KARNJI. DISTRICT 49
the GHAGGAR, with its tributaries the Umla and SARASWATI, the
CHAUTANG, and the Markanda and Puran, the last an old bed of
the Ghaggar. Minor drainage channels are the Nai or ' new' Nadi,
the Būrhi or 'old' Nadi, and the Rakshi.
Karnal District offers nothing of geological interest, as it is situated
_entirely on the alluvium. The flora of the upper Gangetic plain is well
represented in the eastern portion ; in the west there is an approach to
the desert vegetation; while the Jumna valley produces a few temperate
types, e. g. a rose, a kind of scurvy grass (Coehlearia), both of which are
found again in Lower Bengal, and a crowfoot (Ranunculus pennsylvani-
cus), which extends to Ludhiana, but is absent from the Himalayas.
Relics of a former Deccan flora, of which a wild cotton is the most
interesting, survive, especially in the neighbourhood of Thanesar. In-
digenous trees, except the dhdk, are uncommon ; in the Jumna kh~idar
a low palm abounds, which is often taken for a wild form of the date-
palm, but is almost certainly a distinct species.
The Nardak was a favourite hunting-ground of the Mughal emperors,
and as late as 1827 Archer says that lions were sometimes seen within
20 miles of Karnal, while tigers were exceedingly common. Now, how-
ever, even the leopard is found only raroly, but wolves are still common.
Antelope, nil,;ai, `ravine deer' (Indian gazelle), and hog deer are fairly
plentiful where there is suitable cover. Small game is abundant.
Fever is particularly prevalent in the Naili (Nali) tract, flooded by
the Saraswati, and in the canal-irrigated portions of the District. Owing
to the faulty alignment of the canal and the swamping caused thereby,
fever used to be terribly prevalent, and in consequence the canton-
ments were removed from Karnal town; but recent improvements have
greatly diminished the evil. The climate of Kaithal resembles that of
the plains of the Punjab proper, but the Jumna tahsils are not subject
to the same extremes of heat and cold.
The annual rainfall averages 30 inches at Karnal, 23 at Panipat, and
18 at Kaithal, rapidly decreasing as one goes west or south. The
khddar receives the most plentiful and frequent rain, as many local
showers follow the bed of the river. Of the rainfall at Karnal, 274
inches fall in the summer months and 2-4 in the winter.
The early legendary history of the District will be found in the
account of KURUKSHETRA or the holy plain of the Hindus, which
occupies its north-western portion. The number of
Indo-Scythian coins found at Polar on the Saraswati History.
would seem to show that about the beginning of the Christian era the
District was included in the Indo-Scythian empire. In or about A. D.
400 it was traversed by the Chinese pilgrim Fa Hian and in 639 by
Hiuen Tsiang, the latter finding a flourishing kingdom with its capital_
at Thanesar. Though Thanesar was sacked by Mahmfid of Ghazni in
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