 in the Cuttack hills and the tree called Janool, [Query, Jarool, the beautiful Lagerstrcemia Flos Ke- 

 ginaj], commonly on the sea shore. 



