120 WILD LIFE IN NORTH CANARA. 



In 1848 an experienced engineer offi- 

 cer, General Frederick Cotton, visited 

 the Tuddri estuary, to examine its posi- 

 tion and capabilities as a port for coun- 

 try craft. The late Lord Gifford, who 

 was then travelling in India, came with 

 him, and we took soundings on the bar 

 at mean tide, finding, if I remember 

 right, fourteen feet of water, or depth 

 quite sufficient to admit small vessels. 

 But nothing would move the merchants 

 from Coompta. 



The falls of Gairsappa have long been 

 justly reputed one of the sights of the 

 world ; for here a very considerable river 

 which divides North Canara from Mysore 

 falls from the tableland over a precipice 

 of a thousand feet into a wild and 

 beautiful ravine. 



