Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057345).pdf/149

 KHE 141 List of places with their elevation above the sea in the Kheri and neigh- bouring districts. Towas. Elevation, 40 21. Mau in Kheri Paila Bel Oel Gulrahapur op the Kathua Aliapur on the Gumti Gopalapur Machbrehta in Sitapur Khairabad ditto Padri in Kheri Bláwapur Saida puu Dhaurahra Bhíta Dhauralırs Isinagar Ojba Purwa Tambaur in Sitapur River Kauriála opposite Peánagar Mánjha on Kauriála Dear Mallápir Kauriála riper at Mallápor in Sitaptır 482 491 479 467 454 451 441 438 437 436 428 425 425 413 412 410 400 399 897 875 ... The character of the district varies much with the situation. It con- sists of a number of fairly elevated plateaus, separated by rivers flowing from the north-west, and each bordered by belts, more or less broad, of low alluvial land; there are no mountains or hills. Rivers.—The rivers are commencing from the east) the Kauriala, the Suheli, the Daháwar, the Chauka, the Ul, the Jamwári, the Kathna, the Gumti, and the Sukheta. North of the Ul the country is generally styled tarái and considered very unhealthy; but it would be a mistake to suppose that the whole is one vast expanse of low-lying ground covered with swamps and thickets. The fact is that the country is rather an elevated plateau, formerly probably the bottom of a lake, through which two huge rivers, the Kauriála and the Chauka, have for thousands of years been forcing their way. These two rivers change tlieir courses con- stantly, abandoning old channels and opening up now, consequently the whole surface is scamed with many abandoned river beds much below the level of the surrounding country. In these the vegetation is very dense, and the stagnant water breeds fevers all around; but they will in time be drained, as their level is much above that of the Kauriala. The people are forced to reside in the neighbourhood of these low grounds because the upper lands being covered with forest, would be more expensive to cultivate, and are less fertile. There are, for instance, in Kheri about 300 square miles of sál forest, which is never met with except on high ground. In the Dhaurahra, Srinagar, and Bhúr parganas also the rivers have occasionally eaten away north or south for years together, sweeping off the crumbling soil, and leaving behind them great expanses of alluvial bottom, gradually to be raised again by deposits; but, as a rule, it may be stated that north of the Ul, in Bhúr, Palia, Khairigarh, 19