'The Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society. From January 1865 to December 1867. (Edited by the Honorary Secretary.) Volume XVIII.' [‎100] (127/268)

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The Ghalr.
19. From the foot of the Burda hills, which are situated a few miles to the
north, the land has a gradual fall until it meets
The River Bhadur. ^ which, rising in the interior of
Kattyawar, flows, in a westerly direction through the joint districts, and joins
the sea at Nuvee, a Porebunder town on the coast.
20. To the south of the Bhadur the country exhibits a uniform low level, fall
ing again at the extreme south, where it joins
the Ghair, a low-lying district, which is under
water for several months in the year.
21 . The joint districts as already mentioned are separated from the sea by a
^ strip of Porebunder territory. Owing however
to the Bhadur being tidal for some miles, and the
lowness of its banks, a large amount of salt water finds its way over this inter
vening tract at every flow of the tide. During the rains, the flooding of the
river, the high monsoon tides, and the bursting of the sea through the sand hills
which line the coast, convert this tract of country into an extensive salt marsh
or Bunn, and may thus, as far as the ill-effects are concerned, be said to brino-
these joint districts into immediate proximity with the sea.
22 . Owing to the prevailing low level of the country, together with the
Saltness of the District. ab ° Ve P roximit y of the sea . of the principal
features of the district is its saltness. Salt
water percolates from below, fills wells and streams, impregnates the soil, and
occasionally appears as an efflorescence on the surface; and is, in short, the
normal condition of the country, which, without counteracting influences, would
soon become uninhabitable.
23. The yearly rains are of course one of the causes which fertilize the
country. They sweeten the soil, and supply fresh water to the inhabitants;
but, without other assistance, these beneficial results would be but temporary.
24. The event upon which the welfare of the northern portion of these dis
tricts greatly depends, is the annual inundation
of the Bhadur and its tributaries, by which the
country on both banks is flooded for several miles. This may happen once,
twice, or even thiee times during the monsoon ; and the vast volume of water
thus thrown on the land sinks to a great depth, displacing the salt and
thoroughly sweetening the soil for cultivation, besides filling tanks, wells, and
streams with fresh water.
2 o. The constant antagonism between fresh and salt water in these districts is
a most curious feature, and serves to show what the condition of the country
G ^ ^ an ^ means the yearly flooding of the river were to be averted.
The fresh water poured over the country by this means not only allows crops
cu tivated duiing the rainy season, but the streams andnullas retain their
sweetness long enough to allow cold weather crops to be raised by irrigation.
i e commencement of hot weather however evaporation takes place,
and as the heat increases, the salt water again begins to percolate from below,
Inundation of the Bhadur.