h a general south-eastern direction across the plateau of
Mysore, and finally pours itself into the Bay of Bengal through two
principal mouths in Tanjore district. Its total length is 472 m., the
estimated area of its basin 27,700 sq.m. The course of the river in
Coorg is very tortuous. Its bed is generally rocky; its banks are high
and covered with luxuriant vegetation. On entering Mysore it passes
through a narrow gorge, but presently widens to an average breadth of
300 to 400 yds. Its bed continues rocky, so as to forbid all navigation;
but its banks are here bordered with a rich strip of cultivation. In its
course through Mysore the channel is interrupted by twelve anicuts or
dams for the purpose of irrigation. From the most important of these,
known as the Madadkatte, an artificial channel is led to a distance of
72 m., irrigating an area of 10,000 acres, and ultimately bringing a
water-supply into the town of Mysore. In Mysore state the Cauvery forms
the two islands of Seringapatam and Sivasamudram, which vie in sanctity
with the island of Seringam lower down in Trichinopoly district. Around
the island of Sivasamudram are the celebrated falls of the Cauvery,
unrivalled for romantic beauty. The river here branches into two
channels, each of which makes a descent of about 200 m. in a succession
of rapids and broken cascades. After entering the Madras presidency, the
Cauvery forms the boundary between the Coimbatore and Salem districts,
until it strikes into Trichinopoly district. Sweeping past the historic
rock of Trichinopoly, it breaks at the island of Seringam into two
channels, which enclose between them the delta of Tanjore, the garden of
southern India. The northern channel is called the Coleroon (Kolidam);
the other preserves the name of Cauvery. On the seaward face of its
delta are the open roadsteads of Negapatam and French Karikal. The only
navigation on any portion of its course is carried on in boats of
basket-work. It is in the delta that the real value of the river for
irrigation becomes conspicuous. This is the largest delta system, and
the most profitable of all the works in India. The most ancient
irrigation work is a massive dam of unhewn stone, 1080 ft. long, and
from 40 to 60 ft. broad, across the stream of the Cauvery proper, which
is supposed to date back to the 4th century, is still in excellent
repair, and has supplied a model to British engineers. The area of the
ancient system was 669,000 acr