Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/604

* INDIA. 528 INDIA. ward across the equator and up the Indian seas u»<ually begins in the third week of May and pives a complete and permanent change of weather (lasting for live or six months i. more especially over the hind area of India. The winds dne to the extension of these massiv.- humid air-currents usually begin to give daily rain to the Malabar coast in the last week of May, and to the Bombay coast on June 4th or ■5th. The humid currents advance more slowly into the interior, but are usually established be- fiire the end of the month over the whole of India. Cloudy, showery, or rainy weather, with a moderately high teinpiTature and small diurnal range of tcm])eraturc, prevails during tlic next three months, which are in striking contrast with the excessively hot and dry weather that has prevailed during the previous two or three months. Over the mountain tracts of Assam and over the plains of Lower liurnia the yearly rainfall exceeds .'iOO-fiOO inches, and in one par- ticular year the record of 805 inches was estab- lished. Sometimes the wet monsoon is greatly delayed or has little strength, and this failure of an adequate supply of rain involves the direst tragedy. (See section on Famincx.) India and the adjacent seas are often visited by the de- structive hurricanes called typhoons, whose tracks are frc(iucntly traced by ruined towns and crops. The soil, except on the steep mountain slopes, is of great fertility, l)eing largely composed of alluvium throughout the plains and in the moun- tain valleys, and of disintegrateil volcanic rocks, from which many rich soils are derived, on the southern plateau. The food demands of the enor- mous population make it necessary to maintain a high degree of fertility. Flora. The very unequally distributed rain- fall causes great difTerences in vegetation. The almost rainless region just east of the liulus has desert conditions of plant life, while the low-ly- ing coast lands along the fJulf of Bengal have large areas of dense, wet jungle. The ))lains of the Deeean east of the Western Ohats have little rain, for it falls on these mountains instead of on the plains. Vegetation is therefore sparse where irrigation is not applied; while the lower slopes of the northern mountains, drenched with rain, are densely wooded; and far abnve the forests there is an Arctic flora close to the glaciers and snow-fields. The greatest possible area of plowed fields is needed for food production, and so a large amount of forest area has lx>en clcarr'd for cultivation. Timber supplies are chiefly derived from the mountain slopes, from the liilly lands of parts of the De<'can, and from Burma. Teak, the most v.iluahle wood, is cut on the slopes of the Western and Eastern nhats. in liower Burma, and to some extent among the western hills of the Deeean. S.indalwood and blackwood are fcmnd in the teak-growing regions; sal. another hard wood, and cedars, on the slopes of the Hima- layas; and the common womls are scattered, not profusely, over various parts of the country. The larger part of the plain has no forests, and in the irrigated districts there are few trees except in the watered eardens. The Oovernment has all the best timber areas under protection, and applies forestry methods to their management. The bamboo, the mango, and the coeoanut and other palms are widely distributed, and are of the greatest utilitv. One of the most distinctive of the Indian trees is the banyan. The forests of .Vssam, .Malabar, and the lower slopes of portions of tlic Himalayas are luxuriant in the extreme, and |)rescnt a wealth and variety of vegetable forms which are eipialed or surpassed only by the forests of tropical .merica. In the Hima- layas is the home of the giant rliodi>dendron. Orchidaceous plants are markedly numerous, and the up[)er floral zones M tlic mountain range have furnislicd the most valuable types to the llori- culturist. F.iXA. The country forms a part of the (Oriental Region (q.v.) of zoogeography. .- tlunigli the plains of the northwest jMirtake of the characteristics of Central Asia, India possesses the lion (in the northwest, but now nearly ex- tinct), the wild ass, and sundry smaller mam- mals, birds, and reptiles that belong rather to the country westward. The massive ranges of the Himalaya also contain a peculiar montanic fauna, characterized especially by an abundance of wild sheep, goats, atui of goat-antelopcs (qq.v. ), such as the Cliaral I'ulis sheep, the ilx'X, niarklmr, goral, and others elsewhere described. These, too, are more closely related to Palearctic than to Oriental forms; but two or more species of goats exist on the Nilgiri Hills and other heights of the Peninsula. The forests, swamps, and grassy plains of Peninsular India support life in ex- traordinary i)rofusion, and civilization seems to have little elfect upon it l)ccause of the jungle fastnesses to which animals nuiy everywhere re- treat and!)e safe. The elephant (which is still met with in many parts in large herds), however, requires protection, and the wild cattle are he- heasants, partridges, and jungrefowl (to which is traced the origin of domestic poultry), besides a rich avifauna of the woods and fields. With Ibis idenitude of prey, to which may be added a great variety of fresh-water and marine life, including many valuable food-fishes, there would naturally be found carnivorous beasts, rapacious birds, and poisonous predatory reptiles. The tiger (which is probably indigenous to India), leopard, eheeta, and several lesser eats wander throughout the whole country, and are dangerous to man as well as beast. Other animals are the rhinoceros, gayal (or bison of the Ghats), bear, jackal, and various forms of ape. The true bulTalo. as well as the camel, is domesticated, and is largely used in the .service of the field and fann. India is famous also for venomous snakes (see Cobra, etc.). croco- diles, and sea-snakes. The deaths of human beings by wild beasts and snakes numVier thou- sand* each year, and the loss of cattle reaches hundreds of thousands of dollars in value. On the other hand. India is one of the most attrac- tive regions of the world for sportsmen, who annually distribute much wealth within its con- fines. Oeoiogt. The topographic divisions of India with their characteristic features are based largely upon dilTerencw in geological structure. The main system of the Himalayas, so far as explored, has been found to he composed of crystalline strata — gneisses, schists, and igneous rocks — which show the effects of upheaval and