183 



Sketches of the Meteorolog?/, fyc. 



[July 



among its waters, and snapped the rope. The stone at this time ap- 

 peared to be about 200 feet from a small ledge of rock, which might 

 be between 200 and 300 feet from the bottom. It is not improbable, 

 therefore, that the height of the fall is not much short of 1,000 feet. 



We shall now return to the description of the Darwar district. It 

 has been stated above, that it may be divided into three parts, viz. 

 the western or hilly parts ; the great plains in the central and eastern 

 parts of the district ; and the sandstone hills which intersect these 

 plains. 



The boundary between the plains and hilly tract is very irregular. 

 Proceeding from the east, a few insulated low ranges are first met 

 with, having a general direction of north-west and south-east. The 

 hills continue in parallel ranges with the same direction, for many 

 miles to the westward. But when within six or eight miles of the 

 summit of the gauts, the scenery assumes a more irregular character, 

 the hills being heaped more together, with steeper sides, and more ir- 

 regular forms. The rugged and wild features of mountainous scenery 

 are no where met with ; for the hills are generally somewhat rounded,, 

 are softened with a rich vegetation, and resemble, in their general 

 character, the hills of Cumberland, or those between Geneva and 

 Lyons. 



The second division, or the plains in the central and eastern part,? 

 of the district, are precisely similar to the extensive plains of cotton 

 ground met with in every part of India. They are almost entirely in 

 a state of cultivation. During the rainy and cold seasons they are co- 

 vered with luxuriant crops. The regularity in which these are planted; 

 the great variety of colours produced by the numerous kinds of grains, 

 pulses, oil and cotton plants, and the great extent over which they are 

 spread, afford an appearance of riches and prosperity. In the hot 

 months the scene is entirely changed ; you then look around on the 

 arid plain, whose deep black soil is every where intersected by wide 

 fissures. Not a patch of verdure, not a tree or shurb, is to be seen. 

 Clouds of dust are swept along by the parching wind, or huge pillars of 

 it, raised up by whirlwinds to the height of a hundred feet, are seen 

 stalking across the plain ; or (if the atmosphere be calm) fixed for a 

 length of time to one spot. This cheerless view is only terminated at 

 a distance by aline of sandstone hills, whose even summits give them 

 the appearance of a great wall. The sun, now nearly vertical, produces 

 a painful glare, and every living thing is overcome by the oppressive 

 heat, not even the hum of an insect being heard. 



The sandstone tract occupies all the northern parts of the district. 

 It commences to the east of Gudjunderghur ; whence it extends north 

 to the Kistnah. Its southern boundary runs from Gudjunderghur 

 through Julleal and Konoor to Pursghur; whence this tract extends, 

 with some interruptions, north to the JCisinab, and north-west to 



