328 MIDNAPORE DISTRICT
Rasalpur rises in the south of the District, and joins the Hooghly a
little below Kedgeree and the Cowcolly lighthouse. The SUBARNA-
RRxxn enters the District from Singhbhnm, and passes through the
jungle tract of Western Midnapore into Balasore District; it is not
navigable.
In the extreme north-west corner of the District there is a low ridge,
formed of grey and bluish grey micacean schists with bands of a more
igneous character. The plains are covered in the north and west by
lateritic rocks, which gradually give way in the south and east to the
ordinary alluvium of the Gangetic delta. At the surface the laterite
invariably contains small rounded fragments of other rocks, and in
places -these become conglomeratic, pebbles of quartz coated with oxide
of iron and rounded fragments of other rocks being frequently formed.
Close to Midnapore town, where a section is exposed, more than
50 feet of solid laterite are seen superposed in large tabular masses
upon a soft soapy greyish white and reddish clay, resembling the kaolin
clays which result from the decomposition of felspathic rocks.
In land under rice cultivation are found the usual marsh weeds of
the Gangetic plain and many sedges, while the surface of ponds,
ditches, and still streams is covered with aquatic plants. The home-
steads are embedded in shrubberies of semi-spontaneous growth.
Some species of figs, notably the pipal and the banyan, make up, along
with the red cotton-tree (Bombax malabaricum), Hangifera, MoHnga,
and Odina Wodaér, the arborescent part of these thickets, in which
numbers of Phoenix dadylifera and palmyra palms (Borassus fabelli
fer) are often present. Hedges and waste places are covered with
climbing creepers and various milkweeds.
Bears and deer are still plentiful in the west, and leopards and
hyenas are not uncommon. There are a few wild elephants and
wolves, and a tiger is occasionally seen. Wild buffaloes were formerly
common in the south, but these have disappeared with the extension
of cultivation. Small game is plentiful, including wild geese, ducks,
snipe, ortolans, teal, and hares; but, excepting the migratory birds, all
game is decreasing. Snakes are numerous.
The climate of the arid tract in the north'and west is very different
from that of the swamps in the east and south. The average mean
temperature for the whole District is about 8o°. The coast-line is
wetter and cooler than the higher portion. In the north and west,
where the surface is of red laterite and the hot westerly winds from
Central India penetrate, exceptionally high day temperatures are a
feature of the hot months, and the mean maximum temperature rises
to 1020 in April and May. The monthly rainfall averages less than an
inch for November, December, January, and February, and between
1 and 12 inches in March and April, after which there is a rapid
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