88 " W E S T E R N H I ' N D O O S T A N .
spoftefs a line of coaft o f three hundred miles in extent; out
•of which the Engli/b poffefs Bombay and its adjacent ifles, and
ethe ftrong hold o f Victoria: and the Portuguefe, Goa, and the
antient domain belonging to that once famous emporium. The
part o f the Concan next to the fea is low, but at a fmall diftance
inland rifes into vaft ftrength. It is guarded by the celebrated
mountains tYie-Ghauts, which rife to a furprifing height, and
T h e G h a u t s , oppofe to the weft a mural front with Ghauts, i. e. paffes. They
are the fame which the Weljh call a Bzvicb. From the word Ghaut
•the whole chain derives its name. They give entrance into the
loft)', fertile, and populous plains o f bouncllefs view, which they
fupport in the manner as buttrefles do a terrace, formed on an
ammenfe fcale. Thefe run not remote from the fea from Surat
to Cape Comorin, at fome places feventy miles diftant, hut generally
forty, and in one place they advance to within fix. They
have leifer hills at their bafes, clothed with forefts, particularly
o f the valuable teek. The plains are bleft, from their fituation,
with a cool and healthy air. From the fides of the mountains
precipitate magnificent cataracts, forming torrents, the means
o f facilitating the conveyance of the timber, and giving a
thoufand pidturefque fcenes amidft the forefts.
Eastern &c T h e <H>auts are diftinguiihed into the weftern and the
eaftern. The firft extend, as I have defcribed, uninterruptedly
from Surat to the pafs o f Paticaudchery, when near Coimbetore
they fuddenly turn, deeply undulating to the north. Then, at
the pafs o f Gujethetty, wind north and north-eafterly as high as
| Ambopr and Mugglee, the laft about eighty miles due weft of
Madms, From hence they are not, by reafon of the numbers
o f
W E S T E R N H I N D O O S T A N ,
o f branches, fufficiently marked on the maps: they feem to
take a northerly courfe, to comprehend Aururigabad, to crofs
the Taptee, and continue wefterly, at irregular diftances from
the river, till they arrive at a certain fpace from Surat.
T h e whole chain, efpecially in the Concan, feems a connedted
wall, inacceflible to the fummit, unlefs by paths worked by the
hand o f man, and is not to be afcended even by a fingle traveller,
without the fatiguing labor of many hours; horrible precipices,
roaring cataradfs, and frequent reverberating echoes,
terrify the paflenger on each fide; often violent gufts arife, and
hurry men and cattle into the black immeafurable abyfs. Having
attained the fummit, the trouble is repaid by the magnificent
profpedt to the weft, of the far fubjacent country, broken into
hills, and clothed with beautiful vegetation ; the coaft, the
iilands, and the immenfity of ocean.
T hese Indian Appenines mark with precifion the limits of
the winter and fummer, or rather the wet and dry feafons, in
India. They extend thirteen degrees of latitude, from Surat
to Cape Comorin. They arreft the great body o f clouds in their
pafTage, and, according to the Mon/oons, or periodical winds from
»he north-eaft or fouth-weft, give, alternately, a dry feafon to
one fide, and a wet one to the other; fome clouds do pafs over,
and give a rainy feafon, but at a very confiderable diftance to the
leeward; being too high and too light to condenfe and fall in
rain, within a fmall diftance of this great range.
In Lat. 18° 58' is a very confiderable bay, filled with iilands,
well known hy the name of Bombay, which forms the heft and
moft -fecure harbour in India. This, as well as every part of
L ' N ■ Hus
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S e a s o n s .
B a y o f B o m b a y .