1337.] 



from Punah to Kittor* 



377 



tivation, if the round stones scattered over its surface were only re- 

 moved. The village of Lonud, on the east bank of the Nira, and only 

 a few miles distant, is surrounded by many fine fields well supplied 

 with the means of irrigation and producing abundance of vegetables. 

 The great defect in the agriculture of this part of the country is the 

 want of inclosures, which might be made at little expense, the prickly 

 euphorbium and nerium-leaved being found close at hand for this pur- 

 pose. Such inclosures, both here and in other parts of the Dekkan, 

 would be a great improvement, since they would defend the vegetation 

 against the strong north-east wind which blows nearly one half the 

 year, and, from its drying influence, robs the soil of its natural moisture 

 and deprives the plants of benefit from the dew. 



Beyond Lonud, we enter the Salpa pass, and come to the valley of 

 Satara. Here the soil is much richer than that previously met with, 

 being black and alluvial. It rests on a very deep substratum of grey 

 earth denominated chunkar, from its containing chuna, a calcarious 

 carbonate. 



A more plentiful supply of rain in this district had favoured the 

 crops, and the appearance of the country, from its verdure, was pleas- 

 ing to the eye. The hills, which were green to the tops and covered 

 with brushwood, offered an agreeable contrast to the bleak and barren 

 parts of the country just passed over. 



The situation of the village of Deour, in this valley, is romantic and 

 beautiful. It is built on the south-east bank of a deep nulla, which 

 forms a branch of the Wasna river, of which the banks are high and 

 earthy and the bed gravelly. The wild oleander grows in abundance 

 close to the water edge ; and, at the village, a variety of fine trees 

 rise in majestic grandeur and afford a desirable shade from the noon- 

 day heat of a tropical sun. The houses here are also better built than 

 those usually met with in this part of the Dekkan, and are neatly 

 roofed with flat tiles. The general direction of the streams flowing 

 through this valley is south; those previously met with being north. 



From Deour to Pusasaoli is two stages, and the road leads through 

 the Nahwi Ghat. The hills near the Ghat became broken, and the 

 country beyond Pusasaoli is flat, only one or two solitary hills being 

 visible for some distance. 



Pusasaoli, which is a large town, contains a good bazaar, and sup- 

 ports a manufactory of black kumlies* for the Satara market. 



The different kinds of soil known here are a dark brown one called 

 $i tambra," and a gravelly earth denominated " sherwul" or " karrak," 



* A sort of blanket 



