WARDHA, a river which rises the Satpura Hills betvveen Nagpur and Betul. kis a river of importance in the Centml Dekhan. It flows south-east, separating the Nagpur, Wardha, and Chanda districts of the Central Provinces from the Berars and the NiZaM'S dominions. its finst great affluent is the Pain Ganga, which it receives on the Nizam's or right bank, about 190 miles from its 8OUITO ; 64 miles lower down (a little above Chanda) it joins the Wainganga, and the united stream, thenceforward known its the Pranhita, flows on in the same direction to join the Godavery Seroncha. It is at the junction of the Wardha with the Wainganga that the great obstacle to the Godavery navigation scheme. known as the ' Third Barrier,' occurs. The bed of the Wardha is throughout rocky and deep ; in the monsoon it becomes a furious torrent, and CAITICS a considerable body of water. The railway bridge which crosses it at Pulgaon is of iron, and consists of fourteen sixty-foot girders, resting on masonry piers. In the hot months, however, the stream is everywhere fordable. Timber rafts can be floated down this river. The valley of the Wardha is a rich tract of country lying between the river and a range of hills which, receding as the 1Vardha district is entered, leave a consider able open space, which widens gradually to the south. In general the country is well wooded,
and in the eastern portion of the Hinganghat sub division the jungle predominates over the cleared and cultivated tracts. The plain of Ilinganghat and the plain and hill of Girar are spots of great geological interest. At the former place a fresh water stratum may be traced, and silicified wood picked up in abundance at the latter ; the hillside exposes the fresh-water stratum in all its varieties, while the plain is strewn with curious zeolitic concretions resembling betel - nuts or nutmegs, which have issued from the soft subjacent rock. The geologic formation is interesting. The trot ting bullock of this part of the Central Provinces is famous. The breeding of horned cattle gener ally is carried on on a large scale in the northern and hilly part of the district, which afford.s excel lent pa.sture in the cold season, but in summer most of the herds are taken to the jungles of Istandla and Chanda. Tho breed of buffaloes, too, is very fine.--iladras Conservator's Reports, p. 4; Central Provinces Gazetteer.