1853-62.] CENTKAL TABLE-LAND : EIYE DISTRICTS. 223 



range from two yards to 30 or 40 feet deep. The dis- 

 trict of Cuddapah is very mountainous. The Black 

 Cotton soil commences at a short distance from Cudda- 

 pah, and runs westward on the east side of the Nulla- 

 malah range on through the Bellary district. The 

 plains are undulating and naturally well drained ; the 

 drainage empties itself into small rivers, which again 

 discharge themselves chiefly into the Paupugny and 

 the Pennar rivers. One of these small rivers, called the 

 Khoondoo, which is fed by the drainage from the Black 

 lands, is, in the hot weather, so brackish as to be unfit 

 for household purposes or irrigation. And in some 

 places the soil is so impregnated with salt that the lat- 

 ter can be obtained by gathering it off the surface of 

 the land. This salt is required for agricultural stock, 

 and cannot be dispensed with. In the river beds, a 

 species of slate containing Pyrites of iron is procured, 

 which is used both in building and flooring houses. 

 The height above the level of the sea may be stated to 

 range from 2000 to 2300 feet in this province. 



Climate. — " The climate in the hot weather is very 347 

 hot ; and the Black soil becoming thoroughly heated, 

 retains it until it is cooled down by the rains. Slight 

 showers may be generally expected in May, June, and 

 July, which enables the land to be ploughed, and in some 

 places sown ; but the chief rains fall in September and 

 October, when Jonna and Cotton seeds are sown ; the 

 former is cut in February and the latter gathered in 

 March and April. For the Indigenous Cotton, irriga- 

 tion is never used. A moderately dry season is the 

 most favourable for the plant. Supposing that the 

 land is thoroughly saturated with rain at the time of 

 sowing, and another heavy shower is received about 

 six weeks or two months later, it is sufficient to bring 

 the Cotton plant to maturity. Succeeding rains tend 

 to the growth of the plant, but to the decrease of the 

 produce. The Byots inform me that if the plants were 

 irrigated they would yield only one-fourth of the return 

 produced in a dry season. The average quantity of 

 rain in the provinces, where Black Cotton soil is chiefly 

 to be found, may be set down at Inches 22 914583, the 

 average of the last three years. 



