On the north, Hindostan, in the largest acceptation of the word, is bounded by the Himalaya mountains. These are now known to be superior in elevation to the mountains in South America ; their height above the plains of Rohil cund being about 27,000 feet: branches spread from them to the south, as far as the borders of Bengal, Oude, and Delhi. The last province is also separated from North ern Hindostan by the Seevalie or Kemaoon mountains, which are low compared with those of Himalaya ; the principal pass into these mountains from the province of Delhi is called the Lottdony Pass. The Vendhya moun tains, among which lies the Arcadia of India, pass through Bahar, Benares, Allahabad, and Malwah, along the north side of the Nerbuddah, nearly to the western coast : to the south of these is a less elevated chain, called the Tahya hills. The Ghauts, however, are the most remarkable mountains in India. They arc divided into the Eastern and Western ; the latter, which are called Sukhicn Pur but, or hills of Sukhicn, stretch from Cape Comorin to the Tuptec river near Surat, in a line nearly parallel with the sea coast ; their general distance from it is 40 miles ; in some places 70, and in one part only 6 miles. At the Tuptee, their direction is suddenly changed from north, with a little inclination to the west, to east, running nearly parallel with that river. These Ghauts run through 13 degrees of latitude, being nearly unbroken the whole of their course, except opposite to Paniany : here there is a valley which extends 14 or 15 miles between the termina tion of the northem Ghauts and the commencement of the southern Ghauts ; through this valley the river Paniany flows from the Coimbetoor province. In that part of the western Gams which runs parallel to the Tuptee, there are several passes from which there is a descent into the pro vince of Khandeish. There are also some passes from the Concan district of the provinces of Bejapoor through the Ghauts ; the principal of which are the Ambah-Ghaut and the Tourna-Ghaut, (for the word Ghaut properly signifies a port or pass.) The mountains near the Ambah-Ghaut rise to a very great height ; the pass at Tolima is much more rugged and steep than that of Ambah ; and in the middle of it there is a plain of some extent. The princi pal pass from the Mysore country through the Western Ghaut is Bergelcy ("haul, which leads into the maritime province of Canara. As this pass is much froquented for the purpose of conveying grain by means of oxen to the sea-coast, and bringing back salt, the road has been form ed with great labour ; notwithstanding which the strength and rapidity of the torrents are such, as frequently to wash away all the smaller and softer parts, and to leave single rocks four or five feet in diameter, in the centre of the road, not above two feet asunder. This pass is often tra velled at night by torch light. The western Ghauts, es pecially about. the latitude of 15°, are covered with a rich mould, on which various kinds of forest trees grow with great luxuriance. Their height has not been measured, but it is supposed to be about 5000 feet. The eastern Ghauts do not extend so far to the south as the western, beginning only a little to the north of the Cavery, about the latitude of 11° 20'. Their line is nearly straight, and is uninterrupted as far as the banks of the Kristhnah, in latitude 16°. At Madras their height is greatest. It is estimated to be 3000 feet ; as Bangalore, in latitude 12° 57', and longitude 77° 46' east, which lies within the Ghauts, was ascertained by barometrical observations to be 2901 feet above Madras. To the south of the Nerbud dah, all the rivers flow eastward, as the eastern Ghauts are not so high as the western; they are also less abrupt in their elevation ; and their general character is less fertile and pleasing, in the most part exhibiting naked, sun-burnt, and rocky peaks. To enter the Mysore country, there are several passes, the principal of which are, those of Muglee, Palicand, Amboor, Changama, Attoor, and Sautgur. The last was always considered one of great importance, as it commands the main road leading to the upper Carnatic from the Valley of Veniambody, in the Barramahal, which is the most direct route to and from the Mysore. This pass has been levelled and widened since the British gained possession of the province. The other passes all centre in the Palicand pass; hence, though Hyder and Tippoo possessed the advantage of all these routes when they at tacked the low country, they had but one entrance at this part into the Mysore to defend.
From the general description which has been given of the surface of the country, it will naturally be expected that the most numerous and extensive plains must be sought for in Hindostan Proper. Indeed, the whole country through which the Ganges flows, from the Seevalic mountains to the sea, is one vast plain. There is also a plain stretching from Sirhind to the city of Delhi. in a N. N. W. direction, a dis tance of 155 miles. This plain contains the towns of Pan niput and Carnawl, and is celebrated as the scene of two great battles, one in A. D. 1525, between the Emperor Baber and the Patan Sultan Lodi ; and the other in 1761, between the Mahrattas and the Malromedan army com manded by Abdalli. Across the eastern entrance of the pass of Paniany, already described, there is an elevated plain 60 miles in extent, which rises suddenly from the level of the surrounding country, resembling an extensive terrace. It is bounded on the west by a forest. There are similar elevated plains in Bengal, and in the Bundela coun try, south of the Ganges, near the Soohagee Ghaut. From the summit of the Minaret in front of the Mausoleum of Acbar, at Secudra, 6 miles to the north of Agra, there is an extensive plain. 30 miles in a direct line, filled with the ruins of ancient grandeur.
Of the Sandy Desert, mentioned by Herodotus, our know ledge is but imperfect. Cutch lies to the south of it ; Gu
zerat to the east; Sinde to the west, and Ajineer to the north. These are the limits generally assigned to it ; but, according to Major Rennell, it extends from the sea to the Punjab country. In this extent, however, he probably comprehends the Run, a large salt morass, which bounds the western frontiers of the province of Guz:.rat, and com municates with the Gulf of Cutch, and which in some places seem to adjoin, and in other places to be intermixed with the Sandy Desert. The latter is about 550 miles in length, and about 16t miles in the widest part. In sonic parts of it there are spots of clay mixed with the sand; but, in general, the country is dreadfully bare, desolate, and sterile ; and the wells are frequently at the distance o: 8 or 10 coss from one another. All over this sandy tract there is scattered jungles, but of stinted growth. The Run, or salt morass, in some places consists of water only a few inches deep ; in others it is an impassable swamp ; and in others a bank of sterile and loose sand. It is every where saline. It bends round the north of Cutch, and, in cluding its windings, is supposed to extend several hun dred miles. This marsh evidently must have been, at some remote period, covered by the sea, the waters of which are still slowly draining off; but when it was so co vered is not known. Legendary tales and songs record the passage of the Run at on the river Muckoo, by Jam Ilhamanu, who invaded Guzerat from Sinde, about the year A. D. 700. This is evidence of the existence and extent, in this quarter, of the morass at this period.
The only rivers of Hindostan of a very lengthened course, or great volume of water, are those which run through Hindostan Proper, the Indus and the Ganges, with their respective tributary streams. The Indus enters I lindostan about the latitude of 33° 15'. Here it is an inconsiderable stream, but its breadth and volume of waters is much in creased by the junction of the Auock, which, as flowing into it from the west, requires no farther notice under this article. The Indus pursues its course through Eindostan to the beginning of its Delta, about 170 miles from the sea, nearly in a straight line south by west. Of its two branches which form the Delta, the westernmost is the largest; and this, after flowing nearly 50 miles to the southwest, again divides into two other streams, which, as they approach the sea, are subdivided into numerous creeks. The whole course of this river, from its entrance into Hindostan, is about 900 ; but the tide does not flow up more than 60 or 65 miles. At Tatra, about 130 miles, by the course of the river, from the sea, the Indus is very shallow : about five miles below this town, the greatest depth is four, and the common depth only two fathoms : the breadth here is about a mile. Tire land floods, occasioned by the melting of the snow, begin about the middle of July, and do not sub side till the end of A ugust. Notwithstanding the tide flows but a short way up this river, on account of the shallow ness of its stream, yet it enters the mouths of the different branches with extraordinary violence and velocity, so as to carry up the current frequently, in some places, at the rate of four miles an hour. The tributary rivers of the Indus chiefly flow into it in the northern half of its course, in the province of Multan, forming the Punjab, or country of rivers. These rivers, the Jhylum, or Bchut, the Chunaub, the Ravey, the Bcyah, and the Sutlege, all rise nearly in the same place, at the foot of the Himalaya mountains. The Jhylum, the Hydaspes of the Greeks, after crossing the great roar; leaching from Lahoreto Attock, and flowing along the eastern side of the Joud mountains in the province of Aj:neer, unites with the Chunaub, near Jehungseal, about 60 miles above Multan. Its whole course is about 400 miles. It is the most westerly of the The that 1 flow through the Punjab into the Indus. he Chunaub, the Acesines of the Greeks, is no where, after it enters the Punjab, more than 35 miles from the Jhylum; about 28 miles above the city of Multan, it flows into the Ravey ; the length of its course is about 420 miles. The Ravey i enters the plains of Lahore near Shahpoor ; course south-west till it passes the city of Lahore, above which it is 120 yards broad, and very rapid. After its junction with the united streams of the Chunaub and Jhylum, its breadth for a little way is upwards of a mile ; but it soon contracts into a rapid stream not more than 550 yards across. It falls into the Indus 20 miles below Altiltan, htinging a volume of water neat ly equal to that cf the Indus itself. Its whole course is about 500 miles. The course of the Beyah, for the first 200 miles, is directly south ; it after wards flows to the west ; it unites with the Sutlege about 300 miles from the sea ; their junction, however, formerly took place much lower, where there is still a small canal called the Oldbedyke river. The whole length of its course is about 350 miles. The Sutlege is the most east ern of the rivers of the Punjab ; it enters Hindostan at Bellegpoor in the province of Delhi. Before it is joined by the Beyah it is a very considerable stream ; after their junction, they lose their respective, appellations, and take the name of Kirah, the 11vphasis of the Greeks. About 20 miles below their junction they again separate, and four streams are formed. Near Multan they unite again, and fall into the Indus about 80 miles below that place ; it is navigable 200 miles above the junction: its whole course is about 600 miles. These five rivers of the Punjab in crease the breadth and depth of the Indus so much, that there is water sufficient for vessels of nearly 200 tons bur den, from the Gulf of Cutch tn Lahore, a distance of 760 geographical miles; these vessels, however, are flat-bot tomed. See INDUS.