1837.] 



from Punah to Kittor. 



379 



than a foot in depth. It is divided into a better and worse kind, ac- 

 cording as the proportion of grey calcarious earth be more or less to 

 the quantity of stones and gravel. It commonly lets from a rupee and 

 a quarter to a rupee and a half, and is cultivated with different kinds of 

 oil plants. 



As we approach the banks of the Krishna, the country lies before us 

 one extensive plain to the south-east and north-west, whilst the ridges 

 of hills on the north and south are barely visible and at a distance. The 

 banks of the river, which are deep and shelving, are composed of black 

 earth with mixed sand. The greater part of the soil on the north or 

 left bank is of this description, but that on the right or south bank is 

 more gravelly. 



From the Krishna river at Yervoi, to the Ghatparba at Argul, the 

 country undulates, and presents here and there hilly ranges of broken 

 basalt. Some parts of it consist of extensive plains covered by a little 

 stunted grass, serving as pasture to numerous flocks of antelopes, where 

 only a few patches of scanty cultivation may be seen about the vil- 

 lages, and nothing can be expected in the way of improvement when 

 the poorness of the soil, and the want of water, are inseparable ob- 

 stacles to all attempts at cultivation. 



On the banks of the Ghatparba the hills of Padshapur became dis- 

 tinctly visible, and have a beautiful green appearance from being co- 

 vered by thick jungle to the top, announcing at once the great differ- 

 ence of the country we have now approached from that we have left 

 behind. 



The greatest length of the hills appears to be from east to west, but 

 the fine valleys, surrounded by them, open to the north and south. It 

 is in this direction, also, that the Ghatparba flows to form the falls of 

 Gokauk, which will be noticed after having described the appearance 

 of the country through which our route lay. The valleys between the 

 hills are very fertile and highly cultivated. Many of the fields have 

 been reclaimed from a state of jungle waste by cutting down and burn- 

 ing the brushwood ; and much more in this way remains to be done, 

 but can only be performed by those who have capital, and to whom, 

 therefore, liberal encou ragements should be held out. The soil is light 

 and gravelly, but capable of producing rich crops ofsealu and tur.* 



Near Belgaum the country again becomes undulating, and the 

 low sloping hills which here diversify the landscape, are covered by a 

 deep stratum of black earth to within a few yards of their summits. 



* Citysus cajan. 



