2
Khánápur road, Belgundi Hill on the west about 6 miles distant, and Vaijnath on
the north-west, where there is a temple held in peculiar reverence by the Linga--
yets, whilst the Sootguttee range is on the north and the Kunbargee one on the
north-east.
4. The rock on which Belgaum is built consists of laterite lying upon the
hard compact trap of the Deccan. This rock, which is here erroneously called
soapstone, is in some places of great thickness. For example, on the higher
ground near the kutcherry I measured a well excavated in it, the depth to the
water being 54 feet, and the excavation had been continued down to the trap
rock, only a sufficient quantity of the latter having been brought up to form
a parapet wall round the well, which was said to be about 80 feet deep. The
trap rock, however, crops up in places very close to the surface, as I had the
opportunity of seeing at a new well which is being made near the Artillery lines
where the laterite was only about 15 feet thick.
5. The town of Belgaum has not been surveyed, and there is no map
extant which shows the levels of different parts of it; but from its situation there
is evidently a good fall to the south-east, and the natural drainage is carried off
by the Bhogarvis Nullah, and by a smaller one which meets it, whilst on the
south-east a water-course running along the side of the Dharwar road drains that
portion of the town. These discharge themselves during the rains into the
Bellary Nullah on the south, but are dry during the fair season. The town is
well wooded,—mango, tamarind, banyan, bamboo (from which the town derives
its antient Canarese name, Vénugráma) and other trees seem to thrive well.
6. The following table shows the monthly rainfall as registered during
the last 5 years in the Civil Hospital, which is situated on the outskirts of the
town on the north-east:—
Years.
J a n u a r y .
F e b r u a r y .
M a r c h .
A p r i l .
M a y .
J u n e . J u l y .
A u g u s t .
S e p t e m b e r .
O c t o b e r .
N o v e m b e r .
D e c e m b e r .
Years.
In. Cts. In. Cts. In. Cts. In. Cts. In. Cts. In. Cts. In. Cts. In. Cts. In. Cts. In. Cts. In. Cts. In. Cts. In Ct s .
1871 . . .
0 87
. . . 0 9
1 49
2 70
8 24
8 12
7 2
3 42
5 31
2 35
. . .
39 61
1872 . . .
. . .
. . . 0 15
1 6
1 28 10 56 13 80
3 84
7 93
1 98
0 13
3 75
44 48
1873 . . .
. . .
0 60 0 2 7
2 9 6
5 6 0
4 4 8 14 67
4 8 0 4 84 4 7
0 7 4
. . .
4 3 0 3
1874 . . .
. . .
. . . 0 9
1 41
4 48 10 21 15 21
6 86 11 10
8 9
0 76
0 5
58 26
1875 . . .
. . .
. . . 0 86
1 2
3 14 16 36 23 50
7 9
3 35
3 40
1 21
0 5
59 98
so that the mean annual fall is 49 inches 7 cents. It will be observed that
showers take place in nearly every month of the year.
7. As regards the prevailing wind, I am unable to state the average number
of days during the year on which it blows from different points of the compass,
as this information has not been kept at the Civil Hospital; but I am informed
that from March to the end of October it is westerly. The south-west monsoon is
said to commence in the beginning of June and to blow until the end of October,
in which month it is in some years accompanied by heavy rain, for example
in 1874 when a rainfall of 8.9 inches was registered; from November to March
the prevailing breeze is said to range between the points of east and north, and
the climate is not considered to be at this season as agreeable as it is during the
monsoon.
8. The monthly and annual mean temperature of the air during the 5 years
ending 1875 is shown in the following table, by which it will be seen that from