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Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 19, p. 307.

PACHIYIARHI 307 of just over 3,500 feet, has an area of 23 square miles, the greater part of which is covered with forest. The census population in March, 190 r, was 3,020 persons; but at this time of year Pachmarhi is com- paratively empty, and it is probable that during the season the number of residents is doubled. The plateau, which is Government property, was acquired in 1869 and 1871, and soon afterwards the Chief Com- missioner of the Central Provinces began to reside here during the summer months. Its advantages as a sanitarium were first discovered by Captain Forsyth, the author of The Highlands of Central India, in 1857 ; and the name of the shooting box which he built for him- self on the plateau, and called Bison Lodge, is still preserved by a house erected subsequently on the same site. The name is a corrup- tion of pinch mathi, or ` five huts,' and properly belongs to a small hill in the open part of the plateau in which five caves have been constructed. There is some reason for supposing that these are Buddhist, but Brahmanical tradition has annexed them as one of the places at which the five Pandava brothers sojourned during their wanderings. The prevailing rock is a coarse gritty sandstone of great depth, which succumbs readily to denudation ; and the steep ravines and gorges that have been formed by the action of water produce some strikingly picturesque pieces of scenery. Of the 23 square miles of which the plateau is composed, rg are classed as forest. This area is managed principally with a view to the preservation and enhance- ment of the natural beauties of scenery. The forest growth is generally thin and interspersed with numerous grass glades of park-like appear- ance. Sdl (Shorea robusta) is the principal timber tree, and there is also a quantity of harrd (Terminalia Chebula) and jamun (Eugenia jambolana). Several peaks fringe the plateau, of which the principal are Dhupgarh (4,454 feet), Mahadeo (4,384 feet), and Chauragarh (4317 feet). Owing to its moderate elevation, Pachmarhi affords only a partial relief from the heat of the plains. The mean temperature in May, the hottest month, is 85°, and the maximum occasionally rises to over loo°. Still, except for a short period during the middle of the day, the heat is never oppressive. During the second half of Septem- ber and October, after the cessation of the rains, the climate is delight- fully cool and bracing, the mean temperature in the latter month being 69°. The rainfall is heavy, averaging 77 inches annually, nearly the whole of which is received between June and September. Pachmarhi was constituted a municipality in 1886. The municipal receipts and expenditure during the decade ending lgoi averaged Rs. 3,7oo and Rs. 3,5oo respectively. In 1903-4 the income was RS. 28,ooo, including a Government grant of RS. z2,ooo. There is also a cantonment, which includes five square miles on the eastern or Piparia side of the plateau. The receipts and expenditure of the