MISORE. 89 Hills. The general elevation of the country increases from about 2000 feet above sea-level, along the northern and southern frontiers, to about gooo feet at the central water-parting which separates the basin of the Kistna (Krishna) froni that of the Kaveri (Cauvery). This line of waterparting divides the country into two nearly equal parts, a little north of the 13th degree of latitude; and various chains of hills, running chiefly north and south, subdivide the whole into numerous valleys, widely differing in shape and size. An interesting feature of the country, and one of great importance from an historical point of view, is the large number of isolated rocks, called droogs or drugs (from the Sanskrit durgre, 'difficult of access'), which are found in all parts, and which often rear their heads as stupendous monoliths to the height of 4000 or 5000 feet above the level of the sea. These rocks, from the circumstance that their sumnits frequently afford a plentiful supply of good water, were in former days used as hill fortresses to domineer over the adjacent plains; some of them--and in particular VAXDIDRUG (4810 feet) and SAVANDRUG (4024 feet)-have been the scene of many a hard-fought contest, while KABALDRUG obtained an evil fame as a State prison. The eight highest peaks in Mysore are Vuláina Giri (6317 feet), Kuduri-nrukha (6215 feet), Bábá Búdan Giri (6214 feet), Kalhatti (6155 feet), Rudra Giri (5692 feet), Pushpa Giri (5626 feet), Jerti Guddar (5451 feet), Woddin Gudda (5006). Four of these hills are comprised in the BABA BUDAN or Chandradrona range, a magnificent cluster in the shape of a horse-shoe, in the centre of which is a rich but pestiferous valley called Jágar. Mysore is naturally divided into two regions of distinct character —the hill country, called the Jalnád, on the west, confined to the tracts bordering or resting on the Western Ghats; and the more open country, known as the Maidán, comprising the greater part of the State, where the wide-spreading valleys and plains are covered with numerous villages and populous towns. The Valnád is a picturesque land of hill and forest, presenting most diversified and beautiful scenery, With regard to the Váidán or open country, the means of water-supply and the prevailing cultivation give the character to its various parts. The level plains of black soil, in the north, grow cotton or millets; the tracts in the south and west, irrigated by channels drawn from rivers, are covered with plantations of sugar-cane and fields of rice; those irrigated from tanks are studded with gardens of cocoa-nut and areca palms; the high-lying tracts of red soil, in the east, yield ragi and similar dry crops; the stony pasture-grounds, in the central portions of the country, are covered with coarse grass, and occasionally relieved by shady groves. IPater System and Irrigation.—The drainage of the country, with a
