1872.] OLDHAM AND MALLET CACHAR EARTHaUAKE. 259 



water, while the beds above have become dry and more solid. This 

 is the case for scores of miles down the river, as it is also the case at 

 Silchar itself, and for miles higher up the river, 



" Not a single fissure occurred in the solid and permanent part of 

 the plain ; but in every case where the bhurti land occurs they are nu- 

 merous, countless. In all cases these fissures correspond in direction 

 with the general curve of the stream adjoining, varying with it, to every 

 point of the compass tvithin short distances ; and the rationale of the 

 thing was clear : the shake came ; the solid thickness of some 20 to 

 30 feet of clay above rested upon this bed of ooze full of water ; this 

 was agitated by the shake, and acted not only in generating a greater 

 amount of motion by the water-wave, but acted also mechanically as 

 a slide or smooth surface on which the enormous weight of the beds 

 above began to move. These were unsupported along the river-chan- 

 nel, and have, therefore, all slipped in towards that channel, produ- 

 cing enormous and extensive Assuring, often filling up the channels 

 of the river for the time, and driving back the water, and in one 

 case entirely blocking up the river for six hours ! These fissures, 

 and other holes in the earth, formed those channels through which 

 the tremendous superincumbent weight forced up the bluish silt from 

 below, charged with water. This silt, or ooze, thus forced up over- 

 flowed the banks of the fissures or holes, occasionally in quantity 

 sufficient to produce a mud-stream, often in just sufficient amount to 

 produce a little lipping up within the hole, and then falling back to 

 produce the effect of a conical hollow coated with mud or ooze. This 

 was the cause of all the stories of smoke, steam, hot water, and sul- 

 phurous smells, &c. The first shot of dry mud, or fine sand, was taken 

 for smoke or steam ; the water was/ow^, and hotter than surface-water 

 at the time, but only slightly so; and the sulphurous smell was nothing 

 more than you would perceive in stirring up the mud at the bottom of 

 any stagnant pool which had lain undisturbed for some time. 



" This fissuring I noticed more or less extending down the river for 

 more than a hundred miles ! but in all cases confined, as I have said, 

 to the river-banks, or other similarly placed localities. In fact, I 

 believe, if the shake had occurred during the rains, when the river- 

 channel was full, that nothing of the kind would have been seen ; 

 the water-cushion of the river would have held up the banks, to a 

 very large extent at least. At one place close to Silchar (Silchar is the 

 name of the town, Cachar of the district), where they had a road 

 round the peninsula, near the edge of the bank (their favourite ride 

 or drive in the evening) there was a brick drainage-conduit with a 

 brick flooring ; this has been split in two ; and one half of the brick- 

 work now lies 42 feet below the other half, which was untouched, 

 and standing as before at the original level of the road. The bank 

 here Avas about 53 feet above the dry-weather level of the river, which 

 was the level at the time of the shock ; and the whole of the 50 feet 

 was on that side entirely unsupported ; in the rains the water would 

 have been at least 40 feet higher. Silchar town, though so distant 

 from this {i. e. Calcutta), is not 200 feet above the level of the sea. 



" The earthquake originated in the hills and north of Cachar. There 



