THE HUMAN SPECIES. 37 



THE GANGES. 



IN the Bay of Bengal, where the Ganges is reported to 

 discharge, per day, solid matter, equal in cubic bulk to 

 the great pyramid of Egypt, and the Sunderbunds or 

 Calingas, form a delta of immense breadth, no further 

 extension is observed seaward ; but, according to Major 

 Rennell, a vast surface of land, with the ancient city 

 of Bengalla, once seated at the easternmost branch of 

 the river, has submerged into deep water. 



Though the peninsula is perpetually disturbed by 

 earthquakes, Allahabad offers one of the few indica- 

 tions of volcanic action, above the surface, by the 

 thermal waters, observed in a deep cave, where " the 

 tree of Adam continues to bud ; " and beyond the 

 Brahmaputra, a naptha spring, in perpetual ignition, 

 is held in veneration even in Thibet. 



AUSTRALASIA. 



ON the east side of the Bay of Bengal, down to the 

 extremity of further India, the shore, rich in alluvial 

 dejjpsits, brought down by the great rivers from Indo- 

 China, repels the western monsoon, and maintains a 

 powerful seaward vegetation ; but where the Malay 

 peninsula extends towards the great Australian islands, 

 volcanic disturbances again become predominant, pre- 



