The climate varies but little through the year, and is delightfully cool and invigorating, when compared with the low country and the sea-coast. The country of Mysore is bounded on the east by a range of mountains which extend to the river Krishna or Kistna, but they are not so high as the Ghats near the western coast.

In the north part of the Deckan is a range of high hills called the Sautpoora mountains, which are situated between the Taptee and Nerbudda rivers. The Nerbudda is generally regarded as the dividing line between the Deckan and Hindustan. On the north side of this river is a range of hills extending for several hundred miles, called the Vindya mountains. The Himalaya mountains form the northern boundary of India, separating it from Thibet. These mountains extend from the Brahmaputra to the Indus, more than 1,000 miles. They are the highest mountains in the world, in some places exceeding 27,000 feet.* As they rise from the valley of the Ganges to the regions of perpetual snow, they present every variety of climate, from the torrid to the frozen zone. The scenery of them from different places on the plain, and in ascending them, the views of the immense plains below and of the towering heights above surpass the expectations of all who have described them. Says Bishop Heber, "We could see one range of mountains after another, quite as rugged and generally speaking more bare than those we had left, till the horizon was terminated by a vast range of ice and snow, extending its battalion of white glittering spears from east to west as far as the eye could follow it, the principal points rising like towers on the glittering rampart, but all connected by a chain of humbler glaciers." Says Raper, "From the edge of the scarp the eye extended over 7 or 8 distinct ranges of hills, till the view was terminated by the Himalaya or Snowy Mountains. It is necessary for a person to place himself in our situation before he can form a just conception of the scene. The depth of the valley below, the progressive elevation of the intermediate hills and the majestic splendor of the cloud-capt Himalaya, formed

* Dhawalgiri is 27,462 feet, Juwahir is 25,740 feet, Jumnautri is 25,500. These mountains are higher than any other in the world, Chimborazo the highest peak of the Andes being only 21,464 feet.

so grand a picture that the mind was impressed with a sensation of dread rather than of pleasure." Says Elphinstone, "The stupendous height of those mountains, the numerous nations by whom they are seen, and who seem to be brought together by this common object, and the awful and undisturbed solitude which reign amidst their eternal snows, fill the mind with admiration and astonishment which no language can express."

Simla on the south-west side of the Himalaya, Darjeling in Bengal, Abu in Gujerat, Khandalla and Mahabuleshwur on the Ghats nearly east from Bombay, and Ootacummund, Khottagherry, and some other places on the Neilgherry and Pulney Hills in Mysore, are much resorted to as health-stations by Europeans, especially in the hot months. These hill-stations correspond in some degree to the watering places in America, as Saratoga, Newport, Cape May, etc. There is, however, this important difference. A large part of India is as hot upon an average through the year, as the cities in the United States are in the summer months. And so many of the people at these sanatory stations are persons, who, having become enervated by long residence in the low country, continue at these places especially at those in the southern part of the peninsula, for 1, 2, and 3 years. By these changes many are able to prolong their residence in India, and for some diseases the climate of these mountains is believed to be the best that could be found in any country, better than a voyage on sea, or a residence in Europe or America.

Bengal and the lands bordering on the Ganges, in some places for 100 miles and more on each side of the banks, are perfectly level. In ascending this noble river the country appears for some hundred miles like an unlimited prairie. A large extent of country bordering on the lower part of the Indus, is level, and between this river and Ajmere is a sandy barren desert, extending for several hundred miles almost without cultivation or inhabitants. Very little rain falls over this large region, and the districts bordering upon it frequently suffer from drought and consequent famine. Gujerat is generally level but is fertile. In some parts of the Deckan are plains nearly level, extending as far as the eye can reach, while in

other places hills or mountains generally running in ranges diversify the face of the country.

The Indus rises in Thibet north of the Himalaya mountains, runs first north-west and then south-west for several hundred miles, and enters India west of Cashmere. It receives large tributaries as the Sutlege, the Hydrastes, the Chenab, and the Hydaspis in the Punjab, and then flows nearly south into the Indian Ocean. Its whole course is 1,700 miles. Steamboats and various kinds of river craft ply upon it, but its navigation is much obstructed by sand-banks, sudden changes in the channels, inundations, and rapids. The Ganges rises among the Himalayas on the south side, and flows through the most celebrated, fertile, and populous part of India for 1,600 miles into the Bay of Bengal. This river is held in great estimation by the Hindus, and particular places on it, as Hurdwar, Allahabad, and Benares, are among the most celebrated places of pilgrimage in India. There is much commerce on this river, but the sudden inundations, changes in the channel, etc., often make the navigation tedious and dangerous. The Brahmaputra is nearly as large and as long as the Ganges, but as it flows most of the distance through territories not subject to the English, it is not so well known, and is less used for commerce. The Nerbudda separates Hindustan from the Deckan. Its course is nearly west for 700 or 800 miles to the Gulf of Cambay. The channel of this river is very rocky. In the rainy season the current is so rapid, and in the hot season the water is so low, that there is but little commerce upon it. The same is true of the Taptee for most of its course of 500 miles into the Gulf of Cambay. The city of Surat is on this river a few miles from its, mouth. All the large rivers of the peninsula, as the Godavery, the Krishna, and the Cavery, flow into the Bay of Bengal. These rivers are very useful for irrigating the lands on their banks for cultivation, but the inundations and currents are so great and sudden in the rainy season, and the water is reduced so low in the dry season, that they are little used for manufactures or for commerce. The mouths of these rivers are also much obstructed by shallows and sand-banks.

2

POPULATION.

India appears to have been a populous part of the world from its earliest authentic history. It probably had as large a population 1,500 and 2,000 years ago and even before that time, as it has had for 200 and 300 years past since it became known to the nations of Europe. A census of Bengal and of some other parts subject to the English has been taken, but there has never been any census of the whole of India, and so the population of all the country must be a matter of estimation. Hamilton in his large work on India has given a table of the different provinces, exhibiting the population of each, as enumerated and estimated, and makes the total to be 134,000,000. The authors of the Encyclopedia Britannica in an ably written and carefully prepared article on Hindustan, have also estimated the population at 134,000,000. Mr. McCulloch in his geography estimated the population at 131,750,000. Elphinstone in his late work on India estimates the population by the best information he could obtain, at 140,000,000. These estimates were made before the conquest of Scinde and the Punjab. In the debates, reports, etc., in Parliament when the renewal of the East India Company's charter, or the future government of India, was lately under consideration, the entire population was assumed to be 150,000,000. This number included Scinde and the Punjab. Of this population some estimates make one eighth and others make one tenth part to be Mohammedans. A more particular description of the different classes comprising this great population, will be given in another part of this work.

ANIMALS, ETC.

The elephant, either wild or domestic, is found in all parts of India. In their wild state they are found chiefly in the forests on the Malabar Coast, in Assam and Rajpootana. An elephant at his birth is about 3 feet high, and is said to be from 20 to 30 years in attaining his full growth. Their common height is 9 and 10 feet. In some extreme cases they are said to reach 11 feet. They were formerly in great demand among the native

"The

powers for purposes of state, and were used in war. In the army of Porus, who resisted Alexander the Great in his invasion of India, were 200 war elephants. When Mahmoud of Ghizni invaded India, Jypal the Raja of Lahore came against him with a large army in which were" 350 chain elephants." Ferishta says that Mahmoud of Ghizni had at one time 1,300 war elephants, obtained chiefly from India, and that Acber near the close of his reign had 5,000, which appears not improbable considering his great wealth and power. The changes which have taken place in the political state and government of the country, and in the tactics and instruments of war since the invention of fire-arms, have greatly diminished the number and value of elephants. Lions are not unfrequent in the north-western provinces. The male differs from the African lion, in having no mane. lion," says Bishop Heber, "which was long supposed to be unknown in India, is now ascertained to exist in considerable numbers in the districts of Saharunpore and Loodiana." Tigers are found in all parts of the country. The largest and fiercest tigers in the world are found in the lower part of Bengal in the large forests and jungles near the mouths of the Ganges and Brahmaputra. These are often called the royal Bengal tigers. The hunting of tigers was formerly a favorite sport of the emperors and princes of the country. It is a favorite and often very dangerous sport of Europeans. Leopards are common and are large and fierce. The rhinoceros is found in the forests in the eastern provinces of Bengal. The camel is frequent in all parts of India, and is much used for riding and carrying burdens. Horses are very common, but generally small. The best horses in India are brought from Arabia and Persia. Buffaloes are domesticated and kept for milk. Cattle are abundant. Bears, wolves, wild dogs, and hogs are abundant in some provinces; so also are antelopes and deer of various kinds; also hyenas, monkeys, porcupines, jackals, foxes, etc. Sheep and goats are kept in great abundance. The wool of sheep is coarse, generally black and of little value. The English have made repeated efforts to improve the quality of the wool of the Indian sheep, but with little effect. It has been found that if sheep with fine wool are taken from cold climates to India, their wool soon becomes coarse like the indigenous sheep and so is of little value.