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BELGAUM   DISTRICT.
Area      .........	...	...	4,652 sq. miles.
Population in 1891	...	...	1,013,261.
Density of population	...	217.81 per sq. mile.
Rainfall          ......	...	...	30 inches.
Boundaries.
Belgaum  is  bounded on  the   north  by the   Miraj   and  Jath  States ;   on   the east by
the   States  of    Jamkhandi  and  Mudhol ;   on   the  south-east
by Dhárwár ;   on the   south   by   North  Kánara ;   and on the
west by Sávantvadi and Kolhápur.
Climate and natural
features.
Belgamn, running parallel to the Sahyádri hills, with a
very irregular out-line, measures about a hundred miles from
north to south and fifty to eighty miles from east to west.
The pleasantest climate in the District is in a tract parallel with the crest of the Sahyá-
dris, between the western forests and the treeless east. The Belgaum year may be arranged
into three seasons, the cold and dry season from the middle of October till the middle of
February ; the hot and dry season from the middle of February till the beginning of June ;
and the wet season from the beginning of June till the middle of October. About the middle
of October the cold weather perceptibly sets in, the evening air begins to be chilly, heavy
fogs gather soon after sunset, and towards the morning and for some time after sunrise the
country is shrouded in thick mist. Towards the end of December or early in January the
night temperature is at its minimum. The hot season sets in about the middle of February,
and the temperature rises rapidly until it reaches 100° in May. Geologically the soils of the
District may be divided into two classes, the red and the black. The red soils are primary
soils, that is, they are the direct result of the decomposition of the iron-bearing rocks. The .
black soils are secondary soils, that is, they are rock ruins charged by the addition of organic
matter.
Previous epidemics.
There  is   no   authentic  record  of plague in the Belgaum
District previous to 1897.*
The Belganm District enjoyed immunity both from imported as well as indigenous
plague till October 1897. But this immunity could not be expected to continue much longer,
when it is remembered that it was surrounded on the north-east, west and north-west by the
Sholápur District, the Kolhápur Agency and the Sátára District, respectively, places where
severe plague epidemics were then raging. As the reports for 1897-98 received from this
District consisted merely of isolated reports on villages, and no report has yet been received
for 1808-99, the progress of plague cannot be sketched in any detail. But the course of the
disease in these villages has been sketched at some length, as the measures taken in them were
presumably similar with those taken elsewhere in the Belgaum District.
Kágvád.
Population-3,839.
First Epidemic   (November  1897-June   1898).-The   first  case occurred   on  the  21st
October 1897 in Kágvád  village,   the source of infection being
probably clue to importation from Sátára.    The following parti-
culars are taken from the District Deputy Collector, Mr. N. C. Soman's report:-
* Bombay Gazetteer,Vol. XXI.