470 ORISSA TRIBUTARY STATES. forms the boundary of the States of Narsinghpur and Baramba. On the other side they slope down upon the States of Hindol and Dhenkanal, supplying countless little feeders to the Brah maní, which occupies the second of the three valleys. From the north bank of this river, the hills again roll back into magnificent ranges, running in the same general direction as before, but more confused and wider, till they rise into the Keunjhar watershed, with peaks from 2500 to 3500 feet high, culminating in Maláyagiri, 3895 feet above the sea, in the State of Pal Lahára. This watershed, in turn, slopes down into the third valley, that of the Baitarani, from whose eastern or left bank rise the hitherto almost unexplored mountains of Morbhanj, heaped upon each other in noble masses of rock, from 3000 to nearly 4000 feet high, sending countless tributaries to the Baitaraní on the south, and pouring clown the Burábalang, with the feeders of the Subarnarekhá, on the north. The hill ranges are densely wooded to the summit, and, except at the regular passes, are inaccessible to beasts of burden. The intermediate valleys yield rich crops in return for negligent cultivation ; and a vast quantity of land might be reclaimed on their outskirts and lower slopes. Riters.—The principal rivers are the Mahanadi, the Brahmani, the Baitaraní, and the Burábalang. The Mahánadi enters the Tributary States of Orissa in Bod, forming the boundary between that State on the south, and Athmallik and Angúl on the north, for forty-nine miles. It then divides Khandpárk and Bánki on the south, from Narsinghpur, Baramba, and Athgarh on the north. In the last State, it debouches through a narrow gorge upon the Cuttack delta. It is everywhere navigable throughout the Tributary States, and up to Sambalpur, by flat-bottomed boats of about twenty-five tons burden, and a considerable trade is carried on. Precious stones of different kinds are found in its bed. The river would afford valuable facilities for navigation but for the numerous sandbanks in its channel. The boatmen carry rakes and hoes, with which they clear a narrow passage just sufficient to let their craft pass. Where rocks impede the nagivation, there is plenty of depth on either side; and a little blasting would enlarge the water-way, and thus lessen the force of the rapids. When full, it is a magnificent river, varying from one to two miles in breadth, and of great depth. It is liable to heavy floods, which have been described in The Statistical Account of Bengal (Cuttack District, vol. xviii.), where a comprehensive account of the Mahanadi will be found. Its chief feeders in the Tributary States are-on its north or left bank, the Sápuá in Athgarh, and the Dandátapá and Máno in Athmallik; on its south or right bank, the Kusumi and Kamaí in Khandpárá, with the Jorámu, Hinámanda Gánduni, Bolát, Sálkí Bágh, Marini, and Tel. This last stream divides the Orissa Tributary States from those of the Central
