﻿THUOUGII BENGAL. 21 



•pra6licable for boats proceeding to Calcutta by the I[fa ■ 

 nnutty* river, as many fhallows had been formed to a 

 confiderable diftance below the inlet. The marks of 

 the inundation were, indeed, very vifible here ; but 

 in one part of the channel oppofite to Dexuangunge^ 

 where I expe6ted to have met with the firft (hallow, 1 

 founded from 20 to 60 feet, in the very place where 

 there had been a ford but two years before. This will 

 fcrvc to convey an idea, not only of the rapidity with 

 which the waters of the inundation can excavate the 

 loofe foil of Bengal, but alfo, of the inconftant and 

 fluctuating ftate of the rivers in general; for I foon 

 found that, notwithftanding the prodigious depth of 

 water at Dewangunge^ the Howleah river had been, in 

 an equal degree, choaked up in other parts below that 

 place ; and I met with great diHiculty in paffing over 

 the fiiallows which had lx:en formed, although the 

 Budjerow in which I travelled did dot draw above two 

 feet water. 



Havi.vg now detailed the particular changes in the 

 courfe of the Ganges which have come under my no- 

 tice, I fhall conclude this part of the fubje6t with a 

 few general obfervations concerning that river, re- 

 ferving what I have to fay on the fmaller branches to 

 a feparate Seclion of this Memoir. 



The Ganges, in its courfe through Bengal, may be 

 faid to have under its dominion a coniiderable portion 

 of the flat country; for not only the channel which, 

 at any given time, contains the principal body of its 

 waters, but alfo as much of the land, on each fide, as 

 is comprehended within its collateral branches, is liable 

 to inundation, or to be deftroyed by the encroach- 

 ments of the llream, may be confidered as belonging 

 to the river. V/e muft, of courfe, include any track, 

 or old channel, 'through which it had formerly run, 

 and into which there is any probability of its ever re- 

 turning again; as the Baugrutty nulla at Gour ; the 



B 3 track 



* The IJfamv.tty is onlv a continuation of the Hszoleah or Comer river, 

 which lower down afruines (he name of Jaboona, and falling in with the 

 RiJjr'mungid, forms one of the principal outlets of the Ganges. 



