Sketches of the Meteorology^ $c. 



[Jul? 



Immediately to the east of the Gauts, the country continues hilly fo? 

 about thirty or forty miles ; the hills being covered with wood, which 

 becomes gradually thinner, and more stunted, towards the east. 

 Beyond this hilly tract, as far as the eastern frontier of the district, the 

 country consists of extensive plains, intersected in different places by 

 long narrow ranges of sandstone hills, with even summits. 



This particular configuration of the country, gives rise to striking 

 peculiarities in its climate; and, consequently, in the vegetable and 

 animal productions of its different parts. This circumstance renders it 

 susceptible of a very natural division into three distinct parts ; viz,, into 

 the western or hilly part, the plains which occupy all the central and 

 eastern parts of the district, and the ranges of sandstone hills, which 

 intersect these plains. 



The summits and western face of the gauts afford, in many places* 

 the most savage, and, at the same time, beautiful scenery. A bound- 

 less forest of gigantic trees, with the utmost variety of foliage, covers 

 the highest hills, and penetrates into the deepest recesses of the val- 

 leys. In some places, enormous masses of black rock, which appear 

 to have been rent from the neighbouring hills, rise high over the tops 

 of the w'oods, and form a fine contrast to the rich green of the surround- 

 ing foliage. Wherever the forest opens a little, so as to admit of the 

 growth of humbler plants, the ground is covered with the most luxu- 

 riant grasses, and flowers of the richest hues. The stillness of this 

 wilderness is only interrupted by the sleepy sound of a mountain 

 s^am, or occasionally by the harsh cry of some solitary birds, or the 

 loud ho\\^ w voice of a monkey. Animals are seldom met with; and 

 often on your j^mey, nothing is to be seen for hours but an endless 

 luxuriant vegetation. 



Some very beautiful wai^f a n s are me t with in the western gauts, 

 but many of these are completely cbwi up j n t h e hot season. There are 

 very fine falls in the gauts above Honooi, ^hich, for sublimity and 

 magnitude, will probably yield to few in the world. TW V have hitherto 

 been little known even to Europeans in India ; and it is, I believe^ 

 only within the last ten or twelve years that they have received a name. 

 They are situated on the river Shervutty, about fifteen miles up the 

 gauts, from the town of Garsipa. They are now known to Europeans 

 by the name of the Falls of Garsipa. I visited them in the month of 

 October 1825. 



The country in the neighbourhood of the Falls is extremely beauti- 

 ful, combining the mjaestic appearance of a tropical forest with the 

 softer Characters of an English park. Hill and dale are covered with 

 a soft green, which is finely contrasted with a dark forest, with nu- 

 merous clumps oi majestic trees, and thickets of acacias, the carunda, 

 and other flowering shiabs. 



Upon approaching the Falls, you emerge from a thick wood, and 



