VIII RIVERS AND LAKES 301 
‘THE CONFLICTS AND ADVENTURES OF RIVERS 
Our ancestors looked upon rivers as being in 
some sense alive, and in fact in their “struggle 
for existence” they not only labour to adapt 
their channel to their own requirements, but 
in many cases enter into conflict with one 
another. 
In the plain of Bengal, for instance, there 
are three great rivers, the Brahmapootra 
coming from the north, the Ganges from the 
_._west, and the Megna from the east, each of 
them with a number of tributary streams. 
Mr. Fergusson’ has given us a most interest- 
ing and entertaining account of the struggles 
between these great rivers to occupy the 
fertile plain of Bengal. 
The Megna, though much inferior in size to 
the Brahmapootra, has one great advantage. 
It depends mainly on the monsoon rains for 
its supply, while the Brahmapootra not only 
has a longer course to run, but relies for its 
floods, to a great extent, on the melting of the 
1 Geol. Jour., 1868. 
