Vol. 1V, No. 9.] The Kost River. 465 
[N.S.] 
a local knowledge of the river's action. Mr. Shillingford,' some 
years ago, published a pamphlet on spew river, advocating the 
theory that it behaved somewhat like a swinging pendulum which 
but does not hold sont altogether ; recent writings, mostly 
published since Mr, Shillingford's time, show that a perpetual 
oscillation theory cannot be accepted under the circumstances 
Mr. een, the Public Works Officer referred to as 
aving bee ed on special duty e Kosi som 
months back, asked me, since I had then very recently finished a 
survey of the river in British territory, i i 
7e 
r. Green ; further, since I considered the embankment system 
to be an erroneous one fora river like the Kosi, and since I believed 
that the Public Works Department would, if it attempted pei 
rambo be compelled to resort to rigid embankment ts, I deci 
that it would be best to give no opinion at that time. but to 
continue ahs studyoftheriver. This note is the resuit of the further 
Eastern Bengal and Assam, the importance of which does not appear 
to have been fully realized. 
e training of rivers is a subject which ae received much 
aktanition from engineers for many centuries pas e Phoenicians 
and the ancient Egyptians inaugurated a science eka in the last 
300 years has resulted in the launching of projects having far- 
reaching effects. The Chinese, - however, oy give us the best 
examples of th y-designed attempts 

benefi gen 
in the act of —s ad finite programme ‘of f land Bebe eae 
into a fixed bed, and intained there oF the closing, with 
epenson on lands which sadly n 
Wear g 
— tion has been compelled to raise the height of Gs dines 
og to make them keep pace wi with an ever-increasing flood 


1 “ Journal” Asiatic Society, Bengal, Vol. xliv, part 1, page 1. See also 
ceedings, page 41, at * 
