SUNDARBANS. 



This immense river system is however unfortunately 

 split up near its mouth into an enormous number of chan- 

 nels, which find their exit to the sea through the mazes 

 of the Sundarbans, a region of swamps and fevers, pre- 

 senting in many places the aspect of an impenetrable 

 thicket, choked with masses of bamboos and other gi- 

 gantic reeds and grasses, mingled with bush forest. 

 The Sundarbans are still full of tigers and other heavy 

 game of every kind, which the impassable nature of 

 the country, and its unhealthy character, render secure 

 from the pursuit of sportsmen ; all sorts of curious sto- 

 ries are current in Calcutta as to adventures with tigers, 

 etc., met with by persons passing in boats along this 

 complicated labyrinth of streams ; a good many of which 

 are doubtless founded on fact, whilst others are evi- 

 dently exaggerations, or perhaps altogether fictitious. 

 Even steamers are not always respected by these ani- 

 mals, as Mr. G. P. Sanderson (late of the Government 

 " Kheddah" or Elephant-Catching establishment, a high 

 authority on Indian sporting matters), quotes an instance 

 of a tiger boarding a steamer at night, while it was 

 plying from Goalundo to Dakka. * It is probable that 

 the tiger may have been seeking rest during a long swim, 

 and mistook the boat for an island or rock. Mr. San- 

 derson however mentions having heard of other simi- 

 lar cases, of these animals getting into native boats, 

 and stories of a similar kind are common in Calcutta. 



The whole of this country, extending from the sea 

 up to Dakka and Goalundo, is of a similar character, 

 consisting of vast low-lying alluvial flats, a great deal 

 of which is under water during the rainy season which 



* Thirteen Year's among the Wild Beasts of India, by G. P. 

 Sanderson, 2nd edit., p. 123. 



