8. Kandeish.. 9. Aurungabad Nagpoor Raj. Beng. Pres. The Nizam. Bombay Presid. Holkar. ..Bombay Presid. Nizam. 10. Bejapoor (or Visia-{ Bombay Presid. Sattarah and Kolapoor Rajahs. poor) IV. THE PENINSULA, OR INDIA S. OF THE KRISHNA. 1. Balaghaut (or Karnata). Madras Presidency. The principal geological features of this extensive region are, the stupendous Himalayan range, the snowy mountains which divide India from Tibet; the vast Gangetic plain; the great sandy desert of the Indus; the Solimaun range which bounds the basin of the Indus on the west; the elevated table-land above the Ghauts; the Vindhyan mountains, which enclose the valley of the Nerbuddah; and the various groupes which bear the name of the eastern, western, and southern Ghauts; the latter, the Malayala range, terminating at Cape Comorin. The composition and character of these different systems of mountains and rivers, will be more particularly described in our topographical view of the respective grand divisions of the country. With the exception of Cape Comorin at its southern extremity, and Diu Head, the southern point of Gujerat, India has no great promontories; and the only bendings of the coast which merit the name of gulfs, are the bay of Cutch and that of Cambay, which give a peninsular form to the province of Gujerat. The western coast of the Deccan, although indented by numerous creeks, roadsteads, and mouths of rivers, has, on the whole, one uniform direction. From Cape Comorin to the coast of Bengal, there is not a single natural harbour, and the roads are encumbered with sand-banks. Merchant vessels are obliged to ride at a distance of a mile and a half from shore, and ships of war at two miles. So gradual is the declivity of the bottom, that the depth, at twenty miles from land, does not exceed fifty fathoms. There are few seacoasts, of such extent, so destitute of islands. Exclusive of emerged sand-banks and mere rocks, Ceylon may be said to be the only one. The Laccadives (Laksha-dwipa, or hundred-thousand isles) and Maldives (Malaya-dwipa, Malay islands) run in a chain, about 75 miles off the Malabar-coast, from lat. 12° to the line: they are, for the most part, unproductive and of little value, and many of them are barren rocks. THE INDUS. "THE glory of Hindoostan," it has been remarked, consists in its noble rivers; and in this respect, the country presents a remarkable contrast to Persia, the neighbouring kingdom on the west; but the IndoChinese countries (or what has been improperly called the Ultra-Gangetic peninsula) are still more highly favoured. The Indus, the first river, beginning from the west, is one of the largest in the world. It is supposed to have its source in the northern declivity of the Cailas branch of the Himalaya mountains, about lat. 31° 30′ N., and long. 80° 30′ E., within a few miles of the sources of the Sutlej. After flowing for 400 miles in a N.N.W. direction, it bends towards the S.W., and at Draus, in Little Tibet (in lat. 35° 55', long. 76° 48′), receives a large branch called the Lahdauk river. It then pursues its solitary course for above 200 miles, through a rugged and mountainous country, to Mullay, where it receives the Abasseen; after which, penetrating the highest range of the Hindoo Coosh mountains, it passes for fifty miles through the lower parallel ranges, to Torbaila, where it enters the valley of Chuch, spreading and forming. innumerable islands. About forty miles lower down, near the fort of Attok, in lat. 33° 15', it receives the Caubul river from the west ;* and soon after rushes "I give that name," (the Caubul river,) says Mr. Elphinstone," in conformity to former usage, to a river formed by different streams uniting to the east of Caubul. Two of the most considerable come from Hindoo Coosh, through Ghorebund and Punjsheer, and derive their names from those districts. They join to the N.E. of Caubul, and pursue a south-easterly course till they reach Baureekaub. A stream little inferior to those just mentioned, comes from the west of Ghuznee, and is joined, to the E. of Caubul, by a rivulet which rises in the Paropamisan mountains, in the hill called Cohee Baba. This rivulet alone passes through Caubul, and may be said to have given its name to the whole river. All the streams I have mentioned, unite at Baureekaub, and form the river of Caubul, which flows rapidly to the East, increased by all the brooks from the hills on each side. It receives the river of through a narrow opening into the midst of the branches of the Solimaun chain of mountains. Its stream is here exceedingly turbulent. Even when the water is lowest, the conflux of these rivers is attended by waves and eddies, with a sound like the sea. But when they are swelled by the melting of the snows, a tremendous whirlpool is created, the noise of which is heard at a great distance. Here, boats are frequently swallowed up or dashed to pieces against the rocks, which superstition has invested with legendary terrors. At the town of Attok, (where properly it may be said to enter India,) the Indus, after having been widely spread over a plain, is contracted to the breadth of about 300 yards, becoming proportionally deep and rapid. When its floods are highest, it rises to the top of a bastion about 37 feet in height. It becomes still narrower where it enters the hills ; and at Neelaub, fifteen miles below Attok, it is said to be not more than a stone's throw across, but extremely rapid. From Neelaub, it winds among bare hills to Karabaugh (incorrectly written Calabag), in lat. 33° 7' 39", passing through the Salt range in a deep, clear, and tranquil stream, and thence pursuing a southerly course towards the ocean without any further interruption or confinement from hills. It enters the rich valley of the Esa-khels in four great channels, which repeatedly Kaushkaur" (Kashgar river)" at Kaumeh, near Jellalabad," (whence it is sometimes called the Kama,)" and thence runs east, breaks through the inner branches of Hindoo Coosh, and forms numerous rapids and whirlpools. After entering the plain of Peshawer, the Caubul river loses a good deal of its violence, but is still rapid. It breaks into different branches, which join again after they have received a river formed by two streams which come from the valleys of Punjcora and Swaut; and having now collected all its waters, it enters the Indus a little above Attok. The Caubul river is very inferior to the Indus, being fordable in many places in the dry weather."-ELPHINSTONE'S Caubul, vol. pp. 183-5. meet and again separate, but are seldom found united in one stream. At Kaheeree Ghaut, in lat. 31° 28', the main channel, when at the lowest (in January), is only about 1000 yards in breadth and twelve feet in depth; but several large branches run parallel to it. The bed of the river here is sand, with a small quantity of mud. The flat country and the islands, which are overflowed in the hot season, are an exceedingly rich black alluvial soil, well cultivated in many places, and in others overgrown with high jungle. Below Attok, the Indus receives no stream deserving the name of a river, from the west, till it is joined, at Kaggulwalla, by the Kourum, from the Solimaun mountains. The only considerable tributary south of this, is the Gomul, the waters of which, being exhausted by irrigation in the northern part of Damaun, never reach the Indus except when swelled by rains. Two smaller streams, the Choudwa and the Wukwa, then also pay their tribute to this majestic river. On the eastern side, the Indus is joined, at Mittandakote, by the five rivers of the Punjaub, united in one immense stream called the Punjnood. For seventy miles above this junction, the two streams run nearly parallel; and at Ooch, which is fifty miles up, the distance between them is not more than ten miles. In July and August, the whole of the intermediate country is under water; and the villages, with few exceptions, are only temporary erections. The whole of the country to Hyderabad, the capital of Sinde, is of a similar description. On the left bank are some considerable towns and numerous villages, with canals of irrigation leading to them from the river. In this part of its course, the Indus frequently eats away its banks, and gradually shifts its course. Although it divides into several channels as it approaches the sea, |