Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/98

 90 PUNJAUB and crosses the Indus, beyond which it is known as the Kalabagh and extends to the Suleiman or Solyman mountains in Afghan- istan. The general aspect of the districts of the Punjaub N. of the Salt range is hilly and even mountainous. The elevation of the great plain at the foot of the mountains, however, is only about 1,000 ft., and thence the surface slopes gradually southward, diversified by scarcely an eminence, until it is little more than 200 ft. above the level of the sea in the southern part of the province, where the coun- try is for the most part an absolute desert. The plain is divided into five extensive doabs, as the natives term the spaces enclosed between the convergent rivers. Enumerated from W. to E., these doabs are : 1, the Sindh Sagur doab, the largest of all, between the Indus on the west and the Jhylum, Chenaub, and Punj- nud on the east; 2, the Jetch, between the Jhylum and the Chenaub; 3, the Richna, between the Chenaub and the Ravee ; 4, the Baree, which is the most densely populated and prosperous, between the Ravee and Chenaub and the Ghara ; and 5, the Jalandhar, between the Beas and the Sutlej. Fertility is diffused over the narrow plain along the base of the Himalaya range by the six rivers which there first enter upon it, and the abundant rainfall of not less than 40 inches in the year to which it is subject. Here artificial irrigation is need- less. In the northern dry zone, a strip of country below this, from 100 to 200 m. broad, and where the annual supply of rain is be- tween 15 and 30 inches, the rivers have worn down their valleys to a level from 10 to 50 ft. lower than the general surface of the plain. The width of these valleys varies from 4 to 10 m., and they contain the fertile tracts of this portion of the province, called Khadar lands. Their borders are the loftier sterile expanses of the plateau, known as Bangar lands and forming the doabs. These are largely over- grown with grass and brushwood, and though they are fertile, cultivation is dependent upon an artificial supply of water. Near the con- fluence of the rivers the Khadar lowlands ex- tend from stream to stream and the high tracts disappear ; but the aridity of the climate in this region is such that the rivers alone do not suffice to maintain the productiveness even of their valleys, and without artificial irrigation the adjacent country would be a mere waste. Frequent changes occur in the course of each of the great rivers of the Punjaub, and from October, when the Indus is lowest, until spring- time, its capacious bed is occupied by a num- ber of shallow watercourses hardly navigable. In the plains the periodical rise of the river begins in February, when the melted snows of the Himalaya begin to come down, and its volume increases till July, when the river is in full flood. Three kinds of irrigation are practised in the Punjaub. In the Himalayan districts and elsewhere in the north, where water is less than 25 ft. from the surface, the supply for agricultural and horticultural pur- poses is obtained from wells. A system of irrigation through inundation canals, whereby the water is conducted from the rivers when they are highest, is applied in the comparative- ly rainless districts wherever the land is low enough. The inundation system comprises the canals of the lower Sutlej and Chenaub divi- sion, 39 in number and 632 m. in length, which water the garden-like district of Mooltan ; the upper Sutlei canals above Mooltan, 213 m. long ; and the Indus canals, of which 600 m. are in the district of Derajat on the right bank of the river, and 66 m. in Mozufergurh on the left. The inundation system, however, was not applicable to the higher lands of the doabs, which require perennial canals to make their natural fertility available. This want has been supplied only to the upper portion of the Baree doab, which is traversed by a canal from the Ravee at Madhopoor, where that river leaves the Himalaya, extending in three branches to Lahore, Kussoor, and So- braon. In 1872-'3 the main channel of this state canal was 212 m. long, with 692 m. of distributaries, watering 228,796 acres. All the canals are managed by the government irriga- tion department. The climate of the plains is dry and exceedingly warm. In the colder sea- son the midday temperature is seldom below 70 F., and not infrequently 80, while in sum- mer it sometimes rises to 112 in the shade. In the higher northern districts the climate is proportionately cooler. The flora of the prov- ince is not abundant or varied. Characteris- tic forms of vegetation are acacias, tamarisks, a tree-like caper without leaves, the jujube, and a species of wild palm. There is a great deficiency of timber. The government leases and manages the deodar forests in the native tributary states of the Trans-Sutlej highlands, where this valuable tree grows only at a height of from 5,000 to 9,000 ft. The valleys of all the principal rivers also contain forests of deo- dar. The Indus is bordered by babul forests in the arid districts of the south near Sinde. In the doabs of the dry region are tracts of wood and jungle called rakhs, from which con- siderable fuel is obtained, and the management of which, to the extent of about 8,000 sq. m., has recently been undertaken by the forest department. The collection of waif and drift timber on the rivers is regulated by law. In 1872-'3 the receipts from the government for- ests were but 65,800, against an expenditure of 79,594 upon them. Earnest efforts are being made to promote the growth of forest trees, and the forest administration has estab- lished several tree plantations, one of them on the Bari doab canal covering 7,200 acres. Fruit is grown in the vicinity of the towns and villages, the mangoes, oranges, and pome- granates of Mooltan being especially noted for their excellent quality ; almonds, figs, mulber- ries, dates, apricots, peaches, apples, quinces, and melons are also raised. At Lahore there