CHAPTER II. 



Previous Notices on the Geology op the Rajmehal Hills and 

 neighbouring country. 



In a paper on the course of the Ganges through Bengal, Major 



^ t^ /n i Colebrooke recorded some very interesting obser- 

 Major R. H. Cole- J ° 



brooke, 1801.* vations on changes in the course of that river. 



These changes were and are such as to constantly modify the topogra- 

 phy of the neighbourhood of the river. The river wears away its banks 

 and forms large islands (churs) with astonishing rapidity. 



More than once the Ganges is known to have washed the foot of 

 the Rajmehal hills, and to have excavated the loose soil lying between 

 the rocky points at Sikrigali, Pointi, and Patharghata. 



In 1779 the rocks at Colgong were surrounded by land. In 1788 

 they were isolated, and the current ran between them with great velocity. 

 Soundings close by gave from 70 to 90 feet of water, and it was esti- 

 mated that the river had removed a thickness of 1 14 feet of soil from 

 about them. In 1797, owing to the formation of a large island, the 

 river at Colgong became little more than a stagnant creek, which was to 

 a great extent unnavigable. 



Although the course of the river varies in this way, there are, 

 according to Major Colebrooke, certain fixed points near which the main 

 channel and deep water will always be found ; these are Monghyr, Sultan- 

 ganj, Patharghata, Pointi, Sikrigali, and Rajmehal. 



In an essay on the Sacred Isles in the West, Captain P. Wilford 



„ j ■ -n TV--,* * discusses the old tradition that India was once an 

 Captain F, Wilford, 



1805.f island separated by sea from the Himalayas. In 



* Asiatic Researches, Vol. VII, p. 1. 

 f Asiatic Researches, Vol. VIII, p. 290. 



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