hill ranges and peaks covered with dense
jungle, and running generally from north to south. (3) The lofty plateau,
in which is situated the Raigarh Bichhia tract, comprising irregular ranges
of hills, broken into numerous valleys, and generally running from east to
west. The highest points in the hills of the district are as
follows:--Peaks above Lanji, 2300 or 2500 feet; Tepagarh hill, about 2600
ft.; and Bhainsaghat range, about 3000 ft. above the sea. The principal
rivers in the district are the Wainganga, and its tributaries, the Bagh,
Nahra and Uskal; a few smaller streams, such as the Masmar, the Mahkara,
&c.; and the Banjar, Halon and Jamunia, tributaries of the Nerbudda, which
drain a portion of the upper plateau. In the middle of the 19th century the
upper part of the district was an impenetrable waste. About that time one
Lachhman Naik established the first villages on the Paraswara plateau. But
a handsome Buddhist temple of cut stone, belonging to some remote period,
is suggestive of a civilization which had disappeared before historic
times. The population in 1901 was 326,521, showing a decrease of 15% in the
decade, due to the effects of famine. A large part of the area is still
covered with forest, the most valuable timber-tree being _sal_. There are
few good roads. The Gondia-Jubbulpore line of the Bengal-Nagpur railway
traverses the Wainganga valley in the west of the district. The district
suffered very severely from the famine of 1896-1897. It suffered again in
1900, when in April the number of persons relieved rose above 100,000.

BALAGUER, VICTOR (1824-1901), Spanish politician and author, was born at
Barcelona on the 11th of December 1824, and was educated at the university
of his native town. His precocity was remarkable; his first dramatic essay,
_Pepin el jorobado_, was placed on the Barcelona stage when he was fourteen
years of age, and at nineteen he was publicly "crowned" after the
production of his second play, _Don Enrique el Dadivoso_. From 1843 to 1868
he was the chief of the Liberal party in Barcelona, and as proprietor and
editor of _El Conseller_ did much to promote the growth of local patriotism
in Catalonia. But it was not till 1857 that he wrote his first poem in
Catalan--a copy of verses to the Virgin of Montserrat. Henceforward he
frequently adopted the pseudonym of "lo Trovador de Montserrat"; in 1859 he
helped to restore the "Juegos Florales," and in 1861 was proclaimed _mestre
de