550 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [November, 1910, 



changed immediately after the irruption of the Teesta. 1 

 The point of junction of the two rivers, however, remains 

 identical. The facts prove that in this area the changes that 

 have occurred are no radical changes but merely the outcome 

 of a continuous altered tendency to cut in one direction, while 

 what may be termed a big settling pool has formed opposite 

 Goalundo, a not unnatural result of the union of the rivers. 2 



This north-ea3terly tendency of the river, the innovation 

 introduced by the River Teesta, is not peculiar to this 

 locality ; the tendency is clearly seen the whole length of the 

 Padma as far as the Rajnagar area, and it is quite apparent 

 that the enormous changes which have occurred there, are the 

 direct result, the final expression of this tendency ; the changes 

 at the junction are merely ancillary to the Rajnagar changes 



a means to an end. 



The proof of this argument is the lie of the river from the 

 Goalundo reach as far as the Noorpour and Nulluah of Ren- 

 nell' s Map XVI. Throughout the whole of this stretch the river 

 has shifted N. E. ; of the places marked by Rennell on the N. E. 

 bank not one remains. Noorpour has vanished leaving no trace 

 behind it ; Nurilapour is now represented by a new formation 

 Char Nurullapur, one of the few accretions on the N.E. bank in 



this stretch. 



Rennell 



will 



(Moinat 3 ) has recently sunk beneath the Padma' s waters ; the 

 extent of the cutting can thus be realized. Panchar which 

 Rennell evidently intended to plot on the S. W. bank is now 

 some 5 miles from the main stream ; and a strip of char land 

 along the whole of this S. W. bank, at least 3/5 miles in breadth 

 shows clearly the old southern course of the river. 



I would not assert so much that the actual cutting has 

 been continuous, as that the tendency has remained operative. 

 In 1858, for example, the Padma had divided into two branches 

 south of Goalundo, the S. branch flowing by Faridpur, a bed 

 which is now completely dry in the cold weather *; efforts of the 



* It is a curious fact that north of the junction the Jamuna has dis- 

 played the opposite tendency and has deposited its silt on the East bank; 

 it appears that below the junction the Ganges has been able to maintain 

 its own tendency against that of the Jamuna, 



2 The floods of the present year (1910) appear to bely the above 

 paragraph. The river has cut violently along the Faridpur bank, and 

 has tended to resume its course of 1858 hard by Faridpur (see below). 

 I would add, however, that the river has also been cutting away the 

 opposite bank, the result being an enlargement of the settling-pool. The 

 violent cutting on the Faridpur bank is doubtless largely due to the 

 abnormal flood of the Brahmaputra, before the Ganges had risen. 



s It is claimed that this place has reformed in situ on the South- 

 west or Faridpur bank ; this however requires careful proof. 



4 See previous footnote ; the coming cold weather may see a change ; 

 this would not, however, prove an altered * tendency ' in the river. 



