A History of Agriculture in India v2.c86.6

v2.c86.6

‘The strip of land between the Ghats and the sea is called the Konkan, and is, in general, very rugged. Towards the coast are small rich plains, producing rice; the rest is almost impervious from rocks and forests, cut by numerous torrents, which change, when near the sea, into muddy creeks, among thickets of mangrove. The summits of the ridge itself are bare rocks; its sides are thickly covered with tall trees mixed with underwood. The forest spreads over the contiguous part of the table-land to the east, a tract broken by deep winding valleys and ravines, forming fit haunts for the wild beasts. Fifteen or twenty miles (24 to 32 km) from the ridge, the valleys become wide and fertile, and by degrees are lost in open plains, which stretch away to the eastward, covered with cultivation, but bare of trees, and rarely crossed by ranges of moderate hills. The great chain of the Ghats receives the whole fury of the south-west monsoon, the force of which is thus broken before it reaches the plains. For several months the high points are wrapped in clouds, and beaten by rains and tempests.