936 



INDIA, OR HINDOSTAN. 



gin of the valleys above mentioned, separating them from the great plain of the Ganges. The 

 Deccan or Peninsula which lies to the south of that plain, is traversed by several chains of in- 

 ferior elevation. The Western Ghauts extend for several hundred miles along the western 

 shore, and in some places are supposed to reach the height of 10,000 feet. The Eastern 

 Ghauts, rising behind the eastern coast, are of a less lofty and rugged description than the pre- 

 ceding. Along the northern border of the Deccan, stretches a chain called the Berar Moun- 

 tains ; and in the south, the Jfilgherry JMountains connect the Eastern and Western Ghauts. 



3. Rivers. The Ganges, the principal river of India, rises on the southern declivity of the 

 northern or principal chain of the Himala Mountains, and after a course of 800 miles, issues 

 from the lower range of mountains into the open country. Hence this great river, which the 

 Hindoos hold in religious veneration, believing that its waters have a virtue which will purify them 

 from every transgression, flows through delightful plains, with a smooth, navigable stream from 1 

 to 3 miles wide, toward the Bay of Bengal, into which it runs by 2 large, and a multitude of smaller 

 channels, that form and intersect a large, triangular island, the base of which, at the sea, is near 

 200 miles in extent. The whole navigable course of this river, from its entrance into the plain to 

 the sea, extending with its windings above 1,300 miles, is now possessed by the British, their 

 allies, and tributaries. The western branch, called the Little Ganges, or river of Hoogly, is 

 navigable for large ships. The Ganges receives 1 1 rivers, some of which are equal to the 

 Rhine, and none inferior to the Thames ; the principal tributary is the Jumna, which has a 

 course of 800 miles. The inundations of the Ganges are watched with great interest by the na- 

 tives ; they take place in July and August, and are caused in part by the rains and melting of snows 

 in the upper part of its course, and in part by the rain which falls in the plain. By the end of 

 July, all the lower parts of Bengal contiguous to the Ganges are overflowed, and form a lake 

 of more than 100 miles in breadth. The Brahmapootra or Burrampootra is supposed to rise 

 in the mountains to the east of Assam, and it joins the eastern branch of the Ganges ; the sources 

 are as yet unexplored. 



The Indus or Sind rises on the northern declivity of the Himala Mountains, in Little Tibet, 

 and after taking a northerly direction for a considerable distance, it breaks through the moun- 

 tains, and flows south into the Arabian Sea. Its length is 1,700 miles, and it discharges its 

 waters by a single mouth, but sends off a large branch to the Gulf of Cutch. Its principal tri- 

 butary is the Punjab, formed by the confluence of 5 rivers, of which the Sutlege, with a course 

 of 900 miles, and Jylum, 750 miles in length, are the chief. In Southern Hindostan, the 

 principal rivers are the J^erhudda, which forms the northern boundary of the Deccan, and flows 

 into the Gulf of Cainbay, after a course of 750 miles ; the Godaveri, which rises in the West- 

 ern Ghauts, and runs into the Bay of Bengal, through a distance of 850 miles ; and the Krish- 

 na, 700 miles in length, and Cavery, 400, running into the same bay. 



4. Surface. The northern part is mountainous and rugged ; but between the parallel ridges 

 of the Himala Mountains extends the beautiful girdle of Bootan, Nepaul, Serinagore, and Cash- 

 mere, comprising a series of charming valleys and plains, at the height of from 4,000 to 7,000 

 feet. The valley of the Ganges, comprising the main body of India, is composed of a great 

 plain of matchless fertility, extending from the Brahmapootra to the great desert, which divides 

 the sources of the .Jumna from the tributaries of the Indus, and from the mountains of the north 

 to the high lands of central India ; it is 1,200 miles long, and from 300 to 400 broad, and forms 

 a continuous level of exhaustless richness, over which majestic rivers diffuse themselves with a 

 slow and almost insensible course. Westward of this plain, stretches the elevated desert oi 

 Ajmere, of moving sand, extending 600 miles from north to south, and 300 from east to west, 

 and bearing in some parts coarse grass or prickly shrubs, and interspersed with some productive 

 tracts. West of this, is the rich plain of the Punjab, in which the 5 tributaries of the Indus re- 

 produce the luxuriant fertility of the Gangetic plain. Around the Nerbudda is the table-land 

 of Central India, comprising Malwa, Candeish, and Gundwana, having an elevation of from 

 1,200 to 2,000 feet. Further south, lies the table-land of the Deccan, which is from 1,500 to 

 3,000 feet high. Below this, on the east and west, the coast sinks down to a flat, low 

 country. 



5. Climate. The varying degrees of elevation produce here the same changes in regard to 

 temperature, that arise in some regions from great difierences of position upon the earth's sur- 

 face. The littoral plains and the high table-lands of the Deccan, the flat lands of the Ganges, 

 and the mountainous regions of the north, present striking contrasts. The vast plains exhibit 

 the double harvests, the luxuriant foliage, and even the burning deserts of the torrid zone ; the 



