128 ABSENCE OF ROCK IN THE GANGETIC DELTA. 



came from. This supply only lasts, however, from May till November, or 

 during the time of the inundations. When the water retires there is an 

 end of the luxuriant growth. 



In the afternoon we turned into a smaller tributary, and after following- 

 it for some miles we reached camp under a splendid banian-tree, so wide- 

 spreading that the twenty-five elephants and their attendants found plenty 

 of room under it without encroaching upon my camp. As a rule, trees of 

 the order Ficus are not so fine in Eastern Bengal as in the south of India. 

 This may be occasioned by the presence of water within a few feet of the 

 surface, which prevents their roots striking sufficiently deep. This tree, 

 however, was an exception amongst its fellows. In addition to the in- 

 feriority in the size of the trees, the massive granite temples and other 

 buildings common in Mysore and other parts of Southern India are 

 wanting in Eastern Bengal. There is an extraordinary absence of stone 

 throughout the delta of the Ganges. There is not a single rock, not a 

 pebble, not even a nodule of gravel, for a distance of four hundred miles 

 from the sea. The most permanent building material is but indifferent 

 brick ; hence, nothing can lay claim to the antiquity winch makes many 

 remains in Mysore and other provinces so deeply interesting. For anything 

 there is to be seen to the contrary, this part of the country might have 

 been brought under cultivation within the last ten years. 



After breakfast next day I took all the elephants, and went through a 

 variety of grass and bush-jungle, occasional swamps, &c, in the hopes of 

 finding buffaloes, but I felt very helpless through not having had any experi- 

 ence in the sport. I saw a few hog-deer (Axis porcinus) an animal not found 

 in Southern India, but no buffalo. At last we found some marks, and I 

 tried to track a solitary bull, but lost the trail in a mile. Oh for some 

 of my Mysore Oopliga or Kurraba trackers ! The country was wet, and 

 tracking comparatively easy, and I saw no jungle that buffaloes could not be 

 followed into — even on foot ; but none of my men were adepts. At last 

 we met some charcoal-burners who seemed likely fellows, and who told us 

 the buffaloes grazed in the rice-fields at night, but retreated to jungles near 

 a place called Bampoor during the day. To Rampoor we started accord- 

 ingly, and on the way picked up a native (the villagers here were not unlike 

 the Mysore Kurrabas and Sholagas), and under his guidance the elephants 

 tramped some miles of likely jungle, but without our seeing anything. 

 Our guide, however, promised better things on the morrow, so we returned 

 to camp. This kind of work is most beneficial to elephants, as they graze 

 the whole of the time, finding a variety of fodder, and the exercise and 

 change please them. 



