Vol. VI, No. 10.] The Rivers of the Delta. 553 



[JT.fi.] 



the Meghna refuses and compels the Padraa to silt up its mouth ; 

 the Padma breaks away to the south, until arrested by its 

 natural tendency ; it clears its mouth and then proceeds again on 

 the N.E. tack ; then the Meghna in its turn comes to the fore 

 and the process is repeated with a considerable amount of des- 

 truction in the battle area. The fight has been fought twice and 

 it is not unlikely that a similar recurrence will be seen within 

 a short time ; but prophecy over so short a period with regard 

 to so complicated a force, the intensity of which depends largely 

 on two varying and independent factors, the floods of the 

 Brahmaputra and Ganges, is a difficult task. 



Suffice it to say that at present a transition stage appears 

 to have been reached in the third encounter ; the Padma has 

 striven to move its stream further to the north right up to the 

 base of the great Rajabari pagoda; but neither has the Meghna 

 been idle. Near Lohujang (Tarpasha) steamer station the 

 Padma has been compelled to carry its main channel from 

 the northern to the southern bank, by the formation of an 

 extensive char on the Dacca bank stretching from Lohujang 

 with one short break to the Meghna. The Padma is cutting 

 hard again for an exit to the south in the Rajnagar area ; but 

 at present the channel rebounds to the N. bank at the break 

 in the char at the Rajabari Moth, but a short distance from 

 the junction of the rivers, where the chars on the north bank 

 again appear. The junction of the rivers during the flood 

 is a memorable sight as the brown waters of the Padma meet 

 the clearer resisting water of the Meghna ; for some miles the 

 waters remain distinct without mingling, and it is along this 

 line that a long spit of char land is forming as a bar to the 

 passage of the Padma. When this bar is complete, it is difficult 

 to see what is to prevent the Padma from carrying Rajnagar 

 away once more and repeating the process of which it has 

 already enjoyed a double experience. 



Leaving the Rajnagar area and following Rennell in his 

 journey southward from Panchar, we find but little trace of 

 the old main stream until Takya is reached. Ganganagar island 

 still exists as Rennell saw it, a solitary patch which has survived 

 in the area of the great struggle, while all the surrounding lands 

 have disappeared and reformed. A narrow khal, the Mara 

 Padma (Dead Padma), lying west of a larger and newer river, 

 is all that remains of the once mighty stream. Near Diggary- 

 para the old course is completely dry, but traces of a course, 

 earlier than that shown by Rennell, can be seen for a distance 

 of some 25 miles ; in fact in one place the broken bank of a 

 very old tank shows the exact limit of the river action. Near 

 Bhadrachap and Rannysar (which are, by the way, misplaced by 

 Rennell) the old course of the east branch of the river appears 

 again in the shape of a narrow khal, passing round Nagerpara 

 where the old bed may be easily distinguished, as far as Char 



