Chap. II.] NAVIGATION OF THE MAIIAWELLI-GANGA. 425 



tlie separation of the two streams with apprehension ; 

 since instances are frequent in which rafts have been 

 carried into the Vergel and swept out to sea, those in 

 charge being compelled to abandon tliem precipitately 

 and swim to land. 



Mr. Brooke succeeded in ascending tlie river to Bintenne 

 and Pangragamme, a distance of 120 miles from the bay 

 of Trincomalie, and describes his voj^age as rendered ha- 

 zardous by the rapids, in which it was difficult to steady 

 the boats, whilst an upset would have been dangerous, 

 omna; to the multitude of crocodiles with which the river 

 swarmed. 



After passing Koorangemone, where the two branches 

 of the river diverge, villages became more frequent, but 

 the inhabitants were poor and exhausted by fever, their 

 houses being built over marshy ground and raised on 

 piles, to obviate inconvenience from the periodical in- 

 undation of the river after the rains. The popidation on 

 the left or western bank were chiefly Moors who cul- 

 tivate a little rice, whilst to the right extended the vast 

 forests of Bintenne frequented by the uncivilised Veddah 

 tribes. 



The river, as far up as Perriatorre, in the vicinity of 

 the remarkable mountain called the Gunner's Quoin, 

 varies from 100 to 140 yards in width, and after tliis 

 point occasionally expands to upwards of 500. Its depth 

 is from 4 to 7 feet, but rising to 25 or 30 during the 

 rains. The chief obstructions for the first 80 miles are 

 huge banks of sand piled up at the angles and sharp 

 bends of the river, and occasionally collections of dead 

 trees swept together by the floods, hang across the river, 

 impeding the passage and helping to accumulate fresh 

 heaps of sand and drift-wood. 



At Calinga, twenty-foiu" miles above Perriatorre, the 

 MahaweUi-ganga loses its sandy character, and flows 

 over rocks of granite. Here Mr. Brooke found the 

 navigation extremely difficult, occasionally presenting ra- 

 pids and falls of twelve feet and upwards, round which 



