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and on the south and south-east by Moradabdd,

The

Districts.

Tarai,

Kumaun

and

administrative head-quarters are at the town of Bijnaur.

—

Physical Aspects The District of Bijnaur, an irregular triangle, whose apex points directly northward, forms the uppermost portion of the Rohilkhand plain, stretching like a narrow wedge between the valley of.

the Ganges and the

hills of British Garhwal. Its eastern boundary low outer Himalayan range, which subsides into a submontane tract as it reaches the borders of the District, while on the north is a system of small elevations, known as the Chandi Hills, a spur of the Garhwal range, and resembling in geological formation the Siwalik range in Dehra Dun on the opposite bank of the Ganges. They cover an area of about 25 square miles. I'heir barren, rugged, and waterless slopes afford no inducements for cultivation, and they remain

consists of the

The

accordingly quite without inhabitants to the present day.

montane eastern

tract,

forest, interspersed

known

as the bhdbar,

is

from time to time with open glades of

supply rich pasturage for numerous herds of cattle from

No

District.

all

grass,

which

parts of the

tardi or marshy fringe inter’enes in Bijnaur, as in the

country to the

The whole

sub-

covered with a belt of

between

east,

this forest region

and the

cultivated plain.

of the south and west consists of an open upland, with a

general elevation of 800 feet above sea-level, covered throughout with

prosperous

The

soil

tions, but

tillage.

of this higher plateau always contains sand, in varying propor-

seldom to such an extent as to render the land uncultivable.

The Ganges bank

is

lined by a strip of alluvial lowland, the wider

valley of the sacred river,

much

of which

lies

too low for cultivation,

while the remainder produces excellent crops of

rice.

This swampy

portion, however, continually decreases from year to year,

the lowland

is

minor streams

now

available for purposes of agriculture.

and most of

Numerous

between the hills and the Ganges, the rainy season, and shrinking into narrow

intersect the country

forming furious torrents in

threads of water after long-continued drought.

The

belt of forest area

along the eastern frontier covers an average breadth of four miles, and

In some tracts the tree forest unbroken throughout the whole breadth of the belt, but in most

has a total area of 37o'03 square miles. is

places

it is

interspersed with grassy glades utilized for grazing.

d'he timber grown throughout the greater portion of the tract

is

of

dhdk (Butea frondosa), simul (Bombax Malabaricum), and other inferior trees. But east of Behar, in pargand

little

value, consisting largely of

Afzalgarh, there

is

a block of sdl (Shorea robusta) forest, measuring

over 25 square miles and a few smaller plantations of the same valuThe able trees are scattered at rare intervals over the rest of the belt. shisham or Indian rosewood (Dalbergia Sissoo) is also found in fair

quantities.

Of

the total forest area, over 100 square miles are Govern-