stunted mimosas, acacias and other shrubs are produced,
together with rue, various bitter and aromatic plants, and occasionally
tufts of grass. Much of the soil of the desert appears to be alluvial;
there are numerous traces of streams having formerly passed over it,
and still, where irrigation is at all practicable, fertility in the
clayey tract follows; but the rains are scanty, the wells few and
generally 100 ft. deep or more."

The area covers 15,918 sq. m.; pop. (1901) 720,877, showing an increase of
11% on the previous decade; estimated gross revenue, L146,700; there is no
tribute. The chief, whose title is nawab, is a Mahommedan of the Daudputra
family from Sind, and claims descent from Abbas, uncle of the Prophet. The
dynasty established its independence of the Afghans towards the end of the
18th century, and made a treaty with the British in 1838 to which it has
always been loyal. The benefits of canal irrigation were introduced in the
'seventies, and the revenue thus doubled. The territory is traversed
throughout its length by the North-Western and Southern Punjab railways.
There are an arts college and Anglo-vernacular schools.

The town of Bahawalpur is situated near the left bank of the Sutlej, and
has a railway station 65 m. from Mooltan. It has a magnificent palace,
which is visible from far across the Bikanir desert; it was built in 1882
by Nawab Sadik Mahommed Khan. Pop. (1901) 18,546.

BAHIA, an Atlantic state of Brazil, bounded N. by the states of Piauhy,
Pernambuco and Sergipe, E. by Sergipe and the Atlantic, S. by Espirito
Santo and Minas Geraes, and W. by Minas Geraes and Goyaz. Its area is
164,650 sq. m., a great part of which is an arid barren _chapada_
(plateau), traversed from S. to N. and N.E. by the drainage basin of the
Sao Francisco river, and having a general elevation of 1000 to 1700 ft.
above that river, or 2300 to 3000 ft. above sea-level. On the W. the
_chapada_, with an elevation of 2300 ft. and a breadth of 60 m., forms the
western boundary of the state and the water-parting between the Sao
Francisco and the Tocantins. East of the Sao Francisco it may be divided
into three distinct regions: a rough limestone plateau rising gradually to
the culminating ridges of the Serra da Chapada; a gneissose plateau showing
extensive exposures of bare rock dipping slightly toward the coast; and a
narrower plateau covered with a compact sandy soil descending to the
coastal