Cultivation is repressed by misgovernment, and ruined towns, villages, and inclosures every where indicate the progress of despotism. Hyderabad, the capital of the Nizam's dominions, formerly Baujnuggur, is an extensive and highly populous city. By old travellers it was commonly denominated Golconda, from the fortress of that name erected in its neighbourhood; and in the time of Tavernier was famous for the beauty of its inhabitants. Golconda, once the capital of an extensive kingdom, and a celebrated diamond mart, is now principally used as a state prison BB 88 The Balaghaut ceded Districts are bounded on the west and north by Beejapoor and Hyderabad, on the east by the Circars and the Carnatic, and on the south by Salem and the Mysore. Its principal rivers are the Krishna and the Tumbudra. The soil is generally fertile, particularly the table-land, which, when properly brought into cultivation, requires but one ploughing in twenty years. Indeed the farmer in many cases ploughs his field but once during his lifetime. This rich black mould contains no vestiges of decayed vegetation, but alternates abruptly with red soil, and is found among rocks where trees never could have existed. The rains are uncertain, but generally fall in September and October. The storms of war, which have often swept over this province, have destroyed its fine groves and woods, and rendered the planting of trees, particularly of palmyras, an indispensable duty of government. The general aspect of the country is rugged and wild, like the character of the inhabitants, a bold manly race, who for ages bravely maintained their independence with their sword. Upwards of fifty thousand wells, of which many thousand have been suffered to go 88 Lives of celebrated Travellers, vol. i, p. 176; Hamilton, vol. ii. p. 141. out of repair, have been sunk in these districts, for purposes of irrigation. The Mysore, an extensive province of Southern India, two hundred and ten miles in length, by about one hundred and forty in breadth, is a lofty tableland, nearly three thousand feet above the level of the sea. This lofty plain is enclosed between the eastern and western Ghauts, which lean like so many vast buttresses against the plateau, and prevent its surface from sliding into the ocean. No other country of equal extent within the tropics enjoys so temperate and healthy a climate as the Mysore. The force of the monsoons which deluge the wastes of Coromandel and Malabar, is on both sides broken by the Ghauts; and the rain which falls is merely sufficient to clothe the fields in perpetual verdure, and preserve an agreeable temperature in the air. The principal productions of this province are rice, raghi (Cynosurus corocanus), sesamum orientale, the sugar-cane, and the castor-oil plant (Ricinus communis). Cocoa-nut trees are here so numerous that in many districts they resemble forests. Seringapatam, the modern capital, stands upon an island in the Cavery, which is here a large and rapid river. Salem, a small province of Southern India, at present comprehends within its jurisdiction the adjacent territory of Barramahal. Placed on the summit of the table-land between the Ghauts, it enjoys, like the Mysore, a temperate and salubrious climate. The principal productions are Indian corn and rice, and there are generally two harvests in the year; the first in April, and the second in September. This province contains a large proportion of waste lands. The province of Coimbatore, likewise situated on the lofty table-land of the Dekkan, is about fifty miles in length and forty-five in breadth. Its remarkably undulated surface is in some places not more than four or five hundred feet above the level of the sea, whilst in others it rises prodigiously, the Cumbetarine hill being between five and six thousand feet above the same level. From Coimbatore the usual descent through the western Ghauts into Malabar, is by an extraordinary funnel-shaped pass, or opening between the mountains, which, being seven miles in breadth at its exit from the plateau, spreads continually to the right and left for a distance of thirtyone miles, until upon meeting with the Malabar plain it presents a mouth of fifteen or sixteen miles in breadth. This opening affords the north-west and south-west winds a free passage from the coast into the interior. Coimbatore is watered by numerous rivers. Though including some marshes, wastes, and jungles, the soil is generally dry and fertile. During the first months of spring the dews are heavy, while thick white fogs enshroud the mountains, and hang upon the plains, until a late hour in the morning. Here, as elsewhere in India, the hills are in many places haunted by malaria; but the climate in general, though hot, is not unhealthy. diately towards the north of the gap of Coimbatore is situated the group of the Neil Gherry (Nila Giri), or Blue Mountains, which form the southern extremity of the table-land of Mysore, and rise to an elevation of about nine thousand feet above the level of the sea. The climate of this high region is cool and delightful, and the vegetation is analogous to the Flora of Europe rather than to that of the tropical plains around it. The inhabitants are a peaceable and harmless race of men, who subsist partly on agriculture and partly on the tending of flocks and herds 89. Imme 89 See Captain Harkness, Description of the Inhabitants of the Neil Gherry Hills; London, 1832, 8vo. The island of Ceylon, or Singhala, which, though divided by a considerable strait from the continent, once perhaps formed a continuation of it, seems to be necessarily included in a description of India. Its length is about two hundred and seventy, and its greatest breadth about one hundred and forty-five miles. Viewed from the sea, the south-eastern coast of Ceylon presents a picturesque aspect. Hills rise behind hills- some verdant and beautiful, others, like the Swiss Alps, huge, rocky, barren, and of extraordinary shapes, resembling ancient castles, ruined battlements, and pyramids of great altitude. From this rocky mountainous barrier which Ceylon presents to the Indian Ocean, and which occupies a large extent of territory, the surface of the island, as you proceed northward, sinks gradually into extensive plains, in which, excepting the Trincomalee hills, there are no elevations exceeding three hundred feet above the level of the sea. Ceylon is watered by numerous rivers, and, although so near the equator, is not subject to excessive heats, the air being constantly refreshed by breezes from the sea. These, however, are prevented by lofty mountains from penetrating into the interior, where consequently the atmosphere is inflamed and stagnant, except when disturbed by casual currents of wind. A succession of cocoa-nut gardens covers a large portion of the southern shore, while on the northern parts of the island, contiguous to the Coromandel coast, the beautiful palmyra adorns the landscape. Ceylon produces cardamoms, coffee, areca-nuts, tobacco, and a great variety of the finest woods, such as calamander, homander, ebony, viam, and sappan wood; and the tamarind, tulip, and cotton trees. Its fruits and flowers are luxuriantly rich and beautiful. But its most remarkable productions are cinnamon, pearls, |