different places from 480 to
1600 yds. The flood season begins in March and continues till September,
the average depth of the river rising from 9 to 24 ft., and the velocity
of the current increasing from 3 to 7 m. an hour. Next to the Indus
comes the Nerbudda. Rising in the Central Provinces, and traversing the
dominions of Holkar, the Nerbudda enters the presidency at the
north-western extremity of the Khandesh district, flows eastward, and
after a course of 700 m. from its source, falls into the Gulf of Cambay,
forming near its mouth the alluvial plain of Broach, one of the richest
districts of Bombay. For about 100 m. from the sea the Nerbudda is at
all seasons navigable by small boats, and during the rains by vessels of
from 30 to 50 tons burden. The Tapti enters the presidency a few miles
south of the town of Burhanpur, a station on the Great Indian Peninsula
railway, flows eastward through the district of Khandesh, the native
state of Rewa Kantha and the district of Surat, and falls into the Gulf
of Cambay, a few miles west of the town of Surat. The Tapti drains about
250 m. of country, and is, in a commercial point of view, the most
useful of the Gujarat rivers. Besides these there are many minor
streams. The Banas and the Saraswati take their rise in the Aravalli
hills, and flowing eastward through the native state of Palanpur, fall
into the Runn of Cutch. The Sabarmati and the Mahi rise in the Mahi
Kantha hills, and flowing southwards, drain the districts of Northern
Gujarat, and fall into the sea near the head of the Gulf of Cambay. The
streams which, rising in the Sahyadri range, or Western Ghats, flow
westward into the Arabian Sea, are of little importance. During the
rains they are formidable torrents, but with the return of the fair
weather they dwindle away, and during the hot season, with a few
exceptions, they almost dry up. Clear and rapid as they descend the
hills, on reaching the lowlands of the Konkan they become muddy and
brackish creeks. The Kanarese rivers have a larger body of water and a
more regular flow than the streams of the Konkan. One of them, the
Sharawati, forcing its way through the western ridge of the Ghats,
plunges from the high to the low country by a succession of falls, the
principal of which is 800 ft. in height. The Sahyadri, or Western Ghats,
also throw off to the eastward the two principal rivers of the Madras
Presidency, the Godavari and the Kistna. These rivers collect coun