Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 10.djvu/738

714   GOBY. The Gobics (Gobim) are small ﬁshes readily recognized by their ventrals (the ﬁns on the lower surface of the chest) being united into one ﬁn, forming a suctorial disk, by which these ﬁshes are enabled to attach themselves in every possible position to a rock or other ﬁrm substances.

They are essentially coast-fishes, inhabi- ting nearly all seas, but disappearing to- wards the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans. Many enter, or live exclusively in, such fresh waters as are at no great dis- tance from the sea. Between 200 and 300 different kinds are known.

 GOD. See.  GODALMING, a municipal borough and market-town of England, county of Surrey, is situated 32 miles 8.1V. of London, in a valley on the right bank of the “'ey, which is navigable thence to the Thames. It consists principally of one street nearly a mile in length, on the high road between London and Portsmouth. The chief public buildings are the town-hall and market-house, Wyat’s almshouses for poor men, the public hall, and the parish church, an old cruci- form building, of mixed architecture, but principally Early English and Perpendicular. The church was repaired in 1840, and also in 1867. It contains a large number of old memorials. Godalming has manufactures of paper, leather, parchment, and hosiery, and some trade in corn, malt, bark, hoops, and timber. The town obtained a market from Edward I. in, and was incorporated in. The population in 1871 was 2441.  GODÁVARI, a river of Central India, which ﬂows across the Deccan from the western to the Eastern Ghats, for sanctity, picturesque scenery, and utility surpassed only by the Gauges and the Indus. The total length is 898 miles ; the estimated area of drainage basin, 112,200 square miles. Its traditional source is on the side of a hill behind the village of Trimbak in Nasik district, Bombay, but according to popular legend it proceeds from the same ultimate source as the Ganges, though underground. Its course is generally south-easterly. After passing through Nasik district, it crosses into the dominions of the nizam of Hyderabad. When it again strikes British territory it is joined by the Pranhita, with its tributaries the Waraha, the l’enganga, and Wainganga. For some distance it ﬂows between the Nizz'un’s dominions and the upper Godfivari district, and receives the Indravati, the Sal, and the Sabari. The stream is now very imposing, with a channel varying from 1 to 2 miles in breadth, occasionally broken by alluvial islands. Parallel to the river stretch long ranges of hills; on the opposite side the country is more open and cultivated. Below the junction of the Sabari the scenery is such that the Godavari has got the name of the Indian Ithine. The channel here begins to contract. The ﬂanking hills gradu- ally close in on both sides, and the result is a magniﬁcent gorge only 200 yards wide through which the water ﬂows into the plain of the delta, about (30 miles from the sea. The head of the delta is at the village of Dhaulaishvaram, where the main stream is crossed by the irrigation anicut. The river has seven months, the largest being the Gautanii (iodavari. The Godavari is regarded as peculiarly sacred, and once every twelve years the great bathing festival called Pas/zl'aram is held on its banks. The upper waters of the (iodavari are scarcely utilized for irrigation, but the entire delta has been turned into a garden of perennial erops by means of the anicut at Dhau- laishvaram, from which three main canals are drawn oil'. The river channel here is 31, miles wide. The anicut is a substantial mass of stone, bedded in lime Cement, about miles long, 130 feet broad at the base, and 12 feet high. The stream is thus pent back so as to supply a volume of 3000 cubic feet of water per second during its low season, and 12,000 cubic feet at time of ﬂood. The canals have a total length of 528 miles, capable of irrigating 760,000 acres, while 463 miles are also used for navigation. In 1861 water-communication was opened between the river- systems of the Godavari and Kistna. Rocky barriers and rapids obstruct navigation in the upper portion of the Godavari. Attempts have been made to Construct canals round these barriers but with little success, and lately the undertaking has been entirely abandoned.  {{ti|1em|{{larger|GODÁVARI}}, a district of Madras presidency, British India, lying between 16; 15' and 17‘ 35' N. lat, and between 80’ 55' and 82’ 38' E. long; and bounded N. by the Central Provinces and Yizagapatam district, 1‘}. by Vizagapatam and the Bay of Bengal, S. by the Bay of Bengal and Kistna district, and W. by the Nizam’s dominions. The district is divided by the (hidavari river into two nearly equal parts. The scenery along the course of the river is varied and striking. The only lake of importance is the Koleru, which is studded with islands and ﬁshing villages. Building stone and limestone are abundant in the uplands. Iron is also found. The jungle products are myrobalans, soap-nuts, tamarinds, bamboo- rice, honey, and beeswax. Wild animals and game birds are numerous.}}

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