INDIA
723
INDIA
and some lower ranges divide it from Afghanistan and
Baluchistan. Attached to the Bombay Presidency is
a certain portion of Baluchistan bordering on the
Afghan frontier. Within its general boundaries there
are several small portions of territory belonging to
Portugal and France, having their centres of govern-
ment at Goa and Pondicherry respectively. In point
of contour, Bengal, Sind, Rajputana, and the Punjab
are flat, being formed by the alluvium of the Ganges
and Indus respectively. The rest of the peninsula is
roughly speaking a plateau rising abruptly at the
western edge and gradually sloping down to the east
coast. As a consequence the watershed Une is gener-
ally at the summit of the western Ghats, 30 to 100
miles from the west coast. From this point a few
The climate is on the whole dry and rainless for two-
thirds of the year, during which time crops are possible
only by means of irrigation. The rainy season (called
the monsoon) occupies the remaining four months but
differs on the two sides of the coimtry. On the west^
ern coast it lasts from June to September, while on the
east coast it occurs from October to December — in each
case the rain being borne on to the land by the sea
breeze. The rainfall on the western coast strip is
about 70 inches, while on the Ghat line it sometimes
rises to 300, but falls in the interior to 30, 20 and even
less than 10 inches. In the northern parts and on the
east coast the rainfall is less, while in the desert
districts of Sind, Rajputana, etc. it is very scanty.
About the Himalayas the conditions approach more
iiLN.\KKS FROM THE RiVER GANGES
[Holy City of the Hindus]
small rivers run their short course to the Arabian Sea,
but the greater ones rise in the heart of the Ghats and
run across the whole peninsula, increasing in volume
as they progress, and empty their waters into the Gulf
of Bengal (Mahanadi, Godaveri, Kistna, Kaveri,
etc.). In the more northerly parts, however, the
plateau recedes inland, and here two rivers of consid-
erable size (Tapti and Nerbudda) run into the Arabian
Sea. The average level of the Deccan plateau is under
2000 feet; but it contains many ranges and isolated
mountains rising over 4000 feet, chiefly along the west-
ern edge, and there are still higher parts in the Mysore
and neighboiu-ing districts, where the highest point is
8840 feet above sea level. The coast is for the most
part flat and straight, with a considerable number of
small indentations suitable for small craft; but there
are very few large harbours: Karachi (mostly artifi-
cial), Bombay, and Marmagoa are the only ones which
are practicable on the west side, while on the east there
is not a single one, Madras harbour being purely artifi-
cial, and Calcutta over 100 miles up the River Hooghly.
nearly to those of Europe. One-half of the latitude of
India falls within the tropics. Ice and snow are en-
tirely unknown except in the high altitudes, and hail is
rare and phenomenal. The temperature, which varies
much locally, falls in the aggregate rarely lower
than 50° and rises in parts as high as 120° in the shade.
In the tropical portions there are two hot seasons, the
one before and the other after the rains (May and
October). With due precautions against exposure to
the sun, avoidance of chills, a carefully adjusted diet
and judiciously regulated exercise, Europeans find the
countrj- on the whole healthy though enervating; but
any weakness in the constitution is more likely to re-
veal itself there than at home, especially among men
who go out after the prime of life. The people as a
whole are of a mild and inoffensive character, and
obsequious to the Einopean; and except for a chance
of robbery among the remote hill tribes, the traveller
is everywhere as safe as he would be in any part of
Europe.
India is covered over with a network of railways.
