stream which has its source a few miles to north of Mohán, and the latter the outcome of a series of jhíls lying in the hollow parts of pargana Bijnaur.
The watershed.—The watershed of the country to the south of the Gumti will then lie between the two rivers the Gumti and Sai, and must be picked out from between their tributary streams.
Character of the rivers and streams.—It may probably be supposed that the numerous streams and water-courses affording facilities for irrigation would add greatly to the potential agricultural wealth of the district, but it is not so. Whether they may raise the general spring level or not, which is often doubtful from the depth of the river beds, river water in general is most inaccessable. At Lucknow, the water level of the Gumti is 341 feet or 53 feet below the land level, which, as has been already said, is 394 at about the same point, and the difference is not less throughout its course. This is a great height from which to draw water, and the best lands are always long way from the river bed; for the rivers are accompanied in turn by wide tracts of undulating sand or high banks of rugged ground from which the super-soil has been washed and cut away by the rains forcing their way down to the river. Sometimes, where the river takes a sharp bend followed by a reach, the country is low and fertile, but the consequence is usually then too great a moisture and a rank marshy soil. These are the aspects of the river's banks; and it can only be said that nature has given a supply of water which artificial means of a higher character can only help us to secure.
In the rains of 1872, the river Gumti presented a vast volume of water 588 feet broad, 417 feet deep, with a velocity of 3.57 miles per hour, and with a discharge of 34,369 cubic feet per second. In ordinary monsoons the highest discharge is about a quarter less than this. The river is crossed by the railway with a girder bridge consisting of six spans of 56 feet each, and two land spans (brick arches) of 15 feet each. The flood discharges of the other rivers of the district were as follows when they are crossed by the railway:—
| Rivere, | Waterway, lineal feet. | Height. | Mean velocity | Flood discharge per second cubic feet. |
| Thakravara ... | 90 | 18.2 | 3.24 | 3,802 |
| Nurhi jhil ... | 27 | 6.7 | 11.36 | 1,978 |
| Keth nala ... | 150 | 22.0 | 5.47 | 15,586 |
| Sai ... | 220 | 47.0 | 3.26 | 11,751 |
| Canal of Gházi-ud-dín, Haidar. | 44 | 18.0 | 3.94 | 2,429 |
| Baita, 1st crossing ... | 224 | 25.7 | 1.99 | 5,806 |
| Do. 2nd 3 "" ... | 90 | 23.0 | 2.47 | 4,190 |
Nature of the soil.—Of the geological formation of the district I cannot
say much, cxcept that it seems due to an alluvial deposit. The soil cultivated
