The peninsula of Hindostan is occupied by the triangular-shaped table-land of the Deccan, which is much lower, and totally unconnected with the table-land of Tibet. It has the primary ranges of the Ghauts on the east and west, and the Vendhya mountains on the north, sloping by successive levels to the plains of Hindostan Proper. A trace of the general equatorial direction of the Asiatic high land is still perceptible in the Vendhya mountains, sometimes called the central chain of India, and in the Saulpoora range to the south, both being nearly parallel to the Himalaya.[34] The surface of the Deccan between 3000 and 4000 feet above the sea is a combination of plains, ridges of rock, and insulated flat-topped hills, which are numerous, especially in its north-eastern parts. These solitary and almost inaccessible heights rise abruptly from the plains, with all but perpendicular sides, which can only be scaled by steps cut in the rock, or by very dangerous paths. Many are fortified, and were the strongholds of the natives, but they never have withstood the determined intrepidity of British soldiers. The peninsula terminates with the table-land of the Mysore, 7000 feet above the sea, surrounded by the Nilgherry or Blue Mountains, which rise 2941 feet higher. The base of this plateau, and indeed of all the Deccan is granite, and there are also many syenitic and trap rocks, with abundance of primary and secondary fossiliferous strata. Though possessing the diamond-mines of Golconda, the true riches of the country consist in its vegetable mould, which in the Mysore is 100 feet thick, an inexhaustible source of fertility. The sea-coasts on the two sides of the peninsula are essentially different: that of Malabar on the western side is rocky, but in many parts well cultivated, and its mountains covered with forests form a continuous wall of very simple structure, 510 miles long, and rather more than 5000 feet high. On the coast of Coromandel the mountains are bare, lower, frequently interrupted, and the wide maritime plains are for the most part parched. The island of Ceylon, nearly equal in extent to Ireland, is almost joined to the southern extremity of the peninsula by sandbanks and small islands, between which the water is only six feet deep in spring tides. The Sanscrit name of the “Resplendent” may convey some idea of this island, rich and fertile in soil, adorned by lofty mountains, numerous streams, and primeval forests; in addition to which it is rich in precious stones, and has the pearl oyster on its coast.