Page:The Imperial Gazetteer of India - Volume 2 (2nd edition).pdf/241

 BELGAUM. The

revenue (gross) ;^i79,37o.

total

231

lands of the District are greatly

interlaced with those of the neighbouring Native States,

and within the

District are large tracts of native territory.

Physical Aspects

.

—The

country forms a large plain studded with

and broken here and there by low ranges of Many of the peaks are crowned by small but well-built hill forts.

solitary

peaks,

ranges of low

some

hills

hills.

The

are generally covered with wild brushwood, but in

cases their sides are carefully cultivated almost to the very summits.

The most

elevated portion of the District lies to the west and south, along the line of the Sahyadri Hills or Western Ghdts. The surface of the plain slopes with an almost imperceptible fall eastwards to the

borders of

KaMdgi

open and well

District.

On

the north

cultivated, but to the south

the Sahyadri range, thickly covered in

some

and

it is

east, the District is

intersected by spurs of

places with forest.

Except

near the Sahyadri range, and in other places where broken by lines of

low

the country is almost a dead level. But especially in the and along the banks of the larger rivers, the surface is pleasantly varied by trees, solitary and in groups. From March to June the fields are bare, and but for the presence of the mango, tamarind, jack, and other trees, reared for their fruit, the aspect of the country would be hills,

south,

desolate in the extreme.

The

principal rivers are the Kistna (Krishna), flowing through the

north, the Ghatprabha, flowing through the centre,

and the Malprabha

through the south of the District. From their sources among the spurs of the Sahyadri range, these rivers pass eastwards through the plain of Belgaum on their way to the Bay of Bengal. They are bordered by deeply-cut banks, over which they seldom flow. serviceable for purposes of navigation.

brackish,

of the rivers are

good water but towards the east they and the water-bearing strata lie far below the surface.

wells yield a sufficient supply of

become

None

In the west, these rivers and

Except the Kistna, which



at all times

maintains a considerable flow of

water, the rivers sink into insignificant streams during the hot season,

and the supply of water

The

falls

short of the wants of the people.

general character of the geology of Belgaum District

described as a trap formation overlaid with laterite detritus. is

may be Iron ore

found in some places. In the north are rocks of sandstone and in the south is found a fine red sandstone, near the Sahyddri

quartz Hills





and

farther east a grey granite,

mica

schist,

and

laterite in large

quantities.

In the west of the

District,

among

the spurs of the Sahyadri range,

a considerable area of forest-bearing land.

Formerly large

were yearly destroyed by the indiscriminate practice of cultivation of shifting patches of fire-cleared woodland. tillage

has

now been

placed under restrictions.

is

forest tracts

ku;/id? 7, or the

This form of

The most important