Page:A Comprehensive History of India Vol 1.djvu/40

 6 HISTORY OF INDIA.

land, which in ni;iii> parts, almost efjuals it in li<;ight, its slope is always gradual, and occasionally imperceptible. On both sides it is clothed with iiuig- nificent timbei-, and displays much grand scenery. i:a.<!terii "jj^g Eastem Ghauts is a less elevated and tfimer ran^je. Its loftiest summits

Ohauts. '^

are not above 3000 feet, and its distance from the sea Is so considerable that the descent is seldom abrupt. In its course sfjutliwards, instead of being con- tinued to the extremity, it stops about midway, and turning gra^lually srjuth-we.st, meets with a transverse range called the Neilgiieiry Hills, which have summits exceeding 7000 feet, and by which it becomes linked with the Western Ghauts. oeccan ^^ ^^^^^ Way a ncw triangle, with sides composed of mountain range.s, is formed table ir,id. ^yi^j^jj^ j^^^^ Qf ^q Dcccau, and incloses an elevated table-land, which has a gradual but continuous slope eastward from the Western Ghauts to the sea. In accordance with this slope, all the rivers of any magnitude — the Mahanuddy, the Godavery, the Krishna, the Pennar, the Pelar, and the Coleroon or Cavery, carry the drainage to the Bay of Bengal. This table-land cannot h>oast the fertility of the basin of the Ganges, because, while it is expo.sed to a more scorching heat, it has no streams fed by pei-petual snow. The torrents of rain, however, which periodically descend on the Western Ghauts, compensate in some degree for this defect, and provide the means of a system of irrigation, which, carried on by collecting the supei-fluous water in immense tanks during the rainy season, at one time made many parts of the Deccan proverbial f<jr beauty and productiveness. Unfortunately, in too many districts of the countr}', and more especially in those where native misrule still continues, many of these tanks are in ruins, and sterility has returned. Geology. The geology of India has not been fully investigated, but what is known

seems to show that its leading features are less complicated than those of mo.st other countries. All the great mountain ranges are composed of the rocks usually classified as granitic. In the stupendous heights of the Himalaya gneiss is particularly predominant, and is associated with mica schist, horn- blende-schist, chloride-slate, and primitive limestone. In the chains of the penin- sula the same rocks prevail — granite in the south-west and south, and sienite in the south-east, covering a considerable portion of the surface, and composing some of the highest peaks. One great exception to this predominance of gi'anite and its accompanj'ing schists is in the southern portion of the Western Ghauts, where these rocks disappear beneath the surface, and are overlaid by a peculiar species of iron clay, which, from its being so soft where it lies as to be easily cut by the spade, and hardening on exposure to the air so as to be fit for building, has received the name of laterite or brick-stone. This mineral, instead of being a mere local deposit, almost assumes the dignity of a distinct formation, continu- ing with little interruption to the extremity of the continent, and even re- appearing beyond it in the Island of Ceylon. . Another great exception to the predominance of granitic rocks is in the