PHYSICAL ASPECTS
3
and such precious natural blessings.' 'Where the land is capable of
culture,' it has also been said, `there is no denser population. Where
it is occupied by jungle, or backwater, or lagoon, there is no more
fairy landscape.'
The mountainous character of Travancore is due to the WESTERN
GHAT5, which flank it on the eastern side, and reach their highest
elevation in the north-east of ANAIMUDI PEAK, 8,837 feet above the
sea, the numerous heights clustering round this part being often termed
the High Range. South of this group are the CARDAMOM HILLS and
PĪRMED, where the land spreads out in a plateau of considerable width
with hills running up to about 5,000 feet. For the rest of its length
the range consists of a ridge at an elevation of about 4,000 feet, with
isolated peaks, of which Agastyamalai and the Mahendragiri are the
most important. From the main range of the Ghāts rocky spurs run
out towards the west, in some cases to within a short distance of the
sea. From Quilon southwards these secondary ranges soften down
into undulating slopes, intersected by glens and valleys, which grow
wider as the elevation of the hills decreases, and are very productive.
Owing to the mountainous character of so large a portion of the
country, its rivers and streams are very numerous. They have generally
a very winding course, and they empty themselves either into the back-
waters referred to below or directly into the sea. A dozen principal
rivers with their tributaries and ramifications intersect the country in
all directions. The largest of them is the Periyr (`big river'), which
is 142 miles in length. This rises in the Sivagiri forests, 6o miles south
of Devikolam on the High Range, at an elevation of over 3,000 feet.
From here it runs north, but inclining towards the west, until it reaches
a point close under that range. Thence it turns to the west and
plunges down between immense cliffs of rock, and after a long north-
westerly course reaches Alwaye, where it divides into two branches,
that to the north falling into the sea at Pallipuram and the other to the
south emptying itself into the backwaters west of Ernakulam. The
upper waters of this great river have been utilized by the PERIYAR
PROJECT for irrigation in the Madura District of Madras.
An interesting chain of lakes or backwaters extends along the coast
from the northernmost frontier to Trivandrum. These are either
expansions of the rivers at their mouths, or extensive sheets of water
receiving the accumulated flow of several rivers and streams. They
are separated from the sea by a bar of sand from 7 miles to about
half a mile in width, but the rivers have several outlets by which they
disgorge themselves into the sea. The flood-tides also flow over the
bars into them and cause them to rise about z feet. These back-
waters, of which there are more than a dozen, their total area aggre-
gating 15712 square miles, are connected together by navigable canals,
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