

1835.] Geology of the Bombay Islands. 339 



was felt, and in the province of Nagaracotta, as well as on 

 the bank of the river Sarayuva, volcanic appearances are 

 evident. But the most remarkable changes are to be found 

 in the vicinity of Cochin. On its north side we find the 

 Island Vaypi, which was thrown up by the sea about the 

 year 1341. The soil upon this new formation resembles 

 that of the flat districts of Malabar, which consists of sea 

 sand and calcareous matter, combined with clay said to be 

 washed down from the Ghauts. The production of Vaypi 

 gave rise to a new era, termed Puduvepa (new introduction.) 

 In the same neighbourhood, Bartolomeo informs us, that he 

 was witness to the formation of an island, a mile in length, 

 in the course of ten years, before the church at Celtiyatti, 

 by the opposite effects of river and sea water, which may be 

 explained in the following; manner : During the months of 

 August and September, if the rains have been abundant, 

 the waters of the river clear away from its mouth, those 

 sandbanks which have been formed during the height of the 

 monsoon, in June and July, by the high sea which then 

 rages in a boisterous manner ; but if the rains have been 

 scanty, and the force of the river is not sufficient to carry 

 away the obstruction to its junction with the waters of the 

 ocean, an inundation of the adjacent country ensues ; the 

 inhabitants are driven from their dwellings, and so frequent 

 is this occurrence, that we are told grandchildren can 

 scarcely point out, with any certainty, the spot where their 

 grandfather resided, in consequence of the change in its 

 appearance. 



Contemporaneous with the appearance of the Island of 

 Vaypi, the waters which during the rainy season are dis- 

 charged from the Ghauts, broke through the banks of the 

 river Cocci, and overwhelmed a village of the same name 

 with such impetuosity as to sweep it away, and formed in 

 that district a river, a lake, and a harbour so spacious, that 

 very large ships can now lie in security on the north-east 

 side of Cochin, where the river runs into the sea.* 



According to the Hindoo records, the ocean has made 

 great inroads upon the opposite shore of India ; for, it ap- 

 pears, from the researches of D. Duante de Meneses, Por- 



* Viaggio alle Indie Orientali da F. P. da S. Bartolomeo, Roma, 1796, 8vo. 

 English translation from tlie German of Dr. R. Forster, 8vo. 1800. 



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