1878.] B. K. BranfiU — FTiysiographical Kotes on Tanjore, Sfc. 181 



explained by the strong sea breezes which prevail in the hot and dry 

 season, and, blowing strongest at the hottest part of the day, when the 

 sand of the sea beach is driest and most easily raised, continually drift it 

 up inland to accumulate under tlie shelter of the coast vegetation. 



It is thus formed into a ridge, or line of hillocks, parallel to the 

 shore-line at the inner and upper edge of the beach, frequently standing at 

 a steep slope on both sea-ward and land-ward sides. The blown sand does 

 not appear to extend far inland, being kept down by the fringe of palms 

 and other vegetation that usually grows near the coast. This advanced 

 vegetation equally protects the sand-ridge from being blown down again 

 and out to sea in the violent westerly winds of the south-west monsoon. 



This coast sand-ridge is a common feature on the coasts of Southern 

 India, and it seems likely that the devastating storm- waves which have 

 visited the coast have only or chiefly destroyed the towns and villages that 

 were unprotected by it, such as those most conveniently situated for 

 trade at the mouth of a river or inlet, and those opposite to a muddy coast 

 line where there is no sand that will drift. In such places (in the number 

 of which Madras may be included), it would be prudent to raise an 

 artificial wall or ' levee' ; a small price to pay for immunity from such a 

 calamity as befel Masulipatam in 1864, when many thousands of persons* 

 perished miserably, and such as has probably swept out of existence many a 

 flourishing port on the Coromandel Coast. 



As to whether the coast line of the Kaveri delta is altering, it may 

 be well to consider the elements of change at work. We notice first the 

 silt-bearing floods of the autumnal rains, which are doubtless yearly raising 

 the level of the land generally and tending to make it encroach on the 

 sea, extending the coast line eastwards and shoaling the sea-bed, a slow 

 but unceasing process, albeit the effects may seem to wax and wane and 

 even to contradict what must inevitably occur sooner or later. The process 

 of new land-formation may be much slower now than it was before the 

 great irrigation works were begun, but so long as fresh silt is brought down 

 by the annual floods, it cannot cease altogether. The heaviest grains are 

 dropped first as the current slackens, whilst the lightest are carried on 

 until the river current is lost in the quiet depths of the open sea. 



The next element of change is the wind, which acts both directly and 

 indirectly and in various ways. First, there is the north-east monsoon 

 (wind), acting indirectly by means of the southward, long-shore cur- 

 rent which carries the silt-bearing floods more or less down the coast 

 and so to deposit their heaviest burden to the south of the river outlets 

 thus commencing the sand-banks which help to shift the river mouth north- 

 wards. This wind cannot act directly on the shore sand to the north of 

 • 30,000 persons are stated to have perished in pne night. 



