Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057345).pdf/15

 HAR 7 varies from 437 feet at Hardoi to 420 feet when it crosses the railway between Sandíla and Hardoi. Beyond this plain the country again rises, forming the watershed between the Sai and Garra with other tributaries of the Ganges; proceeding west the elevation reaches 480 feet between Hardoi and Sandi, and sinks to about 470 between Mádhoganj and Mallánwán. The main portion of the district is then the valley of the Sai river: a valley, however, whose slopes are almost imperceptible in places, For instance, Hardoi the headquarters, two miles from the Sai, is only two feet above it. Beyond the river Garra the valley of the Ganges is met; the elevation is low, the Ganges itself being only 396 feet above the sea opposite Sándi. The drainage follows the levels above indicated. The rivers Garra and Rámganga were probably much larger formerly than they are now, a portion of the waters of the Ganges having probably iu former times passed down their channels. As remarked concerning the Chauka, the general tendency of the Himalayan rivers has bee to abandon lateral channels and concentrate their volume in the central and most depressed one. Many think that the main channel of the Ganges was formerly that of the present Garra, but this is, I think, impossible, there having been no recent changes of vote in the river-bed. The general aspect of the country, except towards the Ganges, is hardly so pleasing as in the rest of Oudh. There are fewer groves, and more hard grey plains. Towards the Ganges, near Sándi and Bilgram, the land is more uneven, and often rises into hillocks of sand cultivated at the basis, but the summits of pure white silica rippled all over with every eddy of wind. These elevations are often obscured with whirling drifts of sand-like clouds on the tops, while the atmosphere below is quite clear. Generally these bills are covered with the lofty múnj grass, whose stalks are twelve feet high, and topped with huge plumes of Hossy filaments; in some places this grass forms hedges for the fields in wbich scanty crops of barley are raised, but on the sand hills above Gopamau and Sándi the arid soil raises nothing else. The gigantic tufts of reed-like grass are a most graceful feature in the landscape; they cover with their swaying plumes the numerous sandy knolls which some great river or lake has left behind, and if any one, mounted on an elephant, surveys the scene from the highest point, it is one of strange and weird beauty as far as the eye can reach. When they are very thick they resist the wind, which only dimples the serried mass; at other places the reeds bend their silky glories to the earth in great swathes, and toss them about in every gust till they present the appearance of waves in a chopping sea. These sand hills and their grassy brakes aze the haunt of herds of deer, besides sand grouse and pigeons. Soil and subterranean formations.—The soil of Hardoi is lighter than that of perhaps any other district, twenty-seven per cent. being sand, fifty- six per cent. loam, and seventeen per cent. clay. So much for the surface soil. As for the subterranean formations, a section* along the railway cat- ting for sixty-five miles through this district has been obtained in the pro- cess of sinking wells. It reveals most interesting facts. Everywhere grey, Furnished by VI. A H. Harington, C.8., Assistant Commissioner,