THE INDIAN PENINSULA 165

which rise above them in forestcovered
 ridges where teak and
sandal wood grow abundantly,
and form a valuable part of the
export trade of the west coast.
The chief towns of the west
are naturally its seaports, which
are still numerous, though they
have lost the importance which
was attached to them in medieval
 days. South of Bombay the
Portuguese settlement of Goa,
and the port of Beypur, the
western terminus of the Madras
railway, are perhaps the most
important. Goa is a picturesque
town too little known to modern
travellers. Itis full of the interest
of early Portuguese occupation,
a relic of the past which has
preserved reminiscences of Albuquerque
 and his energetic
methods of propagating Christianity
 in Southern India even to
this day.
That part of the central
plateau of India which is called
the Dekkan requires certain definition.
 Commencing on the
north with the ranges which form
the southern edge of the Narbada
Valley it extends southwards to
the Nilgiris. The Eastern and
Western Ghats which bound it
are raised above the general level
of the plateau, and descend
steeply to the plains bordering
the seashore on either side. The
southern districts of the table-100

 MILES

ABOYE 3000 FT
7000 -3000 - ER
1000 - 2000 +E]
600 - 1000 [IE
JNDER 600 [I

A

Fic. 52.—Malabar Coast ; Western
Ghits.