mountains, which separate it from proper or Central Hindustan,
and may be considered as forming,the basis of a
triangle. The Eastern and Western Ghauts, running parallel
to its two si(Jps, form a high border which limits and supports
the table-land of the Peninsula, the seat of the ancient
kingdom of Karnataka. Those chains convergenear
Coimbatore, leaving the low plains of the Carnatic, between
their southern extremity and the sea of Ceylon. If ^ begin
from this point, the two chains may b$. traced advancing
towards the north on each margin of the Dekhan, where
they cut off the low coast of Malabar on the western, and
that of Coromandel on the .'eastern side; ,wThe Western
Ghauts have by far the greatest elevation, and the.,plateau
of the Dekhan slopes, from them towards the ea^tj: in .which
direction it sends off the great risers of. t |e peninsula, the
Mahanadi, the Krishna, and the Kavery, which penetratp
the eastern chain, and fall into the sea of Bengal.- :,The
Western Ghauts above Malabar rise to a great,height, and
are clothed with vast forests and the exuberant abundance
of a tropical v^etation. Further northward the Western
Ghauts, more broken, are pierced by .the £ha|§iels of-.the
rivers Tapti and Nerbudda, whjch descend, frpm. .fhe high
central countries in the north of the peninsula, and. fall into
the Gulph of Cambay above Bombay. To tKeJpbrthward qf
the Nerbudda, and parallel to its course, the Vindhya
mountain-chain extends from east to west nearly at; right
angles with the direction of the Western Gbauts,.V Here the
Ghauts are generally considered to have their northern termination,
but, according to Major Tod, a part of this same
system of mountains becomes a still more important landmark
in the geography of northern India. From the neighbourhood
of Champaner, in a direction nearly perpendicular
to that of the Vindhya mountains, the chain of the Aravali runs
northward and forms a great geographical boundary which
separates into two very different regions the central part of
Hindustan. The most correct idea of this chain is formed
in the opiniop of Major Tod, by representing the Aravali
as a northern prolongation of the Western Ghauts, which
crossing the western extremity of the Vindhya mountain^
chain rises again towards the north, having the same geological
formation, and continues its course in the same direction
under a nëiv namè. 'i Viewedfrom the citadel at the
summit of Komalmen, thë^chain of Aravali may be seen
stretching northward towards Ajimir, where it loses its
flattened1 form and, severed'làto lofty crests, sends numerous
branches to the westward,.and at length terminates in
low hills near DelHi. This chain of Aravali turns towards
Rajast’han and séparâtes the Patar, or table-land ofMewar,
from the lower régfoh’tö the westward. The western lowland
may.: be considered as'commencing from the plains of
v Guzérat and Sindh; on the bördëfs of the Indian Ocean, and
as continued L‘ùorth ward to the sandÿ wilderness of Sheka-
wa/ti, which separates the province of Delhi from Lahore.
This low plain is separated % the Aravali chain, as by a
wall, from the lfigb Upland, which irf'parts has an elevation
ÔÎ two'tbîqdsand five hundred1 fefet above the leVel of the
lo a n 'd is-the highest l'éveil between the Nerbudda and the
Himâlayhr *InHt#feire ate the splehdi'd riiins of Chetore,
Vifb'ancient capital of the‘^osf'powerful ’ and warlike dy-
Rajputana.’ This table-Iaiid'U^Wthern India
slopes’‘gëtffely from its1 we$terdjÿèubdàry, the Aravali, and
1’f|om: its southern margin formed by the Vindhya mountains,
towards the "north-east and3'the basin of the Ganges!
If 'Is travërfeed by thé rivers which rise from the mountains
forming ith southern aàd%ëstë'rn bofdettif The Chambal,
the KalfSindh/fhe^Parbati, anil the Sindh,* fake their course
from the decHWty *of the Vindhyti’* chain, and passing
through Rajast’han towards thë nortt^à^t, fall into the
Jumna. The waters which rise to the westward of the
Aravali flow towards the Gulph of Cambay and the Indian
Ocean. This chain may therefore' ^ regarded as the
boundary between thé ' Sindhian provinces or those of
western Hindustan, and the' fertile and populous''countries
which send their waters to the Ganges.. On'one side are
thé deserts' of Shekawati, and further the province of
Lahore, consisting of the northern and hilly districts of
Kohistan and the Panjâb, and the low plains of Sindhe.
On the otherpis Me war, or high Rajputana, and Oude, or