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PHYSICAL ASPECTS

to the sea, being bounded on the north by the Himalayan countries of Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet, while its southern coast is washed by the waters of the Bay of Bengal. To the east lie Assam and Burma, and on the west it is bounded by Bihar and Orissa. Nearly the whole of it is a fertile alluvial plain watered by the Ganges and Brahmaputra and by their numerous tributaries and effluents. For thousands of square nules neither a hill nor a rock can be seen, nor can even a stone be found in the silt-formed soil. Far different is the appearance of this deltaic country from that of the alluvial river-plains to the north-west. "The air is now languorous and vapour-laden, the vegetation luxuriant and tropical. The firm grey plain of wheat and millets and sugarcane, dotted with clumps of park-like trees, gives place to rice swamps and bamboos, palm and plantain." Though there is a gradual rise of level to the north, it is so small as to be imperceptible. Calcutta, 86 miles from the sea, is only 18 to 21 feet above mean sea level, and Siliguri, at the foot of the Himalayas over 300 miles from Calcutta, has an elevation of only 400 feet. There are, moreover, scarcely any ridges or marked undulations to break the uniformity of the level flats. Monotony therefore is the defect of the scenery. At the same time, th^ monotony of the scenery is relieved by the prodigahty of nature. Heat and humidity produce a prolific vegetation. The eye accustomed to the sunbaked plains of northern India is soothed by perennial turf and the fresh greenness of the countryside; while scattered homesteads, nesthng in thickets of bamboos, palms, plantains and evergreen plants, have a certain quiet charm of their own.

With the exception of some small areas to the extreme north and south-east, which will be described later, the whole country is remarkably homogeneous. Certain natural divisions are, however, recognized, the difference