88 TWO YEAKS I]Sr THE JUXGLE. 



the same side, but farther down the stream. As we steamed slowly 

 down the Hoogly and left the " City of Palaces " (sic) behind us, 

 the palm-groves and cocoanut gardens gradually disappeared, until 

 there remained only a low and flat alluvial jDlain, dotted here and 

 there with patches of low jungle, straggling native huts, grain 

 stacks, and herds of grazing cattle. 



The delta is, of course, gi-een and fertile, but we are entirely 

 disappointed of the lofty trees and luxuriant tangle of vegetation 

 which we have had indelibly pictured in our mind ever since we 

 first heard of India. And yet, away over on our left lie the Sun- 

 derbunds, a vast labyrinth of channels, creeks, and bayous, and 

 islands clad with low, scrubby jungle, that really does aflford shelter 

 for wild hogs, spotted deer, jackals, crocodiles, and an occasional 

 tiger and rhinoceros. I had intended to make a hunting trip to 

 this famous game district, but upon questioning those who had 

 been there I found that I could not be certain of finding anything 

 except wild pigs and deer, which was not a satisfactory prospect. 



How rudely a httle travel lays in ruins some of our most cher- 

 ished ideas, impressions which have been honestly acquired, too. 

 Here have we travelled over sixteen hundred miles in India, with- 

 out seeing a tropical forest, or even a tropical landscape, until 

 reaching the delta of the Ganges. Judging from the tales of cer- 

 tain travellers and sea-captains, I expected to see the Hoogly below 

 Calcutta almost covered with the bodies of dead Hindoos, whereas 

 we saw never a one. Neither were there any swarms of native 

 craft. I was surprised at the scarcity of birds along the river, for 

 we saw only half a dozen small egrets [Herodias egrettoides), feed- 

 ing in a salt marsh, and two gulls [L. rudihunda) flj'ing overhead. 



At sunset we anchored in the river at Diamond Harbor, for we 

 were yet many miles fi'om the mouth, and no vessel dares to navi- 

 gate this treacherous river after nightfall. Even in the daytime it 

 is diiSicult enough to steer clear of its shifting quicksands. 



While we lay at anchor, some of the sailors (French) went fish- 

 ing over the bows and caught a shark about four feet long. Di- 

 rectly it was landed upon the deck, they procured a lantern and a 

 knife and went to work to dissect their specimen as scientifically as 

 they knew how. For half an hour those big, rough fellows worked 

 over that animal, studj'ing its anatomy with as much interest as a 

 party of savants. I wondered if American sailors would have felt as 

 much interest in a common shark, and whether an American mate 

 would not have ordered the men to " heave that overboard " for 



