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Ch. XIX.] 



IN THE GANGES AND BEAHMAPOOTEA. 



473 



formed by the united waters of the Ganges and Megna, some 

 of the islands, says Bennell, rival in size and fertility the Isle 

 of Wight. While the river is forming new islands in one 

 part, it is sweeping away old ones in others. Those newly 

 formed are soon overrun with reeds, long grass, the Tamarix 

 Indica, and other shrubs, forming 

 here the tiger, the rhinoceros, the buffalo, deer, and other 



mi 



w 



wild animals, take shelter. It is easy, therefore, to perceive, 

 that both animal and vegetable remains may occasionally be 



imbedded 



£, J- 



ment which subsides in the delta. 



Three or four species of crocodile, of two distinct sub- 

 genera, abound in the Ganges, and its tributary and con- 

 tiguous waters ; and Mr. H. T. Colebrooke informed me, that 

 he had seen both forms in places far inland, many hundred 

 miles from the sea. The Gangetic crocodile, or Gavial (in 

 correct orthography, Garial,) is confined to the fresh water, 

 living exclusively on fish, but the commoner kinds, called 

 Koomiah and Muggar, frequent both fresh and salt, being 

 much larger and fiercer in salt and brackish water.* These 

 animals swarm in the brackish water along the line of sand- 

 banks, where the advance of the delta is most rapid. Hun- 

 dreds of them are seen together in the creeks of the delta, or 



» 



basking in the sun on the shoals without. 



They will attack 

 men and cattle, destroying the natives when bathing, and 

 tame and wild animals which come to drink. * I have not un- 

 frequently,' says Mr. Colebrooke, « been witness to the horrid 

 spectacle of a floating corpse seized by a crocodile with such 

 avidity, that he half emerged above the water with his prey 

 in his mouth.' The geologist will not fail to observe how pe- 

 culiarly the habits and distribution of these saurians expose 

 them to become imbedded in the horizontal strata of fine 





Cuvier referred the true crocodiles 



of the Ganges to a single species, C. 

 biporcatus. But I learn from Dr. Fal- 



tus appears to be confined to the estuary ; 

 and C. pahcstris, to range from the 

 estuary to the central parts of Bengal. 



eoner that there are three well-marked The Garial is found alone- with C. 



species, C. biporcatus, C. palustris, and 



C. bombifrons. C. bombifrons occurs in 



along 



the northern branches of the Ganges, estuary. 

 1,000 miles from Calcutta; C. biporca- 



bombifrons in the north, and descends 

 to the region of C. biporcatus in the 



