BASTAR.
204
season completely closed by a sand-bar but steamers ply between Bassein and Henzada all the year round, entering the Bassein river by
the Thambayadaing, which leaves the Irawadi
some 1 2 miles above Henzada, and joins the Bassein near Chaukywa. Flowing south-west, the Daga leaves it 3 miles from the main stream of the Irawadi, to rejoin it
again a few miles farther on.
and other
After their reunion, the
Panmawadi
large tidal creeks connect the Bassein by innumerable smaller
channels with the other mouths of the Irawadi, and after a tortuous course of 200 miles, it falls into the Bay of Bengal at Pagoda Point.
The banks
muddy, and covered is hilly, and the
of the river are for the most part low,
with jungle
some
in
portions of
its
course the country
studded with rocks and islands. Haing-gyi, or Negrais Island, mouth. Two channels, one on each side of it, lead into the river the western forms a good harbour, the eastern is rendered dangerous by a reef of rocks projecting from Purian nearly to Diamond Island, river
is
lies at its
facing the mouth of the river ; 75 miles up the river the head-quarters of the District of the same name.
Bastar.
— Feudatory State attached to Chanda
is
Bassein Town,
District, Central Pro-
between 17° 46' and 20° 37' n. lat., and 80° 18' and 82° 21' E. long. Bounded on the north by Raipur District; on the south by the Sironcha Sub-division of Chdnda District ; on the east by the Bendra Nawagarh estate in Raipur, and the Jaipur State ; and on the
vinces, lying
west partly by the
Ahi'ri estate,
and
partly
by Sironcha Sub-division.
The
Population (1881) 196,248 souls; area, 13,062 square miles.
Raja resides at Jagdalpur, which is also the principal town. The extreme length of Bastar is about 170 miles, its breadth about 120 miles. In the centre and north-west, the country is very mountainous ; on the east e.tends a table-land nearly 2000 feet while above sea level, yielding rich crops wherever it is cultivated These ranges all ranges of sandstone hills diversify the south.
As each
run north-west and south-east. declivity, another begins
in a parallel direction,
till
springs rise in these hills their
range,
surface,
known
and
glitter
great boulders of vitrified sandstone strew in
Another from a particular
the sun with a pinkish hue.
as the Bela Dila
elevation near Dantiwara
ends, generally in a steep
and runs 5 to 15 miles to the south, Few in like manner a third line succeeds.
from
(‘
Bullock’s
Hump
’),
resembling a bullock’s hump, crosses the it runs due south-
centre of the dependency, increasing in height as
ward,
till
it
culminates in two lofty peaks, called Nandiraj and Pitur feet above sea level, and forming a portion soil through the greater part of Bastar
Rani, between 3000 and 4000 of the Eastern Ghats. The
consists of a light clay with an admixture of sand, well adapted to the
good supply of water. Tal or Talper, the only important
raising of rice, but requiring a
the Sabarf, and
tlie
The
Indravati,
rivers, all fall into
