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	SAVAMTVADI   STATE.
Area .................... .		926 sq. miles.
Populationin 1891      ...............	192,948.
Density of population...	208ˇ37 per sq. mile.
Rainfall      .........      ............	143 inches.
Boundariesi.
Sávantvádi, about fifty miles long and from ten to thirty
broad, is a compact territory, unbroken by the lands of any
other States or Districts.
Bounded on the north by the Málvan sub-division of Ratnágiri,. it is separated by the
line of the Sahyádri hills, on the north-east, from the lands of Kolhápur, and on the east
and south-east, from the Belguum and Bidi sub-divisions of the British district of Belgaum.
To the south lie the Dicholi and Pedna sub-divisions of the Portuguese territory of
Goa, and on the west and north-west, the Ratnágiri sub-divisions of Vengurla and Málvau.
Climate and natural features.
The cold season begins about the middle of November, the weather very suddenly
changing from damp warmth to dry cold. From February
to the middle of May strong gusty winds blow from the north-
west. The hot weather begins in March, when at times, in the afternoon, with a heavy
cloudy sky, the thermometer rises to 94°. In April, the hottest month in the year, mists
and fogs are sometimes followed by thunder, lightning, and rain from the north-east.
May, though it has a higher average temperature than April, is freshened by a strong
sea-breeze. The rainy season begins early in June and ends about the middle of October.
The soil is chiefly a light sand full of stones and gravel, and unable to yield the better
class of crops. In the north is a deep red soil, the result of the decomposition of some of
the lower trap flows. None of the rivers are of any considerable size: the Sávantvádi
rivers, rising from the western Sáhyádri slopes and passing west to the sea, displaying much
sameness of character.
There is no authentic record of plague in the Sávantvádi State previous to 1896.*
Sávantvádi.
Population-192,948.
The Sávantvádi   State  affords  a  good  instance   of  the  efficacy   of  surveillance and
cognate measures in excluding plague from a District or State
when thoroughly and energetically put in force. It is bound-
ed on the west and north by Ratnágiri District, on the south
by Portuguese Territory, and on the east by Kolhápur and the Southern Marátha Country
and Belgaum. Throughout 1897 and 1898, the two latter were almost constantly infected,
and imported cases occurred as early as December 1896, ultimately reach-ing a total of 41,
of which no less than 37 were fatal. Yet, up to October 1898, indigenous plague was
unknown in the Sávantvádi State.
As early as October 1896, Mr. L. P. Walsh, C. I. E., the Political Superintendent,
had called a meeting of the principal inhabitants of the Town and District, in order to im-
press on them the necessity for making arrangements to ward off plague, should it approach;
and to deal with it, should it appear in the State. Dr. D. G. Dalgado, the Civil Surgeon,
delivered lectures on the subject by special request, and every endeavour was made to make
all classes clearly understand the position they had to face, and the need for aiding the
authorities in the execution of such measures as might be deemed necessary.
* Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. X..