1 2 TOPOGRAPHY OF THE PUNJAUB.
2 south. In the immediate north and north-east
3 of the territory lie the chains of mountains known
4 as the Hindoo Koosh and the Himalayan range,
5 the latter divided from the former by the exten-
6 sive valley of the Indus.
7 The plain of the Punjaub, to use the words of
8 Thornton, the Gazetteer, “is divided by its rivers
9 into five extensive natural sections, described by
10 the native term, doab, signifying a great tongue of
11 land lying in the bifurcation above the confluence
12 of two rivers.” The rivers are all in a great
13 measure navigable, not less than 1960 miles of
14 the five principal streams, with their four tribu-
15 taries, the Punjnud, Trinab, Beas, and Epara,
16 being available for purposes of inland traffic.
17 Irrigation to an almost unparalleled extent is
18 likewise carried on without much assistance from
19 artificial means, the great plain being extremely
20 level, or sloping so gradually from north-east to
21 south-west that the highest elevation above the
22 level of the sea does not exeed 1,600 feet,
23 descending to about 200. In fact, the exceeding
24 smoothness of the country has the effect of
25 causing the rivers to frequently change their
26 courses; not one of them runs within several
27 miles of the great towns whose walls they washed
28 twenty years ago. Scattered over the territory,
29 but chiefly in the vicinity of the rivers, are
30 numerous towns, fortresses, and villages. The